Chapter 19

"What are we going to do about those two?"

"Those two" could apply to so many people that Jacob was lost as to whom exactly Marnie was speaking.

"Susanna and J.J.," she added when she saw Jacob's confusion.

"What can we do?" Jacob said with resignation. "She's her mother's daughter through and through. She's going to do what it is she wants to do."

"She is her father's daughter," Marnie said.

In truth, Susanna was both. She looked like her mother. She had soft red hair and a figure that started to turn grown men's heads by her 12th birthday. But her temperament was more like Jacob.

She had been sneaking away with J.J. Harcourt every chance she got for the past two years.

"Does she love him?" Jacob asked.

"Yes," Marnie answered. "And he loves her."

That was one worry off Jacob's mind. He had worried that the kids — hell, they weren't kids any longer. Susanna was 17 and J.J. would be 17 in a couple of months.

"Well, then it's out of my hands," Jacob stated. "But if something gets out of hand, he'll marry her whether he wants to or not."

"He wants to," Marnie said.

"Then what in the hell is stopping him," Jacob hissed.

"You are, dear," she said. "He's afraid of what you'll do if he comes to ask you."

"So he sneaks off with her?" Jacob asked. "What the hell does he think I'm planning to do if I ever catch them doing that stuff."

"Jacob," Marnie said sweetly. "Susanna says they are not doing 'that stuff.' It is also her idea that they sneak off. They have kissed but that is all. I think they're both too frightened to do any more than that."

"Am I that scary?" Jacob asked.

"No," Marnie said. "I don't think so. Even Amanda and Amelia think you're a softy. But Susanna is your oldest daughter. You've doted on her and Lilibeth since they were born. I think J.J. is scared that you'll shoot him for asking you. I think Susanna is scared that you'll never let her get married — even to J.J."

"Ah, hell," Jacob said as he got to his feet. "Damn it to hell, Marnie. I ain't ready for her to get married. But it ain't my choice. I ain't happier about the prospect of Junior or Jimmy getting married. Lilibeth is still convinced she's never getting married so I'll deal with that as it happens."

He sat down heavily.

"They were just kids the other day, Marnie," Jacob said. "I swear, just yesterday we were the kids and now our kids are going to be having kids. Where did time go?"

At 42, Marnie's looks had not departed. She was a little fuller around the hips but she was still as beautiful as the first day — more than 2 decades before — that Jacob Dunleavy had ridden down the hillside to her house.

Jacob had turned 40 a month earlier and he was starting to feel his age. His blond hair had gray streaks at the temples and his waist was starting to expand just a bit.

Susan was 37 and still as ornery as ever. She rode herd over the kids and kept them under control — except it seemed for Susanna and J.J. Susan hadn't seemed to get the message that she was getting older and she still lived life as if she was 20.

Ann was much the same as Susan. Now 33, she was still on the range every day and still ran the herd with the best of them. From behind, Ann could still pass as a teenager. She had the cutest behind that Jacob had ever seen. Only a few lines on her face let you know she was older when she turned around.

Little Marnie and Little Jacob — or Lilibeth and Junior, as they preferred to be called — were 15 years old and as dissimilar as two children raised in the same household could be. Lilibeth was a terror — into everything — and was constantly playing pranks on her studious, serious brother. Junior would rather read than ride and was constantly designing buildings on paper and looking at ways to increase water flow and drainage or stabilize the yield on crops.

Jimmy was the baby, but Lord help you if you said that in earshot of him, at 12. He was just like his mother. He had a tough exterior but he was sweet and gentle inside. Jimmy was probably the most influential at getting the Bellamy sisters to come out of their shells.

The girls turned out to be a little older than Jacob thought. Amanda was 15 and Amelia was 14 when they arrived three years earlier. Both were extremely quiet and they tended to avoid interacting with anyone else in the household.

Both girls had years worth of scars on their backs when they arrived at the Double-M and they were content to simply avoid everyone rather than invite more trouble.

But Jimmy would have none of it. At 10 he developed a serious crush on Amelia. He would spend time doing things to help her around the ranch and he always asked her to help him with learning the lessons Susan insisted he be taught.

Amelia was afraid to offend the owner's son so she put up with his presence. She was waiting for either Jacob or Junior or J.J. or Jim to try to force themselves on her so she figured having Jimmy around might delay that situation.

As time passed and Amelia realized that none of the men — or the woman — were going to attack her she relaxed. But Jimmy was still at her side whenever he could be. Jacob found the situation amusing but he never laughed in front of the kids. He would ask Amelia if Jimmy was bothering her but she would always say that it was nice to have company. She seemed to relish the fact that he would come to her with questions about his schooling.

It was that thought that brought Amanda into Jacob's study in 1901 — almost 3 years after they came to live with him.