Chapter 11 Jake
ELEVEN
JAKE
Iawoke with about as much of a spring in my step as I could have. Seemed foolish to enjoy the extra work I’d taken on, but it meant getting to see Julia every day and spending time with Twister.
In the kitchen, I turned the coffee maker on and set about making two breakfast sandwiches—one for me and one for Julia. While I waited for the coffee, I could hear boots on the back porch. The door opened, and Davis—along with Chris and Wilson—came in talking quietly.
“Hey, boss,” Davis said, clapping me on the back. Chris and Wilson also greeted me.
“Morning.” I nodded to each of them. “How’s everyone doing?” After exchanging pleasantries, we spent the next several minutes discussing the morning plan, including the latest predator news.
About this time last year, wolves were spotted near one of the far-north cattle ranches, and ever since, the local rumor mill had been feeding sightings.
I knew the difference between the howl of a dog, coyote, and wolf as much as the next person, and I was finding some of these “sightings” hard to believe. Especially the closer they got to town.
“So, no one’s caught anything on their trail cams?” I asked. Wilson shook his head.
“Nope, but you know how it is when one person gets spooked,” Wilson said. I did indeed. We didn’t need to feed any speculation, but it didn’t hurt to be cautious.
“We’re doing everything we can already, but let’s make sure the foaling mares are kept close to the barn. And when the guys are out in the pastures, keep an eye out for potential hiding spots near where the cattle are grazing. Above all, let’s make sure all the trail cams are functioning.”
“Will do, boss,” Davis said. “We’ve already got the cows ready to calve set up closer to the house and I’ll have a couple of the guys check the herd for any we might’ve missed.”
Happy with the plan, they filled their cups with coffee and grabbed a snack before heading out to their respective duties. I loaded up a carrier with the sandwiches along with some fruit salad and headed out to check on Julia.
When I pulled up outside her house, I found her sitting on a rock between her house and the barn, rubbing her foot. I barely had the truck stopped, when I was jumping out to check on her.
“Julia? Did you fall?” I jogged over to her and squatted down in front of her, worried that she was injured. I reached for her leg and pulled her foot onto my lap. She winced when I touched the ball of her foot.
“I didn’t fall. I thought I heard a noise out by the barn this morning and wanted to go check. I stepped on a sharp rock and—”
“What kind of noise?” I interrupted, instantly on the alert after the talk of wolves. I went to set her foot down, prepared to go investigate, but she stopped me with her hand and pointed to the side of the porch where Magellan was busy… “Ah. What’d he catch?”
“I’m pretty sure it’s a vole, but I haven’t been able to check. Would you mind? I’d rather he not eat it,” she said.
This time, I set her foot down and moved slowly toward the black cat. “Hey there, pussy cat, whatcha got there?” Magellan looked up at me with a slow blink from where he sat looking like a proud conqueror. Under his front paw was a vole, but to my surprise, I didn’t see any blood.
“Is it dead?” Julia called to me from where she was still sitting.
I stepped closer just as Magellan lifted his paw and the vole scurried away making me jump in surprise before I burst out laughing.
“Jake?”
“The vole was fine. Looked like Magellan was just holding onto him for a bit,” I told her, still chuckling over the jump-scare. Magellan stood and stretched before hopping up onto the rocker on the porch to take a nap.
Turning back to Julia, I watched her struggle to stand only to flop back down with another wince. I was back at her side in an instant and reached down to scoop her up. “Transport is here, Dr. Lett. Where to? I brought us some breakfast. Do you want to eat on the porch or inside?”
“How about the porch?” she said, so I settled her on the rocker that Magallan had abandoned, then jogged back to my truck to grab our breakfast.
Setting the carrier down, I handed her a sandwich. “I hope they’re still warm.” Julia removed the wrapping and bit into it, making a happy humming noise. I chuckled. “I take it it’s okay?”
“More than okay. Thank you for bringing it. I usually eat a hot or cold cereal for breakfast. This is a nice treat.” I pulled the lid off the bowl and handed her a spoon so she could dig in. “Oh wow, is this your mom’s fruit salad? I haven’t had this since high school.”
She bit into it and made another happy noise that had me wanting to catalog them all, so I would know how to get her to repeat them. “It’s just as good as I remember,” she declared. There was no way I could explain how good it felt to bring Julia something she liked so much.
“I will let her know it’s still a hit,” I said finishing off my sandwich.
