Forever's Embrace (Forever In Luck Series Book 2) (11 page)

Feeling
uncomfortable, she looked away. This was what it was like all her life, being
there but not fitting in, people listening and staring, either completely put
off by her or inappropriately overtaken. She wanted to kick herself. Who was
she trying to kid? She didn’t have a clue as to what she was doing here. She
should’ve stayed in Chicago.

What
had she done wrong? She couldn’t help but feel she’d done something wrong, but
what? Maybe she hadn’t. Oh, what the heck would she know, she didn’t have
experience with people on this level, let alone with a group of men. She took a
deep breath, the wind having been let out of her sails.

Walking
over to her, Jake pulled her out of her chair and into his arms, kissing her
tender and gentle to start, then with more sincerity. She moved her hands up
his chest, wanting to go farther, but didn’t know if she should. She returned
his kiss in kind, and soon his tongue was teasing hers, while one of his hands
moved way down, cupping her bottom and pulling her in tight.

Breathless,
he pulled back, then looked down at her guardedly. “You’re a fantastic cook,
and a phenomenal kisser, and I’m not just saying that, I mean every word.”

Okaaay,
she thought, more worried than ever. If that’s the case then, why’s he so
morose?

Letting
her go, he stepped back and left the room.

Feeling
weak in the knees, Jules reached out and grabbed the back of a chair, steadying
herself as she watched him walk out of the house. She was so confused. This had
been the oddest morning, but the worst part of it all, was that even though
Jake was there, it felt like he was a million miles away. “Well, Connecticut,”
she said, with a pain in her heart and tears in her eyes, “here I come.”

*****

Jake
stomped to the barn. He knew he shouldn’t be upset, but seriously, why would
she ever want him. The writing was on the wall, and flashing like a neon sign.
Hell, it was obvious she didn’t need him. She was accomplished, financially
solvent, and solid. He wasn’t. All he had were some stupid old trophies, stacks
of sporting magazines, some skates and hockey sticks, a truck, and a three
hundred and sixty-five days a year job, with no vacation time or benefits.
Further, the pay was variable, and the effort a gamble. He was, by all intents
and purposes, a bad bet.

Getting
in the bobcat, he headed over to the food mixer and started dumping in bucket
loads of feed materials. After a while, Kris showed up and hauled it all away.
Heading to the calving area, he examined the moms to be, a couple of them were
within days of calving. After feeding and tending to his girls, he went to the
calf pens for the babies, and group stalls for older calves, assessing for
issues. Grabbing a shovel and rake, he decided to give the pens a thorough
cleaning. If nothing else, it would be good for the calves, but mostly it would
allow him to work off some of his frustration.

Several
hours later, he walked into the lunchroom of the old creamery and was relieved
to see he was alone. Heading to the sink, he washed up, then stepped into the
cooler and grabbed a jug of milk, along with stuff to make sandwiches. He
walked out to Kris and Nik sitting at the table waiting for him.

Nik
started in, “She’s a good cook.”

Ah
hell, he should get back in the bobcat, no one could bug him there.

“Yeah,
Jake, mighty fine grub this morning,” Kris added.

Double
trouble. Jake growled inside and ignored them both.

“Did
you taste them French eggs?” Nik asked no one in particular. “Woowee, soft,
buttery, creamy little morsels that melted in your mouth. I thought I died and
went to heaven. We think you should marry her.”

Jake
snorted as he reached for a knife. Yeah, he thought so too, but the likelihood
of that happening was zero to none. Hell, Hey Diddle Diddle’s cow had a better
chance of jumping over the moon, than he did of marrying her.

In
walked his dad, reaching for the bread as he sat.

“Hey,
you listening?” Kris asked, as he smacked Jake on the arm, trying to get his
attention.

Ignoring
them all, Jake just kept on making his sandwiches.

“Come
on, man, she made butter. Not just any butter, she made ghee and raw butter,
not to mention the curd cream. Jake, stop, look at me.”

