Disclaimer: The characters belong to Annie Proulx, and I make no profit.

AN: This story was originally inspired by the song Yanksgiving by Carolyn Mark. Many thanks to my beta, judybluecat, who also inspired me to share it. I can't promise any kind of regular updates, so be advised. If that's something you need as a reader, you may want to hold out until later.


Chapter Two

Jack was peeling his shirt off when Ennis turned to him across the bed.

"Where's Ames sleepin', huh?"

Jack stopped mid-peel and reversed his action, pulling his shirt back on. He knew this was going to be his to deal with, because Ennis had already taken off his shoes, and no way Ennis would go tromping around in the house in what equated to him as the altogether. Besides, best he deal with it anyway. He had some idea of where Amy might be sleeping, and it likely wasn't on the couch.

Descending the stairs, he found that only Amy, Kenny, and Jason were still up, this time leaning over a Yahtzee board. Amy giggled and Kenny sneered.

"Who's winnin'?" Jack approached the group.

"Jason," Kenny grumbled.

"And he didn't even want to play." Amy's eyes were sparkling fond amusement at Kenny.

"That's great," Jack answered, utterly distracted and already unable to remember who the victor was. "Ames, babe, where are you sleepin'?"

Amy stared up at Jack with big brown eyes, her short, black-dyed bob-cut bouncing on her ears, her skinny legs kicking in the air.

Jason came to her rescue. "Oh, uh. You 'member earlier, Jack?"

"Yeah. Alright. I guessed as much."

"You told him?" Amy hissed at Jason.

"Told him what?" Kenny's wide eyes looked on. Clearly he was sensing that he was left out of something.

"Um. Amy and I are... seeing each other."

Kenny managed to make a face that passed as both shock and disapproval, and Jack laughed it off. "Alright. I'm going to bed. Until I say so, anyone asks, Jason, you slept on Kenny's floor tonight. Alright?" Jack was already ascending the stairs.

"Night, Jack!" Jason called after him.

Jack heard unamused and hurt whispers and grumbles over the Yahtzee board.

When morning came, Jack got up with Ennis to scavenge breakfast before Ennis headed off to the Bar J, already wearing his denim shirt with its little logo. It was after the end of the guest season now, so his hours there were less, but there was still a herd to see to, and it was prime maintenance time there for the men. It wasn't like they'd asked him to work the day after Thanksgiving, but he was going in anyhow.

It was what was there, so they both made themselves turkey sandwiches for breakfast. Jack reckoned they'd be having turkey for a while. Su was wandering in, sleepy, starting coffee in her long blue bathrobe. They exchanged quiet 'good morning's.

"Don't like the hippie sleepin' next ta them boys," Ennis grumbled, out of nowhere.

"For christsakes. You think Jason gonna assault her?"

"Well, what 'bout Ken?"

Su and Jack both gaped at Ennis, until he mumbled and stuffed some more turkey in his mouth.

The three of them were the earliest risers, but the house was slowly waking up around them. Jen stumbled downstairs in loose satin pajamas that hid every last part of her figure. Her long, dark blond hair was well-brushed, though, and under her arm was a big old notebook. Jen didn't have much right to call Ennis a workaholic. She carried some case or another around with her most days, but maybe that's why she was so sensitive to the issue. If she'd taken Thanksgiving off, maybe she thought everyone should. Jen grabbed an extra-large mug of coffee and plopped down at the kitchen table, glassy-eyed.

"Sleep well?" Jack asked.

Jen just shrugged. She was the antithesis of a morning person.

"What's on your schedule today?" Susan asked Jack.

"Well, you know that front step's loose. Gotta fix that. Then maybe check the insulation in the attic, add some more before winter."

Ennis nodded, then got up and started wrapping aluminum foil around some other left-overs for his lunch. Finished, he hovered awkwardly behind Jack like he did every day. He'd done this every day for more years than Jack could count. And, just like every day, Ennis settled for patting Jack lightly on the shoulder before saying, "See you later," and heading out the door.

Jack called "Bye" after him.

The women didn't say anything because they knew Ennis's salutation hadn't been for them.

Once Ennis had left, Jack got up and went about his day. It was a cold morning, but the sun lent it some warmth, enough to fix the front step anyway. The railing was also completely loose, so Jack tore that out while he was at it.

