Chapter Thirty-Five

A little shook up, Molly made her way back to the back porch and sat down in the rocking chair that her guest had just vacated. She could hardly believe what had just happened. She knew living here had changed her, but she doubted it had changed her so much from what her friend was and clearly thought she was. She couldn't remember Brianna being this stuck up or outrageous before. And, more importantly, she didn't think she'd been that bad before either. She really hoped she hadn't been.

"Ye look deep in thought there," Jake's voice interrupted her brooding. 

She couldn't help but smile immediately as she got up and slowly walked towards him and Maximus. "Yeah, just someone who I thought was a friend, turned out not to be so friendly after all," was all she said as she stroked the horse's neck and mane. He could tell it was probably slightly more than that but decided to leave it. She clearly didn't want to talk about it anymore than she just had done. 

"Wanna join us?" he asked to take her mind off of it. They hadn't planned to see each other until tonight, but they were both here anyway and she looked like she needed cheering up. "We was gonna go for a ride 'n maybe go to the river, make the most of the weather," he added in an attempt to convince her, as he hadn't taken her down there yet. 

"Are ye crazy? I ain't ridin' no horse in Daisy Dukes," Molly objected when she saw he was expecting her to. 

Jake started laughing uncontrollably. Her face was genuinely adorable and it was the first time he'd heard her speak Texan without thinking about it too hard; she'd slipped into it quite naturally. "Stop talkin' a coon outta tree girl 'n get on," he told her, still laughing as he held his hand out to her. "It's easy as pie, got a cover here 'n ever'thin'," he tried to assure her. 

"Fine. But if I get hurt, it's on you buddy," she made sure he knew as she took his hand and pulled herself up to sit behind him. 

"Ye won't get hurt," he promised her, glancing at her over his shoulder. 

After just five minutes in his company, Molly already felt much better about what had happened and she started talking a bit more freely again. She knew that sometimes he thought she talked too much, but he didn't seem to mind today. 

"So this is the famous river huh?" she asked when she noticed he was slowing Maximus down. She felt him chuckle. 

"Not sure I would use the word famous," Jake said with a shrug. "But everyone 'round these here parts knows it," he added. He'd mentioned that more serious couples tended to go here, but that was usually at night. And he was not the kind of person that would try that kind of thing, out in public, especially not this early in their relationship. Today the weather was nice enough that there were a couple of other people there, but they were mostly other couples their age or families with young children. He got off Maximus first to tie him up to one of the trees and helped her down as well. Before he could turn and walk away, Molly pulled him in to kiss him. 

"I hadn't done that today yet," she told him when she pulled back. 

He smiled at that and leaned in to return the kiss. "Very good point," he agreed and kissed her again, perhaps a little sexier than he should. "Now…" he said, a little dramatically, as he took hold of her hand. "Are ye ready to get wet?" 

"Wait, what?" she asked surprised but before she could get away from him, he lifted her up to carry her over to the river. "No, don't, you bully," she squealed, trying to get him to put her down. "Yer gonna get my boots wet," she added, which only made him laugh. He swung her out over the river as if he was going to chuck her in and making her squeal but kept swinging at the last second so that she was back over dry land. He bounced her up a bit so he could kiss her now. "Yer so mean," Molly complained but kissed him back nonetheless. 

"I thought it was pretty funny," Jake told her with a cheeky grin. She gave him a glare before kissing him again. She was finding it hard to complain while he was holding her like that and she was still dry. After a minute or so, Jake carefully put her down and they found a spot, alongside the river, using the cover Jake had put over Maximus when they'd been riding. 

They stayed for about an hour and a half before conceding they'd probably need to get back so Molly would be home before her sister. And they were seeing each other again that night anyway. 

"Today was fun," Molly said pensively as she gave his leg a tap. She was laying on her bed with her pillows raised a bit so she was sitting up a bit more and Jake was laying alongside her with his head by the foot end so they could look at each other. "It was nice to do something slightly different," she added, referring to going to the river.

"Uh huh," he nodded with a smile. She smiled back, pleased to see how comfortable he looked in her room now. They also knew that Jennifer was in bed already, so the chances of them getting caught were slim to none. "Ye gonna tell me what happened earlier today?" he asked after a minute or two. She scowled a little as she thought back to it, not sure what to tell him, if anything. "Molls," he said softly, making her look up at him. "Ye know ye can tell me anythin'," he reminded her. 

She sighed, hating that he had a point. "My old friend Brianna from Phoenix showed up to 'rescue me'," Molly used air quotes with an eye roll. 

"What did she think ye needed rescuin' from?"

"Well... If ye can believe it, I was not impressed when I first got here," she said, ignoring the chuckle she'd been expecting. "No phone signal, no wifi, I'd had to leave all may friends. I was … a bit of a spoilt brat," she owned up to it, seeing he was fighting back more laughs. "So she thought I'd need savin'. But..." she hesitated now, not even sure how to explain the experience. 

"But?" he asked, trying to encourage her. 

"I guess... she thought I'd changed too much... and maybe I have. But if I ever was anythin' like the girl that showed up today, I'm glad I have," Molly said, trying not to have to repeat any of the things that Brianna had said today. She lost herself for a minute as she thought about whether she really had been as bad as Brianna before she'd come here. 

"Well, I like ye," Jake said, returning the tap to the foot she'd given him earlier, getting a grateful smile in response. "And I find it hard to believe ye were anythin' like she sounds." 

"Thanks. I hope yer right," she smiled, feeling a little bit better about herself now. 

"And..." he started, making her look up again. "I'm glad ye don't think ye need savin' anymore… from here," he said. He'd admit that they'd gotten off to a wrong start and that he had, briefly, wanted her to go back where she'd come from. Obviously that thought had been very brief indeed, as he now didn't want to imagine what life would be like around here without her. Jake knew better than to tell her that just yet though; he didn't want to scare her off if his feelings were stronger than hers. 

"What would I need savin' from?" Molly asked, giving him a smile. Her change of heart had had a lot to do with him of course and she wanted him to know that, without scaring him off. He returned the smile, almost pleased to see her blush. "Ye know what would be nice?" she started, making him wonder how her mind had made that leap. "Wouldn't it be nice to go to San Antonio for the day one weekend? See the sights and spend some time together without havin' to be careful or hide?" she suggested now. 

He gave her a thoughtful look. It did sound good, but he wasn't sure what excuse they'd come up with that would satisfy her sister for an entire day. "It would be nice to just be able to do this in public," he agreed as he took hold of her hand. "But what would ye tell Jennifer?" he asked, seeing her look drop. 

"I'll think of somethin'," she said after thinking for a minute but coming up blank. 

"I'm sure ye will," Jake nodded, playing with her hand a little. 

It drew her attention to the now quite dark color of her tanned skin. "D'ye think I've tanned too much?" she asked, remembering what Brianna had said. 

"Not too much, ye fit right in now," he said. "Why?" 

"Just somethin' Bri said."

"If we go San Antonio, I'll buy ye a hat," Jake promised with a chuckle.