Saved by the Rancher

chapter Twenty-Five


ONE HELL OF a day. Jack and Caleb sat on the porch in rocking chairs, drinking ice cold beer. Jack’s thoughts strayed to Jenna. They did all day. His gut knotted when he thought about her out there somewhere, shopping, having a day out with the girls, but still in danger from her ex-husband.

She’s okay, he reminded himself for the hundredth time. She’ll be home soon. Home. Already he thought of it as their home. So simple to picture her here with him always, long into the days, months, years to come. Absurd something like this could happen in a matter of days, but his life had lacked the absurd, so he embraced it. Hell, why not. It felt damn good to think about her, even better to think about touching her like he had this morning in his bed. Exactly where he wanted her tonight. If she’d only get her pretty bottom home.

“What did she mean they weren’t driving to Denver?” Jack wondered about that all day, and the mysterious delivery. So far, nothing arrived.

“I don’t know. Did you see how mischievous she appeared this morning? Reminded me of Lily when she’s done something she doesn’t want you to know about.”

Jack hadn’t known her long enough to understand all the little things about her that would tell him what that smile on her face really meant. “Yeah, well, I don’t know what she’s up to, but she said she’d explain everything tonight. She’s even going to reveal the bastard’s name. And where the hell is this delivery?”

No sooner had Jack gotten the words out when two flatbed tow trucks lumbered down the driveway. Each with a covered vehicle on the back. They pulled up in front of the house and positioned themselves to unload the vehicles.

The man in the first truck got out and said, “This Stargazer Ranch?”

Jack replied, “Yeah.”

“You the owner, Jack Turner?”

“Yeah.”

“Delivery’s for you, man.”

Jack and Caleb came off the porch, staring at the trucks and the man. “Whose cars are these?”

“Yours. Sign here, please.”

Jack signed and the man got out two pink slips. “Who gets the Camaro?”

Caleb and Jack looked at each other blankly. “She didn’t,” Caleb blurted.

“If the she you’re referring to goes by Jenna Caldwell, then yes, she did,” the delivery man said.

“Uh, the Camaro is mine, I guess.” Jack couldn’t believe it. She bought him a car.

“Okay, sign here.” Jack did and took the pink slip.

“Is the Mustang for you?” the delivery man asked Caleb.

Caleb opened his mouth, closed it, then said still unsure, “Uh, yeah, I guess it is.”

“Sign here and we’ll get them unloaded.”

“Jack, she bought me a car. Why did she buy me a car?” Stunned, they could only stare. “This can’t be real. People don’t buy other people cars. Not like this.”

“I don’t know. She bought me one, too,” Jack said, dumbfounded.

The drivers hauled themselves up to the back of the flatbeds. They uncovered the Camaro first, rose the front end of the flatbed, and backed the car down onto the driveway. They repeated the process with the other flatbed, uncovering the Mustang next and unloading it.

Jack and Caleb stood in awe, unable to believe what they were seeing.

The driver handed the keys to him and Caleb and took off. First thing, they both popped the hoods and stared at the amazing machines. They shoved at each other and grinned, slapping each other on the back.

“Look at these beauties. Can you believe it? They’re our dream cars, a blue ’69 Camaro and a red ’67 Fastback Mustang. But why did she do this? How did she do this?”

“I don’t know, man, but she did. We’ll ask her when she gets here.” Jack leaned over the engine wondering how she’d done this, how she could afford to do this, and what else she had planned for them. He wasn’t used to women buying things for him. This was something beyond even that. She’d made one of his dreams come true and brought back cherished memories of him with his dad flying down the highway, nothing but speed and fun.

He needed to see her. He wanted an explanation. Nothing about Jenna added up. He was a man who liked to know exactly how things fell in line, how the pieces added up to make a whole.



JENNA SMILED TO herself as they passed the tow trucks on the main road. The guys must have gotten her surprise.

Summer drove, the back of the vehicle loaded down from their shopping trip. Lily napped in her car seat, crashing from too much sugar and fun.

“Summer, how do you like driving this big car? I know you’re used to your little four-door, and I really appreciate you driving home.”

“What’s not to like about driving this thing? Leather interior, all kinds of buttons and gadgets.”

“So you like it, huh.” She smiled secretly to herself.

“Yeah. It drives like a dream, even though it’s big.”

They reached the front of the house and witnessed the perfect display of boys with their toys. The two cars were parked next to each other. Hoods up, the two men were looking at the engines with their backs to Jenna and Summer. They had a perfect view of Jack and Caleb’s butts hugged snugly in their jeans as they bent over the cars.

“Now that’s what I like to see. A couple of nice asses bent over a really hot car.”

“Jenna! You didn’t. You bought them cars.”

