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Jennifer comes home to Georgia, divorced. The last thing she expects is loving again. |
| High pitched screams shattered the silence of the night. Jordan jumped from the swing and pulled his gun. He gritted his teeth as he rushed down the path back to the house. He rushed to the right side of the house, hoping he could see what was going on through the five foot tall wooden fence. The commotion grew louder as he reached the porch. He veered back onto the driveway and rounded the kitchen window. He stopped short as he saw horses stampeding the yard. Their large bodies knocked over the buffet tables, tore down hanging lights and trampled the dance floor. “Jennifer! Chloe!” Neither female answered him. His heart raced as he searched through the mass of people. Most of the women had taken shelter against the house, while the men were trying to bully the horses into a safe direction. “Jordan!” He moved further into the backyard and looked right. Chloe stood inside the laundry room, her head poked out the door. She pointed behind him. “Watch out!” Jordan heard hoof beats pounding up behind him. He lunched away, but not soon enough. A wide head slammed into his shoulder, knocking him off his feet. He hit the ground, breathless, and tried to roll to safety. Soft hands ran over his body, stirring him to action. He looked up, into the bright green eyes of his rescuer. “You have to get up.” Jordan stumbled to his feet and grabbed Jennifer around the waist. He pushed her against the vinyl siding and shielded her body with his own as four more horses ran past them. “Are you crazy? You could have gotten hurt.” Jennifer stared up at him. Dirt smudged his face and a scratch near his eye was dripping blood. She shook her head. “I had to make sure you were okay. They could have stepped on you.” “I would have been fine. Don't ever do something like that again.” Jennifer huffed. “You're welcome.” He sighed as he placed a kiss to her forehead. “Sorry. I just can't get the image of you being hurt out of my head. When I heard those screams, I thought my heart would stop. I started imagining Rick had come back and hurt you or Chloe.” She smiled, her anger gone. The noise started to fade around them. Jennifer stood on tiptoe so she could look past Jordan's shoulder. All the horses were running the fence line towards the North pasture. The danger was over. “We need to get you inside so you can get cleaned up. I don't want that scratch to get infected.” Jordan stepped away. “I'll be fine. I need to help Pa get those animals rounded up before one of them gets hurt. And we need to find out how they got free.” “Jordan, are you alright?” Jennifer stepped over and put an arm around Chloe. “He's fine. Just a cut. Which we're fixing to clean, if I can get his stubborn butt inside.” Chloe shrugged away from Jennifer and marched up to Jordan. She grabbed his hand and pulled. “Come on.” Jordan stayed still. “Chloe, it's okay. I have work to do.” She shook her head. “No. You need to rest. Follow me.” Jennifer smiled as Jordan looked to her for help. She held up her hands. “It'll be easier to get it over with.” Chloe tugged harder and Jordan allowed her to lead him into the house. Jennifer laughed as she followed them. She heard Jordan groan as he eased into one of the kitchen chairs. Pa and Scott stood nearby. She frowned. “Where's Chloe?” Pa cackled. “She's going to get a rag and the first aid kit.” Jennifer walked over to Jordan and pushed his head back. “Does your head hurt?” He shook it. “No. I'm okay, really.” Chloe came running back in. She handed the stuff to Jennifer and stood next to Jordan, wringing her hands in anxiety. “How does it look? Do we need to get him to the hospital?” Jennifer used the rag to wipe the dirt and blood from his forehead and temple. Without the blood around the wound, she realized it wasn't as bad as she'd first thought. “It's just a scratch. It won't even need a band-aid.” “I need a drink.” Chloe hurried to the kitchen sink and filled a glass with water. She came back to him, her hand shaking. He smiled as he drank half the contents. He smacked his lips and sighed. “Thank ya ma'am. That really hit the spot.” Jennifer dabbed antibiotic ointment on his cut and started cleaning up the mess she'd made. She turned around as she heard Jordan groan. Chloe had thrown herself into his arms, her arms tight around his neck. He returned the embrace, even though Jennifer could see how much it pained him to be squeezed. “I'm so glad you're okay. I was so scared.” Jordan's jaw tightened and a vein at his temple started to pulse. His breath came in short gasps. Yet he didn't let go or push the child away. “There's nothing to be scared of. It would take more than a little horse to do me in. I'm afraid you're still stuck with me.” Jennifer laughed as she pulled Chloe away. “I think that little horse did a good job of working you over.” She smiled at her daughter. “Baby, be careful. I imagine he's sore.” Chloe gasped. She looked to Jordan, her eyes filling with tears. “Oh no. I hurt you worse. I wasn't thinking right. I thought you were hurt, but you weren't, and then I hugged you and hurt you worse. I'm sor-” Jordan grabbed her hands and cut off her babbling. “It's fine. Your hug made everything just right. It's better than a shot of whiskey. Besides, I just took on a horse three times your size. A puny little thing like you couldn't do much damage.” Chloe poked her bottom lip out and put her hands on her hips. “I ain't puny.” Jennifer