Big Jake’s Seed
Chapter 1
“Jake, I can’t believe you are going to work for the Douglas’. If your father was here…”
He nodded, it wasn’t the first time he had heard it and he knew it wouldn’t be the last time. “He’s not, so Collin and John got it. I just want to move on and do something else. There is no place for me here anymore, I need to train horses. I don’t even like cows.”
“The family business is supposed to be for you three boys. He wanted you to always have that, stay close.”
It was the way it was supposed to be. That was the plan laid out in the will, but his father was a cattleman and he wasn’t. Jake had loved horses since he was knee high and his main concern had been riding the horse, not the cows he was supposed to be coaxing one way or another. It had never been about taking over. He had stayed so long because of his father, but now that he was gone, it was time to go. He hated to leave his mother behind, but her home was there, not in Texas where he was going. Jake also reminded himself that she still had two of her boys around close.
“I’m still here if you guys need me, but I have dreams that don’t include Jerica, Kansas. I won’t be far away, just a day trip in the truck.”
“Promise you will come home and visit.” Ana had already come to the realization that he was leaving. There was no sense in trying to change his mind. He’d always been as stubborn as his father.
“Of course.”
“What about Elise?”
A blush spread over his face as it heated up with the reminder that he hadn’t told his girlfriend yet. In a way he was afraid of her reaction, in another, he was concerned that she would want to go with. It wasn’t that he didn’t like her and care about her, but there was something missing after almost two years of dating. There had been attraction, lust and then companionship, but never really love. Not on his side anyways and in honesty, he didn’t think that she had ever loved him.
“I haven’t told her yet, but I planned on stopping by on the way out of town to see her.”
Ana frowned. “I thought I brought you up better than that Jake.”
Sheepishly, he went back to pushing the last few shirts into his large duffel bag. “Don’t be like that. I don’t love her, it’s that simple. I know you want me to be happy and I will be as nice as I can be about it. I don’t want to hurt her. Elise is a great girl, just not the one for me.”
“Well, let her down easier. She was like the daughter I never had and I have to live in town with her after you run off. It is how it looks, that she is chasing you out of town.”
“It’s not like that. You know that this is what I want to do.”
“I know. It’s just going to be hard without you here. I am really going to miss you. And I’m serious about Elise, you be nice to her.”
He promised that he would be and bent down to give her one last kiss on the cheek. Jake wasn’t going to call her or tell her later, but he had made a promise, so he would have to stick to it. It was one less thing he wanted to do, but knew that he better get there and get it over with. Elise was dramatic and he knew that she was not going to take it well. Jake dreaded seeing her and having the conversation they probably would have had months ago if he’d had the balls.
***
Driving down to Texas gave him a long time to think. Mostly for the first hour it was thoughts of Elise and what she had said. Her words echoed in his ears and he wondered if what she said was true. Was he really incapable of love? Jake was almost thirty and had never felt what made the people around him go crazy. He never thought of ending his life for a woman, so in that way, maybe he had never been truly mad in love. But did it mean he was incapable of it? He hoped not. Even if he didn’t understand love, Jake wanted to feel that craziness just once with one person.
The sign for Texas had him perking up and he followed the GPS to the small ranch in the northeast of Texas. There was something so charming about the place and for those that didn’t know, it may look like a small enterprise. It was a lot smaller than many in the area, but Archer Training was the best in the business. The very fact that he had been hired and was given a chance to work there, was better than any other accomplishment he could think of. The only worry he had was if he was good enough. Only time would tell if he would be.
Jake was a few hours late and it had already gotten dark. He had been given a bunkroom and the keys were sent with his sign-on bonus. He wasn’t supposed to start till the next day, but he had hoped to have a conversation with the owners before he went to bed. With that not an option, he moved towards the small row of bunkhouses, eyes straining to find the one that was to be his.
Finally spotting the numbers, he found his was the one on the end and he searched his pocket for the key. After unlocking the door, he moved to push it in, but an inside slide lock stopped his progress. Confused, he pushed again and then saw the chain. “Hello?”
A short, curved woman answered the door, sliding the lock back and looking up at him with clouded brown eyes. “Yes?”
“Hi, I um…” Jake was floundering, the woman in front of him hypnotic and sidetracking from what he was even there for. Had he gotten the wrong room? He stepped back and looked at the number again, matching it to the keys in his hand. It dawned on him then that it was the right key, so it had to be the right little house, right?
“Are you okay?” Her smile sardonic as his eyes roamed over her voluptuous body. She was wearing short cotton shorts and a white tank top, her hair bundled on top of her hair in a knot. He had an urge to pull it down, feel it in between his fingers but he stilled his hand from such a silly move.
“Yes, sorry. I was supposed to move into this bunkhouse tonight I thought. Number 15.”
“So you’re the new trainer Jake, huh?”
He nodded, not sure who she was and wishing that he knew as much about her. “Well come on in.”
“I didn’t realize I would be sharing it.”
“You’re not. You were late so Betsy was thinking you weren’t coming and I decided to stay the night instead of driving all night back to Ranson. We have some that get the job and never show up.”
“Oh, well is there somewhere else I can stay then? I don’t want to bother you. It looks like you are already in bed.”
“No they are all full. Can we maybe just share tonight? I will be out of here in the morning and I really don’t want to drive tonight.”
He nodded his head. He wouldn’t have kicked her out anyways. No man in their right mind would have. Jake looked over at the small bed in the corner, rustled with her warm body and he groaned inwardly. “Is there a bathroom in here?”
She pointed towards the unnoticed door in the back. “Help yourself. I am going to go back to sleep, so just squeeze in when you are ready.”