“Yep. Cool, huh.”

Summer gently woke Lily and got her out. She rushed over to her dad.

“Daddy, guess what? We got to go on a plane. A jet. I got to see the pilot and sit in the cockpit. It was so cool. Then, we got to ride in a huge limo. You could fit a whole bunch of people. It even had a TV. Then, we went shopping and the people helped us. Their job is to shop with you. Isn’t that neat?

“Jenna bought us all kinds of stuff. Diamonds, too. See my earrings. And I got a jeep. It’s in the car. You have to put it together. Then, we had a really fancy lunch, and we came home on the jet again. See my new dress and my shiny shoes. Aren’t they pretty? Jenna bought them for me. Not only this, she bought me play clothes too and toys. I like the Jeep the best though. Will you put it together now?”

“Slow down, baby. It sounds like you had a great day. You went on a plane?”

“A super fast jet the pilot said. He was really nice.”

“I see. And you got new clothes, diamond earrings, and a Jeep.” Caleb picked up Lily. “Those earrings are very pretty, you’ll have to be extra careful not to lose them.”

“I got more toys, too. Jenna said I could have anything I wanted. She got it all for me. Mama got stuff, too.”

Beautiful in her new floral dress, Summer also wore her new sparkling diamond earrings. Caleb stared, appreciating his stunning wife. Jenna stood back admiring the family, feeling a pinch of jealousy along with a sense of utter happiness.

“Did you have a good time, honey?” Caleb asked his wife.

Summer smiled and laughed. “Are you kidding? Who wouldn’t like being a Rockefeller for a day? She’s crazy, you know. A jet. We had personal shoppers picking things out for us and bagging them up. She’s insane, wouldn’t take ‘no’ for an answer. It was, I don’t know, the most amazing experience of my life.”

They stared at her and she smiled back at all of them, feeling ten feet tall. She wore her new blue silk dress. Blue for Jack, it had a thin collar around the neck and the fabric draped down and skimmed her body to her knees, leaving her shoulders and arms bare. She wore her new diamond earrings, too. Diamond earrings for all of them, something to remember the day by. She figured it was time to do some explaining, but Caleb spoke first.

“The cars, Jenna. How? Why? Not that I’m complaining, but this is too much. How can you do this for all of us?”

“Yes, Jenna. How can you afford to do this for everyone? Jets, limos, cars, diamonds, shopping sprees?” Jack couldn’t take his eyes off her. She looked like a million bucks in that dress and his mouth watered just looking at her. This was the real Jenna. Dressed like she was, smiling, enjoying herself. He didn’t know what to make of it.

“Jack, you asked me several times who I’m running from. You neglected to ask who I am.”

She wore a huge smile on her face, like the joke was on him for missing that fact. He guessed it was.

“You may be rich, but I’m filthy stinking rich.” She let them absorb that little bombshell. Still smiling like the cat who ate the canary, she took in their shocked faces.

“What I did today was just money. I could do this every day until I die if I wanted to.”

Stunned into complete silence, she smiled even more.

“Okay, here it is. You guys took me in and cared for me. A stranger. You didn’t know anything about me, except someone hurt me. You nursed me back to health and gave me something back that I’ve been missing for far too long.”

She turned to Caleb. “Friendship.”

To Summer. “Caring.”

And Lily. “Hope.”

She faced Jack again. “Kindness. That’s all I ever wanted. You know that. You all gave it to me, expecting nothing in return, without knowing who I am, or what my circumstances.

“I’m returning that kindness. You all have my love and friendship, but I wanted to give you something to show you how much I appreciate having you in my life.” She raised her hand and gestured to the cars. “So, every boy should have a really cool toy. Hence, the really cool cars. I hope you like them.

“Every girl should get to go on a marvelous shopping spree. The jet and limo were just, well, lots of fun.”

They all spoke at once, saying it was too much, and they couldn’t accept.

She held up both her hands to stop all the protests. “These are just things, and I give them to you with all the love in my heart. Accept them. Enjoy them. Seeing you happy makes me happy. That’s another thing I haven’t felt in a long time.

“Now, the appropriate response is, ‘Thank you, Jenna.’”

Heads turned this way and that as they all came to a silent agreement and in unison said, “Thank you, Jenna.”

She laughed.

Caleb couldn’t stop admiring his new car and Summer tapped him in the ribs. “Nice Mustang. Both my babies got new cars,” Summer joked with her husband.

“That’s not true. The keys in your hand are yours, and so is this.” Jenna took an envelope out of her purse, the pink slip to the SUV she’d signed over to Summer and handed it to her.

“Jenna, no. I was kidding. The shopping trip was enough. Really, I was only teasing.”