When he came in for lunch, he found Amy, Kenny, and Jason each spread out on their own pieces of the dining room table with papers and books. Usually Kenny and Jason did their homework in their rooms, but he guessed Amy's presence counted as a special occasion. Amy was always hard at work on something-- unless she was hard at play.

Jack grabbed a turkey sandwich, slathering some cranberry sauce on an onion roll to use it as bread. He sat down next to Jason and plopped his plate right on top of the homework that looked as good as gibberish to him.

"Hey," Jason mumbled.

"What the hell is this, anyway?"

"Statistics."

"Oh... Well. I'm headed to the hardware store. Any takers?"

Jason, who'd seemed highly invested in his statistics homework moments before, was already packing it up.

Kenny'd been working on something on paper himself, but he grinned and started packing too, following his brother's lead even though he was the elder by a year. When he was done, he leaned back and sighed, running a hand through his short, brown-blond hair. "I hate homework," he added, as if someone had said otherwise.

"Amy?" Jack asked.

"Not me," Amy muttered distractedly. "I have a major article to write. On abortion. I cannot believe that assholes would feel like they have a right to tell people what they can do with their own bodies."

All eyes flew to Amy.

"Seriously," Jason mumbled, clearly directing his remark to Amy and Amy alone. "Next thing you know, Christians might be against birth control."

Kenny was shooting daggers at both of them, and Jack was thinking this might be the time to beat a hasty retreat, back to insulation and things he understood. But before he got a chance, the conversation went downhill and he was sucked in.

"It's not even the same thing. You're talking about killing a child. Who's going to stand up for the child's rights while you're standing up for the mother's?" Kenny was making a strange face that Jack recognized as indignation.

"You have got to be joking. It's not a child yet. It's like, a little blob of cells," Amy groaned.

"You can't just kill a child because you didn't want one."

"Well why not?" Amy asked, frustration leaking through, her volume rising. "People shouldn't be having kids unless they're ready for them. The world's overpopulated enough as it is."

"Hey now," Jack simply had to step in. "Let's not yell. And no offense, Amy, but you don't know a lot about having kids. Don't think anyone's ready for them, whether they want them or not."

All eyes settled on Jack for a moment before Amy said, "I didn't think you knew a lot about it either, Jack." She raised an eyebrow.

It seemed Jack's personal don't-ask-don't-tell policy with regards to his past had come back to bite him in the ass. "My son might beg to differ." He took a swallow from his glass of water. "And I didn't want kids," he added. "Ennis wanted his girls. Well, he wanted boys, but... well, it doesn't matter. Once you hold a baby in your arms, you understand that it doesn't matter what you wanted, doesn't matter how big a mistake it is..." Jack gathered his dishes up, finding he couldn't finish his sentence. He thought on Bobby who wouldn't come to visit him, on Edith, who must've been twelve or thirteen by now. He wouldn't recognize her if she walked by on the street. Some days were harder than others. "Anyone wants to go to the hardware store, the bus leaves in fifteen." Jack left the dining room quickly, very conscious of the three pairs of eyes that followed him.


"They can't carry a tune. That's all I'm saying."

"That's how they want to sing."

"Are you saying they could sing in tune if they wanted to?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying."

"Then why don't they?"

"It's not their style."

Jack interrupted Kenny and Jason's little argument. "What the hell are you two on about?"

"The Offspring," Jason was quick to answer.

"The what?" Jack asked.

"They stink," Kenny added.

"They're only one of the most poignant and individualistic punk groups of all time."

"As long as you don't mind out-of-tune screaming."

"Exactly."

Kenny sighed with exasperation.

"And have you heard their lyrics?" Jason continued.

"Yeah, at three a.m. every night for the past seven years," Kenny groaned.

"Well, if you don't hear poignancy, you must not be listening," Jason huffed.

"Could you guys just shut up for a second and pass me the utility knife?"

The three of them were in one of the smaller crawl-spaces off the attic, replacing the old fiberglass with slabs of foam insulation one set of studs at a time. Jack had been listening to this brotherly bickering for about three hours, and his patience was wearing thin. Days like this he was glad he was an only child. Still, it wasn't so different from the arguments he got into with Ennis. Except those ended with sex half the time, which made them worth it. He got the impression from Kenny and Jason they'd had this particular argument more then a dozen times.

