Along Came Love (6 page)

"I don't have a date."

"A date? Of course you don't. You're too
young for a date…but you can go stag."

"Stag?"

"Without a date," Cal interrupted for her, as
he watched the interplay between Jake and Sammie Jo with quiet
amusement.

"Oh, well Jennifer has a date. I thought I
had to have one too," she countered, still not looking directly at
him.

"Don't you like any of the boys?" Jake asked
curiously.

"Sorta."

"Then you'll go, and I'll escort you,
myself." Jake said staring into her beautiful young eyes.

"You will?" Sammie Jo looked up at him with
surprise. "But don't you have to babysit, Little Clint, and
Tammie?"

"I'll take care of them, you just go and have
a good time." Cal chuckled.

Little Clint frowned over at his big sister,
"Can I go?'

"No," Jake and Sammie Jo choired.

"What's a dance, Uncle Jake?" Tammie asked
licking her fingers where she'd spilled gravy.

"It's where boys and girls go and dance
together and have fun." Cal answered. "And don't forget to wash
those fingers, young lady."

"I'm eleven now, I'm big enough. Why can't I
go?" Little Clint asked innocently.

Jake patted him on the head, "Your time will
come partner."

Little Clint frowned, "Ah…I don’t' wanta go.
Dancin' is for losers."

"Losers? Where did that word come from?" Cal
asked.

"Gosh grandpa, don't you know what a loser
is?"

"I take it a loser is what we used to call a
weirdo, creep, or sissy?" Cal countered.

Little Clint and Tammie shook their heads and
looked at each other strangely.

When the two younger ones seemed dissatisfied
Jake glanced at his father. "I thought we were gonna play
monopoly?"

"That's right. Now, Little Clint go get the
game out. I'm gonna show you what a real tycoon is." Cal chuckled,
wiping his mouth and setting his dishes in the sink.

Little Clint got up from the table but turned
and frowned, "Okay, but I'll just be glad when everyone around here
quits calling me Little Clint. I'm not a baby and I don’t' need to
be babysat."

Cal looked at him and smiled, "Someday when
you are as big as your Uncles, you'll have earned the name and
we'll gladly drop the Little."

"Everything is always someday! How long I
gotta wait?"

"A while, get used to it, son." Cal chuckled.
"Now go get that game so I can show you some real tricks."

"Okay grandpa, but I'll bet I can beat
you."

"You just might at that." Cal said
smiling.

After a couple of hours of monopoly, nearly
everyone was out of the game, but Little Clint had held out well,
and Cal shook his head, "You gotta get all the hotels and railroads
to win, son."

"At least Little Clint gave you a run for
your money, dad." Jake laughed.

"I'll say. He's learning fast."

Jake laughed as he followed his dad into the
living room.

"I'm real proud of you passing the bar, son."
Cal said softly.

"Yeah…." Jake didn't want to expand on this
subject. He wasn't ready.

"Have you talked to the people at the firm
yet, I know they want to

offer you a position there. Joe's been
talking about it for years now."

"No, not yet…. Dad."

All the kids came into the living room and
broke up the conversation.

Jake wrestled around the living room floor
with Little Clint, and Tammie who was all tomboy,while Sammie Joe
watched and shook her head.

"Better not let Mom catch you wrestling in
the house," Sammie Jo said lifting her chin arrogantly.

"You gonna tell?" Tammie cried out as Jake
pinned both kids to the floor and had Tammie laughing so hard her
face turned a bright red.

"I might," Sammie Jo returned. "It's so
adolescent."

"Adolescent, huh?" Jake laughed, "Well, in
that case, we better get her down here so she can't tell on
us."

Just then he grabbed her and pulled her on
top of him so that they were all a big huddle on the floor.

"Get him, Sammie Jo," Little Clint
hollered.

"I can't he's got me…" Sammie Jo cried out in
laughter.

Cal shook his head as he passed them going
into the hall, "Kids, you should have had a passel of them
yourself, Jake."

"Nope, that's why I come home for vacation…I
can love 'em and leave 'em," Jake called after him with
laughter.

Friday night came way too soon for Jake. If
it hadn't been for Sammie Jo he'd have copped out. Besides, maybe
it would be fun.

