Share
18
Bab terkait
Awkward Marriage 19
Sue woke up early the next morning, excited about getting outside and enjoying the freedom of riding a horse on the open land. The acreage was mostly cleared of trees but a forest and clean river passed within walking distance to the three bedroom home. Jeremiah and Gloria lived in a two bedroom cabin nearby. Her parents had one bedroom, Trevor and Luke shared a bedroom and Patty had her own bedroom. Sue was sleeping in Patty’s bedroom and Jake was sharing a bedroom with Trevor and Luke. She quickly put on a pair of dark brown slacks and a dark green and brown plaid shirt. Then she slipped on her brown boots and slipped on her old brown coat and gloves. She wanted to see the horses before anyone else woke up to open Christmas gifts. She quietly made her way to the barn and opened the door. She sighed when she saw the condition of the place. It needed repairing. She knew she could reinforce the stalls and shelves but there was no way she could repair the leaking roof. The
Awkward Marriage 20
The next day passed with little event. Sue listened as Jake sat down and discussed how to effectively manage money. When he discussed business, he handled himself with confidence and professionalism, so it was easy for her to see why he attracted so many customers at the bank. She found that she enjoyed watching him work. He still wore a suit, but she noticed that he didn’t have his tie so tightly knotted around his collar. He seemed to enjoy watching her family’s good natured banters and even followed her and her siblings to the barn and the pig pen. She hid her laughter at his apprehension about being so close to dirt and animals. He was a true city boy at heart. On the farm, he was clearly out of his element but he maintained himself with a quiet dignity that impressed her. Though her family did like him and went out of their way to be nice to him, he was still an outsider to their world. At lunch on the fourth day of their visit, Jeremiah brought in the Rocky Mountain
Awkward Marriage 21
Later that evening, she discovered the first part of her brothers‟ plan, and even worse was the fact that her parents were a part of it. “Well, we do like Jake,” her father said. “It would be nice to keep him in the family.” “He treats you well too,” her mother added. “I like to see my children taken care of.” “But we don’t love each other,” she protested. “Give it time.” She shook her head in bewilderment that Jake could come into her home and win these people over in less than a week. That night as she pulled on her nightgown in Trevor and Luke’s bedroom, she decided that she wasn’t going to explain the sudden sleeping arrangements to Jake. The last thing he needed was to be pulled into her family’s elaborate schemes. Jeremiah claimed that there was a mouse running loose through his cabin, so he and Gloria had to sleep in Patty’s bedroom with Patty sleeping on the floor. Trevor and Luke offered to sleep in the parlor. There wasn’t enough room for Ja
Awkward Marriage 22
Jake was tired as he ate his breakfast. He was keenly aware thatSue was sitting next to him. Though she was wearing pants, she couldn’t hide the fact that she was a woman. In a strange way, it made him notice her more since she was trying so hard to hide it. He didn’t believe for a minute that a mouse was loose in Jeremiah and Gloria’s cabin. Her brothers were up to something and he intended to find out what it was. For the time being, he was content to mess with them as they had messed with him over the Rocky Mountain oysters. He grinned as an idea came to him. “Do any of you want to ride into town?” he asked as he glanced around the table. “Can’t wait to get back to the city?” Jeremiah replied. Trevor smirked. “A few days on the farm and he’s given up.” “I can handle anything you throw at me,” Jake quicklysaid. “I feel the need to return a favor.” “What kind of favor?”“You introduced me to Rocky Mountain oysters. I’m going to introduce you to caviar
Awkward Marriage 23
When they got off the horse, she said, “You handle yourself better on a horse than you let on. If you keep it up, you could master riding her.” Jeremiah burst out laughing. She peered around the horse’s nose. “I didn’t see you there.” “Apparently not.” He walked over to them. “So, city boy, you got the caviar?” “I sure do.” Jake widely smiled. “Do you think you’re brave enough to eat some?” “If you can eat Rocky Mountain oysters, I can eat your fancy food.” “We’ll see about that.” “That sounds like a challenge.” “It is. Are you up to it?” He scoffed. “I’m always up for a good challenge.” “Then let’s go.” As soon as Jake got Jeremiah, Trevor and Luke at the dinner table, he handed them the crackers and took out the caviar. “You smear it on the cracker with a spoon or knife. Then you eat it.” He ate his and looked at them. “Now, it’s your turn.” Sue and Gloria sat at the table, interested to see
Awkward Marriage 24
He set up several chairs. “Now pretend this is a train.” Jake chuckled at his enthusiasm. Trevor really got into his work. “They like to do this a couple times a year,” Sue’s father said. “They get better each time they do it.” Trevor went back to the kitchen to get ready for his part. Larry shoved Jeremy onto the train. He pointed a fake gun at Jeremy. “Don’t do anything to arouse suspicion.” Jeremy nodded his consent and sat down. Larry sat next to him. “This is real simple. As long as you do what you’re told, I’ll let you live. Your father will be worried about you by now. Surely, he’ll bring the ransom money to the designated spot.” Jeremy sat quietly and stared out the window. Jake tried to hide his shock as Sue appeared. They did a good job of disguising her as a middle-aged fat man with graying hair and thick mustache who wore tattered old green and black clothes and a faded black hat. He hardly recognized her. How can a woman look so beautif
Awkward Marriage 25
Sue had never been so humiliated in her entire life. It was one thing for Jeremiah to make all those subtle jokes while she and Jake were on the horse but it was another thing for him to keep making her feel like she wasn’t attractive as a woman. She was glad when he couldn’t eat the caviar. She enjoyed watching him squirm under Jake’s intense stare. Jake had a perfect poker face. No one could tell for sure what he was thinking if he didn’t want them to. It probably helped him succeed in business since he had to deal with some crummy people. She sighed as she got out of her costume for the play that Trevor wrote. She was glad to be out of those clothes. She bit her lower lip as she looked at the clothes she had packed. She brought a couple of dresses but had been so busy riding horses and helping with fixing parts of the barn her family hadn’t had time to get to yet, that she hadn’t bothered to wear a dress. Dresses weren’t practical on the farm, though Gloria managed to wear them. Glo
Awkward Marriage 26
After the three men took baths, they joined everyone else for dinner. “I heard you taught your brothers a lesson in the pig pen today,” her father chuckled. “You were always good on a horse, whether riding one with a saddle or not.” “They had it coming,” she said. “I couldn’t let them get by with naming a pig after me.” That wasn’t why she really did it, but she didn’t want to embarrass Jake by reminding him of his earlier dirty condition. He had looked mortified to be covered in filth. “I don’t know,” Jeremiah said. “You and that pig are a lot alike. You like to run poor unsuspecting people over.” “That’s true. I’ll give you that. We don’t tolerate anyone misbehaving.” “We hope you can keep her in check, Jake.” Trevor grinned. “You’re our last hope.” “I kind of like her the way she is,” Jake began as he smiled at her, “full of passion and intensity.” She felt her cheeks go red. Jeremiah gave her a knowing look. She glared at him. Stop it! How long we
Bab terbaru
