Just as he was reaching that point in the final meeting with Kay, Sara arrived at her own conclusion.
She said, “She only wanted to marry you when she expected that you’d take her to the Elk and build a nice house for her. Then, when your father died, the ranch would be yours. When you asked her to elope, she probably tried to talk you into staying, but when you confirmed your decision to take her away, she didn’t want to face an uncertain future. After you enlisted, she didn’t waste any time in accepting Homer James, either. What a fool I’ve been! All this time, I believed that Kay had been shattered when you left and then settled for Homer. But Homer offered her a nice house and would inherit his father’s mill when he passed on.”
Jake said, “I was the one who was a fool, Sara. I didn’t even remember that she’d asked me how much money I had in my personal account until a few seconds ago. The most dominant memory of that talk was her big, sad eyes when she told me of your mother’s illness. Where are Kay and Homer living these days?”
“They have a house on Missouri Avenue, number twelve. It’s a nice house, but Kay is a bit busy with her children, so I go over a couple of times a week to clean and help her with the babies.”
“Babies? She has more than one? I’m guessing that the older child is more than a year old and the second is around three or four months old.”
Sara smiled as she said, “She has three children. The oldest is a boy they named Homer, Junior. He just celebrated his second birthday on the eleventh of July. Then she had twin boys on April Fool’s Day in ‘80. One is named Hector after his father and the other was christened Horace. I imagine the next boy will be Harry or if it’s a girl, she’ll be Hortensia. But that’s assuming she even let’s Homer get close enough to start another child. She hasn’t conceived since delivering the twins. I haven’t asked about the gap and she hasn’t confided in me. But that’s not unusual. She hasn’t told me any secrets since I was six.”
Jake laughed, but didn’t bother doing the math because it wasn’t necessary. She had married Homer in November of ’78, and Junior was born just seven months later. He wasn’t going to ask Sara if the boy had been born early.
Instead, he asked, “Does she know I’m back?”
“I didn’t see her, but it’s possible. I wouldn’t recommend visiting her at her house, though.”
“I hadn’t intended to stop by. But why did you caution me?”
“After she gave birth to Homer, she continued to eat at the same rate that she had when she was pregnant. She put on some weight before her second pregnancy, so it stayed that way until she delivered the twins. That was more than a year ago, and even though she began to control her diet, she still is a bit heavier than when you knew her. I think she just isn’t worried about her appearance as much as she did when she was looking for a husband. I’m only telling you because I didn’t want you to see her without knowing what to expect.”
“Thank you. Would she even greet me if she saw me in town?”
“I have no idea. But I will make you one promise. When I start having our babies, I won’t gain a pound after each of them enters this world.”
Jake stared at her serious face for a few seconds before she began to smile, and he started laughing.
After he stopped, he said, “I’ll hold you to that, Sara.”
She quickly asked, “So, you really will court me, Jake? I haven’t scared you off?”
“No, you haven’t. If anything, your manner and honesty have made you even more attractive. Speaking of attraction; why haven’t you already married? I was actually thinking about you last night and was convinced that you had long line of prospective beaus.”
“I’ve had a few who wanted to visit, but I didn’t let them say more than a few words. I’m still only eighteen and I could afford to wait until your enlistment ended. You never even noticed me when you were visiting Kay, but I had my dreams. I wanted to mature faster, but you left before that happened.”
“Kay may have dominated my attention when I visited, but I most assuredly did notice you. You were still just a slim girl when I left, but you were far from a wallflower. I wonder if Kay intentionally tried to keep me from talking to you. Most of the time we spent together was away from your house.”
“I noticed that she kept you away from the family most of the time but didn’t think it was unusual. It doesn’t matter now, though; does it?”
“Not at all. I assume that you won’t talk to Kay about any of this conversation.”
“If she asks me if we talked, I’ll tell her parts of it, but nothing that involves her.”
“Will you tell her that I agreed to court you?”
Sara grinned as she replied, “Of course. It won’t be a secret anyway.”
Then she asked, “When are you leaving and how long will you be gone?”
“I’m probably riding west on Tuesday morning. But I have no idea how long it will take for me to track down my father. I told the foreman, Dave Forrest, that I’d return once a month to pay everyone and check on things.”
“You think you’ll be gone that long?”
“I hope
