Chapter Sixteen

Jake was outside the house at nine thirty exactly, wondering what the best way would be to let her know he was there. It wasn't like he could ring the front door like with a normal date. He circled round the back and went for the door by her room, figuring it was the furthest away from Jennifer's bedroom. He tapped lightly on the window, hoping even that wouldn't be too loud. He barely had to wait 10 seconds before she appeared. He had to remind himself to shut his mouth when he saw she'd changed her outfit and added some gentle curls to her already tousled hair. She was wearing minimal make up and she'd teamed one of her new blue checkered shirts with some knitted cardigan poncho. 

"Wow, ye sure could make a man plow through a stump," Jake said by way of greeting when she opened the door, swallowing hard. Every time he saw her, she looked more beautiful. 

"Eh..." Molly wanted to say thanks, but she wasn't sure what she'd be thanking him for, even if she could probably guess by his look. 

"Oh, I mean ye sure clean up real nice," he corrected himself, hoping she'd get it now without forcing him to actually say that she looked pretty. He didn't think he was quite ready for that yet. 

"Thanks," she got it now, giving him a smile. She closed the door behind her, making sure it was locked. That way if her sister did happen to check the door during the night, there was no reason for her to come barging into her room to tell her off for forgetting to lock it and find she wasn't there.

"The truck's round front," he said now, leading the way a little awkwardly. He sure did feel like it could be a date, he was so nervous, but at the same time he wasn't sure if it was. They'd only known each other for about a week. 

Neither of them said anything as they walked the length of the house, to make sure they didn't wake Jennifer by accident. He surprised her by holding the passenger side door open for her. Molly gave him a grateful smile as she hopped up onto the seat. He turned the engine on and waited until he'd made it around the corner from the house before turning the radio on. 

"So where are you taking me?" she asked curiously after a few minutes. She didn't know her way around well enough yet to recognize much of what they passed, especially in the starting twilight. 

"Not too far away from that cabin, I just have to go round the long way to get there by truck," he answered. "Sometimes people go near the river at the top of town, but that's usually later in the summer 'n for like… serious couples," he added, sounding uncomfortable trying to explain it was kind of like a lovers' lane. He didn't want her to get the wrong idea about him, even if he was fighting his feelings for her every step of the way. Picking up on how he seemed to be feeling, she wisely didn't make any jokes about it. 

"Do many people go near the cabin?" she asked instead, seeing him shake his head. If she hadn't already gone there on her own with him, the thought that no one would be around might freak her out. But it didn't. She actually felt kind of excited, having somewhere to go where it would just be the two of them there. Molly took him in as he drove and realized he was quite nervous, so she thought it best to lay off the questions for now. He'd speak to her when he was ready to. 

"Sorry I'm not a very good tour guide," Jake surprised her when he noticed that they were almost there, and he hadn't said a word about some of the things they'd passed. He hadn't said a word full stop. 

"Don't worry, it's okay," she assured him. He gave her a grateful smile in response before he turned his attention back to the road. It was nice that she wasn't putting too much pressure on him. Not many girls round here would've kept quiet or been okay with the lack of conversation. 

When Jake finally stopped the truck and parked, it was almost completely dark, and she could only just see the outline of the cabin a little way over. "Wait here for a minute," he told her as he got out. She frowned but nodded, wondering what he was up to. As Molly patiently waited, he was putting a couple of blankets out on the bed of his truck to make it more comfortable and limit the risk of getting her clothes dirty. He didn't worry about his so much, but hers were too nice to get ruined already. "Ma'am," Jake smiled as he held the door open for her. She returned the smile as she let him help her out and followed him to the back of the truck. He climbed up first with ease and held his hand out to help her up too. Molly hesitated for a moment as she calculated the risk of her falling to her face before she took hold of his hand with one of hers and the side of the truck with the other. She put her left foot on the edge of the bed and let him pull her up now. 

"Thanks," she whispered when she ended up chest to chest with him. He gave her a small smile before he stepped back to give her space. "So… have many girls climbed into the back of yer truck?" she asked teasingly, remembering a line from Sweet Home Alabama, which she instantly regretted when she saw his uncomfortable look. "Jake sorry, ignore me. I was just kidding, you don't have to answer," she said quickly, feeling horrible for putting that look on his face. She was starting to realize quite quickly that he was not that type of guy. 

"Just one or two," he said softly as he sat down on one side of the blankets. It's not like he hadn't had sex before. But it made him uncomfortable to try to take advantage of girls when they were drunk, and he could think of better places to seduce a girl than the bed of his truck. But a lot of the other guys and girls his age would come out to a place like this to do exactly that. When he was a teenager, they didn't have the bowling alley yet and there weren't as many shops. Few teens actually had a truck of their own to drive up to San Antonio with, which left the cliché of getting drunk in a field, where possible in the bed of a truck, with all that could follow. He'd usually tried to avoid joining in when he could, though he'd been to a few barn dances in his time. 

"Really?" Molly asked softly, still a little surprised. He was definitely cute enough not to have a problem getting girls to come with him, but she was starting to realize he didn't know he was or was perhaps a little shy. 

"My ma 'n pa raised me right," Jake said by way of explanation. 

She smiled as she sat down next to him now. "I wouldn't have expected any different," she assured him, putting her hand on his arm, making him look up at her for the first time in a few minutes. 

He gave her a small smile. "Thanks," he said, struggling to look away for a minute before a song on the radio caught his attention. 

Mud on the grips, wild cherry on her lips. I've been workin' and tryin' and flirtin' and dyin', for an all night kind of kiss. And country on the boom box, and candles on the tool box. I'm doin' everythin' right. Got the country boy charm turned all the way on tonight. 

He cleared his throat as he finally looked away, hoping she hadn't heard the topic of the song or seen in his eyes that, if it wasn't for the fact that they were in his truck, he wouldn't mind acting on it. "Ye can see the stars better like this," he said as he scooted down and lay down on his back, trying to get away from her eyes on his. 

Molly didn't hesitate to follow his lead and looked up as well. "Oh wow, this is incredible," she breathed amazed. Where she'd lived before in Phoenix, there was no way you could see stars like this. There was a permanent layer of smog and light pollution in the way. 

Yeah the moon comes up and the sun goes down. We find a little spot on the edge of town. Twist off, sip a little, pass it round. Dance in the dust, turn the radio up. And that fireball whisky whispers temptation in my ear. It's a feeling alright, Saturday night. And that's how we do it round here. 

"Thank you for bringing me here," she told him softly, her hand seeking out his and gave it a quick squeeze. She was about to let go when he surprised her by taking hold of her hand. She smiled to herself as she continued looking up at the stars. 

They didn't speak much as they continued staring up, unless it was to point out the odd comet or satellite shooting by, or if they weren't sure which constellation they were looking at. And they were content with just holding hands until Jake realized she was shivering next to him, despite her poncho. He grabbed another blanket that had been spare and threw it over her, pulling her in closer by wrapping his arm around her shoulder. 

"That better?" he asked, trying to keep his cool, hoping his wildly beating heart wouldn't give him away. Or his rising body temperature as he felt her curves pressed against him. 

"Uh huh, thank you," Molly nodded, her head leaning on his shoulder as her body gratefully borrowed some of his warmth. "I think this might be my favorite first date," she told him softly, glancing up to look up at him. She just about saw him smile to himself. 

"I think ye may be right," Jake said back in the same tone, pulling her in closer and gently leaning his head against hers.