laughed. She loved the easy banter between the two of them. It was a soothing balm to her frazzled nerves. She refused to admit how bad it scared her to see Jordan on the ground, horses about to pound his skull to dust. Jordan grabbed his ribs in pain as he laughed. “I apologize. How about tiny, small, petite, skinny. Any of those better?” Chloe nodded. “A bit. But you're going to have to get better at flattery if you want to win my mom over.” Jennifer blushed as all eyes turned to her. Jordan saved her from having to answer as he tried getting to his feet. “Now that everyone knows I'm okay, let's get those horses put up.” Everyone filed outside to survey the damage. The tables had been righted, and the ruined food had been tossed away. The band started back up with a lively tune and it appeared no one had been hurt. Roxanne weaved through the crowd and grabbed Jennifer's arms. “Everything's okay out here. Some of the food was saved and the drinks didn't get ruined. The band's giving us an extra hour, for free. And no one was hurt.” Jennifer sighed. “That's all great news. Where's your date?” Roxanne nodded towards Jordan's retreating back. “Same place yours is disappearing to.” She turned to Pa. “Pa, you get those horses back, but don't go keeping our men folk gone too long or there'll be some unhappy females to contend with. Just to warn ya.” Pa laughed. “I don't want nothing like that.” He raised his voice. “Any man who offers to help must have his lady's permission first. Myself included.” He turned to Ma. She smiled, love radiating from her eyes. Jennifer felt a twinge of jealousy. She wished she had a relationship as strong, as happy, as theirs. Of their own will, her eyes found Jordan's broad back. Even in a group of men, it was easy to know which one he was. Ma's tinkling laugh brought Jennifer's attention back to the group. The older woman swatted her husband on the shoulder. “You can go, but you'll owe me a dance for my generosity.” Pa kissed her on the cheek. “I'll give you as many as you want sweetheart.” Jennifer smiled with the rest of them before excusing herself and walking over to Jordan. She tapped him on the shoulder and waited for him to turn around. “It's a bit rude to leave your date without making an excuse.” Jordan turned around. He raised an eyebrow. “My apologies. I figured you'd be more worried about the animals than being left alone.” Jennifer nodded in agreement. “I am. That's why I'm coming with you.” He shook his head. “It's dark out there and those shoes aren't meant to be walking around in the pastures. You might step in a hole and break your foot.” Jennifer grabbed his arm for support and lifted her left foot. She slipped off the strappy heel before repeating the action with her right side. “At least you have experience with rescuing me before.” He laughed, even though Jennifer could tell he still wanted to argue. She pointed to the moon. “It's bright enough so I can see where I'm going and I won't go too far.” “You aren't going to change your mind, are you?” She shot him a cheeky grin. “Nope. And if you leave me here, I'll go off by myself.” “Fine. Come on. We're going to split the areas up.” Pa, Scott, Jordan and two of the ranch hands were in charge of getting the horses back into a fenced in pasture. The other six men, as well as Jennifer, spread out to check the wooden plank fence, trying to determine how the horses escaped. Jennifer selected the pasture directly behind the barn. As she got closer, she realized the three plats that made up the fence had been removed, every fifty feet. As Jennifer followed the broken rails down the driveway, she heard male voices. Ahead of her, with their backs facing her direction, were two men. One puffed on a cigarette as they leaned against the fence post. Jennifer eased towards them, wondering why they didn't seem interested in helping like everyone else. “This is bullshit. That ole man probably planned this.” She watched the other man nod in agreement. “Yep. But why?” “My guess is he found some bad parts of the fence that needed fixing. He's too broke to buy the supplies. So, he arranges something like this. All of the community will come out to help. Just like with the barn.” The second man grunted in agreement. Then a second later, he asked, “How you know he's broke? He don't talk to none of us 'bout that crap.” The man stomped on his cigarette. “You gonna love this. I hooked up with this chick that works at the bank. We were drunk and she asked where I worked at. She wanted to come by for some middle day nookie, ya know. When I said the ranch, she started apologizing about how I'd be out of a job soon. Seems the old man is so far behind in his bills and her boss ain't happy. If ole' man Matthews doesn't do something soon, he'll be foreclosed on.” The second man grunted. “That sucks. Glad I don't work here. Maybe I can get you on with me.” Both men turned and started to walk towards the driveway. The moonlight caught the features of the first man and Jennifer realized it was Jason's dad. She felt her stomach burn as bile rose to her throat. Why hasn't anyone told me? The old pain of betrayal started to fill her. It wasn't the first time they'd kept something from her. She was guilty of doing the same thing with her own daughter. She shouldn't feel so angry, yet she was. She had to find out if it was true. The money she had, she'd use that to pay his debt. It wasn't her money, but that didn't matter to her right now. She couldn't lose her home. |
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