The Taming (The Black Thunder Series)

by West, Cary

  “What good would that do?” he frowned. “It still doesn’t change the fact that the position was filled according to that letter he sent you.”

  “Yes but then I could find out why,” she replied. “Besides everyone does it.”

  “You’re just not anyone baby,” he said to her. “And I’m not about to let you grovel at some fool’s feet asking why you didn’t get the job. It ain’t fitting Kate and I won’t allow you to do that to yourself.”

  “You’re a good man Jack,” she gave him a sad smile.

  “I’m not so good,” he said looking away as his eyes fell on the letter. “You know what I think,” he continued returning his attention back to her. “I think you’re too good for them. They don’t deserve you.” And neither do you, said a small voice inside his head.

  “You’re right I am too good for them,” she said firmly but then a pout formed on her mouth and her lip started to quiver. “But I really wanted that job.”

  She withdrew her breath and began to cry. Jack stood there watching buckets of tears pour down her cheeks as her shoulders shook intermittently with her sobs.

  “Ah Kate, don’t cry.” He opened his arms wide and beckoned her into their folds. She did and he wrapped his arms tight about her and just held her as she wept into his chest. “Everything’s going to be okay,” he said gently stroking her hair.

  “I so wanted that job, Jack,” she blubbered something fierce soaking his t-shirt in the process.

  “I know,” he said placing a tender to kiss to her hair.

  He held her for several minutes but the longer he held her the more she wept. He hadn’t expected this at all. He thought maybe she would bawl for a moment or two and then they could get back to the task at hand but this was more than just feeling bad and it unnerved him feeling her heart shattering across his chest, making his own heart hurt as well.

  “It was the perfect job too,” she wailed through muffled sobs.

  “I know,” he said again.

  “And it was five minutes from home,” she mumbled between ragged gasps. “Now I’m going to be traveling all throughout the counties substitute teaching since it’s too late to put my application in with the other school districts.”

  “What do you mean traveling throughout the counties?” His green eyes went wide with alarm.

  “That’s what I’m going to have to do if I want to teach,” she blubbered. “I can only hope that one of the districts likes me enough to offer me something permanent for next year.”

  “Hold on there a minute, Kate,” he said as he pulled her back from him and stared into reddened blue eyes. He seemed totally taken aback by this revelation. “I ain’t having you traipsing to Reno one day and Carson City the next.”

  “I don’t see I have a choice, since I didn’t get the job,” she said as thick droplets continued to fall.

  “I’ll be damned if I’ll have you gone all the time,” he said shaking his head no. “We’ll never see each other. Besides you ain’t used to the weather out here and when winter comes I’m not having you driving through black ice or some freak snow squall so the answer is no and that’s that.”

  “I appreciate your concern,” she said in between intermittent sobs. “But I’m teaching Jack one way or another.”

  “Why do you have to be so stubborn about teaching?” His voice bellowed.

  “Why are you so adamant against it?” Her voice grew louder to match his.

  “I’m not,” he said lowering his voice. “I just thought that if you didn’t get the job that it would be the end of it.”

  “Jack, I’m a teacher,” she sighed. “It’s what I do.”

  He scratched his head as if he was in deep thought and his eyes drifted to the letter on top his desk. “I figured you’d bawl a little when- I mean if you didn’t get the job,” he said. “But I didn’t figure you’d take it this hard.”

  “Well of course I would,” she heaved another involuntary sob. “Teaching is my heart and soul.”

  “I thought I was your heart and soul?” He looked hurt.

  “You are,” she said giving him a small smile despite her tears. “But teaching is everything to me. That’s why I came to Nevada in the first place. I wanted to make a difference.”

  “You make a difference to me,” he said with such sincerity that it made her feel slightly better.

  “That’s sweet Jack,” she said placing a hand by his heart. “Haven’t you ever wanted something so badly that you would move heaven and earth to get it?”

