A Little Bit of Charm (40 page)

Finally Larry looked at his watch. “Why don't you take your lunch now? When you come back, I'll probably have you help the grooms muck out the stalls in the show barn. We have potential clients coming this week to check out our facilities. I want everything looking top-notch.”

“Sure,” she replied. And truly she didn't care that she would spend the afternoon shoveling smelly wood shavings into wheelbarrows and then rolling them to the composting dumpster. Nothing could sour her already foul mood. After washing up and retrieving her lunch from her locker, she strolled into the break room. Unfortunately, the all-male inhabitants made her rethink her choice. On impulse, Rachel headed to the back door of the Brady residence. Jessie was home for the week due to an appointment for wisdom teeth extraction. Rachel hoped she could spend a few minutes with Jake's older sister.

Jessie answered the door on her first knock. “Hi, Rach, what's up? Looking for Keeley?” The right side of her face looked mildly swollen.

“No, it's you I came to see. Do you think we could eat lunch together?” Rachel imbued her words with as much optimism as possible.

“Sure, come on in. I can't chew much, so I'm having an exciting bowl of chicken noodle soup. What do you have in your bag?” She slipped into a chair and gestured to another one for her guest. In front of her was a bowl of soup, and beside was a thick textbook, a highlighter at the ready.

Rachel pulled out her sandwich. “Chicken salad on whole wheat with lettuce and tomato. Do you want half? I have an apple and chips too.”

“Sounds good, but you go ahead. I'd better be careful for at least another day. Anyway, I've loved this soup since I was four years old.” Scooping a spoonful, Jessie smacked her lips with the
requisite
Mmm, mmm, good
. “What's on your mind, other than watching me eat with one side of my mouth?”

Rachel chewed a bite of sandwich and then swallowed. “I know I shouldn't be asking this, but do you know how long Jake plans on being away? Someone mentioned that he went to Florida to oversee the training of Eager to Please. It's just that he hasn't called me or written any letters or sent a message. Not that I expected him to after what I said to him.” When she sputtered out of air, she reached for her carton of milk.

Jessie's eyes nearly bugged from her head. “Golly, I've never heard you talk so much at one given time. What gives? My brother said you two broke up. That's part of the reason why he headed south.”

“Desperate times call for desperate measures,” Rachel murmured, heartened by Jessie's admission. She dropped the rest of her sandwich onto the waxed paper. “Jessie, I might have made the biggest mistake of my life.”

“Do you mean by becoming an exercise girl? Or does this have something to do with Jake?” Jessie's spoon paused midway to her mouth.

“It has everything to do with Jake,” she wailed, bursting into tears.” Suddenly the tension of the previous week, compounded by lack of sleep due to Beth's chatter, conspired to bring Rachel to the breaking point. “I love him. I tried not to but it sneaked up on me.”

“That will happen.” Jessie caught sight of Rachel's wounded expression. “Sorry, I'm not making light of the situation, but personally I'm overjoyed.”

“How can another woman's misery make you happy?” Rachel dabbed her face with a napkin.

“Trust me, I'm not glad you're miserable, only that you're in love with my brother. Because, rest assured, he's still in love with you.”

“Even after the wretched way I treated him?”

“Yep. People are funny like that. They'll forgive someone they love almost anything.”

Rachel stared out the window. The light rain was rapidly changing to snow. Roads would become slick by quitting time. “What should I do? I'm open to advice.”

Jessie's face sobered. “I need to ask you something first. What happened to the two Plain guys you were dating? Jake told me about them.”

“One of them went home without bothering to say goodbye. The other was in a buggy accident, but I told him the truth when I visited him in the hospital—that he was just a friend and would never be anything more. He's now courting one of my girlfriends with my blessing.” She attempted a smile. “So there are no other men.”

“Are you sure about this, Rachel? You're sure you're in love with my brother?”

“Without a shadow of a doubt.” She answered in a weak but decisive voice. “But what can I do now? I've burned my bridges.”

Jessie jumped up and enveloped her in a warm hug. “Bridges can be rebuilt. Keep the faith, sister. Where's there's life, there's hope.”

Jessie watched their newest exercise girl head back toward the barns with a heart nearly bursting. She had heard the blow-by-blow account of what had been going on from her little sister via e-mail. Describing the situation with Rachel and Jake, Keeley alternated between anger and sadness every fifteen minutes. No matter how many times Mom or Dad ordered Keeley to stay out of it, the girl just couldn't help herself. She was very fond of Rachel
and absolutely adored her big brother. She'd grown up watching so many Disney happily-ever-after fairy tales that she believed romance always worked out in the end.

Jessie, older and a tad wiser, knew that sometimes that wasn't the case. What was wrong with Jake that his women of choice never returned the same level of affection? Was he too kind? Did nice guys finish last like the country songs professed? She truly hoped not, because once she finished college, she wanted to meet her own Prince Charming and settle down. In the meantime, she had a little long-distance matchmaking to do. Closing her economics textbook, Jessie quickly washed her soup bowl and retreated to their home office with her cell phone. Keeley was still at school, but her father could wander into the kitchen looking for a snack or cup of coffee to reheat.

Once the door was closed behind her, Jessie punched in Jake's cell number from memory.

“Jake Brady.”

“It's me, Jake. Jessie. I'm home for a few days. How's it going?”

“Fine. Is something wrong?” Alarm crept into his voice.

“No. Absolutely nothing. In fact, you might find what I have to say particularly interesting.”

