Chapter Twenty-Seven

Molly enjoyed her lesson but was conscious of how long it was going on for. Once she'd managed to get the hang of trotting, she suggested that maybe it was time to stop so he could finish his chores. She also didn't want to get back too late and make Jennifer suspicious. 

"I would've thought ye'd want to keep goin' now ye got the hang of it," Jake said, wondering where her hesitancy had come from all of a sudden. He could tell by her expression that he was right, she would rather keep going. "Don't worry about my chores, that's my business. Let's go for a proper ride instead of just doin' circles here," he suggested now. "Stay here, keep practicin', I'm gonna get Maximus," he told her and headed over to the stables with a jog before she could object. 

"Well, Bullet, can't say I didn't try," she told the horse before spurring him on to do some more laps. She could tell Bullet was enjoying going at a slightly faster speed than just walking in circles all the time. After a few minutes, Jake came back leading Maximus. He needed to open the gate first before he got on. 

"Where y'all goin'?" Duncan called as he appeared on the porch. 

"Goin' for a quick ride for Molly to get the hang of trottin'," his son responded as he let Molly out of the paddock first and led his own horse out before closing the gate. "We won't be long," he promised as he mounted the horse and spurred him on to start moving. Molly glanced back at his father with an apologetic expression before she followed him, trying not to feel guilty. "This way Molls," Jake called her, for the first time shortening her name. The way it lifted her mood made it hard to feel guilty. "Yer doin' really well," he told her after riding for five or ten minutes, seeing her smile happily. "Wanna try an easy canter?" 

"Let's not push our luck in one day," Molly said, still a little nervous about losing control of the big beast under her legs. 

"Fair 'nuff," he chuckled as he pulled Maximus up next to her. "So how come ye were worryin' about my chores for?" he asked her, seeing her hesitate immediately. 

"No reason," she said a little too quickly, now trying to avoid his look by looking at the land around her. 

"Ye know I know summit's up. Talk to me," Jake implored as he took hold of Bullet's reins, so she'd have to look at him. And she almost looked like she was asking him not to push this. "Can't be that bad, right?" he said with a nervous laugh, wondering what had happened to her earlier today for her to be so hesitant with him now. 

"If I tell you, will you promise not to get mad?" Molly started to give in. She didn't want to keep secrets from him, but she also didn't want to be the cause of any grief between him and his father. He gave a slow nod now, starting to freak out a little. "Yer pa asked me to give you enough time … to finish your college work," she didn't know how else to say it or that she knew that he was still studying. She thought it was great that he wanted to finish it, and it was more than she could say for herself, having dropped out first year because she was bored. "Jake?" she asked softly, seeing his expression darken as a muscle tensed in his jaw. 

"I'm fine," he said through clenched jaws. "He had no right to ask ye that," he continued, sounding more like he was talking to himself than to her now. 

"He just wants what's best for you," Molly said in an attempt to right the situation. 

"It's none o' his business," Jake corrected heatedly, but then managed to calm himself down and even gave her a slightly embarrassed smile. "I was gonna tell ye," he confessed now. "I just didn't want ye thinkin' I really was some dumb redneck..." 

"Don't you dare finish that sentence," she told him off now as she pulled him in closer, ignoring the horses getting a bit restless. "Yer not dumb, and I've never thought you were. Beth told me why you couldn't finish before and you should be proud of yourself. You came back when your family needed you and you're finishing it now. That's more than I can say. So enough with thinking you're dumb, got it?" Molly properly lectured him now. 

He looked a little taken aback before he gave a small smile. "Yes ma'am," he nodded. 

Now it was her turn to look a little embarrassed, not sure what to do now that she'd stopped yelling at him. "Sorry... I didn't mean..." she started to apologize as she let go of him and took Bullet's reins again. 

"It's okay," he managed a laugh as he stopped her from moving away completely. "Thank ye for believin' in me," Jake said now, "it means more than ye know." She blushed self-consciously, her horse translating her feelings by nervously stepping in place. "Let's go over to that fence up yonder 'n head back. Enough heavy conversation," he tried to lighten the mood again, getting a relieved nod and smile in response. "Race ya?" he asked, but she shook her head. Racing meant going faster than a steady trot and she was not ready for that. He chuckled as he conceded, letting her reins go to spur his own horse on. 

By the time they'd got back and brushed the horses down, Jennifer had come home from Walmart. Luckily, because the car port was to the side of the house, it was easy for Molly to see on her way back from Jake's. She knew to take the front door, not the back, to make it seem as if she was only just coming back from Hannah's. 

"Hey, did you girls have fun?" Jennifer asked when she trudged in, still unpacking the shopping. 

"Yeah was good fun. It was just a longer walk from the bus stop than I thought it'd be," Molly complained, which explained why she looked so tired and why she'd trudged in. She'd checked where the closest bus stop was with Jake before she'd come home, so it was a valid excuse for looking the way she did after her long lesson and brushing Bullet down. "I'm just going to go for a quick shower," she said as she continued to her room so she wouldn't be around her sister long enough for her to potentially smell horses on her clothes. 

"Fahitas for dinner okay?" Jennifer called after her. 

"Oh yum, definitely!" Molly called back. As the shower water heated up, she gathered her dirty laundry to put it in the washing machine, which was in its own little side room upstairs. She would definitely have to take responsibility for the laundry from now on, as all her clothes combined smelled strongly of ranch life and she wouldn't be able to explain that if her sister ended up doing the laundry. She sighed as she got in the shower. The things she had to do to keep Jake and their lessons a secret. 

"How are the lessons goin'?" Duncan asked when he realized his son had joined him in the living room. He'd continued sorting out bills and the accounts while they'd been outside, and hadn't heard him come in. 

"She's pickin' it up real quick," was all Jake said as he flopped down on the sofa. He knew his father would look up at him to see what was up in 3, 2, 1. 

"Everythin' ah'ite?" he didn't disappoint. 

"Yeah everythin's fine. Except for ye openin' yer big mouth. Pa, ye had no right askin' Molly to spend less time with me," Jake finally laid into him. It had really pissed him off that his father had not only gone behind his back and told this amazing girl he was interested in that he was finishing his college online, but that he'd asked her to be around less. 

"Yer education is my business," Duncan countered him. "I'm the one payin' for ye. And I wanna make sure ye make it. It'll help once ye take over from me," he continued, trying to play the guilt card. 

"Pa, I will make it. I ain't stupid. But Molly 'n may are still gettin' to know each other, talk about shootin' me in the leg," his son responded, getting a slightly confused look back. "She's found work at Café Chris, so once that picks up full-time in the summer I'll be seein' less of her anyways. So I want to see her as much as I can now," he explained, finally admitting out loud that he did really like her. 

And more than Duncan had thought already possible. He gave him a pensive look as he took in what he'd said. "Son, I'm sorry. Yer right, I should'a butted out, so I'm gonna do that now. And I'll apologize to Molly if ye want," Duncan offered now. 

"Thanks pa," his son said appreciatively.