Southern Charm

Chapter 2

JESSIE

Last night was exhausting, making drink after drink for customers coming in and out of Rowdy's bar. My bar. Since I was fifteen, I waited tables to save enough money for this place. I had enough smarts for college and enough financial aid that I didn't have to pay for school. Consider me lucky, if you will. Owning a bar had been a dream of mine for quite some time, and I never knew why it just clicked. Now that I'm older, I think meeting all the people and getting to know them is what makes it so thrilling. Of course, the bar fights, drunk conversations, and crazy dancing are also fascinating to watch.

My family didn't have money problems until the spring of last year. Suddenly, the money disappeared after we had so much, and now we're close to losing the ranch. We had other ranch hands to help while we worked our jobs, but we let some go. One quit before we were in bad shape, and part of that leads me to think he stole our money. You never know who to trust nowadays.

This morning, after waking up at five AM and having gone to bed at 1:30, I was tired but still dragging myself across the yard to the barn. The coffee was being made, and soon, I'd have more energy. Work was waiting to be done, and no one else would lift a hand to do it for free unless your last name ended with White. I somehow managed to get up before my brothers, and I knew they would be impressed, but still not impressed enough because, again, I'm a female.

We had four horses in the barn: two male and two female. My horse was named Harley, and she was a beautiful black thoroughbred. All of our horses were of the same breed. Blaze was black like Harley, Champ was brown, and Annie was white. I loved these horses, and they loved me as long as I fed them.

"Good morning," I said, patting the horses.

Harley let out a neigh, making me chuckle. I hadn't ridden her in a while and would love to do so, but there's so much work to be done, and I haven't had the time.

"You're up early, aren't you?" Bennett asked, stepping into the barn with a bale of hay. He chucked it toward me, and I put it in Harley's stall.

"Just because I worked late doesn't mean I can't get up early."

I closed the stall for my horse and stared back at Bennett with crossed arms.

"I didn't say that, Jess. What is it with you lately? You are getting all aggravated over nothing!"

I scoffed. "Over nothing?" Of course, he would say it was over nothing.

"You guys always get on me for doing things because I'm a woman, but I never hear a thank you for trying. You don't appreciate that I can do something you can; frankly, I'm sick of it!"

"Jess, we're only messing with you. It's not meant to make you mad. We know you can do many of the things we can," Bennett said.

"Yeah, well, it doesn't seem like you show it. Laughing in front of Trace and me yesterday wasn't exactly kind. You didn't see much competition, did you? I managed to stay on that bull for seven seconds. Name someone else who could do that their first time on a bull."

Bennett nodded. "Okay, I see you do have a fair point. I'm sorry for how I have acted and for everyone else's behavior. I'll talk to them. We are proud and appreciate you, Jess. Without you, it would be harder around here, and I mean that."

Bennett sighed. "You're a hard worker like Mom was. She still is a hard worker. It's just not the same for her now with the cancer."

I leaned against Harley and closed my eyes. My parents, Scott and Diane, had been together for thirty years after marrying at age twenty-nine. Both are still working hard at the age of fifty-nine. Our Mom, Diane, was diagnosed with Chronic Leukemia the year before last, and it's been heartbreaking for us since that money disappeared. Our family didn't have the option to hire someone to find out if the money got into the wrong hands of someone we had trusted. My Dad let the situation go, and we disagreed until Mom stepped in. She said everything would be okay and to leave it alone. We listened to her not only because she's our Mom but because we didn't want to continue arguing about it and upset her.

My mother stays in the house all day unless she has a doctor's appointment she needs to get to. Mom gets tired way too quickly now and is prone to more infections, shortness of breath, bruising, and lots of joint pain. If we get sick, we can't be around her because it is too risky. Treatments aren't much help when Mom refuses to get any. Chemotherapy was a hard no from the beginning, and the drugs she was offered to boost your body's defense system. Diane wants to go peacefully with no treatments. Of course, her five children disagree with her decisions, but we can't force her.

"Hey, slacker, shouldn't you be collecting the eggs?" Parker asked, entering the barn.

I frowned at him and shook my head as I walked past him. Maybe Bennett would talk some sense into the rest of them.

Once I collected the eggs from the chicken coop, I ran into Colton. I was almost sure he would have something clever to say, so I stopped and waited.

"Morning," he said, dropping the shovel. "Coffee is ready in the kitchen, and Mom is asking for you."

"She's asking for me? Did she say what she needed?" I asked.

Colton shook his head. "Okay, thanks." I jogged toward the house, wondering what it was.

"Jessie," a weak voice said once I had stepped inside.

I saw my mother lying on the couch with a blanket across her legs and pillows propped up behind her. "Come here."

I sat on the edge of the couch next to my mother and grabbed her slightly cold hands.

"What is it, Mom? Do you want some coffee or hot tea? Something to eat?" I asked.

Mom shook her head. "No, I just wanted to see my beautiful daughter. You're the only one I got, you know? Strong, hardworking, and fiercer than any of my boys."

I chuckled. "Why don't you try telling them that? They still pick on me like I'm eight years old. I know they don't always mean to mess with my feelings, but lately, they have."

My mother reached her hand up toward my head and stroked my hair.

"They'll listen to me. They are only jealous that you get to do the same things as them. I told them before that one day, someone would come along and be better. They didn't know it would be their little sister."

"According to them, Trace is the better bull rider. I've never seen him ride, but I googled him when I came home from the bar. He's like the talk of the town since he's back here," I said.

My mother nodded. "Trace is a great bull rider. You will be better with a little more practice than him. Trust me, dear, I have seen you ride from the FaceTime calls with your brother. You have got the talent it takes. I have full faith in you and know you will save this place. None of us would be in this predicament if it weren't for these medical bills."

"Mom, you can't say that! We love you and would lose this ranch if it meant we got to keep you longer. Right now, we're only trying to do both."

I gently put my arms around my Mom to hug her, careful not to hurt her.

"Whatever happens, Jessie, it will be okay. Get back out there and do some work. I wanted to talk to you for a bit. See if Dane will take you for some practice rides before tonight. I know you're going to win."

My Mom kissed me on the cheek and shooed me away. Before I left, I made sure to grab some coffee. It wasn't even seven; I had a long way to go before eight o'clock tonight.