Jenna's Cowboys

by Laura Jo Phillips

  “I’ll call you Jenna if you call me Hank, and I have something I’d like to show you.”

  “Okay on both counts.”

  Hank turned around and they walked three and a half blocks, stopping across the street and a few doors down from Meg’s Diner, in front of an old but beautifully kept two story red brick building with white trim. Jenna looked through the display window of the vacant shop, but saw nothing but darkness. It was only the third empty building she’d seen on Main Street which she thought was fairly impressive.

  “Meg’s coming to join us in just a minute or two,” Hank said. “If you look at that brass plaque above the door, you’ll see that it says this is the James Building. It was built by Silas James a hundred and fifty years ago and it’s been owned by your family, generation after generation, ever since.”

  Jenna stepped back so she could see the plaque, a strange feeling of pride and sadness washing through her. While she and her father had been living alone in Oregon, there’d been family here that they’d known nothing about.

  “Caro James Carmody, your grandmother, inherited this building from her mother,” Hank continued. “She had a ladies dress shop here once upon a time. About ten years after your mother left to join the army, Caro sold the James ranch to me and moved into town. She lived in the apartment upstairs until she died. That was nineteen years ago now.”

  “Was she the last of her family?”

  “She was,” Hank said. “She was a real good woman, Jenna. I’m sorry you didn’t get to know her.”

  “So am I,” Jenna replied wistfully. “But even if I’d known her, she died not long after my mother so I wouldn’t have remembered her anyway. There wasn’t anything about my mother’s parents or family in the few things I found of hers.”

  Hank nodded. “Janice left town when she was eighteen, one week after high school graduation. All she took with her was a few clothes and a couple of things she stuffed into a pillow case. Caro never knew why.”

  “Do you know why she left, Hank?”

  “I do,” Hank admitted. “It’s not a pretty story, Jenna.”

  “I guessed as much,” she replied. “I’d like to hear it though, if you’re willing to tell me.”

  Hank nodded. “I don’t see no harm in it, especially since everyone involved has passed on now. Besides, I think your mother would want you to know.” He rubbed his hands over his face and took a deep breath as though preparing himself for a difficult task. “Jan wanted to be a lawyer. She was smart, your mother was. Always got perfect grades, and never got into a bit of trouble. She was kind, too. I probably wouldn’t have graduated high school at all if it hadn’t been for Jan ridin’ herd on me.” Hank smiled sadly. “She had her future all mapped out. College, then law school, all of it budgeted down to the penny. Between her scholarships and the college fund her Grandfather Carmody, that was her father Andrew’s father, had left her, she could just squeak through. She figured she’d have to get a couple of part time jobs along the way, but that was fine with her. Jan never was afraid of a little hard work.

  “A week after high school graduation Andrew told her she couldn’t go to college because he’d gambled away her college fund. To make matters worse, he’d sold her in marriage to a shady character a couple towns over to pay off some gambling debts.”

  “I don’t think I would have liked him much,” Jenna said softly.

  “No, I don’t think you would’ve,” Hank said. “Few did. Anyway, Andrew locked Jan in her room and called the man to come get her. She climbed out the window with that pillowcase I mentioned and hiked over to my house.”

  “Your house?” Jenna asked in surprise.

  “Jan and I lived on neighboring ranches from the time we were born. She was three months older than me and I tell you, she never let me forget it.” Hank paused, smiling at his memories. “Our mothers were real good friends so we grew up together. We were more like cousins than friends, and she knew she could come to me for help. After she told me what Andrew had done, I gave her some money and a lift to Missoula. She got on a bus and that was the last I ever saw of her. I know she sent one letter to Caro to tell her she was fine, and had joined the Army, but there was no return address on it. Caro never heard from her again.” Hank tilted his head a little. “I never told anyone that story till just now, Jenna. I promised Jan that I’d keep her secret and I did.”

  “I appreciate you telling me this, Hank, I really do. But I don’t understand why Caro didn’t do anything to help her daughter. Why didn’t she try to stop Andrew?”

