by Sable Hunter
"Bummer," Isaac sighed. "Misplacing a good looking, naked woman is never a good thing."
The front door opened and shut again, this time with a bit less exuberance. "Noah's home!" Nathan was the town crier; he announced all comings and goings with enthusiasm.
"Hey." Noah started passing out mail as soon as he came to the table. "Sorry, I’m late, Libs. This certified letter came for you," he handed it to Jacob. "Nelda let me sign for it." Jacob stuck it in his back pocket to look at later, thinking it was probably a copy of the deed to the last piece of property he had bought.
"I bet she did; Nelda has the hots for you." Isaac loved to pick at Noah. As far as he was concerned, Noah was a tight-ass who needed to loosen up.
“You’re just jealous because Nelda is a classy lady.” Noah got right back in his face. “The women you date have all been rode hard and put up wet.”
Isaac arched one eyebrow at his brother. It was best if he didn’t comment on his own love life, so he pounced on Noah’s. “Nelda may be a lady, but she’s not the lady you want, is she? We all know what you‘ve been doing, Noah. You’re using all these other women to try and make yourself forget one blonde honey that won’t give you the time of day.”
Instead of answering, Noah threw a hunk of French bread at Isaac; Aron caught it and went right on eating.
“Hey, did I get any mail?” Nathan asked, eyeing the magazine that Noah held in his hand. “It’s time for me to get my gaming magazine,“ Nathan looked forward to seeing the tips and reviews on the latest video games for Wii and Playstation 3.
“This isn’t yours, big guy. This is Joseph‘s.” Noah tossed a magazine that was wrapped in brown paper. Joseph caught it with a funny look on his face. Suddenly, it dawned on Noah what it was – Joseph's Playboy. He almost snatched it back, knowing that his brother couldn't put it to the same use that he always had before.
Seeing Noah’s remorse, Joseph laughed it off. "Hey, I can always read the articles, can't I?" Silence. Nobody knew what to say.
"Ya'll want to hear something funny?" Isaac would save the day. He wouldn't get any credit for it, but that wasn't unusual. "I saw Kane in town, he told me that the game wardens had put out one of those buck decoys just off Bear Creek Road; you know the remote control ones that can toss their heads and even paw the ground."
"I know what you're talking about," Aron said between bites. "They put those decoys out to trap illegal hunters. The good-ole-boys think they’re nabbing a big buck, when they’re actually nailing a robot.”
Isaac took a big swig of sweet tea. “Yeah, that’s right. These game wardens have a good time seeing who they can lure into shooting at this life-like deer. They set it up, then back off out of sight and wait. Well, early this morning, old Silas Beauchamp came along and couldn't resist. He pulled off the road and didn't even get out of his pick-up. He took a shot and BAM he got him. Only problem was, the deer didn't fall down dead. So, old Silas took another shot, and then another, and before the game wardens could get over to arrest him – old Silas just took his truck and ran the deer down."
"Why in the hell did he do that? Was he drunk?" Aron was enjoying the story.
"As a skunk.” Isaac took a bite of Country Captain, prolonging the telling of the story.
It had been a long time since he just sat down and laughed with his family. Lately, they really didn’t know what had been going on in his life. They thought they did. To hear them tell it, he was all about drinking, carousing and wild women. He used to be. But, things had changed for Isaac. And the change had a name. Avery Rose. They didn't know about Avery. No one knew about Avery. Shaking Avery out of his mind, he finished his story. “Silas said he thought the deer was possessed or something. He said he was afraid if he didn’t kill it, it would follow him home.”
“I’m glad I never saw that deer.” Jacob was honest. “I might have been tempted to take a shot, too.” He was an avid hunter and enjoyed bagging big game.
Libby was tired of hearing about the mechanical deer. "If I had my way, none of you would hunt. I don’t like to think about somebody shooting a pretty, little deer.”
Aron rubbed her neck. His Libby had a soft heart. “Let’s talk about something else, boys.” Looking at Isaac, he asked. “Tell me about the band we’re going to hear at Shorty's tonight,"
Libby leaned in with interest. She was taking the planning of the hayride and dance seriously. This would be her first big party to throw, and she wanted everything to be perfect.
