Bluegrass Dawn: Bluegrass Single #2 (Bluegrass Singles)
Read Bluegrass Dawn: Bluegrass Single #2 (Bluegrass Singles) Online
Authors: Kathleen Brooks
Bluegrass Dawn
Bluegrass Single #2
Kathleen Brooks
All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale, or organizations is entirely coincidental.
An original
work of Kathleen Brooks.
Bluegrass Calling
copyright @ 2014 by Kathleen Brooks
Cover art by Calista Taylor
http://www.coversbycali.com
Dedication
A huge “Thank You” t
o
all veterans, their families, and those who support them. All my love to my uncles Marshall and Joe for their service and for sharing their Vietnam experiences with me. And to my parents for teaching me the culture and slang of the ‘60s and ‘70s. You’re totally far-out.
For all my readers who wrote me asking for Jake and Marcy to have their own story . . . this time in American history was so different from the Keeneston of today that it took me a couple years to write. But I am so glad I did! Thank you for all the support and encouragement you give me. I cherish every Facebook post, tweet, and email.
And finally, to my sweet Megavolt, whom I called Meggy. He was the best horse a kid could have.
It's the late 1960's in Keeneston and life is very tense for everyone. War consumes the news and young men prepare themselves for the draft. Jake Davies is fresh out of high school and head-over-heels in love. He’s known she's the one since she hit him in the head with a cheese ball, but then his world crashes around him when his number is drawn in the draft.
Marcy Faulkner's home life has caused her a lot of grief. Her sheltered life is quickly turned upside down after a night in a jail cell with the very handsome Jake Davies. The spark is immediate and undeniable. Everything is perfect until one fateful night. Marcy stands by watching as Jake is delivered the news about the draft and knows this could make or break their entire lives together.
With Jake's deployment looming and Marcy's parents being unsupportive, the young couple must fight to be together. Will their strong love endure the trials of war or will the enormous stress of the situation be too much for them to bear.
Keeneston, Kentucky
Spring 1968
Marcy Faulkner wrapped her hands around the cold metal bars of the jail cell and sighed. If her parents found out she had been arrested walking around wet, mostly naked, and in the company of Jake Davies, then she could only pray that the jail bars would protect her from them.
She looked over her shoulder at Jake as he lounged against the cement wall. He was a couple years older than she was and boy, what a difference those years made! Jake was already a man in every sense of the word. He stood well over six feet tall. He had dark brown hair and deep hazel-green eyes that made her feel possessed when he looked at her. His shoulders were broad from working on his family's farm. His legs were muscled and sprinkled with dark hair. And as she noticed during their time swimming in their unmentionables just an hour ago, Marcy knew that the smattering of hair on Jake’s sculpted chest tapered into a trail that led straight to his . . . Marcy decided whatever punishment her parents doled out would be worth it.
“Marcy, come sit with me. Old Sheriff Mulford will let us go after we dry off. I cut his grass for him. He’s just trying to scare us.”
Marcy rolled her eyes and slid her wide headband back into place over her sandy blond hair. “You punched the sheriff in the face, Jake. What were you thinking?”
“That I didn’t want our date to end,” Jake shrugged. “I didn’t punch him hard. Besides, he put us in here together. He’s a romantic at heart.”
“A romantic with a swollen lip! And what are you talking about? This isn’t a date. We went to the prom with different people.”
Jake grinned and his eyes danced with a mixture of pride and mischief. “Yeah, but it’s who you leave with that counts.”
Marcy walked across the cell and sat down a foot away from the man she’d had a crush on for what seemed like forever. She ran a nervous hand down her dress. She had made it for her prom since her mother refused to spend money on a fancy dress. It was a long, satin, baby-blue empire dress with a white-flowered lace overlay.
She cast a quick glance at Jake. How did he seem so comfortable and unconcerned? Tonight had been anything but smooth. Jake’s date ditched him for Marcy's date. Marcy hit Jake in the back of the head with a cheese ball, they’d danced the night away, and then snuck out to the pond for a little swim. She had worn her underwear on the way back to their small town of Keeneston not wanting her dress to be ruined. Little did she know that was a crime and by morning everyone in town would know about it. On top of that, the most popular boy in school, Jake Davies, was sitting next to her partially undressed. Sure, she had older brothers and had seen men in various states of undress. But a bare-chested Jake was enough to leave her momentarily speechless.
“Marcy?” Jake asked with a little raise of his eyebrow before patting the bench next to him. “I think we can dispatch with all this nervousness after seeing each other in our drawers. Come sit with me.”
