Jessie’s Dusty Dreams

by Kat Carrington

  Brady said, "Apology accepted. And I'm sorry I blistered your butt."

  "Yeah. No, you're not."

  "Okay, not really. Friends?"

  She took the hand he offered. "Friends."

  Chapter 6

  It took some time to make their purchases since they did their best to find good, used items. Brady's dad pointed them to a place where they were able to purchase three round bale feeders for the price of one new one. They went to three auctions where everything went fast and mostly for too high a price. But they were able to pick up several gates that Brady was able to use to start constructing a sorting pen. The herd that they currently had was all heifers except for two bull calves, already castrated, that they would raise for beef. Their need for sorting wouldn't come until the heifers dropped their calves again.

  Jessie drank in everything that Brady taught her about the cattle, wishing she could stuff even more knowledge into her head. She asked so many questions that sometimes Brady had to beg for a break, laughing at her. She also carried a pad of paper with her so she could take notes. Brady laughed at her, but he was honestly impressed by her thirst to know everything she needed to know about ranching.

  After traipsing around to dealers for most of a day searching for a tractor, they decided to stop for a beer. Brady pulled into the Rusty Spur in town and they walked in and sat at the bar.

  "I'll be back in a minute," Brady said, heading for the men's room.

  There were several men at the bar, and a couple of them greeted her. "Hey, Jess, how's it going?"

  "Going good. How're you guys?"

  "It's beer-thirty; that makes it a good time of day," one of the guys said with a chuckle.

  Dan Whitman turned around when he heard her voice. "Well, Jessie Mills. When are you going to let me take you out and show you a good time?"

  Jessie said sweetly, "When pigs fly."

  The other guys broke up laughing and hooting at Dan. Jeff Parker elbowed Dan and said, "She told you, didn't she, buddy?"

  Dan scowled. "Shut up, asshole."

  Jeff laughed at him again.

  Dan wheedled, "Aw, come on, Jessie. You don't know what you're missing."

  "Yeah, and I guess I'll die wondering."

  Now the other guys were really laughing at him. Dan reached over and took Jessie by the arm, moving close to her.

  "You really ought to be nicer to me, girl. I'll show you what a real man feels like." He tried to pull her closer to him.

  Jessie caught a glimpse of Brady out of the corner of her eye. "Get your hands off me, Dan."

  He sneered at her. "Or what?"

  "Or this." In one quick move, Jessie jerked her arm away and kneed Dan squarely in the crotch.

  Brady, starting a beeline toward her, stopped in his tracks. Dan doubled over, cursing and clutching his balls.

  "You bitch! You're going to be sorry for that." Dan was sweating hard and gasping for breath.

  Mitch Crager, the bartender, came around from behind the bar. "That's it, Dan, you're out of here. I don't tolerate anyone treating a lady that way in here. Get out."

  Dan started for the door, still bent over, and spit out bitterly, "Lady, my ass. Fucking bitch."

  Mitch grabbed his arm and hustled him to the door. "I don't want you back in here for at least a week. And if you don't behave like a gentleman, consider it permanent."

  He closed the door hard behind him, and Jeff said, "Good riddance. Guy's a born asshole."

  Mitch stopped beside Jessie and asked, "You okay?"

  "I'm just fine, Mitch. Brady, come on over; let me introduce you."

  Mitch said, "Your beer's on me."

  "Hey, what about poor old Jeff?" Jeff said plaintively, making the others laugh.

  Jessie introduced them all, and they welcomed Brady.

  Mitch said, "And your beer's on me too, Brady. I thank you for your service."

  Brady nodded his thanks and they spent a pleasant hour having a couple of beers with the other guys.

  When they found out Jessie was looking for a tractor, Mitch spoke up. "Hey, Mr. Graber was in here the other day. I think he's selling most of his equipment. His wife wants to move to Florida, but he doesn't want to. She told him the only way she's staying here is if he finally retires for real and takes up fishing. He's got a nice tractor. Let me give him a call."

  After a short conversation, Mitch said, "He says if you go over to his place tomorrow morning, he'll show it to you. Not too early; he says his wife likes to sleep in."