"They're good," Isaac assured them. "Their name is Tequila Sunrise, and they play both Country Classic and a rock mix. Everybody loves to dance to Tequila Sunrise." The band wasn’t the only reason Isaac wanted his family to come to the bar. He had a secret that he had been keeping from them for quite a while. Tonight, they’d find out what that secret was. For the last several years, he had been in more bar fights and late night drinking sessions than he could count. It was the family’s general opinion that he, Isaac, was a lost cause. But he had them fooled. Since, he spent so much time and money at the bar; he just figured that he might as well buy the damn thing. In fact, the papers had been signed for over a week. Shorty, who was moving to New Jersey, had fronted for him, telling no one that he had sold the bar to one of the younger McCoy brothers.
The name McCoy was a force to be reckoned with in central Texas. Aron headed up a conglomerate than managed everything from cattle and minerals, to a foundation that funded cancer research and scholarships for young cancer survivors. How the family would react to one of their own running a tavern was yet to be seen.
"Will you dance with me, Aron? I think I could use the practice before the Harvest Hayride. Would you mind?” Libby looked at Aron with such heat in her eyes that Aron almost scooped her up and headed for the bedroom.
"Of course, I'll dance with you, Libby-mine. I’d never turn down a chance to have you in my arms." They shared a sweet kiss, which had Nathan rolling his eyes, and the others wishing they had a Libby of their own.
“I’ve got you now.” Keith McCay folded the slip of paper where he had written the directions to Tebow Ranch. He’d bet everything he had that Jessie would head straight to that playboy cowboy to confess that she was having his baby. And when she did, he would be close by – waiting.
If it was a boy, she liked Michael; or they could go with Colt. The former University of Texas quarterback, Colt McCoy, was famous in these parts. A girl could be Amanda or Meghan. She wondered what name Jacob would prefer, or if he would want to help her choose a name. Laughing, she placed her hands on her tummy and thanked the good Lord that there was a precious baby on the way. How could she have ever thought, after carrying it under her heart for nine months, that she could give it up to someone else? From the time she had felt the first little flutter of movement, Jessie had known that giving the baby over to the McCay’s was going to be the hardest thing she had ever done. Thankfully fate had intervened; the McCay’s lawyer had informed them that the sperm used to impregnate her had not been that of Keith McCay. It had belonged to Jacob McCoy. The Austin Cryobank had made a whopper of an error.
Thinking back, Jessie knew that she would change nothing. This baby was hers and she wanted it, desperately. She was, hopelessly in love with her child. The day Keith McCay had approached her about being a surrogate mother, she had seen it as a way to make something of herself. Working twelve hours a day cleaning offices was not how she wanted to spend the rest of her life. But with her disability and no high school diploma, Jessie had very few options. The McCay's offer had seemed like an answer to a prayer.
They had insisted she quit her job and move in with them. After a few weeks, however, their true colors had begun to show. By that time, it had been too late. She was pregnant with their baby and at their mercy. Thank God, she had been able to escape when she had.
"Nathan, you can ride your bike to the Barkley's if you promise to be careful." Aron spoke to his little brother like a father would.
"I'll be car
eful, Aron." Nathan didn't mind being told what to do. His brothers loved him and he knew it. His memories of his parents were almost nonexistent. For all practical purposes – Aron, Jacob and Joseph were his dads. Noah and Isaac were older than he was by ten years or more, but they had never taken up the reins of responsibility the way the older three McCoys had. Especially Aron. Aron would die for him in a heartbeat and Nathan knew it. Throwing his arms around his brother, Nathan hugged him hard before he set out on the three mile bike trip to the Barkley ranch.
Walking down the sun-dappled road, Jessie enjoyed the warm sunshine. She ran her hands over the tiny mound of her abdomen. Even though she was over four months along, she really wasn't showing very much. Jacob had seen her naked. Had he noticed the small baby bump? From the beginning, the terms of the pregnancy had not been what she was expecting. First, she had been under the impression that she would just be a surrogate; providing a uterus for the egg and sperm of a couple who could not have a baby on their own. As she had received more information, she had found out that it would be her own egg and the McCay man's sperm. His wife had no viable eggs and she had a condition, whereby her immune system attacked any sperm that was introduced into her uterus. Apparently Dr. McCay had some performance problems of his own, but that had not been her business. His physician had extracted enough sperm to insure a successful insemination, even if they had to make more than one attempt.