“I’m not. The car is yours.” She looked down at Lily and then at Summer’s slightly swollen pregnant belly. “You need it. I’ll buy another one.”

Summer came over and hugged her, tears spilling from her eyes. “You’re too much. This is too much. Thank you. I don’t know what to say.”

“There’s nothing more to say. You’ve given me more than you know.”

Summer released Jenna and her husband stepped in and gave her a hug. “Thank you. My dream car. I can’t believe it. How did you know?”

“Easy, Jack’s office is covered in Camaros. He mentioned you liked Mustangs and a shop nearby where you guys like to go and drool. A calendar behind his desk had the name of the shop and their website. I’m a whiz with computers, so I logged into the site, found they had the completely restored vehicles in their showroom. I emailed Ben and had him buy them and have them delivered to you today. See. Easy.”

Lily danced impatiently at Caleb’s feet, begging for her Jeep. Caleb went to the back of his wife’s new SUV and got the huge box out. Jenna stood at the front, pinned by Jack’s impenetrable stare and his quiet intensity.

“Jenna, which of these packages is yours? I’ll take them into the house for you.”

“The ones by Lily’s car seat are mine.”

Caleb hauled out the packages, lots of them. Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, and Victoria’s Secret. “I hope Summer’s stuff includes a Victoria’s Secret bag.”

Summer gave her husband a playful slap on the arm. “Knock it off. Take Jenna’s stuff inside and let’s get dinner started.”

Alone in the driveway, Jack leaned against his new car with his arms crossed over his broad chest. His silence made Jenna nervous that he might be upset about the gifts.

She walked over and stood in front of him. “Are you mad at me? Don’t you like the car?”

Jack’s face gave nothing away. His eyes turned cool blue, staring at her. “I love the car, but you didn’t need to buy it for me.”

“I wanted to say thank you, show you how much I appreciate what you did. You took care of me,” she explained without really conveying how deeply she felt about what he’d done for her.

“No one has ever done anything like this for me, for my family.”

“You said you always wanted one. It just so happens they had the ’69. A blue one,” she said with a smile and winked at him.

“Yeah, I like blue. I guess you figured that out. Nice dress, too, by the way.”

“It wasn’t that hard to figure out. But if you don’t like it, they had a really great black one. We could take it back and get that one if you want.”

“I like this one. Come here.” He reached out for her, his gaze locked with hers.

Jenna stepped into his arms, their faces inches apart. Looking deep into her eyes, he said, “I’m seriously falling hard for you. I can’t seem to stop myself.”

“Is this because of the car?” She only half teased.

Still serious, he answered, “It’s just you.”

She’d seen it in his eyes, felt it in the way he touched her, but now it radiated from him intensely. “I’m falling pretty hard for you, too, Jack. I only wanted to make you happy.”

“You make me happy. Just you, Jenna. You shouldn’t have done all this.” He was smiling now, a really big smile. “But since you did, it’s a really awesome car. Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. Want to take me for a ride?”

“Absolutely, but later. We have dinner still, and you have some more explaining to do.”

“I know, and I will after dinner. I have a few more surprises still.”

That same mischievous smile she had this morning appeared on her face, and it made him nervous. “Are you kidding me? What surprises?”

“You’ll see. Kiss me, Jack.”

He didn’t need to be told twice. Not when it came to Jenna. He kissed her, long and passionately, burying his fingers in her hair. She held on to his shoulders. They lost themselves in each other. Jack trailed kisses over her forehead, down her nose, her cheek and jaw, and down her neck. She gripped her hands in his hair, holding him to her. Her body pressed against his.

Jack mumbled against her throat, “Ever since I saw you get out of that car wearing this dress, I’ve wanted to get my hands on you. You’re so beautiful.”

“Summer and Caleb are waiting for us.”

Silencing her attempts to stop him, he crushed his mouth to hers. Sliding his tongue over hers, savoring the taste of her.

Jack slowed the kisses and they ended on a long slow steady joining of lips. A breath away from his face, her eyes slowly opened. He pressed his forehead to hers and gazed into those green eyes that haunted him. “I missed you today,” he admitted.

The longer he knew her, the more intense the feelings inside him grew. The easier it was to tell her how he felt. Open and honest, she made it easy to be with her. No games. No pretenses. Maybe because he’d taken care of her when she was most vulnerable, they both felt they could let down their guard and just be themselves with each other. Something inside him acknowledged what a rare gift that was. She was a rare gift.

They started back to the house, Jack holding her hand. “Do I get to see anything on you from the Victoria’s Secret bags?”

“Everything. Later.” She gave him a wicked grin and winked.

“God, you’re killing me.” Jack put his arm around her shoulders and drew her close to his side and kissed the side of her head. “I’m glad you’re home.”

“Me, too.”