Losing Jack

Chapter 2

The smell of freshly baked party pies and coffee filled the air accompanied by the distant chatter of house guests. Sandy Bower looked across at Beth and Michael attending to the guests and knew she should be helping out and mingling politely. Instead she sat on the front step next to Jack, as they rocked back and forth in unison.

“It’s official we have been invaded by an entourage of pie eating, coffee swilling, gossip mongering well-wishers and worst of all they are in our house, there’s no escaping them,” she said to Jack with a nudge.
“Yeah,” he replied without looking at her.

Sandy brushed away a strand of long auburn hair and wriggled pulling her skirt down further over her bare knees. She felt naked without her usual pair of well-worn work jeans.

Looking out over the 160HA vineyard that was her home she felt an instant urge to spring from the step and run as fast as her legs would carry her. Run until she collapsed, no longer able to force another breath of air into her stinging lungs.

If only she could run from this whole mess, if only by running she could escape the pain of losing first Daniel, and now Jude. But she knew that no amount of running could ever change the set of circumstances she now found herself and Jack in. 

Feeling defeated she kept on rocking. Back and forth on the step with Jack by her side, knowing not even that would last.

Jack was about 30, nearly 10 years older than her. It was obvious he was different from most other people. Sandy wasn’t exactly sure what had happened to Jack. Looking across at him from the corner of her eye, she considered the big red disfiguring scar on the side of his face and wondered what he would have been like before his brain damage.

Jack was that way a long time before Jude and Daniel adopted Sandy and they didn’t like to talk about what happened, especially around him. Jude always used to say he knew exactly what was going on though.
“He sees and hears things that most people don’t and his feelings are easily hurt,” Jude would say in hushed tones.

Sandy never pushed the subject about what happened to Jack, she was just happy to accept him as he was. It didn't matter to her that he wasn’t normal. In fact, she liked him better than most folks, there was nothing fake about Jack.

Sandy stopped rocking and looked up as a small crowd of women converged around them.

“Jude will be sadly missed, such a tragedy dear,” said Mrs Gribble, a plump woman dressed in a lacy floral dress. “Now Jude and Daniel are both gone and they have left you the Vineyard, what will you be doing with yourself Sandy?”

Before Sandy could reply someone else chimed in.

“She will be selling up of course dear; a big vineyard like this is no place for a young lady, its best left to the men.”

Biting down on her lip Sandy smiled politely, ignoring the comment. She didn’t bother to remind them she had spent the last two years - since Daniel passed away, managing the vineyard.
Sandy sighed and looked away from the women, she was losing patience and they were, after all, on her property.

“What about that poor retarded boy?” asked another woman, “It isn’t proper for a young girl to be tied down with him - you will be putting him in a home somewhere, won’t you Sandy?”

“Of course she will dear, what on earth would she want with a retarded boy and a vineyard, when she should be thinking about finding a decent man and starting a family of her own,” said Mrs Gribble shaking her head and clicking her tongue.

Sandy looked across at Jack and frowned, his back was to the women and his head down almost into his knees as he kicked at the dirt with his feet.