Chapter Fourteen

They spent the next hour listening to Remington, and Jake could tell she'd already listened to the CD a couple of times. She seemed to know some of the songs a little bit already, as she occasionally hummed or sang along softly. 

"Ye got a good voice," he said after a couple of them, seeing her blush. 

She hadn't realized she'd been singing loud enough for him to hear her, as she'd moved back to her spot against the wall of the house. "Thanks," Molly smiled now. She didn't want to say it, but the third title song, Remington, reminded her of him, despite only knowing him for a short while. The song was about a reliable, strong guy who could protect her, like, in some people's views, guns could. While she wasn't sure she agreed with that sentiment, even just having him sat here with her made her feel safe. And she hadn't felt that way in a long time. 

Just a small-town Cinderella. Daddy wants you back home by midnight every time we're together. Yeah that's my dilemma, I need more time with ya. 

They both looked up at each other when the next song started, thinking about what Molly had said about Jennifer not wanting them to hang out together, exchanging secretive smiles. 

I wanna watch the sun rise through the pines with ya. Night like this, wouldn't wanna miss the moonlight shinin' on a long slow kiss. You could be the one I can get lucky with. If the boot fits. 

Jake cleared his throat a little uncomfortably, trying not to make it obvious to her. He wasn't used to feeling like this, especially not for the new girl, a city girl no less. 

The diamonds in the sky lightin' up those eyes like oooh-ooh-oooh. You're the kind of find that I can't deny. Gets me high, cross my heart, hope to die. Pick a star, make a wish. Yeah girl you could be my all night, dancin' in the headlights. Fairy tale, good as it gets... If the boot fits. 

"I don't suppose ye've been outside in the dark much?" he asked, making her wonder where he was headed with this as she shook her head, trying not to get ahead of herself. "The stars are really clear round these parts, not bein' near any big cities. I could maybe show ye some time, the weather's still really mild at night," he explained now. "We could take my truck." 

She had to admit she was relieved he wasn't thinking she should ride a horse in the dark. "Yeah, maybe we could some time. I should be able to get in and out of the house without Jennifer noticing," Molly nodded now, grateful she'd chosen the master bedroom on the ground floor and not one of the upstairs' rooms. It would be a lot harder to sneak out of one of those undetected. 

Oooh-ooh-oooh. Let me show ya how a country boy treats a lady. Oooh-ooh-oooh. Go ahead, kick em off coz the boot fits baby. Oooh-ooh-oooh. The diamonds in the sky lightin' up those eyes like oooh-ooh-oooh. 

"Would tonight be okay? I mean, I still have chores to do tomorrow as the horses don't know it's a Sunday, but it might be better than a weekday," Jake suggested, getting a small laugh from her at that. 

"Yeah probably best," she nodded. 

They fell silent again as they continued listening to the rest of the CD and he found himself admitting that she'd made a good choice, picking this one up with the George Strait CDs. Until he got to Country Boy Love and 'Merica. He felt they were reinforcing this stereotypical idea of country boys. "Not sure I like what he's done here," Jake told her honestly, getting a confused look from her; as far as she could tell, Granger wasn't being too serious about what he was singing. 

"How come?" she asked, trying not to guess where he was going with this. 

"He's reinforcin' this stereotype of what country boys are like. It makes girls like ye..." he started to explain. 

"Girls like me?" she interrupted him in his accent, making him grimace to himself when he realized he'd unwittingly done the same back to her and counted her as part of a stereotyped group. 

"I meant, girls, people who don't know country," he corrected himself, "people like that think that country boys really are stupid, white trash, redneck hicks. I'm not sayin' some aren't," he admitted quickly. "But for most of us, it's not true." 

She looked at him for a few minutes as she thought how to formulate her response. "I don't think he meant for people to take this image seriously. As far as I can tell, Earl Dibbles Jr is his alter ego, it's just to maybe poke fun at what some people take for being what country boys really are like," Molly said now. 

He mulled it over, not looking away from her, trying to figure out what made her tick, what attracted her to him. He rolled his eyes when he realized he was seriously overthinking this. "Maybe yer right," he conceded. "I better be off, pa will shoot me if I don't finish may chores for a second day," he hinted at her distracting him too much, which she chose to ignore. "Pick ye up at nine?" 

"Make it nine thirty just in case," she said, knowing her sister would suspect something if she said she was going to bed that early. 

"It's a date," Jake said without thinking his words through and left before she could question him or respond in any way.