  “Caro never knew what he’d done. She was on a bingo trip over in Billings with some of her friends at the time, which is why Andrew made his move when he did. Jan made me promise not to tell her mother about any of it. Even though there were a lot of times I regretted making that promise, I kept my word. After Andrew died a few years later, I watched over Caro as best I could.”

  “Why didn’t she want Caro to know what Andrew had done to her?”

  “She didn’t want her mother hurt,” Hank said. “Caro had blinders on when it came to her husband, and everyone knew it. The only good thing about him was that he adored Caro. He thought the sun and the moon rose and set on her. Jan figured since she was leaving, and since there was no way for him to get his hands on James money the way he’d gotten to hers, that there was no reason to muck about with her mother’s happiness.”

  Jenna nodded. “I wonder why she never came back or got in touch with Caro after Andrew died.”

  “I think she stayed away because she didn’t wanna tarnish her mother’s memories of her father. And I also think maybe there was some anger at Caro there, too.”

  “That makes sense. She had to wonder why her mother didn’t know how much her husband was gambling, and why she didn’t know he cared so little for their daughter that he could sell her off like livestock.”

  “Exactly,” Hank said, nodding. “Caro always wondered if she had grandchildren somewhere in the world that she’d never get to know. That was a big sadness in her life. The older she got, the heavier it seemed to weigh on her. When she died, she left the building to the town with one provision. If Jan, or her children, ever came back, the town was to give the property back to them.”

  “Seriously?” Jenna asked, stunned.

  “Absolutely,” Hank said, the sadness leaving his eyes as he smiled down at her. “As the head of the town council, I can tell you we’re more than happy to hand ownership of the James Building back to the family it belongs with.”

  “I’m not sure what to say,” Jenna said.

  “You don’t have to say anything,” Hank said. “Now, I will tell you that the town leased the building out a number of times over the years and, in accordance with Caro’s will, the town will be keeping that money. A lot of it was used to pay taxes and do a fair bit of remodeling so you’ll have the advantage of those upgrades, anyway. Caro had some money, quite a bit actually, including what she got from the sale of the ranch, but she divided that up among her friends and a couple of charities, so that doesn’t come with the property.”

  Jenna nodded. She didn’t care about money. But a building? A storefront with an apartment? “Is the apartment still there?”

  “It is,” Hank said. “You think you might be interested in staying in Sparx?”

  “I think so,” Jenna replied. “I mean, I’ve only been here a few hours, but I like what I’ve seen so far.”

  “If you don’t mind my asking, where do you currently live?”

  “Nowhere,” she said candidly. “I recently sold the house I grew up in, climbed into Daddy’s old Bronco, and took off. I’ve been driving from state to state, town to town since March, looking for a place to land.”

  “Maybe you just found it.”

  “Yeah, maybe I have.”

  “Do you have any brothers or sisters?”

  “No. I wish I did, but since my father died it’s just me.”

  “I’m sorry,” Hank said. Then he smile
d gently. “The people in this town are a close knit bunch, Jenna. If you decide to stay here, you won’t be alone anymore.”

  Jenna felt a lump rise to her throat and she had to fight the tears back. Hank politely turned away, giving her a moment’s privacy while he watched Meg hurry across the road toward them.

  “Sorry it took me so long but Anna was a bit late.” She smiled at Jenna. “Anna’s one of my waitresses,” she explained, then turned to Hank. “Here ya go, honey,” she said, handing him a set of keys before going up on her toes to kiss him.

  Jenna smiled at the way they looked at each other. She wished she could imagine someone looking at her like that, but she couldn’t. A brief image of the men in the market flashed through her mind, surprising her.

  “Thanks, Sweetheart,” Hank said to Meg. “She’s interested.”

  “Yes?” Meg asked Jenna with another one of her warm smiles.

  Jenna nodded. “Absolutely.”

  “I’m so glad, Sugar,” Meg said. “I have a feeling you could be real happy here in Sparx.” Jenna was so startled by Meg’s quick acceptance that she found herself fighting back tears again. Like Hank had done, Meg turned away to give her a moment. Then she looked up at Hank and nudged him with her shoulder. “Let’s show her inside.” Hank laughed at Meg’s enthusiasm as he selected a key and unlocked the door, then stood back to let Jenna and Meg enter.