Marcy tried to act like it was no big deal, but it was. Her brothers were both away after joining the Navy. And her mother had acted as if she were a great burden since they had left two years ago. Her mother had complained constantly that Marcy was either too young to date, too old to be single, or too stupid to know how to act around boys. It sent her in circles, and as a result Marcy hadn’t dated much. It wasn’t until her best friend, Betsy Milner, well, Betsy Ashton since marrying her high school sweetheart William after graduating the year before, told Marcy she couldn’t get pregnant from kissing that she finally got her first kiss a month ago. But to say it was everything she dreamed of was an overstatement. Instead it had been sloppy and very wet. And now in just a couple of hours, she had gone from being kissed only once to stripping down to swim with a man. Of course, that man hadn’t kissed her yet, but she got the feeling he wouldn’t drool if he did it.
“I’m sorry,” she said as she scooted down the bench. She felt the pant leg of his tuxedo brush against her long skirt and leaned closer wanting to feel more of him. “I’ve just never done anything like this before.”
“I know,” he chuckled.
“You do?”
“Sure. Everyone knows about the saintly Marcy Faulkner. She volunteers her time putting together baskets to send the Keeneston men serving in Vietnam, she makes lap robes for the elderly, and she tutors freshmen. But, what I also know is that when I look at you I see even more.”
“You do?” Marcy stammered.
“You’re so passionate about others that you’ve failed to let yourself have fun. And I’m just the guy to make sure you come out of that shell and live life to the fullest.” Jake grinned again and Marcy felt her insides melt. “See, in one night with me you ended up in jail. I can’t wait to see what we do next.”
“Next? You want there to be a next? What about Mary Donna? She’s the queen bee of the Belles.” The Keeneston Belles were an invitation-only group of girls who worked to nab the most successful and handsome men in town. They disguised their objectives by pretending to be charitable socialites. Once they nabbed the richest and most desirable men, they moved up into the Keeneston Ladies group and organized garden tours and other society events.
“What about her? We broke up. I was going to do it weeks ago, but she already had her dress and that’s just not something a gentleman would do.”
“But we don’t even know each other.” Marcy slammed her mouth shut. Why was she trying to talk him
out
of dating her?
“I knew the second that cheese ball hit my head that you were different.” Jake reached out and clasped her hand in his. “See, I’m turning eighteen this September and it’s time I start thinking about my future. High school has been groovy, but I'll start working full time on my parents’ farm after graduation in June. I’m looking for something more than a Keeneston Belle who wants to pin me down and run roughshod over me with social events and preening. I’m looking for someone with a head on her shoulders, a great aim, and a secret wild streak.”
“Me?”
“Do you see anyone else in this cell? But what about you; what do you want? What’s your story?”
Marcy was so surprised she didn’t know what to say. Her mother had sat her down after her disastrous date with the drooler and told her that she wasn’t getting any younger. Sure, she was sixteen and a woman now, but sometimes the future didn’t feel like her own. Her mother was always telling her what to do and mostly what she
couldn’t
do. This might have been the first time someone asked what she wanted out of life.
“Well, my older brothers are in the Navy. They enlisted when the draft started for Vietnam. My dad and mom run an insurance company in town but have been talking about moving to the naval base in South Carolina if my brothers decide to stay in the Navy. But I don’t ever want to leave Keeneston.”
“They wouldn’t make you move before you graduate, would they?”
“I don’t think so, but my mother has already had the
talk
with me. She didn’t say it outright, but I can read between the lines. If I’m not married right out of high school, then I’m going with them when they leave.”
“But won’t that just force you into accepting the first guy instead of finding the right guy?” Jake asked.
Marcy sighed. That was exactly what she had told her mother. “With the war going on and the shortage of men, I think she’s afraid I’ll never get married. I think she just wants me off her hands. Her world revolves around my dad and my brothers.”
“Do you want to get married?”
“To you?”
Jake laughed and Marcy felt her face flush with embarrassment. “I’d dig it, but I meant in general.”
“Oh. Of course I do. But I’d like to marry for love.”
Jake stood up and held out his hand to her.
“What are you doing?” Marcy asked as she put her hand in his.
“Asking you to dance.”
“Here?”
“Yes, here. You only get one first date. If I haven’t convinced you that I’m worth a second one, then I have a feeling our lives will never be the same.”
“Who knew Jake Davies was a romantic at heart?” Marcy teased as she stood up.
Jake pulled her into his arms and sent their bodies swaying to the music in their hearts. “Only for you, Marcy Faulkner.” Jake lowered his lips to hers and she felt her world shift. She had been right—there was no drool and it was everything she had read about in Betsy’s romance novels.
Her body pressed against Jake’s and she felt his arms tighten around her. She felt safe, precious, and sexy all at once. Now
this
was a kiss.
Jake pulled away slowly. “So tell me, Marcy. Would you like to go out with me tomorrow night?”
“I’d love to, Jake,” Marcy said a little breathlessly.
The door to the jail opened and the sheriff sauntered in with keys. The best day of her life was coming to an end. She smiled as Jake led her out of the jail cell. Someday she’d tell her grandchildren about this day.