"Now, Green Day's a good punk group," Kenny said.

"I'm not about to argue there," Jason was nodding. "Do you know The Hippos?"

"Who?" Kenny asked, and Jack felt grateful that he wasn't the only one in the dark.

"They're punk. Well I guess they're technically more ska."

"You have gone way beyond my musical knowledge, man."

"Mine too," Jack chimed in, just because.

Jason laughed. "Hey! Jack man! Who do you like?"

"What?"

"Who do you like? Musicians."

"None of this HippoDay or whatever."

"No, come on. Who was your big deal back in the day?"

"I didn't have much call to listen to a lot of music."

"Aww, but you must have listened to some."

Jack shrugged, raking through dead leaves of hurt and old memories of a life that felt like it was lived by someone else now. "Always was a fan of old Hank Williams."

"Yeah, that's good shit," Jason approved. "You know my favorite Hank Williams song? How's it go..." Jason flopped onto his back on the attic floor, his voice growing serious and stern. He had a good singing voice, and he started the fast song with dirge-slowness. It echoed in the wooden rafters. "Why don't you love me like you used to do? How come you treat me like a worn-out shoe? My hair's still curly and my eyes are still blue, why don't you love me like you used to do?"

Jason rose up on his elbows and looked at Jack. Jack saw that both Kenny and Jason were staring at him. The song seemed to roll on, and Jack pushed away a lonely feeling. He knew from long and grueling experience that the best way to deal with that was just to keep himself busy.

"Jack?" Jason asked.

"Pass up some more of that insulation," Jack instructed, wiping his nose on his sleeve. There was some dust up here or something because his eyes and nose were sure watering.


Ennis got home after ten at night, and Jack had already slipped off to sleep. When Jack got up the next morning, Saturday, Ennis was gone already, back to the ranch. Jack had to be at RCS anyway.

When Jack was finally climbing into his truck to head for work, Amy came running out to catch him. Her short hair was glued to her head with pins. Despite the cold air, she was wearing just a white tank top over long black pants and black boots, a white sweater tied around her tiny waist.

"What is it?" Jack rolled down the window.

"You're going to work?"

"That was the plan."

"Hang on! I want to see the guys while I'm in town."

Before Jack even had time to respond, Amy was throwing herself into the passenger seat of the small truck.

When they got to RCS, Trevor was the only one scheduled to work with Jack today. Amy was nonplussed. She vaulted into a sitting position on the counter and immediately got down to flirting with the 20-something local. Jack shook his head and announced that he would be locking himself in the office for the morning.

Around eleven o'clock, Jack heard the front door open. Almost immediately, Amy was calling, "Jack, someone wants to see the manager!"

Their atmosphere was pretty casual, and yelling across the "showroom" (which is what they called the small, well-lit warehouse that served as the rental center) was the main mode of communication around here anyway. Jack opened his office door, shoes squeaking on white linoleum floor. He could already hear a customer, a young man, stammering, "What, no, I didn't ask to speak to any manager."

Confused, Jack peered around the corner-- and smiled. He walked over to the sales desk and leaned against it as provocatively as he could manage without being too blatant. "What can I do you for?"

"Oh, we don't need to see any manager," the young man continued. "We just had a reservation for an industrial-sized jackhammer."

Jack eyed the young man's silent, blushing companion. Amy handed Jack the paperwork. Jack read from the sheet. "The Bar J, huh? That's kind of far away to rent from us all the way out here."

"Oh, uh, Ennis here highly recommended this place."

"Did he now?"

Amy snickered. Trevor made himself busy under the counter, but Jack could see that his face was turning red.

"Well, why don't you let my lovely associate here ring you up while I show your partner," Jack leaned on the word, "how to jackhammer."

At that, Amy tried her damnedest not to explode, feigning a coughing fit. Ennis's face gave the lid of Trevor's Coke bottle a run for its money in the red department. He was only too eager to follow Jack out of the showroom.

"You tryin' a get me fired," Ennis hissed in accusation as soon as they were in the fresh air.

Jack chuckled. "Don't be an idiot. That guy looked about as naïve as they come. And there ain't no way he's your boss."

