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Jake stood facing him, knowing those feelings. Not being able to shut up, aggression pouring out.
"How come?" he asked quietly.
Nick sighed and didn't look up. "He walked in there on the first day of school like he owned the
place. Everyone's always going on and on about him, how sad it all is. And it is, I know that. But he
just& took over. Plays soccer, gonna make the football team easy, smart and friendly. Everyone
likes him, wants to know him. And then Lillian& " He looked toward the door, and Jake could see
how red his face was, how the muscle in his jaw twitched as he ground his teeth.
"Left you in the dust, huh?" Jake said sympathetically, understanding growing.
Nick nodded sharply. "That's about right."
Jake wanted to sigh again and thanked everything there was that he wasn't a teenager anymore.
"That's what this was about?" he asked, trying very hard not to sound like he was being dismissive.
"Shit, Nick. There's going to be lots more happening with girls that you're going to have to deal
with."
Nick looked at him with frank disbelief and Jake couldn't keep a grin back.
"What, you think that because there's a girl involved I don't know anything? It doesn't have any-
thing to do with being gay or straight, it's about relationships. And when it comes to relationships,
it doesn't matter what kind of bodies are involved, trust me. Men can be just as hard to figure out."
Nick eyed him. "Wouldn't it be easier?"
Jake laughed and shook his head. "I don't really have a lot to compare to, so I could be flat out
wrong, but at least the women I know will tell you exactly why they're pissed off. A man will just
walk out and leave you sitting there wondering what the fuck just happened."
Nick snorted at him. "That's what girls do. Sorry, man."
"See? Just proves my point. That's relationships, Nick. A whole lot of 'what the hell?' mixed in with
the good stuff. There's good news, though. The older you get, the better your brain works and you
figure out how to deal with stuff."
Nick winced. "Better than being an asshole?"
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"Uh-huh." Jake nodded at him. "Better than that. You see Jacob walking in and taking over. I see a
fifteen-year-old kid whose mother died. A kid who had to leave his friends, his home and his team,
and had to start over. Move to a new state to live with uncles on a ranch, when he couldn't even
ride a horse. You see where I'm going with this?"
Nick looked at the floor again and nodded. "Yes, sir," he said quietly. "I'm sorry."
"I know you are," Jake said. He did. "But you better make sure Jacob really gets that. What you did
was wrong on all kinds of levels. What he did was wrong, too, I won't deny that, and I know I'm
biased as all hell, but I can see where he's coming from a little better."
Nick nodded again and swallowed. "Yes, sir."
Jake nodded as well and took a breath. "Let's go get something to drink, okay?"
"Okay."
They left the barn and Jake sent Nick up to the porch, wandering over to Tor as they crossed the
yard.
"You look pleased with yourself," Tor said, meeting him halfway.
Jake grinned. "Fixed it, I think."
Tor's eyes narrowed. "Did you, now?"
"Had nothing to do with us, under it all," Jake said. "Just new kid in school gets the girl shit. Want
something to drink?"
Tor tilted his head and nodded after a long moment. "Sure. We'll be up in a few minutes."
Jake grinned again and headed to the house, looking forward to iced tea and a day spent riding,
even if he did have two teenagers tagging along. There were worse things in the world.
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Natural Disaster
Chapter Thirty Seven
The first Saturday after the corral was expanded and two stalls made ready, Jake and Tor hitched
the horse trailer to the truck early and went back inside to find Jacob almost vibrating while he
made breakfast. He might not have gotten the idea when the corral was being worked on, but when
he was in the middle of readying more stalls than they had horses for, he figured it out.
"Easy," Jake said with a grin, taking the spatula from him. "Don't burst yourself."
Jacob grinned and nodded, then bounced toward the table, almost tripping over Barkley. "Do you
know which one you're going to get?" he asked, falling into a chair.
Jake shook his head. "Nah. Doesn't much matter to me; I'll decide there. Called last night; the one
you liked is still waiting."
Jacob beamed at him. "Excellent. What time do we leave?"
Tor laughed. "Right after breakfast. And don't choke getting it down; you still have to wait for us."
Not surprisingly, breakfast was quick and Jacob talked them into letting the dishes soak instead of
washing them up right away. "C'mon," he urged, hustling them into their boots and hats and then
into the yard. "Fast there, faster home."
Jake and Tor both grinned at him, and Jake even caught a little of his excitement. He wasn't all the
way up to looking forward to getting himself a new horse, but he was at least in a decent mood
about it. The half hour drive was spent talking about new saddles and what they could get for the
money they had; Jake could have easily made do with the one saddle, but Tor pointed out that
every horse they had, barring poor Cotton and maybe Jacob's, would be a working animal. Saddles
all round would make the most sense, because no matter how often Jake had one horse out, some-
one would be on the other. Just because River was aging didn't mean that he was being retired just
then.
When they arrived at Steve Adleman's place, the three of them piled out of the truck and stopped in
the drive long enough to pet the dogs who came to greet them, and then Adleman himself came out
of the stable, calling out a cheerful, "Howdy."
Jake and Tor exchanged good mornings with him, turning down the offer of a cup of coffee when
Jacob almost whimpered at the implied delay. It made Jake roll his eyes and Tor grin, but they both
relented and let him loose, watching with shaking heads as he went into the stable, leaving them in
his wake.
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He went right to the stall he wanted, the same horse waiting there as the first time they'd been [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]