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There's a part of me that wanted the whole thing to fall apart. So my own fantasies of marrying Jack and living happily ever after could come true. Like, there’s part of me that logically knows legal marriage is just that, legal. That Jack and I could be together in every sense of the term except legally. But I still wanted the complete package. The one that told the world that I was Jack’s and Jack was mine.
Jack holds me close and massages my shoulder. “I’m going to go give Sheriff Rogers a call and fill him in about the trouble Max might cause. While I’m doing that, why don’t you head up to our bluff?”
I giggle. “It’s our bluff now?”
“May as well be. It’s where we both bore our hearts to one another. And where we both bore our bodies. I feel like we should spend some time up there, just the two of us.”
His devious grin told me just what that time would entail. “You sure? The sky’s pretty gray. Seems like rain.”
“I’ve lived here all my life, and I can tell when it’s actually going to rain. It’s not going to rain tonight.”
“Didn’t know you were a weatherman.”
“I’m not. I just think I got a ninety percent chance of guessing right.”
“And that ten percent chance is us getting soaked in a torrential downpour?”
He shrugs. “In that case, we run home, soaked. We can go into my room. Strip down to nothing.”
I blush at his suggestion.
“Then when we’re done doing things, wearing nothing, we throw on some blankets and warm up by the fire.”
“Sounds like a plan to me.”
He leans down and kisses me on the forehead before heading into the ranch house. I head to the stable and pull out Misty, giving her a few sugar cubes before heading out.
I don’t think I trust Jack’s weather prediction completely. It smells like rain to me, and I think I hear thunder in the distance. But he has lived here three and a half decades compared to my two weeks, so I’ll follow his word.
Misty takes me to the bluff, and I leave her under a nearby tree and set her up with a feed bag.
I head to the cliff, and take in the sights. It’s not a sunset, no. But the silvers, purples, and grays are beautiful in their own way. The thunder rumbles in the distance, and I’m doubting Jack’s weather predictions even more now, and that doubt is doubled when I see lightning far off.
Still, it’s a cool night, and I enjoy the breeze after a day of hard work. Even if I thought we were just going to get rained on, it’d be with him, which makes everything all the more worth it.
I hear the neighing of Misty behind me, and I turn to see what startles her, hoping that it's Jack.
No such luck.
“You,” the alcohol-infused drawl calls out to me. “You, it’s all your fault.”
Max hasn’t left the ranch like he said he would. Instead, he’d followed me up to the cliff.
“Look, I came here two weeks ago just looking for work,” I explain. “That something sparked with Jack, I can’t help. Things happen when they happen.”
“I don’t give a fuck about that fuckhead. He can get gold-digged into oblivion for all I care. I care that you’ve disrespected me. You’ve made me the laughingstock of the town.”
“I think you’ve mostly accomplished that yourself,” I say, reflexively, not realizing being a bit of a smart-ass isn’t the best approach at the moment.
He keeps moving toward me. Instinctively, I take steps back. I don’t want this angry drunkard anywhere near me.
“You think you’re a comedian, too, I bet? No, not only do I gotta deal with my ranch being wrongfully stolen from me, I gotta have you disrespecting my name. The Perrys have slaved for over a hundred years, only for some bimbo from the city to spit on us.”
Bimbo? That’s a word I’d never thought to describe me.
He keeps approaching. I keep backing up. Until I realize my mistake. I’m on the edge of the cliff, the one overlooking Greenbluff. The only way out of here is past him, and he’s wide enough that I’m well within his range no matter which way I make a break for it.
“You’re worthless,” he says, lumbering up to me. The odor of his breath is overwhelming.
