Page 25 of Lady Luck's Kiss
“Any idea where you want to head to?”
“It’s a surprise,” he said simply, pulling out onto the county road. She stared at his profile in the dim truck. His face was illuminated by the gauges and headlights headed their direction. She really didn’t care where they were headed, she was simply fascinated by how the evening was turning out and what a myriad of surprises he was. Jack was an open book and didn’t hide anything – or so it seemed.
She was a bit bothered at the thought of him maybe meeting someone at each rodeo. Maybe she wasn’t special after all, just the latest flavor of the week. She sincerely hoped that wasn’t the case, but mentally tried to prepare herself for it deep down inside.
Dragging her eyes from his profile, she noticed that it looked like they were on the outskirts of town. The small grouping of city lights was far behind them and shrinking every moment.
“Nervous? You keep looking around?”
“No, not nervous,” she said with a smile, staring out the window towards the darkness. “Honestly, kind of peaceful and excited.”
“Good,” he said gruffly, giving her hand a few squeezes.
“Are we heading to your house?”
“Not the house, just the land,” he countered, pulling off the road down the long driveway. “I’d love to show you my home, but I don’t want to pressure you or intrude. The house wasn’t why I bought the place. It was for the view.”
“It’s dark out.”
“Not everything worth its salt is easily seen, Charlotte,” he murmured softly. In fact, the words were uttered so quietly she almost didn’t hear him. He threw the truck into park and reach over the back seat of the truck for a u-shaped travel pillow. That seemed odd and raised a lot of questions in her mind, none of which she voiced aloud. “C’mon and bring your sweater.”
Exiting the truck, she saw that he was climbing in the back bed easily like he had done so repeatedly in the past. In the distance, she could see one faint light where his house was. Glancing back, she saw his shadowed figure standing in the truck bed with his hand extended towards her.
“What are we doing?” she asked, putting her hand in his and stepping up on the bumper of his truck. She could hear crickets chirping all around her at the disturbance the truck was creating in the grassy field. Carefully, she swung a leg over and climbed inside where Jack waited.
“Relax,” he said with an easy smile. “You want the pillow or your sweater?”
“For what?”
“To cushion your head.”
“Is that why you have the pillow in your truck?”
“Yes. Why did you think I had it in there?” he asked curiously. “I’ve had to travel a lot for work. I’ve slept in the cab more than once over the years. It’s not great but works in a pinch when I’m are exhausted. I come out here, though, to feel at peace, centered. Look around. What do you see?” he asked, lying down in the truck bed.
“Nothing, its pitch black out here.”
“Exactly.”
Charlie carefully sat down in the truck and was surprised that the back had planks of plywood in it to make it flat. She had assumed that he did woodwork on the side when she had firstseen it. But now, she saw that it had another use. It provided a flat space for him to lay instead of the wavy, hard metal of the truck bed. Lying on her back, she wadded up the sweater and placed it under her head. Looking at him, she saw that he then put the pillow under his neck with a shrug. “You sure you don’t want this?”
“Positive. But if you had told me, I could have brought throw pillows.”
“If I told you to bring pillows and a blanket, what would you have thought of me, Charlie?”
“I’d have thought you were trying to fool around with some random girl from a rodeo.”
“Another girl?”
“I’m sure you have met a lot of girls from competitions over the years.”
“Charlie, no,” Jack argued, looking up at the sky. “I’ve never met or wanted to meet anyone from a competition. You’re the first.”
She stared at him, surprised by the vehemence in his answer. She saw him staring up and decided to let it drop. Taking a deep breath, she opened her eyes and looked up at the darkness above them. It was dotted with faint specks of light that seemed to come into focus as her eyes grew accustomed to the night.
“That’s beautiful,” she breathed.
“That is why I bought the place,” Jack said quietly. “The crowds and competitions pay the bills, but it takes its toll on me. I didn’t realize it until I found this land a few years ago. I had originally gotten it for the privacy it gave and the view from the back deck. But this? This is what has kept me here for so long.”