  The store area in front was big, taking up a little more than half the depth of the building. It had fresh paint, new light fixtures, and beautiful dark green business grade carpeting. In back was a kitchenette-lunchroom, a bathroom, a large stock room lined with shelves, an office that contained a beautiful old desk and file cabinet, and three smaller rooms, all of it spotlessly clean with new paint and flooring. Two of the small rooms were filled with shelving that, according to Hank, belonged in the shop. They needed no more than some muscles to get them moved to wherever she might want them.

  After inspecting each room and surprising Hank with a stream of relevant and intelligent questions covering everything from taxes and utilities to traffic flow and zoning laws, all in her polite, friendly manner, Hank opened a door onto the alley that ran behind all of the buildings. They climbed a wooden staircase at the back of the building to the apartment overhead, and Jenna waited excitedly for Hank to unlock the door and gesture for her to enter first.

  “This is wonderful,” she said as she looked around. The kitchen, dining area and living room were open, spacious, and had lots of windows. The living room was located at the front of the building so that the windows overlooked the town below. Jenna loved that. She wondered if living where she could look out and see the town whenever she wanted would make her feel less lonely.

  Hank had been watching Jenna carefully and concluded that she had no idea how beautiful she was, or how sad she appeared despite her open manner and sincere smiles. There was something about her that drew people and she didn’t know that, either. She was obviously intelligent, educated, and self-reliant, yet she still managed to raise the protective instincts of men and women alike after speaking with them for just a minute or two. He decided that he liked this gentle, soft-spoken young woman very much, and he found himself almost as hopeful as Meg that she’d decide to stay in Sparx for reasons having nothing to do with her ancestry.

  Feeling Hank’s and Meg’s eyes on her made Jenna realize she’d gone silent. She tore her gaze from the view and turned around with a smile. “It looks like it’s just been remodeled,” she said, eyeing the fresh paint, new carpets and shiny appliances.

  “It has been,” Hank said. “We waited for the last tenant to vacate before redoing this building about a year ago and it’s been empty ever since. It’s part of our town charter that all the buildings along Main Street be fully updated. We didn’t get a chance to do this one until the old tenants left.”

  “Town charter?” Jenna asked curiously as she looked around the pretty kitchen done in cream and chocolate brown. Everything was simple, fuss-free, and clean, which suited her taste perfectly.

  “I’ll get you a copy of the charter and a brochure that you can read later,” Hank said. “If you have questions after you read it, I’ll be happy to answer them.”

  “Or I will, if you’d prefer to talk to a woman,” Meg said. Jenna turned in surprise when she heard footsteps climbing the stairs. A moment later a stocky man with short black hair threaded with gray, stepped through the doorway and walked straight to Meg.

  “Hi Jack, it’s about time you showed up,” Hank said, smiling when the newcomer leaned over to give Meg a steamy kiss. Jenna’s eyebrows rose in surprise. When the man pulled Meg closer against his body and deepened the kiss, Jenna blushed and tore her eyes from them. She glanced at Hank, surprised to see him watching the couple intently with unmistakable heat in his eyes. Heat and…something else. She frowned for a moment, searching for the right word. Love, she realized with a start. She looked back to Meg and Jack in time to see them staring into each other’s eyes, then they shared the look with Hank as he approached them. Her throat got tight, her eyes burned, and something deep inside of her ached.

  So that’s what love looks like, she thought.

  Realizing that she was staring, and suddenly feeling like a voyeur, Jenna turned her back on the threesome and walked down the hallway to check out the rest of the apartment. The first door led to laundry room which held a brand new washer and dryer. The next door led to a bathroom that held a new sink and cabinet, a new bathtub with shower, and a new toilet along with new tile flooring and paint. The two doors on the other side of the hall opened onto bedrooms, each with new paint, carpet, large closets and windows along one wall. The last door at the end of the hall led to the master bedroom. It was a huge room with an enormous walk-in closet and a skylight overhead. She imagined what it would be like to lie in bed at night and gaze up at the stars, and found herself looking forward to it. She went into the adjoining bathroom, grinning in surprise at the big Jacuzzi tub, double sink countertop and shower stall, all brand new like everything else in the apartment.