Not long after she had moved into the McCay home, it became clear that the husband was going to be a problem. Several times, she had awakened in the middle of the night and found him in her room. It had been so creepy. He hadn’t tried to hurt her, he had just sat in a chair at the end of the bed and watched her. The first time she had awakened to find him there, it had scared her to death. She had threatened to scream or tell his wife, but he had told her she would be sorry. His tone had convinced her he was off his rocker. Jessie had tried locking her door; but he had a key. Jesse had even gone so far as to put a chair under the doorknob, but he had been stronger than her chair. If the news of the sperm mix-up hadn’t happened when it did, Jessie didn’t know how long she could have stood his frightening midnight visits. Without a doubt they would have developed into something much worse over time.
What puzzled her most was why he had done it? Not one ounce of encouragement had she ever given him. In addition, Jessie Montgomery knew that she wasn’t a beauty. There wasn’t anything about her that should inspire any man’s obsession. But she had no desire to start an affair with a married man. At twenty-three, she might be one of the oldest virgins around, but she didn't intend to give her innocence to a crazy, bald-headed lecher who was afraid of his rich wife.
After the error with the insemination had been discovered, everyone had jumped on the bandwagon to force her to get an abortion. Mrs. McCay had offered her a ten thousand dollar bonus as an incentive. Mr. McCay had been especially insistent. He had told her that she was supposed to have his baby and no one else’s. But Jessie had refused. Things had gotten crazy after that.
The one thing that she was holding on to was that the baby was hers. And now she knew that it was also Jacob McCoy's. As far as she could tell, Jacob was a perfect father figure. And after seeing him in the barn pleasuring himself, – she knew that he was perfect in about every other way as well.
Chapter Two
A car whizzed by, causing Jessie to move farther off the road. The highway had narrowed, and she was now walking just off the shoulder. It would have been nice to have continued strolling in the beautiful countryside, but a fence that ran just about twenty feet off the pavement kept her from seeking shelter in the roadside trees and bushes. Tebow Ranch was huge and according to the signs, all the land surrounding her belonged to the McCoys. Pastures rich with thick green grass flanked both sides of the road and the winding Guadalupe crossed ahead of her about a half mile in the distance. As she strolled along, Jessie had to smile as she watched the horses grazing on one side and young calves ambling about on the other. It must be wonderful to have such an amazing home as this vast, magnificent land.
At the coffee shop, when Gretchen had googled Jacob, Jessie had found out some interesting facts about his family. They had come to the Hill Country from Tennessee when Texas was still a Republic. Their piece of heaven was deeded to them by a land grant in 1842. From that day to this, the McCoy’s had lived on their legacy. To think that her child was connected to the strong-willed pioneers who had forged this Texas dynasty was amazing. That fact made what she intended to do even more difficult. Her child might never forgive her, but she was going to let Jacob McCoy off the hook. It was the only fair thing to do. He hadn’t asked to be a father, and it wasn’t fair that he should be forced to acknowledge a child that had been conceived in such a random fashion.
Still, she couldn’t help but fantasize. What kind of reaction would he have to her pregnancy? Would he want to see the baby after it was born? Living in Kerrville wouldn't be a problem for her, she had no ties to Austin or anywhere else. Jessie was alone. Still, Jacob might not want them around; especially if he had a girlfriend. Thoughts were whirling in her head. She was imagining every scenario possible. Feeling slightly dizzy, she put her hand to her head and forced herself to breathe normally. There was no use speculating on what ifs; it was better to wait and see what Jacob had to say when she gave him the big news.
"I'm going to have to learn to use these damn pulleys and shit," Joseph grumbled as he eased himself back in the bed. He was tired of waiting for one of his brothers to help him up and down. It wasn't that he hated the idea of a physical therapist; he knew it was inevitable. What he dreaded was the idea of someone seeing how truly helpless he was.
