It Took a Rumor

by Carter Ashby

  “Your future wife perhaps?” Clara couldn’t help asking.

  Jake’s lips started to turn up. “My future business partner. Not sure she’s gonna wanna marry me. Not sure I want her to end up like…” he stopped.

  Clara sighed. “Oh, honey, she won’t. She’s nothing like me. She’s like her mother who would never have let herself be used up like this. It’s why I like her so much. She’s good for you.”

  Jake got a faraway look in his eye as he nodded. “She is good for me. I hope I’ll be good for her.”

  “You will be, I have no doubt. Perhaps you’ve learned something here? Perhaps seeing what you’ve seen the past few weeks will help you in the future?”

  He met her gaze again and nodded. “Yeah. I think so.”

  They ended on a hug and with Jake taking charge of the plans for packing and moving her things.

  Jake found his father at the woodpile splitting logs. It was where Jake would have gone if he’d just found out his wife of forty years was leaving him. Hard work helped you sweat out the bad feelings.

  Gideon didn’t acknowledge Jake’s arrival. He just hefted the ax, swung it over his shoulder, and slammed it into a split log. He was old, older than his years, and his body was weakening, but there was still power in his muscles.

  Jake leaned against a nearby fence post and folded his arms over his chest. The afternoon was balmy with a warm breeze and a sky full of cumulus clouds floating by. “Did you see it coming?” Jake asked.

  Gideon didn’t answer. He leveraged the ax out of the log, swung again, and split it completely this time.

  There wasn’t any point trying to get Gideon to talk about his feelings. Hell, he probably didn’t even have feelings. So Jake went straight to business. “We’re gonna need a cook. I don’t know the first thing about cooking, and neither do you. The Gleasons got that daughter, Angie, she’s seventeen. She might work for the summer until we find someone more permanent.”

  Gideon placed another hunk of wood on the stand and swung his ax again.

  “And we’re gonna need someone to manage the bookkeeping. Might have to hire someone from the accounting firm where Joann Richie works. It’ll be an extra expense, though. Then we’ve got Cody leaving, so there’s pros and cons to that. Reduces our expenses. But increases our work load. I’d like to try and see if we can do without him before we go hiring another hand.”

  Gideon slammed his ax into the dirt and spun around, his face twisted in rage and pain. “My wife just left me!”

  Jake’s teeth tightened together.

  Gideon’s mouth shifted, his eyes softened, and his shoulders dropped. “My wife just left me,” he said, more softly this time.

  Jake looked down at the ground. There was any number of ways he could respond. He could offer condolence. He could explain to the old man that this was his own doing. He could even go ahead and abandon ship right along with his momma, and don’t think it wasn’t a temptation.

  But instead, he remained silent and waited.

  Gideon sank onto the chopping block, his forearms resting on his knees. “I just don’t understand it. She ain’t never complained.”

  Jake thought about Ivy and her big mouth. He’d never have to read her mind. He had no doubt she’d be making her needs clear up until the very end.

  “I don’t know what I’m gonna do,” Gideon continued. “You lie next to a woman every night for forty years, you kind of count on her being there.”

  Jake smiled sadly. “Maybe you can win her back.”

  “With what? If all this wasn’t enough for her, I’m not sure I got anything left to give.”

  “You’re looking at it the wrong way, Pop. You didn’t give all this to her. She gave all this to you. Your ranch, your boys, your life…she did that. You owe her, and you didn’t pay. Now she’s going to take care of herself.”

  Gideon didn’t lash out. He didn’t say anything for a long time. The crickets started piping up, preparing for the arrival of night. Jake needed to get home and address his brothers. He was ashamed to admit it to himself, but he kind of couldn’t wait to see their faces when he told them their mom was leaving their dad.

  “Son?”

  Jake looked up. “Yeah?”

  “You love the ranch, right?”

  “Yes, sir,” Jake said.

  Gideon didn’t smile, exactly, but he softened a little. “I’d hate to think I worked so hard for nothing. I always took pride in being able to leave something valuable to you boys.”