Jake
stopped, looking off in the distance. He felt like kicking something, he was so
damn irritated.

Kris
continued, “She’s doing things that Mama did when she was alive. She has the
knowhow, and the potential is there for the specialty end of the business again.
The thing is, Mama just used to make the stuff, but Jules makes it and uses it.
Couple that with her knowledge and background, and the results are mind
boggling.”

Jake
snapped. “Do you think I don’t know this? But why, huh, why would she ever want
to marry me? She speaks multiple languages, is an accomplished painter, has a
six figure income, and is gorgeous, as well as smart. Me, I’m out here slinging
cow shit with the three of you, with no guaranteed income, and my only
certifiable experience is applying automatic milking machines to cow tits.”

Nik
got a big grin on his face. “You better make it good for her then, really,
really good. Treat her like a queen. At least you’ll have fun in the process.”

“What
the hell are you talking abo—you idiot! You think sexing her up is going to
pull her in? I said she was smart, didn’t I? She can have any guy she wants,
good bets, safe bets. They’d all be capable of taking care of her needs.”

“Which
is why you need to make it really, really good for her. You need to be better,
treat her better than the rest.”

Jake
shook his head. “Would you just shut up? Please.”

“He’s
right,” Kris added.

Grinning
from ear to ear, Nik wiggled his eyebrows and nodded his head in agreement.

“Shut
up.” Jake snapped.

“Jake,
come on, you need to at least try,” Kris encouraged. “She likes you, she chose
you over us. Which is still a mystery by the way, but still, we won’t hold it
against her. Anyways, the worst that could happen is she says no, and that’s
the end of it, or she could say yes, and it would be the start of something
great.”

“Yeah,”
Nik added, “you may think it’s a long shot, but you’ve always been pretty dang
lucky. You really don’t have much to lose by trying, but if you don’t, and let
her walk away, your loss will be immeasurable.”

Jake
took a deep breath and let it out. Nik was right. If he let her walk away, the
loss would be staggering. He shook his head, unable to see a way to make it all
work. “How? What do I do? I don’t know what to do.”

“What?”
his brothers said in shocked unison. Even his dad, who’d done nothing but
listen, stopped chewing and looked at him with raised eyebrows.

“Ah,
Jake,” Nik said, looking at him like he had a few screws loose. “You’ve been
bringing the ladies out to Frisky’s pen long enough to know how things go,
where they go.”

Jake
rolled his eyes and growled in frustration. “Would you shut up! I don’t need a
tutorial on the sex act, you dope. She’s a virgin. I can’t walk in there, throw
her on the bed, and just go at it. Good grief. No mystery here, this is why she
picked me over you two. Look, six weeks ago, I listened to her tell Linnie that
if a date went well with a guy, she might let him hold and kiss her hand, and
that’s it.”

“Yeah,
but you’re already on first base,” Kris interrupted. “We saw you hug and kiss
her this morning. So treat her right. Do all the things we do here, and then
some. Make sure she’s comfortable, has good food and drink, a place to rest,
relax, tend to her, talk to her, take her places, do things with her, then when
the time is right, go for second and third base. Before you know it, you’ll be
sliding into home.”

Both
his brothers snickered at the pun, while his dad just shook his head. Jake
rolled his eyes again. “Duh, Einstein. I know all that. The problem is time.
You don’t go from kissing her hand, to sliding into home, within a few days
with someone like her. In four days time, she’ll be packing for Chicago, and
then who knows when or if I’ll ever see her again. She’s been asked to
interview for a higher position at work. I looked into that company of hers,
and they have offices all over the world. If she gets that job, it’s possible
she may not even be in Chicago anymore. If I wasn’t such a pathetic loser, I
would’ve been on her doorstep weeks ago.”