Donning a dark grey shirt, and slacks, Jake
threw on his black leather jacket and waited in the living room for
his niece. Sammie Jo came out in a plain black velvet dress, and
instead of her boots, she was wearing black patent leather shoes.
She looked terribly nervous and Jake couldn't help but feel just a
tad sorry for her. He remembered his first dance, he was all
feet.

"You look beautiful pumpkin." Jake
smiled.

"Thanks, so do you Uncle Jake. I’m so glad
you are going to be there. I'm so nervous." Sammie Jo admitted as
Cal and her siblings came into the room.

"Wow, she's wearing a dress!" Little Clint
snickered.

"Well, she's a girl, silly," Tammie defended.
"Don't pay any attention to him, you look like Mama."

Sammie Jo smiled and grabbed her sister's
hand. "Come on, help me get my necklace on."

"Okay…I can't wait till I’m old enough…."

"Yes, you can, "Cal hollered behind
them."Kids, they grow up too fast."

"I know. I can remember when we were carrying
Sammie Jo to the hospital for that Grannies Elbow thing, seems like
yesterday."

"Well, you look nice too. But aren't you
going a little early?" Cal asked checking the clock and realizing
it was only four thirty in the afternoon.

"Uh…yeah, but I volunteered to help decorate
the gym. Actually I was supposed to do it yesterday, but I got tied
up. I called the school and told them I'd come early tonight and do
it. Besides, I figured Sammie Jo might be a big help." Jake
replied.

"They rooked you into it this year, did
they?" Cal chuckled.

"Kinda made it feel like it was my duty."
Jake said.

"You didn't say much about meeting Sammie
Jo's teacher the other day. How did that go?"

"It wasn't her teacher. It was the counselor.
And you won't believe who it is, either."

"Uh Oh, who was it?"

"Samantha Wilson, well…no, Samantha Courtland
now, but she used to be a Wilson. You remember, the girl I used to
pick on all the time…'cause she was stuck up."

"Oh yeah, her, well, I'll be. So how'd she
turn out?" Cal asked as he put the game pieces back in the box.

"She's a living doll. Her and her mother
moved back here, bought the old Turner house. You see her mom's
real sick, had cancer." Jake said finding a piece of the game and
handing it to his dad.

"Oh, that's a shame. I bet I know her
too…"

"I'm sure you probably do. She lived here a
long time ago."

"Small world isn't it?" Cal chuckled. "So
what kind of trouble was Sammie Jo in?"

"Ah, not much dad. Seems she's been match
making and they caught her at it. Clay's in on it too. But I think
my little talk with her straightened her out."

"I don't know. That kind of thing is inbred.
She takes right after Emma." Cal chuckled. "Who'd she hook you up
with?"

"Me? No one. It was a couple of teachers at
her school, seems she caused a little problem, but I managed to
smooth things over with the counselor." Jake smiled to himself,
thinking about Samantha and wondering why she had been so
secretive.

"I was surprised to see Sam, I mean Samantha
there. But then, again, I'm not. She was always smart."

"Well, tell her hello for me, and invite her
to the wedding."

"I'll do it, if I see her again. I'm not in
the habit of bumping into teachers though dad." Jake chuckled.

"Sammie Jo is matching making big time, huh?
That's worse. She should start at home," Cal mumbled and walked
off.

"Yeah…well. Pumpkin are you about ready?"
Jake called down the hallway.

"Just one more minute, Uncle Jake," Sammie Jo
cried out.

"Have a nice time son," Cal called as he
passed him, and strolled down the hallway. He kissed his
grandchildren on the top of the head and went into his bedroom.

Sammie Jo waltzed out of her room wearing
lipstick, and Jake almost said something, but decided it was
definitely time to shut up. After all, Sammie Jo was growing up,
and there wasn't a thing he could do about that.

"Do I look alright, Uncle Jake?" Sammie Jo
asked.

"Perfect," Jake smiled, and took her hand.
"Let's go get 'em."

But as he was about to mount the bike, Sammie
Jo pulled at his arm, "We can't go on that, tonight, Uncle Jake. My
dress….."