  “You should take pride in it. You’ll see your grandchildren run around on this land one day. You’ve earned that.”

  “Have I? I’m not so sure.”

  Jake sighed. He stepped forward and gave Gideon’s shoulder a squeeze. “It’s never too late to make amends, Pop. Never too late to change.”

  Gideon sighed. “These grandchildren…they ain’t gonna have Turner blood in them, are they?”

  “Almost certainly. I don’t see me and Ivy dating very long. I already know she’s the girl I wanna marry, and I’m pretty sure it won’t take much convincing for her.”

  Gideon lowered his head. “I don’t like it.”

  “You’ll get used to it.”

  “She ain’t a proper rancher’s wife.”

  “Maybe not by your standards, but I like her just fine. You think you can be polite to her from now on? For me?”

  Gideon nodded grudgingly.

  “I’d appreciate that, Pop.”

  With that, he turned and headed home.

  Jake waited all week for Dallas to get back on his feet. When he got home that evening, he met him in the hallway, Dallas on the way to the fridge for a beer Saturday night.

  “Feeling better?” Jake asked.

  “Yeah,” Dallas said, shuffling first to the right, then the left, looking for a way around Jake. “Lots. I appreciate you all taking care of—”

  Jake punched him in the face, hard. He shook his hand, wincing at the pain in his jarred knuckles. Dallas stumbled backwards. Jake caught him by the front of his shirt and slammed him against the wall.

  “You almost killed yourself,” Jake growled. “You almost killed my horse. You did kill eight of our cows and made another two dozen sick. You’re lucky we don’t put you down, son.”

  Dallas had tears pooling in his eyes from the hit, his cheek bright red. “I’m so sorry,” he said weakly. “I thought I’d maybe make the cattle sick enough to slow down production, cost Dad enough money that he’d have to think about selling to the Turners.”

  “You just about did it. That vet bill’s like a second mortgage.”

  “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt Eloise. Or you, Jake. I was just thinking about getting out. I hate this place. I hate this work. And I hate…”

  He didn’t have to say it. Jake knew who he hated. He released his brother and stepped back. “Come on into the living room. I gotta talk to you guys about some things. I’ll grab you a beer.” Jake headed to the kitchen and took a six-pack out of the fridge. His brothers all sat in various postures in the living room—Cody in his recliner, Boone and Dallas on the couch. Jake handed them all beers, muted the television, and took the other recliner.

  “Mom’s leaving Dad,” Jake said.

  “What?” all three of his brother’s said in unison.

  He explained to them the situation and then waited as they all sat in shock. He could certainly relate to the feeling. It was his own fault for not crediting her with any depth of feeling. Just because he never saw her cry didn’t mean she didn’t do it in private. Just because she served them quietly and diligently didn’t mean she liked it. And the more he looked back on his relationship with her, the more he realized how much he’d taken her for granted, how little gratitude he’d shown, and just how poorly he understood who she was as a person. Jake wouldn’t make that mistake again. Not with anyone.

  Cody was the first to speak. “Well,” he said slowly, “good for her.”

  Boone and Dallas n
odded and murmured their agreement. It was about like Jake had expected. Their mom had always been a fixture in their lives rather than a dynamic actor in her own story. This decision of hers opened all their eyes to the fact that she was a person with needs and wants.

  “So I want to ask you guys what your plans are,” Jake said. “I don’t expect any of you to stay on—”

  “We couldn’t if we wanted to,” Cody said. “We’ve been disowned.”

  “Yeah, well, I’m in charge now. He’s not going to disown you. He’s going to do what I tell him. So I want to talk about your futures and the future of this ranch. I need to know what you all want and where you’re going before I can make any decisions.”

  He waited, watching his brother’s expressions. Boone spoke up. “I’ve thought a lot about what I want this week,” Boone said. “Honestly, I’ve just been screwing off, not really thinking about the future. But…now that I think about it, I realize there’s really nowhere I wanna go. Nothing I wanna do.”

