Twisted Rope

Chapter 1 - Anna

The school bell sounded in the distance as I strolled out of my last period and out to my rusty old blue truck. It is the last week before I graduate from high school, and I cannot wait for summer at the ranch before I head off to college. My heart grows heavy at the thought of leaving my family and my friends at the end of summer.  As I grew closer to my truck, I noticed a note sitting on my windshield.  A smile plays on my lips as I read the note,

I can't wait to see you tonight!

Jack XOXO

     Jack and I have been together since my freshman year of high school. Jack was the captain of the football team and I was the shy nerdy girl who caught his eye. He was the life of the party, a flirt; everyone wanted to be his friend. I never understood why Jack picked me when he could have gone out with any one of the cheer leaders, but I can't say I'm complaining. Jack will be nineteen today, he is one year older than me and has been away the last few months helping his grandfather in Tennessee on their family farm. Jack's family is originally from Leiper's Fork, Tennessee a small town just outside of Nashville. Jack was determined to move back home after high school to take over his grandfather's farm one day. After the passing of his parents tragically last year to a drunk driver there is nothing left for Jack here except for me. I climbed into my truck and drove the short distance home with my windows down, the warm summer sun shining down on the fields around me and George Strait singing in the background.

When I pulled in the long driveway of Ravenswood Ranch, Rusty is laying on our white wrap-around porch waiting for me to get home. I grabbed my bag and walked up the steps to Rusty, running over and jumping up to give me kisses. It's the end of May and starting to heat up for the summer. I love this time of year on the farm and the gorgeous summer nights. "Hi! Honey, I'm glad you're home. How was your day?" My mom said, opening the front door. "It was great, but I'm excited for graduation this week." My mom laughed with her lips tugged up into a warm smile; she has always been known to brighten up a room when she's around. I sat down at the kitchen table with my mom and talked about today over tea; our usual ritual after school.

     As I sat in my room, contemplating on what to wear. I drift off thinking about Jack. I have not seen him in 2 months. Jack usually made the trip to our small ranch outside of Louisville, Kentucky once a month, but things have been busy back home for him. Jack's dad did not have an interest in taking over their family farm, so he got a job in the city when Jack was in middle school.  They lived down the road from us and Jack spent most of high school working for my father on the ranch. Jack and I were always together in school or spending hours together working in the barn. I pull on a yellow sundress that just rest above my knees and cinches at my waist to show off my curves. I stand looking at myself in the mirror with my green eyes bright, full of excitement and my copper hair falls just below my shoulders in loose curls, I head to the front porch to wait for Jack.

At 8 o'clock, I see his white pickup pulling down the long driveway. I'm running off the porch and Jack is running towards me before he even puts his truck in park. Jack picks me up, swings me in a circle and places a kiss on my lips.  "Hello beautiful, you look amazing." Jacks bright blue eyes look at me like I'm the one person in the world making my knees feel weak and my head spin. He was looking handsome in dark blue jeans and a black long-sleeved button-down dress shirt that hugged his muscular frame.  "Thank you, you look very handsome" I smiled while giggling. Even after all these years, I still blush like an idiot whenever he compliments me; not that I'm complaining. "Are you ready? We better leave before it gets too dark" Jack asked, reaching out for my hand. I grabbed his hand as we walk off the porch; I could not help but squeal with excitement inside as we walked to his truck.

     Jack opened the passenger door for me and closed it behind me. I don't know where we are going, but I am so happy he is home. As the truck engine started, and we backed out of the driveway Jack turned to me with a smirk on his face and said, "Don't worry, you will love what I have planned, and I missed you too".

     The drive to our destination was about 20 minutes and I was getting very impatient. "Are we there yet?" Jack laughed; "I swear you are just like a child, but yes we are here now". I was not familiar with the area by the look of the surroundings, but I noticed we parked in front of a small private beach on a lake.  As I stepped out of the truck, I took in the stillness of the lake and the only sounds I heard were the birds singing in the background.

     It was nearly sunset as the sun was just starting to set behind the horizon, the sky was bright with color. Jack went to the bed of his truck and grabbed a blanket and a picnic basket. "Come on, let's go before we miss the sunset" yelled Jack as he took off for the beach. Leave it up to Jack to be a helpless romantic. I quickly ran after him to find him laying out the blanket in the sand. "This is beautiful" I said as Jack wrapped his arms around my short petite frame, Jack stood tall over me as I melted into his chest. "I wanted to show you one of my favorite places" as he pulled me closer. Jack grabbed my chin tilting my head up to face him to look into his soft blue eyes, he whispered softly "Anna, I love you and I'm glad to be home" and kissed me on lips. Our kiss is soft but passionate as Jack deepens the kiss moving his hands down my waist to my round ass giving it a squeeze. A small moan escapes my lips as my body filled with desire craving his touch. Two long months without him is way too long, I will not be able to keep my hands off him. We both pull away staring at each other breathing hard, my body is warm from our kiss, and I want to spend every day with him next to me like this tangled in each other's arms hot with desire for one another.

I never realized how much I missed him until now, because I've been so busy with my senior year of high school, but I could not ask for a better night than this as we lay tangled in each other's arms.  "I love you and thank you! This is amazing!". I lay next to him on the blanket staring at the beautiful sunset as it turned from purple to pink within a few minutes. We stayed tangled in each other's arms like that for the rest of the night enjoying the comfortable silence between us and the comfort of one another.