Especially a woman. The only criteria he was going to insist upon for a physical therapist was that she be homely. He couldn’t stand it if a beautiful woman were privy to his shame.
Tearing the paper cover off the September issue of Playboy, he went right to his favorite page – the centerfold. Lord. Have. Mercy. He let his eyes appreciate the picture-perfect physical attributes of Lisa Reinhart – his own personal crush. She was stacked; with a rack that made his eyes water. Out of habit, he let his hand wander down to his dick. When he touched it and realized he felt nothing – it hit him. He might never get an erection again. Desperately, he rubbed his penis; hoping against hope to feel something – anything. He stared at the luscious breasts and the tempting mound of the Hollywood starlet. Before the accident, a sight like this would have had him hard and beating it in a matter of seconds. But, now – his dick was deader than a doornail. Giving it a second or two more, he feverishly rubbed his flaccid flesh between his thumb and forefinger. How many girls had he brought to orgasm? How many times had he made a woman scream with pleasure? Not enough. Not damn near enough. In disgust, he threw the Playboy against the wall and watched it slide to the ground as limp and useless as his cock.
Jacob eased back in his office chair and thought about how he could find out who his eye candy had been. Grabbing his rolodex, he made a few phone calls. First to the Perry's, their closest neighbor. After about three rings, old Sheldon Perry answered. Jacob supposed that she could be his granddaughter or something. "Sheldon – it's Jacob McCoy. Hey, – yeah – we're doing fine. How about you and Velma? Good. Good. Yea, we need some rain. The hay crop is gonna wither in the field if we don't get any. Irrigation? Yeah, we're irrigating right and left." Jacob grimaced at the necessity for the small talk. "Listen, you wouldn't happen to have a pretty brunette with long hair visiting with you, would you? What? No visitors? Oh, that's okay. I just got a glimpse of a pretty girl that dropped by this morning. We had a small emergency . . . What? No, everything's fine. Anyway, she left before I could find out what she wanted. Well, thank you anyway." Whew! After, he had done the same thing five more times – Jacob was out of sorts and out of ideas. How in the world was he gonna track that sweet doll down? He'd have to give it some serious thought; not finding her was out of the question.
Getting up, he poured himself a cup of coffee from his own personal Bunn. As he walked across the room, he heard the crackle of the envelope that he had stuck in his back pocket. The letter. Crap! If it were something important, he couldn’t afford to ignore it.
Acquiring land was a passion of his. Just recently, he had bought a treasure. A block of rocky land that was covered with scrub mesquite had fallen into his lap. No one else had wanted it. He had taken a gamble and it had paid off. The land was found to be sitting on a pocket of methane gas. And it all belonged to him. Noah and Aron had been against the purchase, so it wasn’t Tebow land – it was Jacob McCoy’s personal property. Now, he was a millionaire in his own right – by his own smarts.
Pulling the letter out of his pocket, he read ‘PERSONAL AND CONFIDENTIAL’ written in big red letters. Scary shit! This didn’t look like any land papers he had ever seen. Careful, so as to not damage the documents inside, he tore open the letter. And what he read was the biggest shock of his entire life.
God In Heaven! He didn't know whether to laugh or cry. The letter was from the Austin Cryobank where he had stored some of his own sperm about five years ago at the recommendation of the Kerrville Fire Department where he was a volunteer fire fighter. It was common practice to advise first responders, police, firemen and soldiers to store their sperm in case of an accident or exposure to some type of a chemical. Frankly, Jacob had forgotten about it. This notification reminded him in a way that he had never expected. He read it the second time.
Austin Cryobank
Office of Critical Issues
Dear Mr. Jacob McCoy
We regret to inform you that an unfortunate error has occurred in the management of your sperm deposit. Due to a lab error, our records indicate that your sperm was released by mistake and used in a surrogate pregnancy. Due to the possibility of an unauthorized use of your deposit, we regret to inform you that a Ms. Jessie Montgomery may be eighteen weeks pregnant with a child conceived using your sperm and her egg. She has refused to terminate the pregnancy. Ms. Montgomery disappeared before we could do additional tests to confirm parentage. All financial support and insurance that she had received from the contract couple has been withdrawn and terminated.