  “Yes,” he nodded thinking the same about her. He’d moved heaven and earth but he never expected the end result would be Kate devastated by it.

  “I’m sorry,” he said cupping her cheeks in his hands. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know teaching meant so much to you.”

  “It’s not your fault,” she said heaving a ragged sigh.

  Jack said nothing in omission to his shame. Instead he kissed her not knowing what else to do, burning the image of her grief stricken face into lamented ash with the depth of his mouth and tongue. He kissed her harder till her breath changed from ragged cries to sharp gasps.

  They parted, just for an instant as her blue eyes penetrated him down to his guilt ridden core. He turned her, freeing him from her trusting gaze then thrust his hardness into her back like a knife, while his hands groped madly around to her breasts, ripping her tear stained garments so he could feel only the softness of her flesh.

  “You belong to me Kate. Remember that,” he whispered hoarsely in her ear then moved her toward his desk and bent her over, shadowing the letter from his view with her skin.

  Like a man possessed to be rid of his demons he lowered her shorts and his jeans and took her right there on his desk. He was fierce in his taking as if he could rob her mind of anything else but him, stripping her of all thoughts of teaching or education, and schooling her in the ways of power and submission.

  By the time he was done, she was too exhausted to cry much less think. He carried her up to their bed and laid her beneath the sheets, tucking her in as she snuggled against her pillow beckoning for sleep. He placed a gentle kiss to the blond wisps of her hair then left, closing the door behind him.

  He glanced at his watch and cursed under his breath knowing he was behind schedule for the day. He needed to go to Dayton and pick up a load of supplies from the feed store. As it was, it was going to take him most of the afternoon to load and he had one stop to make after that.

  He walked downstairs and headed out to his truck. He climbed in and pulled out on to the dirt road, turning the radio loud in order to drown out the voice in his head about Kate and that blasted school.

  Twenty-Four

  Betrayal of Another Kind

  Kate woke with a start. How long had she been sleeping? She searched the nightstand for her cell phone but it was gone then she suddenly remembered she left it on Jack’s desk. She dressed and went downstairs to start dinner. She put a roast in the oven and set the timer before going to the study to look for her phone.

  She found it tucked under a stack of papers, and to her delight, there was a text message from Jack. Luv u baby. See u tonight. She smiled as she read the message then placed the phone in the pocket of her jeans. She flopped lazily into his chair and released a heady sigh. She rubbed the side of her aching thighs still feeling her muscles twitch from being propped over his desk when her eyes fell on the letter.

  She leaned over, picked it up and read it again as she swiveled back and forth in the chair. We regret to inform you the teaching position has been filled, she read aloud. She wondered why a rejection letter always stated, we regret to inform you when there was no regret at all.

  Once she finished reading it for a third time, she tapped its contents on the side of her hand as she scrunched up her nose and pursed her lips.

  Despite Jack’s objection for her to take any action, she still wanted answers. No, she needed answers as to why she didn’t get the job. After a minute of wrestlin
g with her conscience, she hopped from the chair.

  She marched into the foyer, picked up her purse and headed out the front door to her car. She would get her answer and she knew just who would give them to her. She climbed into her car and drove straight for Clara’s. If anyone would know it would be her or at best Adam since he consulted for the school. She felt a twinge of guilt for going against Jack’s orders but as the old adage goes, what he doesn’t know won’t hurt him, reverberated a justifiable voice in her head.

  Five minutes later, Kate was walking up the front steps to Clara’s home. She knocked on the screen door first, then opened it and entered.

  “Hey,” she hollered. “Anyone home?”

  “In here,” she heard Clara’s voice calling from the kitchen.

  She followed the voice and entered just as her friend stepped through the sliding glass doors that led from the porch to the kitchen.

  “Well look what the cat dragged in?” Clara smiled at her and gave her a huge hug. “Let me take a look at you,” she said giving her a mock once over. “Yep, still the same old Kate just as I remembered.”