Ennis nodded, so Jack knew he couldn't be too far off. True to his word, he took Ennis back to the proper piece of machinery, the John Deere 710 C, inserting the key and starting her up to make sure everything was in working order.

But Jack, as usual, had a plan. He'd been meaning to break this news to Ennis for a couple days now, but his minutes in the proximity of Ennis in their daily orbits had been too few and too precious to be wasted on something that was without a doubt going to turn into Ennis-sulking time in short order. This way Jack could let Ennis sulk at work. "You driving this all the way back to the Bar J or does your friend got the honors?" Jack asked.

Ennis smiled. "I ain't that foolish. Drove my truck so he gets to drive this all that way."

Jack nodded and smiled back. "Good. I don't wanna have ta peel you off of the road anywhere."

Ennis nodded.

Jack paused, hesitating, but he knew their time was running short and it was now or never. "Look, there's something you should know about Amy."

That got Ennis's attention. He was staring at Jack now.

"She's, uh, she's dating Jason. That's where she slept last night."

Ennis's face turned to stone, thunderheads rolling in against ever-darkening skies.

"Now you remember she's an adult. She can do what she wants--"

"Not under my roof she can't--"

"Jason's a paying customer an' that's his room—"

"I don't--"

Ennis's growing anger was interrupted by the object of the conversation, Amy, as she called out a wise warning through the rows of machinery. "Jack, are you back here?"

Ennis visibly started. Jack jumped down stiffly from the jackhammer, ignoring the glowers still raining down from Ennis above.

Amy and the young man appeared, but Jack could feel Ennis's unease, that the issue was still unnerving him. Jack didn't quite get it. To Jack, Amy was an adult, Jason was an adult, they were their own people, and their business was their own, but the quiet tension Jack could feel, even from six feet away, boiling off of Ennis spoke differently.

The young man was going to be towing the machinery on a trailer all the way back to the Bar J, plus probably driving it some there, so Jack had to show this kid how to handle it. He knew what Ennis wanted, so he turned to Amy.

"Amy, Mr. Del Mar here was hoping you could go over some of the finer points of the contract with him while I show Mr.--"

"Kelly. James Kelly."

"Mr. Kelly here how to handle this fine piece of machinery. You mind?"

Amy's mouth dropped open. "Uh... sure."

Ennis's eyes were clouded over, but he hopped off of the jackhammer and muttered a "thank you," and though it was directed at Amy, Jack strongly suspected it was intended for himself.

Jack directed James with the careful precision of someone who knew that a single mistake with this piece of equipment could result in loss of life or limb. James wasn't more than twenty-eight or twenty-nine, but he listened with rapt attention. Jack guessed Ennis was his boss, and the kid wanted to put in a good showing. Still, Jack was slightly distracted. He glanced up now and then to see Amy and Ennis exchanging hushed words. Amy was alternating between defiance and confusion, Ennis between concern and trepidation. Slowly, though, their conversation seemed to slow and reach a flat note. They were clearly coming to some agreement, and just as Jack couldn't find anything left to talk about, having explained the entire workings of the machine about six times and moved on to the finer points of the type of oil used in the joints, which, thank goodness, he only knew about because of its being the same kind in use in combines and tractors.

At last James and Ennis were off. Jack raised a hand at the face he saw watching him out of a side view mirror, and went about the rest of his day working on bills while Amy and Trevor rented popcorn poppers and wood chippers.

When closing time finally came at seven o'clock, Jack asked Amy if she minded stopping by the grocery store. He had some items to pick up, though he wouldn't-- couldn't, really-- answer when she asked him what they were.

Amy seemed to take the hint, though. They split up in the store. She went to scout the organic food section, or, as Jack liked to think of it, the 'overpriced-but-you're-a-hippie-so-we-can-take-you-for-a-ride' section. He'd been raised on a ranch and worked around farmers and rancher folk all his life, and he didn't think that food was any better or worse than what came from anywhere else. But he wouldn't tell Amy that. What she wanted to waste her own hard-earned money on was her own business.

And Jack, for his part, had his own business to conduct. He wasn't an apologetic man about his habits in life, but there are always some things you feel self-conscious about putting in your grocery basket. He honestly wasn't sure which bothered him more-- the lube or the anniversary card. It was a toss-up. Or it would have been if he hadn't backed out of the lube aisle and run into some woman, only to find himself holding a tube of lube and staring at Susan.