  They all laughed, and Jessie thanked Mitch several times. They said their goodbyes and headed for home.

  "Indy's going to think she's been deserted. I'll have to make it up to her."

  "There's nobody more forgiving than a dog," Brady replied.

  "I'm sure that's true, but I feel bad."

  Brady chuckled. "Honey, that's one dog that has no doubt whatsoever that she's loved."

  Jessie chuckled too. "Well, that's a good thing."

  Jessie sighed in contentment when they pulled into the driveway and she looked around at the place. The cows were grazing contentedly, most of the calves were lying down, and the chickens were clucking and scratching in the yard of the coop.

  "Brady, it makes me so happy to look around this place."

  "It's shaping up more all the time."

  "It really is."

  "So maybe we'll get lucky tomorrow," Jessie said.

  Brady felt a stir in his groin and had to look the other way. "Yeah, hopefully this will be the one we're looking for. You did mean the tractor, right?"

  Jessie's mouth dropped open and her face turned red. Brady laughed at her. "Just kidding."

  Jessie felt a stir of her own between her legs and busied herself getting out of the truck.

  "You put old Dan in his place, didn't you?" Brady changed the subject.

  "He's never acted like that before. I mean, he's always coming on to me, but he's never been pushy before. It was weird. Oh, well, he won't try that again."

  Brady wasn't so sure. He silently vowed to keep an eye out for the guy. If he got the chance, he'd make sure he never tried it again. Jessie didn't deserve to have to deal with that jerk.

  Jessie had let Indy out of her crate and opened the door to let her outside. She laughed as the dog raced crazily around the yard, jumping joyously and circling Jessie. Jessie held out her arms and the little dog sped toward her and launched herself straight up and into Jessie's arms.

  "Oh!" Jessie exclaimed in surprise, catching her dog, who was licking at her face and wriggling in ecstasy. "You weren't kidding about dogs being forgiving!"

  Brady was laughing at them. "That's a good trick, Indy. I hope you don't grow too big, if you're going to keep that up."

  Jessie was laughing helplessly and finally put the wriggling dog on the ground. She tossed the ball for her a few times and Indy chased after it until she finally had to flop down, panting and wagging her stubby tail.

  "Welcome home, Jessie." Brady grinned at her.

  "Not too many people get a greeting like that," she answered with her own grin. "I don't know about you, but I'm starving. How about leftovers tonight?"

  "I'd eat your leftovers anytime," Brady replied. "Just let me go check the herd, and I'll be in."

  "Okay, sounds good."

  Jessie warmed up the chicken casserole she had made a couple of nights before and popped some biscuits in the oven. She put butter and homemade jam on the table, and Brady was in by the time the casserole was hot. She had heated up some green beans to go with it and they enjoyed a good supper together. They finished up with a bowl of ice cream on the porch, and Jessie got Brady to sing again.

  When Jessie changed for bed that night, she stood staring into the mirror for a few minutes. She saw a slim girl, medium height with shoulder length golden hair that she liked, a sprinkling of freckles across her nose, and expressive gray eyes. She knew her eyes darkened when she was angry, and when she went sleeveless in the summertime, s
he got that sprinkling of freckles on her shoulders too. She thought of herself as ordinary looking, but she was comfortable with herself and really didn't feel she'd change anything even if she could.

  Jessie cupped her hands under her small, pert breasts and slid a hand down over her flat, firm belly. Unbidden, her mind wandered to the day that Brady had spanked her and she felt that same stirring between her legs. In fact, it seemed that she was feeling that stirring more and more often when she merely looked at Brady. When she watched him working, his muscles rippling in the sun and his nicely tanned chest when he stripped off his shirt to work in the heat, she found her mouth watering. She wondered if it really was weird to be attracted to him then laughed at herself when she realized that, weird or not, the fact was that she was attracted to him, and it was growing stronger.

