Chapter 9

That Summer

About half your troubles come from wanting your way; the other half come from gettin' it.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

After two weeks of Lynn's way to enthusiastic wake up calls, Jacob was starting to become accustomed to her early morning routine. Without much ado, he decided that now was as good a time as any for a little payback. Before they turned in for the night, he snuck into her bathroom and took all of her soap products and hid them in the coat closet downstairs. When he bid her a good night, it was all he could do to keep a straight face. When she awoke the next morning, she went into the bathroom, reached in and turned the shower on to let the water warm. Without looking, she stripped off her pajamas and stepped into the shower. She let the warm water cascade over her body. She wet her hair completely. She then reached for the nonexistent shampoo. Her hand swiped through the air where the bottle had previously been located. As she opened her eyes to figure out what the heck was wrong, she said to herself, "What the...?" As she scanned the corners of the tub, the realization that all her cleaning products were gone hit her like a ton of bricks. She wiped her hands over her face to clear away the water streams that were running over her cheeks and through her eyelashes.

She quietly laughed to herself, "That little shit. I hope that he doesn't think that he's going to get to sleep in now. Oh Honey, payback is a bitch." She did all she could do, she rinsed herself off with nothing more than water. She wrapped herself in a big fluffy towel, put on her old flannel robe over the towel, filled the cup that was on the vanity with cold water and promptly went to Jacob's room to give him an even earlier wake up call.

No knocking, no sweet 'wakey wakey', no nothing. She barged right in with the glass ready to douse Jacob when she noticed that he wasn't in the bed. "What the hell?" As she turned to leave the room, she bumped right into Jacob, who just so happened to be standing behind her. As she collided with Jake's strong chest, the glass of cold water splashed down the front of her. She sucked in a quick measure of air into her lungs. All she could think about was getting out of the cold wet clothes because the robe and towel together were working quite well at holding all of that cold water against her torso.

"You lookin' for me?" He asked with a devilish smirk on his face.

"Y-y-you l-little t-trickster." She stuttered. She still had not regained her breath.

"Are you talking about mwa?" He replied, chuckling.

"Get out of my way Jacob." She shoved him aside so that she could get down the hallway to her room and get out of those wet wraps. She was untying the sash to the robe and let it hit the floor. Jacob swallowed hard as he noticed that all she was wearing was a towel and she was pulling at that now. She turned and slammed her bedroom door, not realizing that it did not close completely. In fact, it had bounced open just a few inches. He stood outside the bedroom door when he heard her yelling, "Think you're funny, don't cha?"

"I don't have to think Lynn, I know!"

"You've heard that paybacks are a bitch, right," She was rustling around through her clothes drawers looking for something to wear all the while Jacob was not trying to peek through the cracked door.

"Yeah I have. What'cha got in mind?"

"Like I'm going to tell you, pfftt."

Jacob couldn't help himself, after all, he was a healthy young male. He peeped into her room just as she was walking into her bathroom. He got a good glimpse of her feminine form angling away from him as she carried her clean clothes to change into. He got an eyeful. His eyes scanned her from head to toe. The long swan like neck. The strong, firm shoulders and arms. The roundness of the side boob he could see. The gentle curve to her back. The perfect pear shape of her ass. The long line of her muscular legs. His dick was so hard it hurt. He took in a few stuttered breaths before he spoke.

"I'm going to head out to the barn and feed for you while you get dressed." He wasn't sure if he had time to take things in hand before she was done dressing, so he figured that he just needed to exit the situation before his predicament became common knowledge.

"I'll meet you out there as soon as I'm done." Lynn shouted, not realizing that her door had been cracked slightly ajar the whole time. When she was done getting dried off and dressed, she went to leave her room and noticed her door. She stood there for a moment and didn't know what to make of the situation

Jacob flew down the stairs and out into the crisp morning air in what felt like three strides. He kept repeating to himself, "She's my boss. She's my boss. She's my boss." He then started talking out loud to himself. "Puppies, Mariners, Seahawks, school, ice cream …..mmm ice cream smeared all over her... dammit! This isn't working. I can't have her find me with my prick so hard I could pound nails. Argh." He ran his hand through his hair in frustration.

When she arrived at the barn, she poked her head in the stall that Jacob had busied himself in cleaning. He kept his back to her.

"I'm going to need your help loading the flatbed trailer with some fencing supplies as soon as you are done here in the barn." She said matter-of-factly.

"Sure sure. I have three more stalls to get to first." He said over his shoulder, still refusing to face her directly. She never picked up on his unease.

"That's fine. Don't be long though. I'm making pancakes for breakfast and I don't like to eat them cold. "I'll go get those started and see you in a few?"

"Sure sure." Jacob slowly relaxed as he was sure she knew not of his issue. She turned and headed back into the house.