"Oh! Sorry, Jack."

"No, it's..." Jack threw the tube into his basket like it was on fire. She noticed, though. He could see it in her eyes that were trying not to laugh at him.

"Didn't you bring Amy with you?"

"Yeah, she, uh, went...she's looking at the, you know, her food."

"Oh yeah," Susan said, all business again. "I got her some of those fake sausages she likes." Susan was rummaging around in her cart, blissfully bringing Jack back to the comfortable role of landlord. Susan did most of the grocery shopping for them all, of course with money Jack and Ennis gave her. It had become really unpractical for them all to try and have separate food, especially since Susan had started taking up cooking for everyone so many years ago now. Instead, they'd raised rent a little to include board.

"You pick up any of that Oreo pie that I like?"

"We have three pies at home!"

"Yeah, but ain't none a them Oreo." At her slightly annoyed look, Jack was quick to add, "I mean, not that they aren't the best darn pies..."

"Right, whatever," she laughed.

"You ready to check out?" Jack asked.

She pointed to the aisle next door. "If you let me grab some floss."

When she was done with her own personal item, it being a good bit less personal than Jack's own, they walked side-by-side to the cash register, meeting Amy as she perused a copy of Time magazine with a strange expression on her face. She had a basket with some fruit and a newspaper, the handle hanging from one forearm.

Once at the belt, they had a shuffle to do. Jack put his own items in with Su's food. Su put her personal items aside. Amy put her food with the rest of the food, not asking, though Jack didn't care or mind, and was going to put her newspaper separate when Jack grabbed it and threw it on top. "Reckon we could all do with a little educatin'," he winked at her.

She was nodding when her expression changed. Jack saw what she'd noticed, and he knew he was in for it. Before he could react, though, Amy's thin arm had swooped down on the card.

"Oh my God, Jack--"

"Give it back--"

"Oh my God!"

"Give it--"

"For all the memories of yesterday--"

Jack groaned.

"Did you know about this, Su?"

"Ha, I saw the other anniversary present."

But Amy wasn't paying attention and missed that juicy tidbit. "For the happiness of today, for the promise of tomorrow--"

"Amy...," Jack pleaded.

"For all of this and more..." she stopped reading aloud then, though, and Jack could have thanked God in heaven.

Amy had a silly peaceful smile on her face. She handed the card off to Susan and muttered, "I'll be right back," before bolting from the lane.

Susan looked it over briefly, smiling, and laid it back on Jack's pile.

Jack watched the direction Amy had taken with growing concern. "Shit."

"What?" Susan turned to try and make out Amy's trajectory for herself.

"Good evening, Mr. Twist. Paper or plastic?"

"Hey, Jeanine. Do you think you could put the paper in the plastic?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Oh my God," Susan muttered. "Jack, she's..."

"Yeah." Jack watched Jeanine ring up their food with half his attention, the other half wondering what in the hell Amy was going to come back with.

"Ennis doesn't know we know that it's your anniversary."

"Well, until just now, you were the only one who knew. And what's more, it's not. Not really. I mean, just sort of," Jack sighed, but he knew Susan wouldn't ask more, and she didn't.

"Will he mind?"

Jack shrugged. "Probably not. I don't know. Maybe. Who cares?" He meant it, too.

"Anniversary?" Jeanine asked in that conversational way that all grocery cashiers must have to learn.

Jack restrained a curse. He tried not to talk so openly outside of the house, even if they were basically known around Durango, and even if Jeanine had dated Kenny for almost a month. Jeanine just smiled and said, "Have a good one," though, as the bagging job fell to Alex, the bag boy.

Susan and Jack had already loaded the groceries into the trunk of Susan's rusty white Accord when Amy left the store, protecting a paper bag under her arm. It was clear Jack wasn't going to know the nature of its contents any time soon. He sighed and closed the trunk on the car.

"See you in a few," he said to Susan.

"Yeah, and good luck," she laughed, a genuine laugh like she didn't give often, and the sound warmed Jack's heart and almost made it worth the ribbing he was about to get.

Jack nodded and met Amy back at the truck, about to ride with the prankster herself into the trap she was laying right before his eyes. Whatever Amy had planned, it was likely to be sweet, sentimental, and thoroughly embarrassing.