Nik
clapped him on the shoulder. “Yep, you’re pathetic alright, but because Kris
and I are the world’s best brothers, we’ll take on your chores from now till
she leaves. That’ll give you roughly ninety six hours to work your magic.
Divide that by the average four hours per date, and you’ll have
about…twenty-four dates while she’s here, then at approximately six to eight
dates a month, that brings you in at… roughly three to four months of dating
over the next four days.”

Jake
narrowed his eyes as he looked at the two of them. “Best brothers my ass. You
just want her to stay so she’ll cook for you.”

“Damn
straight. Now get your ass in the house, the day’s more than half over and I’m
hungry.”

Trying
to rub some of the tension from his neck, Jake thought things over. Looking to
his dad, he said, “What do you think?”

His
dad chewed, then swallowed. “Depends on how much you like her?”

“If
I had the means, I’d marry her today.”

Finishing
his sandwich and taking a drink of milk, his dad sat back and looked at the
three of them, then settled on Jake. “So what are you thinking?”

Jake
shrugged. “I don’t know, go back to school, finish up, get a degree.”

“You
leaving the farm then?”

Alarmed,
Jake answered quickly, “Nooo, I don’t want to, this is all I’ve ever wanted to do,
but Dad, come on, what am I supposed to say to her…please marry me, my dad will
take care of us?”

His
brothers were quiet for once, looking anywhere but there.

Taking
several deep breaths, his dad looked down at the table. “I guess I owe the
three of you an apology. I’m sorry. Nate disappearing, the loss of your mother,
Linnie leaving and not coming home, then the closing of the creamery, it…
well…” He stumbled and stopped. After a few moments, he looked up at them and
continued, “Your mother and I had plans. One thought was for the business to
become Albrecht and Sons Creamery and Dairy. We never moved on it because we
didn’t know about Linnie, and we didn’t want to ignore her place in the
family.”

Sitting
forward, he went on, “In addition, each of you were to get twenty acres along
the east side of the property. Two at each corner, with our home being in the
middle. That’s why there’s a well in each location. At the time, we put them in
to water the animals when at the far ends of the property, but we did so with
the thought that in the future, they’d be shared between the two families. I
think it’s time for all that. I’ll work with Nate and Linnie to make things
right for her.”

“Dad…”
Jake said shocked, his brothers equally so.

Nodding
his head and affirming his words, his dad went on, “Yep, it’s time, and you’re
right, each of you need to start thinking of your future. I’ve watched the
three of you over the years, and I’m mighty proud of each of you. Farming’s a
tough man’s job, and you’ve each done well. Based on your talents and
interests, I’m putting each of you in charge of an aspect of the farm. Kris
you’ll be in charge of the land and crops, Jake you’re on herd management and
quality control, and Nik, you’re on overall farm operations. I’ll call the
accountant and see what we can realistically do for wages.”

“Dad,
you’re not retiring are you?” Jake asked worried.

“Nope,
I’ll still oversee things, work with the three of you till we get it right, but
my load will be lighter with all of you doing your thing.” He started smiling.
“Heck, I see lots of fishing in my future, but I don’t know that I’ll ever be
able to sleep beyond sun up.”

Jake
returned his smile. “Thanks, Dad. We appreciate it.”

His
brothers chimed in, expressing their gratitude.

“Alright
then,” his dad said, “with that settled, it’s time to go after your girl.”

Walking
to the house, Jake’s mind was a blur. At least he had a little something to
offer a woman now, but would it be enough? He was still a risk though, and he
had nothing to fall back on if the farm hit on hard times. Shit, his mind was
all over the place, it was like he was on some emotional roller coaster. He’d
been happy when he woke next to Jules, than frustrated and irritable after
breakfast, to angry with his brothers, then elated after talking with his dad,
and now back to worrying again.

Stepping
in the house and closing the door, he looked to the kitchen. Jules appeared in
the archway looking wary. Aww hell, he had to control himself from letting out
a string of curse words. She was nervous and scared again. She’d shocked them
this morning, and they’d reacted funny towards her. Damn it! He’d tried to
reassure her before leaving, but it hadn’t worked.