He walked to the end of the isle-way in the barn and watched her as she entered the house through the back porch. At that point, he let out a low pitched growl, wheeled around on his boot heel and walked straight into the small bathroom in the barn. He was busy undoing his jeans as he was walking. Once he got into the bathroom, he made sure that the door was locked. He didn't want any chance at all of her walking in on him. He found a bottle of hand lotion on the shelf above the toilet. He dropped his jeans and boxer briefs to the tops of his boots and then poured an ample amount of lotion in his hand and began to work his cock in long, slow strokes. He fluttered his thumb over the blood engorged tip on every upstroke. His hand worked his shaft in a twisting motion to help heighten the pleasurable feeling. He leaned on the counter with his left hand while his right hand worked. He closed his eyes and thought back to the images of Lynn's nude body. He had never seen a real woman naked before. Oh sure, he had seen more than his fair share of nudie magazines and porn on the Internet, but never had he laid eyes on naked woman flesh. All he could think of was how smooth her skin looked and how much he wanted to touch it. That sexy as shit neck. That perfect ass. Her tits were so full and round. Those long, lean thighs. He could easily see those fine, fine legs wrapped around him while he's drilling her hard.

It was the combination of all of those thoughts and his self pleasuring that brought him to release. He was only coherent enough to grab some tissue before he blew in his hand. After the last spurt, he looked to make sure that the lid on the toilet was closed as he needed a place to sit because his legs could no longer support him at the moment. He let out a very satisfied groan as he sat down. He sat there for several minutes, waiting for his brain to reboot after experiencing one of his best orgasms ever. Once his breathing returned to normal and his brain began to function again, he looked around the bathroom for a way to clean himself up. He stood and threw the used tissues into the crapper. He found a package of baby wipes in the cabinet.

"Baby wipes? Why would she have these?" He spoke softly to himself. "Don't complain Jacob. These will work perfectly."

He pulled a few wipes from the container and proceeded to wash off his sated cock. "Damn. Sensitive." He hissed.

"Jacob!" He heard Lynn call from outside the barn.

"Shit! Shit! Shit!" He whispered in a half panicked state. "In the bathroom." He called back to her.

She knocked softly on the door before she asked, "Everything OK in there?"

"Yep! Just fine!" He blurted quickly.

"OK. Sorry. You didn't show up for breakfast and I thought that maybe you were having some difficulty. I came out to see if I could lend a hand." She heard Jacob groan.

"Thanks Lynn. I'm just answering nature's call is all." He hoped that she would just go back into the house. He finished wiping up, threw the baby wipes into the trash, pulled up his britches and flushed the toilet to seal his cover story. He was zipping and buttoning up his pants as he opened the door with Lynn still standing there. He had a flash of thought.

"You can help me put my pants back together again if you'd like." He smirked.

Her face flushed so red, she was sure that the polar ice caps melting was her fault. She choked out, "Thanks for the offer but I think I'll pass." She turned and damn near ran back to the house, calling over her shoulder, "Breakfast is ready."

Jacob chuckled. He thought to himself, "Damn that blushing is sexy as hell. Lynn blushes as easily as Bella." Then his mood shifted from flirty to guilty. He had just whacked off to his naked boss' body when he was in love with Bella. He thought back to the hand job he gave himself in her bathroom the morning that he left for Colorado. Again with the guilt. This release was so much better than that one. He chalked it up to only imagining what Bella looked like naked instead of the actual eyeful of flesh he got this morning. "Stop thinking of it you shithead!" He shouted at himself. "You're going to give yourself another hard on if you don't stop now!" He banged his head on the door jamb a couple of times before he walked out of the barn and went to the house for breakfast.

After a very quiet meal, they both walked out to the quonset where the truck that was needed was kept. As they walked past the shed row, Jacob pointed to the old truck under the tarp and asked, "So why is this truck out here when all the rest are in the shed over there?"

"What? Oh, umm, that truck needs more mechanical work than I could afford to take care of, so it got parked out of the way."

"Would you like me to take a look at it for you?" Jacob offered with an eager tone.

"You know mechanical stuff?"

"Yeah. Didn't Charlie tell you anything about me besides my love for food?"

She laughed. "He told me lots of things. Just not that you were a grease jockey."

"Hey now. Watch the name calling." He winked at her with a smile.

"Maybe you can look under the hood when we get back from fixing fence today."

"Sounds like a plan Lynn. Now I will really be in my element."

"Has working on a ranch been harder than you thought?" She inquired, truthfully worried that Jacob was not enjoying his stay.

"Nah. Not at all. I'm just saying that I love working on anything mechanical. I seem to have a natural flair for it. I totally rebuilt the motor in a truck that my friend Bella drives. She did have the misfortune of blowing up all my hard work shortly before I came to the ranch."