  “You ready to get your ass in gear and work like a man?” Jake asked.

  Boone nodded. “Yeah. I am. If I can stay on, I’d like to. Assuming the sheriff don’t decide to arrest me for murder.”

  Jake leaned back, not amused. Still, one down. He looked at Dallas whose head hung low. “All I know is I want out,” Dallas said.

  “Okay. What’s your plan?”

  Dallas looked up in despair. “I don’t have one. I just know I’m not cut out for this.”

  “I can’t work with that. You need to figure out what it is you do want, then we’ll see if we can help you get started. Give you a financial boost. But I don’t know what that looks like until you tell me what you want.”

  “I know, Jake, but…but I just don’t…I don’t know what I want.”

  Jake blew out a breath. “Take some time. Figure it out. But don’t think you can sit around here forever feeling sorry for yourself. Next week you’ll come back out and work with us. You’ll work here until you decide where you wanna go and what you wanna do.”

  Dallas nodded. “Okay. Thanks, Jake.”

  Now it was Cody’s turn. “What about you?” Jake asked.

  Cody chuckled. “I’m going to work for the Turners. Talked to Ivy about it this morning. But I was hoping I could keep living here?”

  “Absolutely,” Jake said.

  “If things get serious with Jordan, he and I might get an apartment together or something. But that’s a little ways off.”

  Jake relaxed. “Okay. So you’ve for sure got work?”

  Cody nodded.

  “Then you’ll get your share of the profits, if there are any, from this year. But after that you’re out. Right?”

  “Right,” Cody said, smiling. “I’ll even start paying rent if you want.”

  “No, way. This place is just a bunkhouse, basically. You can even move the boyfriend in here for all I care. I’m gonna build a house for me and Ivy over on that hill that looks out over the big pond…you know the one?”

  Cody laughed. “You’re going to build a house for you and Ivy? Is she aware of this?”

  Jake shrugged, trying to show more confidence and nonchalance than he felt.

  “Man, you’d better have a conversation with her. She’s not happy with the flowers.”

  Jake frowned. “What? She said be romantic. Flowers are romantic.”

  “She doesn’t know what they mean.”

  “They mean I like her. What the hell else would they mean?”

  “Yeah, Jake, I don’t think it’s enough.”

  Boone laughed suddenly. “You’re so pathetic. Girls like to talk. Whatever you think you’re feeling for her, when you say it, you gotta exaggerate it by a factor of ten.”

  “I’m not taking advice from you, Boone, no offense,” Jake said. “I was just trying to butter her up before I made my move. Draw out the anticipation. But if it’s just pissing her off, then I’ll accelerate my plans.” Truth be told, he was a little resentful of the things she’d said to him. He knew in his head that the most successful way to maintain a relationship was to assume that the woman was right and he was wrong. But her words rang in his ears: There’s no relationship, here, Jake. You gotta build that, and so far we’ve got two solid hookups and a little fooling around under our belts.

  That simply wasn’t true. Shouldn’t he call her on that? Shouldn’t he demand that she acknowledge that what they had was more than a couple of hookups?

  He went to bed that night thinking of her. Thinking of how he wanted to approach her. Analyzing the parts of her speech that were righteous and the parts that were flawed. In the end, it all boiled down to the fact that he wanted to be with her, no matter what. He’d have thrown pebbles at her window again if he thought he’d get a good reception. But Ivy was ready to quit screwing around and get serious. So he would have to wait until morning.

  It felt so strange, getting dressed for church. Going through the same routine as always even though the world around her had experienced some drastic changes. Still, Ivy prepared coffee. She sliced a grapefruit and toasted some bread, setting two places at the table. When her father came down, he was dressed in his Sunday best the same as always. They sat across from each other and smiled stiffly.

  “Who do you think will preach?” Ivy asked.

  Jared shrugged, giving his austere breakfast a woeful look before digging in. “I suppose Lyle, since he was assistant pastor. Maybe they’ll just start paying him, save the stress of going through a hiring process.”

