The next morning Jennifer headed back on the road to some of the other nearby towns to see if she could find a job. Molly made sure that her sister had seen her get up and trudge to the kitchen for breakfast so she couldn't be accused of sneaking off early or being up to no good. As she ate, she thought of what she could tell her sister that she'd done today as obviously it wasn't possible to tell her she'd been having riding lessons with Jake.
At five to ten she headed over to next door for her next lesson. Jake had got Bullet ready for her this time so they could spend more time on the actual riding. Mounting him only took her 15 minutes this time, which was a massive improvement on the last couple of times. Jake had attached an extra rope to Bullet's bit so, while Molly had to practice using the reins to control him, he could help out if needed. He made her try turns, to go from an easy walk into a trot and back for almost two hours before he conceded they'd done enough for one day.
"You're a bit of slave driver, aren't you?" Molly heaved a sigh when she was finally allowed to dismount and lead Bullet back to the stables on foot.
"Nah, just believe in hard graft," he responded with a chuckle.
"Same thing," she accused, making him laugh now.
"Well ye did agree to do what I say," Jake pointed out as he held the bay door open for her and Bullet.
"Yeah maybe I should've thought that through better," she responded sullenly, but gave him a wink as she passed him. She had to be honest, she didn't really care how hard he made her work, as she was still getting to spend time with him and getting to know him better. And there were many more things she'd only be too happy to do if he told her to.
"Yer gettin' better though, so if I were ye I'd keep listenin'," he advised her now with a cheeky smile of his own. He smiled again to himself when she smiled back and seemed content as she started brushing Bullet down. "Ye know, if I didn't know better, I'd almost think ye were a country girl," Jake said, hearing her hum one of Granger Smith's songs to herself as she worked.
"Now that is praise," Molly accepted with a laugh, and he was pleased to see a slight blush on her cheeks. She kept humming as she worked, and he was as happy listening to her as he would've otherwise been listening to the radio. "I'm starvin'," she said after about half an hour, seeing it was close to one in the afternoon. "Do you think your dad would object if you came to mine for lunch?" she asked.
"I'm sure he wouldn't but wouldn't it make sense to eat here, as we're already here?" Jake asked, a little confused.
"True," she had to concede, trying to think of how to phrase what she was trying to say. At hers, they'd be alone and able to talk freely. Duncan had been keeping himself to himself during their lesson, but chances were that he would be having lunch at the same time as them.
"Let's go to yers," Jake decided for her after he watched her internal debate for almost a minute. Even if she couldn't put it in words, clearly this time she wanted to go to hers and he wanted her to be comfortable and happy.
After they had lunch on the porch, they went into her room to listen to some of the other CDs that she'd bought the other day. She was starting to feel comfortable enough around him that she didn't mind him seeing her room. But as she sat crossed legged on her bed, he made sure to sit on the stool by her small desk. There was no way he was going to put himself in temptation's way, or in a position that someone could misconstrue should they walk in unexpectedly.
"What kind of jobs are ye lookin' for?" Jake asked curiously, wondering what there was in Pleasanton that would suit her.
"To be honest, right now I'd settle for just about anything," Molly answered honestly. She didn't want to be unemployed and have to try to find things to do every day like she currently was. It was tough.
"Try some of the cafés in town. It ain't much, but might get ye started," he suggested now, seeing her nod. That had been her next plan of attack. "I better get back to my chores," he said after listening to another George Strait number. She had a 6 CD mixer so had put a couple of different ones in on shuffle.
"Yeah, course," she nodded and untangled her legs as she got up to walk him to the back door. "Do you need any help?" she asked as she opened the door for him and watched him walk out.
"Nah, I'll be ah'ite. Let's do a later lesson tomorrow to tie in with Bethy comin' home from school," Jake suggested now.
"Yeah sure," Molly agreed, thinking it would give her some time to head into town and scout out some of the cafés and shops. She might even try the library. "See you tomorrow," she said, leaning against the door frame now.
"Uh huh, see ya," he nodded, backing down the stairs. He gave her a last glance with a smile before he continued home. She smiled to herself as she headed back into the house. She decided it was too early to start dinner for when Jennifer came home, so she put her speaker by the window again and brought her laptop outside so she could work on her CV on the porch. Even just the short way away from the Internet hub, she had no wifi so couldn't send her friends back home anything. She figured she should probably check her emails on the main computer. She hadn't even given it a second thought when she'd checked for jobs on it on Saturday. As she considered this, she suddenly realized that apart from the day that she'd arrived, she hadn't spared a second thought for Michael. And thinking back now, she wasn't even sure what she'd seen in him. She had to admit, he was cute and had managed to get a good job, albeit straight with his parents' firm. But other than that, she couldn't really remember much of a conversation with him. Her liking of him was based on his outer appearance and having met a couple of times on a night out where there was limited opportunity for conversation. Molly gave herself a shake of the head with a small laugh. That had been so city of her – she couldn't imagine anything like that happening here. She bet she wouldn't even have a response from him when she checked. And, to be honest, that was just fine by her.
Jennifer came back late but had had some success in Poteet. There was a store there that needed an Assistant Manager and, while it wasn't a brilliantly paid job, she'd had experience managing her own store so could do this with her eyes closed. She would be starting next week Monday, which Molly couldn't help but be thrilled about. With the half hour commute, it meant Jennifer would be leaving the house at 6.30 and, on some days depending on the shift or any disasters, she wouldn't be home until almost 10. The job came with transport reimbursement, otherwise it would eat too much into her meagre salary.
It did mean though that for the rest of this week, Jennifer would be home most days to sort things out before she started her new job. It would make it difficult for this week to go riding much, but Molly was sure she could figure something out. Even if she snuck out in the evening just to hang out rather than go riding, it would be better than nothing.