  Indy didn't have to go into the crate at night anymore, and she gave her a goodnight cuddle and crawled into bed as her dog curled up on the rug beside the bed. Jessie lay awake, thinking about Brady pulling his shirt off to work on the fence. Her fingers drifted across her belly and lower, between her legs, to find that, sure enough, she was swollen and wet down there. When she finally drifted off to sleep, she dreamed about searching for Jake to try to get his blessing for her and Brady. She could hear him laughing, but she couldn't find him. When she woke in the morning, there were remnants of the dream still drifting around her, but she couldn't quite recall it.

  * * *

  Jessie hurried to get dressed and got to the kitchen early, only to find the coffee brewed and Brady at the stove. She smiled a good morning and took the cup of coffee he handed her. He had a ham steak frying in the iron skillet and a skillet full of fluffy scrambled eggs nearly done. Jessie popped bread in the toaster and set the little pot of jam on the table. While she buttered the toast, she had the thought that these mornings felt like she and Brady were an old married couple. Then she thought, but even an old married couple could still be okay, I guess we're not quite like any kind of married couple. Shit.

  She saw Brady staring at her and realized she had the butter knife poised over the last piece of toast without moving it.

  "You okay?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

  She flushed and said, "Yeah, just remembered something I forgot to do. No worries; it'll wait."

  She took the toast to the table and got juice out of the refrigerator. They dug into their breakfast and shared the newspaper that Indy loved to fetch from the front sidewalk every morning. When they were finished, Brady tossed Indy a little morsel of ham and earned her lifelong adoration. Jessie took care of the dishes and went out to feed the chickens while Brady took care of the cows. By the time they were finished with their morning chores, it was late enough to go to the Grabers'. They let Indy go with them since she had spent so long at home the day before. She hopped up to her spot between them in the front seat of the truck and they left for the Grabers'.

  Indy stayed in the truck while they got out to go the door. She watched them, but she was well behaved enough to wait patiently in the truck. Mr. Graber came out and Jessie introduced Brady. The old man talked about the weather and the crops and the neighbors while he led them to the barn where his tractor was. Jessie and Brady looked at each other when they saw the old tractor. It was old, but it was in pristine condition, the best they had seen of all the used tractors they had looked at.

  Brady said, "Okay if I start it up?"

  The old man waved. "Oh, sure. She's been a good old girl."

  The tractor fired right up, and Mr. Graber pulled the big barn door open so Brady could drive it out. He checked it out carefully. Everything was in perfect working order. Brady shut it off and checked it over in the sunlight.

  Finally, Brady asked, "So what are you asking for her?"

  Mr. Graber scratched his head and thought for a long minute. When he named the price, Jessie nearly let her mouth fall open. It was far less than they had expected.

  Brady looked at the tractor for a long moment. "Is that firm? Are you sure about it?"

  Mr. Graber nodded firmly. "Now, I know it's high, but I'm not coming down. That's my price; take it or leave it."

  Brady scratched his head and thought for a long minute. Then he sighed. "Let me talk to the lady."

  He took Jessie's elbow and led her off for a few feet. Jessie barely breathed at him, "Brady, are you crazy? That's the buy of the century."

  He nodded with a long face. "I know, but I've got to let him think he really pulled one over on me. He'd be insulted if I didn't act like he's twisting my arm."

  They talked to each other for a few more moments and then walked back to the old man.

  "All right, Mr. Graber. You drive a hard bargain, but we really need the tractor. We'll pay your price. Is a check okay, or do you want cash?"

  "Oh, your check is fine. I know where to find you. Come on in the house where you can sit down and write it. I've got the manual in there too."

  He talked all the way back to the house, and his wife poured iced tea for them all while they finished the business. It was a good forty-five minutes before they finally got the tractor loaded onto the trailer and said their thank yous and goodbyes. Brady and Jessie made sure they were on the road before they started laughing.

  "Oh, my gosh," Jessie said. "He was so cute. I kind of feel bad for only paying that much for the tractor. I feel like I should have slipped his wife some more money."

  Brady was still chuckling. "Honestly, his price was right for the age of the tractor, but the fact that it's in perfect condition makes it worth more, especially to us. But he got what he wanted and he's happy as he can be right now. He's going to brag to his buddies about how he got his price without coming down a penny."

