Chapter Thirty-Three

Molly got up around 8, plodding into the kitchen to get some breakfast. When she opened the fridge, she was pleased to see that her sister had left her a fruit salad. Munching on her fruit she walked over to the window by the computer and looked out. She could just about see Jake's ranch behind some trees. She smiled, thinking about last night and this morning. She didn't really appreciate the interruption when he'd showed up last night, but in hindsight it was probably the sweetest thing that anyone had ever done for her. Even this morning, he was such a gentleman. She hadn't had much experience with that kind of thing, but she did know that if that had been in Phoenix with a city boy, he would not have been the one to stop and leave without anything happening. He was a good'un alright. 

It was almost 20 to 9 when she realized she'd spent too long daydreaming and now had to rush to get ready on time. The last thing she wanted was for him to tease her, or lecture her, for being late. 

"Well howdy ma'am," Jake said from on top of Maximus when she made her way over the fence. 

"Howdy there, cowboy," she smiled, perching on the top of the fence as he steered his horse closer to her. "Where's Bullet?" she asked. 

"I thought we'd do summit different today," he answered, leaning in towards her to give her a kiss. "Figured ye wouldn't mind," he smiled, kissing her again. 

She wrapped one arm around his neck, holding onto the fence with the other, as she kissed him back. "I might be persuaded," she said and kissed him again. 

"Ye'd better hop on then," he tilted his head like he'd done when they first met. Molly moved her hand so that she'd be holding on to his waist as she carefully climbed on to Maximus behind him. "Ready?" he asked, feeling her wrap both arms around his waist now. 

"Uh huh," she nodded, feeling him spur Maximus on straight away. She let out a laugh this time when she felt the horse move beneath her as he started to trot before breaking into a canter. Jake smiled to himself when he heard. Considering she'd only started riding two weeks ago, she'd come a long way. 

That day wasn't a lesson as such, they just had a fun afternoon and tried to work out how to plan in their dates around Jennifer's working hours and Molly's training that would soon pick up a bit more. 

They decided that if Jennifer was on an earlier finish and she'd be home around or just after dinner, that Molly would either sneak out or Jake would try to sneak in. That way she would be in bed earlier and there'd be less chance of them being caught. If she was on a later finish, they figured it would be better if they met up during the day. That way, if Jennifer wanted to check in on her or whatever, she couldn't find either an empty room or an unwelcome guest. Molly tried to plan in her training shifts along a similar pattern so that she was on an earlier shift when Jennifer was and on an evening shift when she was. And while her shifts weren't every day like her sister's were, it just made it a bit easier that way. 

Jake used the days that he wasn't teaching her to ride or getting to know her better to try to catch up on his chores or his homework. 

They quickly settled into the routine and on occasion decided to include Beth in their afternoons, especially on the weekends when Jennifer might otherwise be off. It gave Molly a genuine excuse to be out of the house instead of hanging out with her sister. 

Molly started to get to know Hannah a lot better as well, as she was the one primarily responsible for her training. They quickly became real friends because they wanted to be and not because Beth had introduced them, so to speak. On days they both finished early, they would go into town on occasion to either get some food or walk around with some ice cream, or they went to Hannah's apartment. Sometimes Jo-Lillie joined in as well, and they would go into town to hang out or they'd go to the cinema. 

As the weather started heating up, she decided to cut off a pair of old jeans she still had from Phoenix. And within a week, under some encouragement from her new friends, the jeans went from being shorts to becoming Daisy Dukes. It was after all one of the state's fashion statements, so obviously she couldn't stay behind.