"Blowing up?" Lynn scowled

"Yeah. She didn't pay attention to her oil consumption. Ran the motor out of oil. Seized it but good." Jacob was shaking his head back and forth. "She just doesn't think of things like that."

"Sorry that she didn't take care of it after all the effort that you put into it."

"She doesn't take care of a lot of things that I put effort into." He thought that he said that quietly enough that Lynn couldn't hear. He was wrong.

"Care to elaborate on that one Jake?"

"Ah, no." He almost blushed.

"You care for her as more than just a friend, don't you Jake?"

"Always have Lynn. Don't remember a time that I didn't. Problem is, she doesn't feel the same way back and I don't know what to do about it. I know that I'm important to her but she doesn't see me as anything more than a friend, or worse, a brother."

"Have you told her your feelings?"

"I've tried. I think that I am just not saying the right thing. Or she refuses to hear me. I mean really HEAR me. I told her not to date this last guy she was with, but did she listen? No. She got dumped hard by him, of course after he got what he really wanted from her. Dammit. I don't want to talk about it." Jacob huffed out in anger.

Lynn could actually feel the mood shift in Jacob. She put her hand on his arm and softly spoke. "Jake, if she isn't smart enough to hear what it is that you had to say concerning you and her, then maybe being away for awhile is a good thing. Give her some time to reflect on everything that you have said to her. Give her some time to process it all. She'll come around. If she doesn't then maybe..." She gave his arm a few reassuring squeezes, "...she isn't the one for you. To me, it just sounds like she needs to grow up. She sounds like she is acting rather childish. I am not one to judge since I have never met her. I just know that if I had a friend as dedicated to me as you are to her, I would keep him forever."

"You do." Jacob laughed.

"I do? Who?"

"Ken."

"I told you Jake. We tried being boyfriend and girlfriend. It just worked out better as friends."

"You keep telling yourself that Lynn. Maybe one day that will be the truth." Jacob playfully leered in her direction.

"Shut up you, and get the truck hooked to the flatbed before I have you washing the stallion's penis."

"What? Why would I do that?" Jacob had a panicked look on his face.

Lynn smirked and chuckled, "I have a couple mares that need bred and his penis has to be cleaned between breedings. There are hundreds of thousands of men that handle stallions every year. You won't be the first male to wash a stallion and you won't be the last."

"I think I'll pass, thanks." He nervously huffed.

"Sorry Jake, but no passes on this one. Remember what I said about paybacks?" She winked.

"NO FRICKIN' WAY!" He spouted in half hearted outrage.

"Yes frickin' way." Was her only reply. Other than the deep chested giggles she couldn't hold back. Jacob groaned loudly.

They hooked the truck to the trailer and pulled along side of the pile of new fence poles, spools of wire, post hole diggers, tampers, and other assorted fencing tools and supplies. They loaded up a large supply of materials, secured it down, and then headed out towards the north pastures. As they drove past the quonsut, Lynn stopped the truck, got out and told Jake, "I'll take the ATV so that we don't have to drive the truck back and forth so much. I'll also get the walkie talkies so we can communicate if need be."

Jake just shrugged and scooted over to the driver's seat in the truck. As soon as Lynn drove out of the shed, she led the way to the fence line that needed repaired. The truck was parked a few yards away from the work area. They began to unload some of the supplies. Jake and Lynn pulled a string between the two posts that had already been set in the ground last year. They were just over one hundred feet apart. The string was a guide to keep the fence posts in a straight line.

After setting a dozen posts, Lynn and Jake took a break. They both wandered over to the truck and cracked open water bottles. The cool drink felt wonderful on such a warm morning. Jacob, being male, shucked off his t-shirt to continue in the heat as it was a sure thing that it was going to be a scorcher today. He wiped his face off with his shirt.

Lynn tried not to choke on the mouthful of water that she had just taken. She tried her damnedest not to ogle Jacob's body. The natural tawny color to his skin was absolutely exquisite. The way his muscles moved under the skin was mesmerizing. His strong back and arms. His broad shoulders. Thin waist. His chest and abdominals. She had to close her eyes for a moment or two, just so he wouldn't bust her staring. She felt a wet sensation between her legs. That made her eyes pop open. She hadn't felt like that in years. In a controlled chaos kind of way, she excused herself saying that she needed to head back to the house to get lunch started and that Jake could unhitch the trailer and leave it when it was time for him to come in for lunch. She would call him on the walkie talkie when lunch was ready. She jumped on the four wheeler and flew from the area like her pants were on fire. After looking at and ogling Jake, they were!

About half an hour passed before she called him on the handheld. "Jake."

"Lynn." Sarcastically.

"You ready for lunch?"

"Have you met me yet Lynn?"

"Har har Jake. Get to a stopping point and come on in."

"Ten four good buddy."

