River's End (River's End Series, #1)(76)

He watched her park her truck, and walk around the side of her trailer, where she discovered her new deck. It was nothing really, just a fourteen-by-fourteen square. She, however, was so overwhelmed by the move, the view, and the deck, he almost felt embarrassed for her. Why didn’t she think she deserved more than just a dumpy, old trailer parked beside a small deck? How could this small change warrant her tears? Or her unending, effusive gratitude? It was hard for him not to feel humbled by her. He was astonished at how little it took to make Erin happy. While he always had a place to live and call home, this trailer was it for her.

It was several days after the relocation of her trailer when the new ranch hands started. A.J. was a tall, lanky cowboy, who seemed to know as much about horses and their proper care as Jack. Jack could only hope this one might stick. He raised his pay and promised even more, as well as a decent place to live, if A.J. chose to stay on. The other was a young, Mexican kid, named Pablo, who said he was eighteen, but Jack was skeptical. Still, it was the kid’s business. He was only there for the summer to help with the alfalfa crop, which was already sprouting as high as Jack’s ankles. Every day, Jack went out to the alfalfa fields to relocate the sprinklers. June moved into July, and on the Fourth of July, they had their first day of the temperature exceeding a hundred degrees. It was hot. Even to Jack.

That evening, with the temperatures still hovering in the eighties, they drove into Pattinson and watched the fireworks. It was a twenty-minute display of colorful rockets exploding over the Columbia River. Erin was as thrilled by it as Charlie. Jack started to notice things like that about her. Everything they did, things that were normal, everyday stuff to him, his brothers, and his boys, seemed to delight, intrigue, interest, and even thrill Erin. It didn’t take much. Things as simple as sharing dinner visibly elated her. She gave him an appreciation for his life, his family, their home, hell, even the damn sunrise, that was like nothing he ever had before. Sure, he felt fortunate before, but not with the same deep sense of appreciation and gratitude that Erin seemed to find for everything.

Erin’s skin started to tan and she put on a little weight. She seemed to glow the longer she was there. She ate real food, and soon started to trust him more, finally feeling like she was home. She looked better and healthier immediately and it did wonders for her. It changed her, making her more beautiful than she’d ever been. It was a startling transformation. Jack already had to shoo A.J. away from her; although he often reprimanded himself for thinking of her as someone who needed him to shoo people away from her. She was perfectly capable of deciding her own dates and friends. Hadn’t she done so already there?

It was different, however, without Joey. Jack missed him. Joey was the loudest of the brothers, and the most full of bullshit and crap, which Jack missed dearly. The table seemed too quiet, too mundane, and sometimes, too serious. Joey never let things get serious for long.

It was also different because he suddenly didn’t see Joey anymore when he looked at Erin, or even imagine him with Erin anymore. The longer Joey was gone, the hazier Jack’s memory was of their brief affair. But it remained something, which he could not let go of or forget. There was no way for him to ignore it, although, he invariably tried to.

Grumpy and annoyed at himself, and his fascination for a girl who would always be the wrong one, despite staying forever in his sights, pissed him off in general. He was pissed at her and at Joey for circumstances he never asked to be involved in and couldn’t change. By August, he wasn’t in the best of moods.

“Jack, I think you ought to take this trip instead of me.”

Jack glanced up when Ian walked in and sat on a sawhorse near him. Jack was cleaning out the hooves of Cleo, one of their personal horses.

“Why’s that?”

“You haven’t been away in a while. I think it might do you good.”

Jack frowned. “What are you getting at?”

“Just that maybe you could use, you know, some time away. A short escape.”

“A short escape from what?”

“From Erin,” Ian said after a long moment before frowning at Jack. “You’re edgy as hell around here, and it’s time you fixed that.”

Jack paused as he considered Ian. Was his brother suggesting he needed to get laid to be in a better mood?

“It has been awhile… since, you know, you left town.”

Jack went back to the hooves. Maybe Ian was right. Maybe that was his problem. He nodded. “Fine. I’ll leave tomorrow. You’re in charge of the boys.”

Ian agreed and left. Jack wondered what more Ian thought about Erin, since he had very little to say about her addition to the ranch.

****

Erin loved her new location. She spent hours outside on her deck. She bought a cheap patio chair and often enjoyed the views of the river and mountains and pine trees. She let the sun warm her, tan her, and relax her. She could look out towards rural nature, or watch the horses behind her; and farther off, she could see the main house. With mostly grass around her now, the constant clouds of driveway dust were over. Washing the trailer windows, she was shocked to see how clear they became, like she just put on new glasses.

She was happy and content for the first time she could ever remember.

Until one morning she noticed Jack and Ian out and about early loading up their six-stall horse trailer to Jack’s big truck. As it idled, the exhaust dispersed into the air. Jack threw a duffel bag into his truck and walked around towards Ian. He spotted Erin as she rounded the trailer.