  "Well, it sure worked out for us," Jessie said. "I kind of feel like it's Christmas morning."

  "Let's get it home," Brady said. "I need to play with it for a while. Then you need to learn to operate it."

  "Yay! I like new toys." Jessie grinned at him. Then she had a sudden thought. "Is it going to be hard to find implements for it?"

  "Nope. That's going to be the easy part."

  "This is a good day." She was beaming as they pulled into the driveway and drove to the barnyard.

  Brady turned to look at her and felt his gut twist at the pure sexiness of that smile on her face. For a moment, she took his breath away. He turned away for a minute and then said, "Let's get her unloaded. You might want to put Indy on the leash, just to be safe. She'll learn to keep out of the way, but she doesn't know yet."

  "I will. Come on, Indy, let's go for a walk."

  They passed the next couple of hours playing with the tractor, and then Brady decided he couldn't put off work any longer and Jessie decided the same. He went off to the fields and she went to the house. She put some laundry in and gave both bathrooms a good cleaning. Then she baked a cherry pie and started sauce for lasagna. By the time she got the lasagna assembled, it was nearly late enough to put it in the oven. She went out and gathered lettuce and cucumbers and radishes from her garden for a salad.

  When Brady came in, the house was full of good smells. He sniffed appreciatively and went to wash up. They had plenty to talk about while they enjoyed their dinner and decided they needed to wait a while before dessert. They watched an old movie on TV and then had cherry pie and ice cream.

  Jessie said idly, "You know, I think I'd like to get a piano. There's plenty of room for it."

  Surprised, Brady asked, "Do you play?"

  "Yes, I used to play all the time. But we sold a lot of stuff that we didn't want to move when we started actively shopping for the ranch. It would be fun to have one again."

  Brady said, "That shouldn't be hard. People sell pianos all the time. Why don't you start watching the paper for one?"

  Jessie smiled and said, "I will. It would be nice to make music again."

  When Brady lay in bed later, he vowed that he would make sure Jessie got her piano.

  Chapter 7

&nb
sp; The days slipped by, and Brady worked harder and harder to get ready for winter. The second barn, really more of a three-sided shed, needed a lot of work before he filled it with round bales of hay from their own hayfield. The third cutting had given them all they needed and they had enough stored for even a severe winter. Brady had cut and stacked wood for the wood burner in the house, and Jessie had harvested most of her garden, canning and freezing what they didn't eat fresh. She still had potatoes to dig and winter squash on the vine.

  One day, watching Brady drive away from the barn on the tractor while she put dishes away, Jessie had the realization that, eventually, Brady would be finished with everything he had to do here and he would be leaving. The plate she was holding slipped from her fingers and shattered on the floor. Flustered, Jessie grabbed Indy's collar and made her sit on the rug at the back door while she cleaned up the mess. Then she called the dog to her and bent over her, burying her face in her soft fur and rocking in agony. Finally, she caught her breath and scolded herself for her silliness.

  Out loud, she said, "Jessie, you idiot. You always knew he was only here temporarily. What the hell are you thinking? It's not like he's going to disappear from your life forever; you'll always be friends. Friends. Oh, God, I don't want him to leave."

  Numbly, she got up and finished her chores in a bit of a daze. She was quiet for the rest of the day and Brady wondered what was going on with her when he finally got back to the house for dinner. He tried unsuccessfully to get her laughing and finally decided she must be missing Jake.

  "Hey," he finally said. "I know it's a ways off yet, but I talked to my mom today and she wants me to bring you to their house for Christmas. Indy is welcome, and by then, we'll have a guy lined up to help out here. We can get him or someone else to come take care of chores for a day or two. Does that sound okay to you? I have to tell you, my mom doesn't take no for an answer."

  Jessie smiled wanly at him. "Sure. That sounds really nice. It would be good to be with a family for Christmas. It's not going to be an easy one, and that would help. Last year, I was just numb at holiday time and I didn't celebrate at all. So tell your mother I would love that."