I left her to her meal and went to take care of the horses. Before going into the barn, I circled around to make sure there weren’t any signs of a visit from a predator. Satisfied that the area was clear, I unlatched the door, entered the musky hay- and alfalfa-scented barn, and took a deep breath.
You could walk into any well-run barn and the smell would always be the same—to me, it smelled of coming home.
I fed the horses and promised to turn them out to the pasture once they were finished.
Leaving them to their breakfasts, I headed for the house.
Julia was just finishing up. I retrieved her crutches from where they were still sitting by the rock and brought them to her.
“How do they look?” she asked and I filled her in.
“They’re good—no problems at all. Are you up for crutching into the house?” I was concerned about the damage she did to her other foot when she stepped on the rock and I resisted the urge to point out she should’ve been wearing sturdier shoes than her slippers.
“I think so?” She bit her lip. I held my hand out to help her stand and she gingerly placed her good foot flat on the porch, slowly standing up.
With her bad leg in the air, she looked like a flamingo in a fuzzy pink bathrobe and matching slippers.
She tucked the crutches under her arms and took a tentative hop-step to the backdoor and smiled.
“It’s a little sore, but it’ll be okay.”
I took her at her word but still hovered behind her as she hopped into the house, using the crutches.
She wavered in the kitchen and I rested my hand on her elbow, prepared to help but she managed to flop into a kitchen chair unaided.
I pulled another chair closer to her and lifted both of her feet to set them on the padded seat.
“Sit tight, I’ll see to the other animals. Do you want some coffee?”
“Please.”
I started her coffeemaker before grabbing the food to feed the indoor animals.
Julia had created a feeding schedule for all the animals along with the types of food to give them and when.
I checked the calendar and doled out the appropriate food for the circling four-leggeds before measuring out Pocket’s food and bringing it in to him.
The hedgehog was hidden inside his little den and didn’t so much as move when I set the food inside.
“Does he get lonely?” I asked, finishing up with Pocket and closing the door behind me. I knew nothing about hedgehogs other than they were cute.
“Hedgehogs are solitary animals. He much prefers to be by himself,” Julia said. I poured coffee for her—adding cream, the way she liked it—and handed her the mug. “They’re quite territorial, especially the males, so it’s the hermit life for him.”
“I couldn’t imagine living such a solitary life. While there’s times I enjoy my peace and quiet, I’d be lost without my family around,” I confessed.
“But you don’t normally pick fights with other males simply for being too close, do you?” she asked with a grin.
I rubbed my chin. “Does taking a swing at my half-brother count?”
Julia choked on her coffee and quickly set the mug down. “Well, uh, no, that doesn’t count, but this is a story I need. What happened?”
I told her about the night I got in a fight with Cal in the Roundup and how “the sheriff” had to break us up.
“So, you spent the night in jail after your brother arrested you?” She was clutching her stomach and laughing so hard she could barely breathe.
“It wasn’t that funny.”
Julia continued to laugh. “Speak for yourself. The Thornes have always been this pillar of the community and to find out that you’re… what… human? This is great. I can’t believe Sofia didn’t tell me about this. I’m going to have words with her,” Julia said.
I grimaced at that hoping that my embarrassment over that night would have calmed down, but that wasn’t the case. “It was not my finest moment,” I said.
“And?” she prodded. “What made you start the fight in the first place?”
Sighing, I leaned against her kitchen counter. “I overheard Amy crying to my mom about how Cal hurt her feelings and I saw red. Went looking for him. Found him at the bar and went in swinging.”
“Oh.” She fiddled with her mug, turning it around. “That’s actually kind of a nice thing to do in a very Neanderthal sort of way. Didn’t think to talk to him instead?”
“Not at the time, no. We did talk things out eventually, though.” My cell phone beeped with a text and I saw that it was from Davis.
He was letting me know that the trail cameras were all working fine and that there were no sign of any predators around the property.
I used his message as an easy out to keep from having to discuss my behavior any further.
“Work texting?” she asked already guessing.
“It is.” I looked at my watch. “I’ll turn the horses out to the pasture and be back around lunchtime to feed Ally. If you’re up for it, I’ll bring you some of the chili we made last night.”
Leaving Julia at her kitchen table with her laptop next to her and a full cup of coffee, I finished with her horses and headed back to the ranch.
I’d been embarrassed over my behavior with Cal and I was glad she didn’t push me to talk about it more.
As hotheaded as I was capable of being, even that had been over the top for me.
Still, I didn’t get the feeling that she judged me negatively for it—and that felt the best of all.