His unease didn't abate. “Why aren't you at school? Did you get expelled?”

“Of course not. I had two wisdom teeth extracted, if you must know, but I brought my assignments for the week home. Now, will you shut up and stop asking dumb questions? This is important.” Jessie waited a couple of moments. Then fearing he'd hung up or their call had been disconnected, she asked. “Jake, are you still there?”

“You told me to shut up. Why don't you come to the point, little sister? I have things to do down here.”

“Okay, fine. I just ate lunch with Rachel King. Remember
her—cute Amish gal with long blond hair and gorgeous blue eyes?” Unfortunately, Jessie resorted to their usual banter when dealing with her elder sibling.

“I think so. Wasn't she the one who told me to get lost, that she could never imagine a future with me? That Rachel King? Of course, she's only joined the growing list of women who find Jake Brady unacceptable as a boyfriend.” His scornful words covered a world of hurt.

Jessie stopped joking around. “Rachel came looking for me today, up to the house. I didn't initiate this. She said she was miserable and had made the biggest mistake of her life. Those were her exact words, Jake. Then she started crying. We both know there's not a manipulative bone in her body, so this is for real.” Jessie paused, waiting for what she anticipated would be a joyous reaction. She received instead total silence on the other end.

Finally, he spoke. “What happened to the two guys she was also dating?” Ice could have crystallized on his words.

“One of them skipped town to a new job without bothering to say goodbye. She said she didn't much care. The other had some kind of accident, but when Rachel went to see him in the hospital, she set him straight. They are just friends and nothing more. He's already going out with one of her friends. What do you think about that, big brother?” Considering the time he took to reply, apparently not much.

“There are plenty of Amish fish in the sea, even in Kentucky.”

“Will you listen to me, please?” Jessie's tone bordered on outrage. “Rachel regrets whatever she said to you and wants to get back together. She
loves
you. I think you should come home as soon as possible.”

Jake's tone also changed to one less angry, more sorrowful. “I appreciate the call, Jessie, and what you're trying to do. As sisters go, I could have done worse than you. But I'm afraid it's not as simple as just come home and all will be well.”

Jessie rubbed the bridge of her nose. A headache was building between her eyes. “Look, Jake, people mess up. This was a big decision she had to make—a lot is at stake for her. Are you saying you're not man enough or Christian enough to forgive her?” Annoyance ratcheted up from his typical male stubbornness.

“It's not that I can't forgive Rachel. I just can't leave Florida right now.”

She scratched her nose, trying to figure him out without picking an argument. “Aren't we paying Alan Hitchcock a barrel of money? I thought he took down a secretary, grooms, and exercise staff with him. If the guy didn't need you before, I'm sure he can manage without you until Eager comes home in the spring. Tell him there's a family emergency back in Kentucky. If you had seen Rachel's face, you would know that's no lie.” Jessie giggled, hoping humor would break through his protective shell.

For several long moments she listened to her brother breathe into the mouthpiece. At first she thought he was planning an ego-saving solution. When she realized he was crying, her blood chilled in her veins. “What's going on, Jake? What aren't you telling me?” she whispered.

“I did something really stupid regarding Eager to Please, something I should have told Mom and Dad about right away. But I was too greedy and too full of myself. I've messed up, and now I'm afraid to tell our parents. I've ruined our lives.”

Jessie swallowed hard. “Well, you know Dad's motto about worrying—”

“Please don't make jokes, Jess. This is really serious.”

“Then come home. Leave Florida tonight or no later than tomorrow morning. You can sit down for a heart-to-heart with Dad and Mom and get this off your chest. Then once you're back you can straighten things out with Rachel. It's what she has been praying for.” Jessie waited but heard only silence on the other end. “Say something, Jake. You're scaring me.”

In a strangled voice he moaned, “I'm so ashamed of myself.”

Inexplicably, Jessie started to cry too. “So come home.” She was practically shouting into the cell phone. “We are your family. We love you. There's nothing you could ever do to change that.”

“I will, Jessie, in a few days. There's a guy down here who's been talking to me. It's been helping a lot. We've been straightening each other out. Please don't worry about me. Sorry I dumped this on you.”

Her anxiety soared to new heights. “Who is this guy? You're talking to some stranger at a racetrack, and you think he can help more than your family?”

“It's okay. I met him in the trackside mobile chapel. He's a sort of a counselor for Christians, and for those who call themselves that but act very differently.”

“Okay, that's good, I suppose. But what about Rachel? What should I tell her?”

It took him a few moments to answer. “For right now, nothing. I promise to come home soon. I just don't know when. Trust me, after what I've done she wouldn't want a man like me even if I turned Amish tomorrow. I need to figure out how to fix this before I face our parents.”

Jessie exhaled a long, pent-up breath. “Fine, but I'll tell you the same thing I told her. There are no burned bridges that can't be rebuilt.” Her voice cracked as tears streamed down her face.

“Thanks, Jessie. I don't know if I ever mentioned this before, but I love you.” Jake's end of the line went dead.

She stood sobbing, terrified of something she didn't understand. Finally, she wiped her face and marched back to the kitchen. The lacy snowflakes of an hour ago had increased to the first real snowfall of the season. Pulling on her boots and shrugging into her coat, Jessie headed to the arena in search of Rachel. She would say nothing about her conversation with Jake, but she would insist
that Rachel head for home right now. The last thing this family needed was a horse and buggy on slippery roads.