"Oh…yeah, I guess you're right. Hang on. I'll
get the keys to the truck from Dad." Jake spun around and went into
the house again.

***

The school gym was deserted when they
arrived, but the supplies were all sitting there waiting for Jake
to do something with.

Jake glanced at Sammie Jo, then the lights.
"Guess I better get started. You want to show me how they usually
string these?"

Sammie Jo looked at him as though he had
grown two heads, "I don't know. I thought you knew…."

"Well….I can use my imagination…I guess."
Jake saw the ladder and checked the rafters. "Sammie Jo, can you
hand me those lights, now," he asked as he climbed the ladder and
began making fastners for them.

But it wasn't Sammie Jo who handed him the
lights. It was Samantha Courtland.

He looked down at her and smiled. She looked
good enough to eat. She had worn a soft white blouse and a pair of
jeans that clearly showed off her figure. Something inside him
heated up. He might not be as much a cowboy as his brothers, but he
did like that comfortable look in a woman.

He tried to ignore what the site of her did
to his libido, after all, he couldn't remember reacting to another
woman like that in a lot of years.

Her cheeks pinked, "Sammie Jo is in a
beautiful dress and I don't think it's appropriate for climbing
ladders."

"Thanks, I hadn't thought of that. How come
you are here?" He asked.

"I'm chaperoning the affair, and usually they
need help with the decorating, and have very little. So I came
early. They said someone was suppose to be here yesterday but
couldn’t' make it."

"That would have been me, guilty as charged.
I had a sick cow to tend to."

"Oh, so you came early today. I see. Well,
I'll have to leave in a few minutes, to change. Fridays they let us
wear jeans, so it just happens I'm dressed for this occasion."
Samantha explained, her breath hitching at his intense glance.

Had she known he would be here? Nah…she
wasn't interested in him.

And he wasn't interested in her. He planted
that thought in his head firmly.

He tried concentrating on hanging the lights,
but it was too no avail. His eyes kept straying to Samantha who was
untangling a mass of lights on the floor. She was sitting with one
leg tucked under her, the other outstretched as she tried to
untangle the mess before her. He liked the way she fumbled with
them but kept on as though determined to accomplish the task.

Jake was staring. He couldn't seem to stop
himself. It was kinda odd, him staring at her so, but not many
women really caught his attention these days. There was just
something about Samantha.

Aggravated with himself for even thinking
along those lines, he busied himself again with the lights.
Determined not to allow himself a good look, he strung them as far
as he could, and then climbed down to move the ladder. Samantha
didn't seem to pay him much attention and that rankled him. He was
all geared for flirting a little.

But, for all he knew she was engaged or
something.

"It's Laurie Beth I should be worrying
about," he muttered, not realizing that Samantha was right beneath
him, and heard every word.

"Sounds like you should have brought her…"
She snickered.

"I don't think so."

"Sounds like she's pretty important…"
Samantha went on.

How did she get away with asking questions,
when it was he that needed answers?

"No, she's just a friend," he snapped.

Samantha's smile faded and she retreated
again to the floor. He bit his lip. Why had he spoken aloud? And
he'd snapped Samantha's head off to boot. Not that he wanted her
attention, but….heck…he did. He had heated up the moment he saw her
and it was useless not to admit. He never got that way around
Laurie Beth. So what was the difference? They were both just women,
weren't they? Still, Laurie Beth kept reminding him to take the bar
exam and start working for Williams and Dun law firm in Peaceful,
like she was. Laurie Beth was an intellectual, and he enjoyed her
company, but she lacked any real sex appeal. Perhaps that was the
difference. Not only that but the law firm in Sweetwater had
already written Jake and offered a beginning partnership. Laurie
Beth and Jake talked about law all the time, probably why he didn't
feel a commitment coming on. That was one way to turn him off
fast.

He finished stringing the lights Samantha had
handed him and went down again to move the ladder.

This time it was she who approached him, "So
why isn't Laurie Beth with you, tonight? I mean it isn't against
the rules to bring a guest."

He frowned.

"She's not from around here. And she'd rather
talk politics than dance, anyway."

"Oh, that's too bad. I guess she lives too
far away?" Samantha asked.

"A little, and I didn't ask her either," he
said, determined to ask the next question himself.