Chapter Twenty-One

Molly was surprised to see that he was leading her to beyond the stables, where they had a barn for all the hay and food for the horses. 

"I hope you don't think I'm gonna take a roll in the hay with ya, because if you do you got another thing coming mister," she started to object when she noticed he wanted her to follow him in. 

"Don't be daft," Jake told her simply as he held the door open for her, giving her an eye roll for good measure as she passed him. It stopped him from thinking about what it would be like, taking her for a roll in the hay. "Head to yer right 'n climb up the ladder, I'll hold it at the bottom for ye," he instructed next. She glanced back at him hesitantly before she decided to just trust him and started climbing up it. As promised, he held it in place for her, respectfully looking away so he wouldn't be staring at her behind, as much as he really wanted to. As soon as she made it to the top, he clambered up after her. "This way," he said, grabbing hold of her hand as he passed her, so she had no choice but to follow him. He stopped and turned to tell her something but stopped short when he realized she wouldn't listen anyway. He unhooked one of the roof shutters and pulled it across, opening it like a portal to heaven. She stepped up closer to him to look up. He moved past her to find a comfy bale of hay and motioned for her to join him. "Now we got the view and the comfort," he told her when she turned towards him. 

"Good thinking batman," Molly smiled as she eventually sat down next to him. 

"Thank ye again for helpin' Bethy today," Jake said after a few minutes. 

"You're welcome," she responded, giving him a nudge without looking away from the sky. She felt herself sink comfortably in the hay as she continued to enjoy the view. She couldn't help but smile when she felt his hand wrap around hers. "Jake, would it be okay if you drop me back off home in the truck?" she asked after about 10 minutes. 

"But ye only live next door," he objected, thinking that made no sense. 

"No, I know, but Jennifer thinks that Beth lives a couple of ranches over. So it wouldn't make sense if I came back on foot," she tried to explain her thinking.

For the first time since they'd sat down, he turned his gaze on her. She did look uncomfortable with the suggestion, but she also didn't want to risk upsetting her sister. After a minute or so, Jake gave a sigh as he squeezed her hand. "Fine, I'll drop ye off," he conceded, getting a grateful smile from her. "Ye better be on time tomorrow, is all I'm gonna say," he added teasingly now, seeing her smile wryly. 

"Yeah, yeah," she gave in, leaning in a bit closer as she went back to looking up at the stars. He chuckled softly to himself as he did the same. 

They stayed where they were until about 10pm, after which she had to concede that her sister would be expecting her back soon. It was going to be hard enough to explain why she was back this late. 

"Beth, I'll see you on Tuesday?" Molly asked as Jake was looking for his keys to the truck. The younger girl was already in her pjs, about to head to bed before school in the morning. 

"Uh huh," she nodded. 

"What do ye need on Tuesday?" Duncan asked. As far as he'd understood the girls had pretty much finished the assignment. 

"Just to catch up," his daughter answered with an innocent shrug. She'd probably just double check the assignment to start with and then maybe start going over what Molly could wear for the barn dance. 

"Found em," Jake interrupted now, holding his keys up. Their visitor got the hint and with a wave headed towards the door. 

"Careful, ye don't want Jennifer to see ye," his father warned a little teasingly before he followed her out. He hoped that the older Matthews girl would be able to forget about what his nephew had done to her, for his son's sake. He couldn't remember seeing him like this before about any of the local girls. 

"Shut up," he told him and headed out to keep up the pretense that Beth lived a little way over and not just next door. He held the truck door open for his passenger. He hadn't decided yet on whether he was going to tell her about what his father had told him about Jennifer and Blake. After all, it may have had nothing to do with why she didn't want her sister hanging out with him. Or it had everything to do with it. 

"So tomorrow, I think maybe I should come over a little later. See Jen off before she thinks I'm up to something. What do you think?" Molly asked him as he started his truck and made his way down his drive. 

"Yeah, whatever ye think is best," he nodded, a little distracted. 

They pulled up in front of her house before she could work up the courage to ask what was wrong. She was scared to ask in case he'd decided that he didn't want to see her anymore, that all this was too much or too weird. 

"So I'll see you tomorrow around 10?" she suggested as she undid her belt. 

"Uh huh, sounds good," Jake nodded again, sitting back a little. If she was so concerned that her sister might see them, he wasn't going to risk them looking like they were interested in each other. Beth had told Jennifer that her father could drive her home, so he had to sit as if he was an older adult. "Good night," he smiled now, hoping he hadn't worried her too much with his silence. 

"Good night," she smiled back a little relieved and got out. 

After she'd closed the door again, he gave her a wave the way he'd seen his father do, hoping that if Jennifer was watching she wouldn't suspect. 

Molly was glad the lights off meant that her sister hadn't probably been stood watching them. She was especially glad her sister hadn't still been up when she got changed for bed and found some stray hay in her hair.