“I need your help, okay? I’d be grateful if you’d consider doing another guest appearance.”
Country was quiet on the other end of the line. As the seconds ticked by, Jenna wondered if their connection had dropped. Then he yawned and said, “I’m going to turn in. Starting work at seven-thirty if you want to talk then.”
Jenna frowned. “You want to talk on the phone while you’re working first thing in the morning?”
“I’m not going to talk on the phone while I’m mucking stalls.”
“Oookay, so?—”
“You could come help. Isn’t Monday your day off?”
Jenna let that sink in. Was he suggesting she drive out to his family ranch and work with him? How did he know she had Mondays off? She didn't really have any day off, she just didn’t go into the office that day, which— Ah. She remembered now. She'd complained about having to go get her car on a non-work day. Jenna grinned. That was the perfect excuse for why she couldn't come out and dig through horse manure.
“I don’t have a car, remember? It’s stuck in the garage.”
He grunted. “Huh. Sorry, I must’ve misunderstood. I thought you needed my help with something.”
Jenna shook her fists in the air, silently raging at his impudence. Gentry Maddox was blackmailing her. Forcing her to come work on the ranch for the chance to convince him to return to GCBN. She felt like a Gumby doll with John on one end and Country on the other. But as much as she wanted to be annoyed by Country's tactics, the idea of seeing him—of seeing the ranch again—was already making her stomach feel like it was filled with pop rocks.
He wanted to see her. He'd asked her out for drinks, and now he was inviting her to join him at his home. You were my best friend for years, Jens. I miss it. She pressed her phone to her thigh and squeezed her eyes shut.
She shouldn't do this. She should walk away and tell John she'd tried her best, but Country wasn't interested. She should march back into the office and pretend to flirt with Glen and whatever other family relations John decided to hire.
Jenna wanted to pull the cassette tape of her life out of her boom box, then use a pen to wind the wheel back two weeks prior when everything had been straightforward and predictable. When she'd convinced herself she didn't want anything more than John's job and a girl's weekend in Jasper. Before all her wants were tinged at the edges with a smug smile and snarky comments.
“Fine. I’ll figure out how to get it. I doubt I’ll be in the best mood.”
Country chuckled. “Looking forward to it.”
Chapter Fourteen
Jenna chewed on her lower lip as she cruised up the county road. She hadn't needed directions, and Country knew it, but she'd already made two wrong turns. The blue farmhouse with the wrap-around porch wasn't at the intersection with the frontage road anymore, and the massive cottonwood that they'd watched bald eagles build their nest in every spring was only a six-foot stump.
It wasn't until she pulled up at Country's childhood home that she realized her mistake. I have my own house, Jenna. She hadn't thought to ask him where he was living, and now she was idling in front of his parents’ circular driveway at the crack of dawn like an idiot.
Just as she was about to put her foot on the gas and keep driving, the front door opened, and Terry stepped out onto the porch. He raised a hand in greeting, and Jenna ground her teeth. The kitchen was in the back of the house, which meant if Country's dad had caught sight of her, he'd been watching the road. Country had known she'd end up here and told them she was coming. That sneaky bastard. He knew she loved Terry and Janice, and now that he'd seen her, there was no way she could peel out.
Jenna rolled into the driveway and parked off to the side so she wouldn't be blocking any of the garages. Though if they were anything like they'd been fifteen years ago, half of them were only hiding boxes of old junk.
"Jenna!" Terry's rich baritone floated over the crystallized snow drifts that were scooped up against the lattice porch cover. "It's been too long, my girl!"
Her stomach sank like a stone. He'd always called her “my girl” and hearing it out of his mouth made pressure build behind her still puffy eyes. Even after taking melatonin the night before, Jenna hadn't been able to get her head to stop racing until past midnight. When her alarm had gone off at six, so she could pick up her car with Anne at six forty-five, she'd never felt more like she'd been run over by a four-wheeler.
"Hi, Terry." Jenna stepped down onto the pebbled snow and crunched over to the porch stairs in her Kodiaks. At least she still had some footwear appropriate for a day outdoors in December.
Terry waited for her to ascend to the landing then pulled her into one of his legendary bear hugs. She laughed out loud in spite of herself, then followed him into the entryway.
"Janice made some biscuits with her homemade jam if you?—"
"Actually, I was supposed to meet Gentry this morning, and I didn't think to ask. I know he doesn't live here anymore, but I kind of went on autopilot." Jenna shifted in her boots.
"Oh, he told us you were coming—that's why I'm wearing pants!" Terry laughed at his own joke then motioned at the coat rack. "Take off your things and come have a bite with us old fogies. Country will be along to get you in a quick minute."
She couldn't argue with that. She pulled off her boots and hung her coat and toque on the rack then followed Terry into the hall. She admired the Christmas tree in the living room as they passed, then caught her breath as she stepped onto the worn linoleum.
The room looked like it had been perfectly preserved, but it was the smell that did her in. That unique blend of old wood and the faint scent of vinegar and baking soda used to clean the countertops layered under freshly baked biscuits and dark roast coffee transported her straight back to ski days in their grade twelve year of high school.
"Would you like another biscuit, Jenna? Or do you want me to wrap one up for you to keep in your pocket?"