  “It hasn’t been that long,” Kate replied.

  “Humph,” she grunted and motioned for her to take a seat at the kitchen table. “I’m glad you’re here. You’ve been on my mind today and I was going to come over to see you but I guess you saved me the trouble,” she said with mixed emotion. “You hungry? I could whip us up our favorite brownies.”

  “No,” said Kate, wondering why Clara was offering to make her comfort brownies. Did she look as bad on the outside as she felt on the inside? “I can’t. I can only stay for about an hour and then I have to get back.”

  “Why? Won’t Jack let you out to play?” Clara grumbled as they both sat.

  “No,” she said almost defensively then caught herself and relaxed. “If you must know, I have something cooking in the oven.”

  “Oh God, I hope not,” she said with a frown. “The less ties you have to Jack McBride the better.”

  Kate gave her a disconcerting look. Did something happen that she didn’t know about? Anything was possible between the two of them. Like vinegar and water, the two never mixed.

  “What’s got into you?” She asked seeing the scowl across Clara’s brow.

  “I don’t like the way Jack is manipulating you.”

  “I know he can be a little overbearing at times,” she said as if to justify his way.

  “A little?” Clara tilted her head and gave her a queer glance.

  “Okay, he’s a lot overbearing,” she laughed thinking about their conversation today. “But there’s another side to Jack too. He really is very sweet.”

  “All right, so he’s sweet.” She’d give her that. “But there’s a lot you don’t know about Jack McBride. He had a hard life as a kid and he brought it with him as a man.”

  “I know all about Jack’s childhood.”

  “Who told you?” Clara seemed surprised.

  “Jack did. He told me his dad was an alcoholic.”

  “Wow, he told you about his old man,” she said astonished. “Well at least that says something, because Jack doesn’t talk about his past, ever.”

  “I think it does,” said Kate.

  “Did he tell you that as a kid he used to pry his old man off the bar floor when he was too drunk to go home?”

  “We didn’t go into all the details,” she said as she pushed the image from her mind.

  “I remember Jack used to always fall asleep at his desk at school,” stated Clara as her memories of the event were still fresh. “Most of the teachers just let him sleep too, considering we all knew he was too busy to sleep at night.”

  “I get the picture,” she said not wanting to hear about Jack’s suffering.

  “He was a hard kid back then, and he’s a hard man now,” said Clara needing her to understand. “He may be sweet, but Jack likes control over everything, especially you.”

  “I am well aware of Jack’s control issues. They stem from his insecurities, though he would never admit to that. I understand him, Clara.”

  “Well, I hope you’re as understanding to him when I tell you what he did.”

  Clara paused and took a breath. She knew her next words were going to hurt her friend deeply. She’d been brewing most of the afternoon trying to figure out a way to tell her before she arrived unannounced.

  Kate felt a sense of trouble in the pit of her stomach. She braced herself by gripping the edge of the table.

  “Adam called me this afternoon,” sighed Clara as she saw the fear in her friend’s eyes. “He was working at the school today fixing their computers. He ran into Mitzy and she told him you didn’t get the teaching position.”

  “I know,” she said with a mixture of sadness and relief. “I got the letter this morning.”

  “Damn, I didn’t want you to find out that way,” said Clara but she was almost glad she did so that she wasn’t the bearer of all the bad news.

  “That’s why I came over,” she stated. “Did Adam tell you why I didn’t get the job?”

  She waited for Clara to respond, batting her innocent blues that made her friend wish she didn’t have to be the one to shatter her world. She’d been through so much already, first with her ex-husband and now this.

  “Okay there is no easy way to say it so I’m just going to spill it,” said Clara taking a cleansing breath. “Mitzy told Adam that they were going to offer you the position until Jack had a little talk with the Superintendent.”

  “I don’t understand,” said Kate as Clara’s words were not sinking in.

