Chapter Two ~ The Unwanted Visitor
As Jack stepped off the ferry, he noticed that his sister wasn't there to greet him. Of cource, he expected that. He looked around the dock, but only saw a guy with a brown pony tail walking towards him. Maybe he knew Claire. Jack grabbed his bag and walked towards him.
"Scuze me, but do you happen to know a girl named Claire? Blonde-hair, about yay high," he asked, showing how high "yay high" was with his hand.
"You must be Jack then," the guy said, extending his hand. "I'm Cliff, and yeah, I know Claire. She was too busy with her farmto come and greet you, but today was my day off, so I came in her place.
Jack shook Cliff's hand and wondered why he came in Claire's place, but followed him nonetheless.
"So...er...where will I be staying?" he asked. "I got enough money for a hotel or something if there's one around."
"Don't worry, we've aranged a place for you to stay," Cliff responded.
What does he mean "we"? Jack thought, but said nothing.
After walking in a bit of a silence for a while, Jack began to wonder what his sister looked like now. She was probably the same; he himself hadn't changed much. He wondered who this guy, Cliff, was exactly. Maybe her boyfriend or something. Well, at least he had something to tease her about while he was here. Pretty soon, he could hear Claire's all-too-familiar voice.
"LOU!!"
That didn't sound good. Cliff took off at a run and Jack wasn't far behind. Although he constantly teased his sister, he still loved her and could sometimes be a little overprotective. The tone of her voice didn't make him feel at home either.
The two men quickly found themselves on the farm, with a limping Claire carrying a crying Lou. Claire smiled at Cliff, but then glared at Jack. She obviously hadn't forgotten him in the time they were apart.
"Are you okay?" Cliff automatically asked, rushing over to the two.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Lou was playing around the cows while I was tilling the soil for some more grass seeds, and I didn't notice. When I looked over, one of the cows had butted the other, and the two started charging around the pasture. I quickly grabbed Lou, and she's fine, just a little shaken up," Claire explained. "The only damage done was when a cow stepped on my foot as I grabbed her. I hope they didn't break any fences. The last thing I want is spending more time out in the fields just to mend the dang fence."
"Mommy, I wanna go inside now," Lou wimpered, buring her face into her mother's arms.
"Okay, sweetie," Claire cooed. "I'll take you in."
She motioned for Jack and Cliff to follow her in. Cliff helped her get the weight off of her sore foot. As the four made it into the house. Claire sat down in a chair after setting Lou down to play with Koro, who was inside now.
"Nice to see you again, Jackson," she said calmly to her brother while trying to pull her boot off her foot.
"You can just call me Jack, y'know,
Clairice," Jack retorted.
"Who dat, Mommy?" Lou asked, pointing to Jack.
"That's your Uncle Jack, sweetie," Claire replied sweetly. "He's gonna be staying here a while."
"Yay! Hi, Uncle Jack, my name is Lou. I'm two years old. This is Koro," Lou explained excitedly, completely forgetting about her close encounter, and pointed at the dog. "Mommy said you coming, and I said you can have my bed. It's over dere. I sleep wid Mommy and Daddy while you here."
"Oh, well thank you for giving up you bed for me," Jack said, bending down to ruffle her hair. Lou giggled and ran back off to play with Koro.
Claire had already pulled off her boot and sock to expose the foot beneith. It was turning a bluish-purplish color, and was starting to swell. She sighed, knowing it'd be hard to work with this foot if she could at all.
"Maybe you should get that looked at, Honey," Cliff said, looking at the foot.
"Oh, I'll be fine," Claire assured.
"I really think you should let the doctor see it though," he suggested.
"Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt," Claire sighed. She really didn't think it was necessary. "Anyway, it's about lunch time, so let's get caught up while we eat, shall we, Jack?"
With Cliff's help, Claire had whipped up a large lunch for the three of them to eat. Lou had been invited to Jake's house to play. Jake was the son of Karen and Rick and was about the same age as Lou. Claire and Cliff thought it was a good idea for her to play on the Poultry Farmwhile the three adults chatted.
"So, Jack, how've you been doing?" Claire asked, her left foot elevated and in a cast. It just so happened to turn out to be broken, so of course she had to stay off it for a while. Even though Fall was the time of year Duke needed Cliff the most, he agreed to let Cliff take a break until Claire could get back to work while he helped her with her chores.
"Well, I've made CEO," Jack said simply. "And how about you?"
"Pretty good. I have a successfull farm and a nice, loving family," Claire replied. "Are you with anyone?"
"Nah, not yet. I haven't really met any good girls. So, Cliff, what do you do for a living?" Jack asked.
"Well, I help Duke at the winery," he replied. "Actually, Claire was the one who got me that job."
"Really? How interesting. Does your family live here too?" Jack asked.
Claire, with her good foot, kicked him under the table.
"OW! Why the heck did you kick me!?" Jack yelped loudly.
Idiot, Claire thought. Her brother was so stupid.
"No, they don't live here," Cliff replied, a little sadly.
"Then where--OW! Would you knock that off!?" Jack yelled at Claire, who had kicked him again. She accompanied this by a look.
"Well, my mother died and I have no idea where my sister is," Cliff replied again.
"Oh," Jack said. Claire shot him a look. "So, you two have a daughter, huh?"
"Yup. In case you haven't already figured it out, we named her after our great-grandma," Claire replied.
"I've noticed," Jack replied simply. "So how long have you guys been married."
"Three years," Cliff answered.
Jack nodded and continued eating. There was a bit of an awkward silence and Claire hoped her brother wouldn't say anything stupid. Why did he have to come? Couldn't he at least given her time to prepare?
"So, Jack," Claire broke the silence, "why don't you have a girlfriend yet?"
"Well, like I said, I haven't seen a girl to my liking," Jack replied. "I kinda like my girls spunky, kind, and it would be great if they could cook."
Claire almost sprayed the Fruit Latte she was drinking. That description fitted Ann to a T! Maybe there was some use for her brother after all. It was time for her to play matchmaker, and she had a plan....
~*~*~*~*~
I decided to go ahead and post Chapter Two. Um, there's nothing else to say, really.... except Happy Christmahanakwanah! (I hope that's right. If not, then let's just pretend it's something I made up.
sweatdrop )
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