Chapter 34 Julia
THIRTY-FOUR
JULIA
The days were blurring one into the other.
I finished up with my last patient and managed to update the patient files before calling it quits for the day.
When I turned onto the private road leading to my place, I was surprised to see a car parked in front of my house.
As I got closer, I could see someone standing beside my corral petting the horses.
I sped up, careful not to churn up too much gravel. By the time I pulled in next to the car, I could see who it was.
“Laura?” I called out as I exited my truck. I tossed my medical bag onto the porch and met her by my barn. “Is everything okay? How’s Queenie?” I hadn’t heard from Jake since I left the ranch. Not that I really expected to.
“She had the cutest little filly,” Laura said.
“Oh. That’s good. And she’s healthy?” I was surprised that Jake hadn’t at least messaged me to tell me about it or arrange for a vet visit. Maybe he’d already decided to work with another vet.
“Both of them are. How are you, dear?” She clasped my hands and kissed my cheek.
I’m terrible, I wanted to say but instead I went with a polite response. “I’m fine. I wasn’t expecting guests, but I’d be happy to make you a cup of tea.”
“That would be lovely, but let’s sit first. I brought you some things I thought you might like to have.” Laura strode to my porch and picked up a large canvas bag that I hadn’t noticed earlier, resting it on her lap when she sat.
“Okay.” I sat down in the other chair and waited to see where this was going.
Laura dug around in her bag and pulled out two boxes, which she handed to me.
When I opened the first one, my hand trembled.
“Now, I know it’s early,” she said, her tone apologetic, “but these were Jake’s when he was a baby.
Grandma Thorne stitched all those appliques on his clothes.
I know it’s too soon to know if you’re having a boy or a girl, but these seemed gender neutral and… What’s wrong?”
I was actively crying now. “How did you know?” I figured Jake had told Brian about my pregnancy, but I hadn’t realized Laura knew.
Laura had a small photo album on her lap. “We all heard some of your argument with Jake. I didn’t want to jump to conclusions, so I called your mom. Lisa swore me to secrecy.”
Laura handed me the album, then dug through her bag and pulled out a small pack of tissues, which she handed to me. I swiped at my eyes and nose, then opened the album.
“I made Caitlin an album like this with Brian’s baby pictures and I thought you might enjoy one with Jake’s,” she said and I began ugly crying.
My tears splattered on the pictures, so I pushed it farther away to keep the album dry. Laura reached out to grab my hand.
“Would you like to talk about it?” she asked.
Unable to resist, I opened up to her, telling her everything that’d been going on between Jake and me.
Well, I did leave out the sexy times, but the rest of it came tumbling out.
She stayed silent while I hiccuped through a recitation of everything that we’d been fighting about.
When I finished, she pulled out a bottle of water from her tote bag and handed it to me. I took a few sips and set it down.
“So, that’s pretty much all of it,” I concluded. “As much as I care about Jake, I can’t be in a relationship with someone who insists on dictating everything I do.”
“Oh, I don’t blame you, dear. Marshall used to do it, too, and I know Luke did it as well. I suspect it’s something ingrained in the Thorne men,” Laura said.
I sniffled. “How did you handle it?” How did Amy handle it? I never spent much time around Luke, but Amy was such an independent woman, I couldn’t imagine her putting up with that kind of treatment.
“I picked my battles. I knew there were some things that Marshall would never budge on and I had to figure out which things were worth fighting for. Eventually, we figured things out, but I suspect part of the solution was that he directed most of that intensity to the boys.” Laura rolled her eyes.
“Ranchers are a different breed of human. It takes a special person to be involved with them.”
“What about Amy?” I wasn’t sure how much Amy might’ve confided in Laura, but I needed to know.
“Oh, Amy was deeply unhappy by the end of her first marriage. Luke took that behavior to a level way beyond anything Marshall ever did or said. It got so bad, she was contemplating taking Henry and leaving. Not that I’d blame her.
I’m afraid Marshall and I never reined in Luke’s behavior when he was growing up.
Once he became an adult, well… Let’s just say that we should’ve done better.
I’m just glad Cal is nothing like that.”
“Great.” I didn’t know what else to say. It sounded as if Laura was telling me there wasn’t any hope.
“Jake is hurting, which isn’t something I could ever say about Luke. As stubborn and… misguided as Jake is, he does care about you.”
“But caring isn’t enough if he isn’t willing to compromise on anything.”
Laura finished emptying out the bag and set everything on the rocker she had just vacated. “Give him time,” she said. “Jake needs to stew in his own misery for a bit before he’ll get his head out of his ass and figure things out.”
I choked out a laugh. In all the years I’d known Laura, I’d never heard her use any sort of profanity. “How long do you think that’ll take?”
She placed her hand on my shoulder and squeezed. “Not as fast as Brian, I’m afraid.” She looked down at me with a smile. “I did mention all the boys were afflicted with it, right?” I nodded, not feeling any better.
Laura stepped off the porch and turned to face me “Don’t give up on my son just yet. He’ll come around.”
I watched her drive away, her words replaying in my head. I was glad that she had faith in Jake, but for my part, I just wasn’t seeing it.
“Oh, Laura, I really hope you’re right. Because I’m not sure my heart can take losing him entirely.”