  Ivy hoped not. Lyle had a bland personality and a monotone voice. “It feels weird. I mean, just last week Richard was our pastor. Now he’s the man who might have murdered his wife. Biggest thing that’s happened in Fair Grove in ages.”

  Jared nodded.

  Ivy ate, not tasting her food. She’d spent a lot of time that week crying. A lot of time being angry. A lot of time wishing and hoping for things that didn’t seem likely to happen. Today would be a day to rest.

  There was a knock at the front door, and Ivy rose to answer it. Jake stood there, dressed in jeans and a blue button-down, no hat. Of course, she could give him his hat, but she didn’t want to. “What are you doing here?” she asked.

  “Ma’am, I came to ask your Pa if I can escort you to Sunday service,” he said, deepening the drawl in his voice.

  Ivy found herself ready with a smile. She pushed the screen door open, and stepped aside, letting Jake continue with his act.

  Jake led the way into the kitchen and took a seat at the table.

  “Jake,” Jared said in greeting.

  “Mr. Turner,” Jake replied. “Mind if I take Ivy to church this morning?”

  “Do you intend to sit by her?” Jared asked.

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Do you intend to stand up for her in the face of your father’s disapproval?”

  “Yes, sir, but that won’t be a problem anymore. I’ve taken care of it.”

  Jared’s eyebrows went up. “Oh?”

  “Yes. Gideon will be polite to my…to Ivy. He won’t cause any more trouble.”

  Jared met Ivy’s gaze, eyes wide with approval. “Well, son, in that case, you may take her to church if she wants to go with you.”

  Ivy was still standing at the foot of the table behind her chair when Jake turned his questioning gaze her way. “May I take you to church, Ivy? In public for the whole world to see?”

  She couldn’t stop the gleeful grin and the swell of girlish excitement. She dashed upstairs to her room, grabbing Jake’s hat off the pillow on her bed. She picked some flowers from the arrangements that matched the yellow sundress she was wearing. After arranging them, she tied them with a yellow ribbon around the band and positioned the hat on her head.

  Jake met her at the front door, smiling and holding out his hand, which she took. He helped her into his truck, and as they bounced down the gravel road, Jake kept looking at her. “That dress, Ivy,” he said.

  “What about it?”
/>   “You wore that on purpose.”

  “I did not. I didn’t know you were coming to pick me up.”

  “You knew you’d see me at church.”

  She laughed. “I swear. It’s just a dress I wear a lot. I wasn’t thinking…”

  “You were thinking in the diner that day, though, weren’t you?”

  Ivy felt herself blush. “That was a business meeting.”

  “Come on. Give me that much. Admit you wore it on purpose.”

  Ivy smiled at him, finding it simultaneously fun to string him along and impossible to refuse him what he wanted. “Fine. I wore it on purpose.”

  He laughed. “Knew it. You’re trouble.”

  They pulled off the gravel county road and onto pavement, the ride becoming much smoother. Jake was quiet, but a few glances at his face revealed contentment. It was easy to relax next to him.

  “Mom’s leaving Dad,” he said abruptly.

  Ivy took in a breath. “How do you feel about that?”

  He shrugged. “A little sad. But mostly happy for her. Kind of makes me question everything I believed about marriage.”

  Ivy realized she was twisting the seatbelt in her hands. She forced herself to let go and smooth her hands over her skirt. “Like what?”

  “Like…I always thought I’d find me a woman who could cook and clean and garden and manage books. I’d make sure she was tall, like at least five-ten, and had a lot of brothers so there’d be more chance of her giving me sons. And while she was bearing my sons, I could hire her brothers to help me with the ranch. That’s kind of the plan I had in my head. Never really occurred to me to think about whether a woman would want to do all that for me. At this point, I don’t think I want a woman doing that for me.”

  Ivy was suppressing a smile. At five-four and an only child, she definitely didn’t fit the bill. “What do you think, now?” she asked.

  “I think you’re trying not to laugh at me.”