  “It’s simple, darling,” she continued. “Jack is a man who gets what he wants, and he wants you all to himself. He’s got influence in this town and people listen, like the Superintendent. Jack doesn’t want you teaching and he told Seymour as much. That’s why you didn’t get the job.”

  This time the words sunk in and she sat bolt upright in her seat.

  “I don’t believe you,” she said in a state of anger and shock. “Jack wouldn’t do that. He knows how important that teaching position is to me.”

  “Well, he did,” said Clara again.

  “No,” she said sharply. “What are you doing Clara? Why are you always looking for any excuse to come between me and Jack?”

  “You think I’m making this shit up?” she gasped startled by her friend’s accusation. “Why would I do that?”

  “I have no idea,” spat Kate. “You tell me.”

  “I am telling you the truth. It was Jack that sabotaged your teaching position,” she reiterated again. “I told Adam you wouldn’t believe me. You want me to call him so he can tell you himself?”

  “Yes,” she yelled. “That’s exactly what I want you to do because quite frankly I don’t trust you anymore when it comes to Jack. You’ve tried twice already to keep us apart and I’ll be damned if I’ll let you do it a third time.”

  “Fine,” said Clara pulling out her phone.

  “Fine,” snapped Kate seeing her friend place her phone to her ear.

  Clara called her husband. She spoke to him briefly before handing the phone to Kate. Clara sat back and watched in silence as Kate listened to Adam tell of Jack’s deception.

  She didn’t take pleasure in seeing her friend’s pain, watching as the words sunk in and Kate crumbling before her eyes. Tears of betrayal pooled in her eyes and waves of heart wrenching despair ran deep in her watery blues.

  Kate lowered the phone and handed it back to Clara. She didn’t utter a word, not one single word. She just sat there as if she were in shock and disbelief.

  “Are you all right?” Clara asked with great concern.

  Kate didn’t respond. She just stared blindly at the back wall and the grandfather clock, watching the second hand move in slow motion. Clara couldn’t tell what her friend was thinking, which made her worry more.

  “What time is it?” asked Kate finally not realizing she was even staring at the clock.

 
“Sweetie, it’s four-thirty,” she said growing more distressed for her friend’s wellbeing.

  “I gotta go,” she said in an alarmingly calm tone though she seemed so far away. She rose from the chair and headed for the front door. Clara ran after her.

  “What are you going to do, Kate?”

  She stopped and looked painfully at her friend. “I don’t honestly know.”

  With that Kate turned and walked out the front door.

  Twenty-Five

  Day of Reckoning

  It took Kate a matter of five minutes before the shock wore off and the anger set in. From the time it took to leave Clara’s and arrive at the ranch’s front door, she was seething and like a tea kettle she was ready to blow her top. She got out of her car and saw Dustin by the stables. She marched toward him and stopped.

  “Dustin,” she stated with teeth clenched. “I want you to pack up all my things from the main house and return them to the carriage house.”

  “You want me to do what?” he said not sure he heard her correctly.

  “What part of I’m moving back to the carriage house didn’t you understand?” she said eyes narrowing into tiny blue slits.

  “Are you sure about this?” God, he hated to move her again only to have them make-up so he could put it all back. “Maybe you should sleep on it for a day.”

  “There’s nothing to think about,” Kate came unglued. “You going to help me or not?”

  “Sure, I’ll help you,” he said seeing how mad she was.

  “Good, I want it all done before six,” she ordered. “Can you do that?”

  “Not by myself I can’t,” he exclaimed as he scratched his head.

  “Then get as many hands as you can,” she instructed. “I want to be long gone before Mr. McBride returns.”

  “Jack doesn’t know you’re leaving?” said Dustin as he swallowed hard knowing his boss was going to be heaping mad when he discovered she was gone. “You sure you don’t want to wait and hash this thing out before moving your things back to the carriage house?”

  “I have nothing to say to Jack,” she yelled. “Just pack my fucking boxes and move them back to the carriage house.”