Read Jake for Free Online Page B

fancy TV chefs to shame.”
    “Food.” Meg touched a hand to her stomach. “I haven’t eaten a real meal since I got off the plane. And that was some trail mix and a glass of cheap chardonnay.”
    “There you go.” The chief looked over at Jake. “I think a visit to your place is just what Miss Stanford and the boy need right about now, before they have to deal with changing the locks and figuring out what safety measures to take.”
    Jake glanced at Meg, who was biting her lip and trying to come up with a decision.
    Jake decided to nudge her a bit more. “I can’t imagine that the intruder would risk coming here in daylight.”
    After considering her options, Meg started across the room. “You’re right. I’ll get the keys.” She frowned. “Not that a locked door will make much difference to the intruder. It didn’t stop him last night.”
    The police chief called, “Maybe he already got what he came for and is long gone.”
    Meg paused and turned to the man with the badge. “I hope you’re right, Chief Fletcher.”
    He followed her from the room, leaving Jake to trail slowly behind, as he dug out his cell phone and called Phoebe to let her know he was bringing guests for lunch.
      
    Meg and Cory stared out the truck windows, watching the passing scenery with avid interest.
    Cory, sandwiched between Jake and Meg, turned to Jake. “How far to your place?”
    “We’re on it. Have been ever since we left your ranch.”
    “This is all yours?”
    Jake nodded. “Not technically mine. It belongs to my family. My grandfather, my father, and my two brothers and their wives.”
    The boy’s eyes widened. “You’ve got brothers?”
    “Quinn and Josh. They’re both older than me.”
    “Wow. It must be cool having older brothers.”
    “Sometimes.” Jake chuckled. “And sometimes I used to wish I was an only child.” He looked over. “How about you? Ever wish you had brothers?”
    Cory shrugged. “It would’ve been neat. My dad didn’t do a lot with me. Sometimes I thought it was because he didn’t like me.” He sighed. “But my mom said it was because he was old and tired.”
    Jake looked beyond the boy to the young woman who hadn’t spoken a single word since leaving her father’s ranch.
    She looked pensively out the side window, and it occurred to him that she and the boy didn’t interact, except through him. Maybe they’d already given up trying to communicate with each other.
    “How does it feel to be back in Wyoming, Meg?”
    She forced herself from her reverie to shrug her shoulders. “It feels strange. For years after my mother and I left, I begged to be allowed to come back, if only for a few weeks. I missed it so much. I’d had a pony…” She stopped and glanced at the boy beside her. Her tone lowered. Softened. “I’d almost forgotten, Cory. I called her Strawberry. She was a roan. A gift from my father on my seventh birthday.” A long, deep sigh escaped her lips. “I loved that pony.”
    Cory shot her a timid look. “That’s how I feel about Shadow. Did you take her with you when you left?”
    She seemed more surprised by the fact that he spoke directly to her than by the question. “I had to leave her behind. My mother made it clear that we were leaving everything except the clothes on our backs, and starting our new lives with a clean slate. And so we did.”
    “If you had asked Dad, he would have sent you pictures of Strawberry.”
    She shook her head. “We didn’t exactly part as friends.”
    The boy looked at her in disbelief. “My mom used to say he isn’t your friend. He’s your dad. That’s why, even when he’s sad, I should know that he loves me.”
    “He may have been my dad, too, but the man I left was a mean-mouthed—” She stopped herself, forcing the anger from her tone. “Sorry. Old habits. Look, Cory, I’m glad he was a decent enough dad to you. But my memories aren’t the same as yours.”
    “Was he mean to you?”
    “Never. At least, not