Lynn was just about to make a snarky reply back when Jake's voice came back with nervousness in it. "Lynn, did they ever get that bear?"

"What bear?" She asked before the realization of the situation hit her.

"JAKE! Get in the truck now! Don't argue!" She flew into the office and opened up the gun safe to pull out her dad's 308 rifle. She grabbed a box of cartridges and ran out the door so fast the dogs almost got closed in. She hopped on the ATV and raced off to where Jacob was with the dogs running as hard as they could behind her. Her heart would not stop racing.

"Not again. Not again. Not again." She kept repeating in an effort to not break down in tears.

As she rounded the corner to where they had been working on the fence line earlier, she found Jake standing on the driver's side foot rail with her varmint rifle aimed at the tree line.

"JACOB!" She screeched. He turned his head to see her barreling up on the ATV. "Don't shoot him with that rifle Jake. It's too small. It'll only piss him off. Where is he Jake?"

"I'm not sure if it's him or not Lynn. There is a bear. It just hasn't noticed me yet."

"Yes it has Jake. They have excellent smell. That bear knows we're here." While they were assessing the situation, the dogs finally made it to the location. Gimpy was the first to pick up on the scent of the bear. His hackles stood up and he started growling and barking before Angus figured it all out. He joined in as soon as he smelled the bear too. They both stood guard in front of the humans. Jacob pointed. "There it is Lynn. By that dead pine tree over there."

She jacked in three rounds into the rifle. Closed the bolt, flicked off the safety and drew the bear into her sights on the scope. She watched the bear sniffing around the base of the tree. It dug at the roots a bit, looking for something to eat. Bugs or berries perhaps. She kept her cross-hairs on it for quite some time. She was not sure if this was the right bear or not. The bear turned it's head to look in the direction of the barking dogs. It was only then that Lynn noticed that both ears were intact. This was not the man-eater. She lowered her rifle, flicked the safety back on and told Jake, "Go ahead and shoot above that one. Aim high and hit the tree. That should scare it off."

"You sure?" He asked.

"Yeah. That's not the one that killed Topher." She let out a sigh. Jacob let off two rounds above the bear. Pip. Pip. The bear scampered off into the woods like Jake had actually hit it. Lynn watched the rounds hit the tree ten feet above the bear. "Guess I need to start calling you 'Dead Eye Black." She turned towards Jake and began to walk over to where he was when Gimpy took off to the left of where they all standing.

"Gimpy! Get back here!" Lynn called out, unsure as to why the dog ran off in that direction. Angus just stood there and barked. "GIMPY! COME!" She tried whistling. Nothing worked. She had a bad feeling wash over her.

Jacob tried calling for the dog. "Gimpy! Here boy!" Still no response. After a minute or two, listening to the sounds surrounding them, Lynn and Jacob heard what sounded like a dog fight.

"Should we go check out what's happening?" Jacob looked at her with worry on his face.

"I don't know Jake." She set the rifle down on the flatbed, walked around to the passenger side of the truck, opened the door and withdrew a pair of binoculars. She glassed the treeline to see if she could locate Gimpy. It only took twenty seconds before the bear with the white patch and the chunk missing from his left ear came charging through the underbrush into the clearing.

Everything went into slow motion at that point.

The bear was headed straight for Lynn.

Jacob drew a bead on the bear with his .22 rifle and fired. Pip.

The round hit the bear in the shoulder, wounding it and making it that much more angry.

Gimpy was running after the bear. As he got beside the bear he lunged for the throat only to be bitten by the bear, crushing his ribs. He yipped in pain.

Angus ran in circles barking.

Lynn dropped to the ground the moment Jacob fired as she was down range of his shooting. He fired off another four rounds. Pip. Pip. Pip. Pip. Each hitting the bear but not stopping him. She tried to crawl towards the trailer, where she had set her rifle down.

The bear reached Lynn and started to bite her back, buttocks and legs. She began to scream.

Jacob jumped down from the truck to get to her rifle.

He grabbed the rifle, drew a bead on the bear's body. The bear's head was too close to Lynn to shoot. He pulled the trigger and heard, 'click'. The safety had done it's job.

He pushed the button forward on the action to reveal a red dot indicating that the rifle was now hot. Ready for live fire.

He drew a bead again. Blam. The first round hit. He pulled the bolt up and back.

Click slide. The spent shell was expelled from the action, tink, and a fresh cartridge entered.

He pushed the bolt forward and down to lock it in place. Slide click.

He drew on the bear again. Blam.

He did it one more time as that was the last round loaded. Blam.

The din of the bear attack quieted.

Jacob stood there, chest heaving from excited breathing.

Lynn had stopped screaming as she laid there motionless on the ground.

Gimpy had stopped whining.

Angus had stopped barking.

The bear stopped living.