  “I apologize if we embarrassed you,” Meg said from behind her, startling her so badly that she jumped, banging her hip on the corner of the countertop.

  “Oh my, are you all right?”

  “I’m fine,” Jenna said, smiling ruefully, resisting the urge to rub at the sudden squeezing sensation in her chest. “I was born clumsy, I’m afraid.”

  Meg smiled, though this time it didn’t quite reach her eyes. Jenna wondered at that, then remembered Meg’s question. “No, you didn’t embarrass me,” she said, then paused. “Well, maybe you did, but not for the reason you seem to think.”

  “No?” Meg asked curiously. “What reason then?”

  Jenna’s face heated, but the idea that this woman who’d treated her with nothing but kindness now thought she was judging her, gave her the courage to answer honestly. “The way you three looked at each other,” she said softly. “It was so loving and...intimate. So utterly beautiful. I felt like a Peeping Tom.” She swallowed the lump in her throat, feeling silly for her emotional reaction. “You’re a very lucky woman, Meg.”

  Meg smiled, then stepped forward to give Jenna a quick hug, shocking her to her toes. “Yes, I am. Very lucky.” She stepped back and looked straight into Jenna’s eyes. “Lots of people in this town are lucky.” Jenna’s heart leapt as an image of the Howard brothers popped into her mind again.

  She cleared her throat and pushed them from her thoughts. “I won’t pretend I’m not surprised because that wouldn’t be true. But if you’re expecting me to be angry or outraged, it’s not gonna happen.”

  “I’m surprised,” Meg said, the friendliness back in her eyes. “Most young women have a harder time accepting menage relationships.”

  Jenna smiled sadly, dropping her eyes to the spotless white tile flooring. “We live in a world where violence is accepted, ignored, condoned, excused, even expected sometimes. Now that I have a hard time with. Three a
dults loving each other the way you, Hank, and Jack obviously do? That’s easy.”

  It was Meg’s turn to swallow tears as she studied the expression on Jenna’s face. She could almost hear the younger woman’s unspoken plea to be loved. “I think I’m gonna like you very much, Jenna James.”

  Jenna looked up at her in surprise. “That’s the nicest thing anyone’s said to me in a very long time, Meg. Thank you.”

  “You’re more than welcome, Sugar,” Meg said, putting an arm around Jenna’s shoulders and leading her out of the bathroom and back up the hall to the living room. Hank introduced her to Jack, who gave her a warm smile.

  “So, what do you think of the apartment?” he asked.

  “It’s beautiful,” Jenna said. “Who did the decorating?”

  “I did,” Meg said, smiling at her as she moved to stand beside Hank and put one arm around his waist. “I’m real glad you like it.”

  “It’s perfect,” Jenna said. “If I do stay here I’ll need to buy furniture, housewares, everything. Maybe you can help me out with some of that.” She blushed. “I mean, if you wouldn’t mind, and have time, of course.”

  “I’d love it,” Meg said happily while Hank and Jack both smiled at her indulgently. “We’ll have to go into Missoula, of course, but I’ve done enough of these buildings by now that I know just the right places to go, and the ones to steer clear of.”

  “Now you have to help me,” Jenna said with a grin.

  “Good, it’s settled then,” Meg said. “Now, let’s get out of here. Dinner tonight is Marko’s special meatloaf, and if we don’t get there early there won’t be any left. When it comes to Marko’s meatloaf, I get no special privileges just because I own the diner. It’s strictly first come first served.”

  “That sounds fantastic to me,” Jenna admitted, suddenly hungry again. “I don’t even know how long it’s been since I’ve had meatloaf.”

  “Now that’s a downright crime!” Meg said with mock outrage. Jenna laughed, the husky sound so warm, inviting, and innocently sexy that it startled Meg, Hank, and Jack equally, though Jenna didn’t seem to notice.