Jamie: A Simmons Brothers Story Read online

  Jamie

  A Simmons Brothers Story

  by Danielle Gray

  Jamie

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  Copyright 2017 Danielle Gray

  All RIGHTS RESERVED. One or more global copyright treaties protect the information in this document. This Special Report is not intended to provide exact details or advice. This report is for informational purposes only. Author reserves the right to make any changes necessary to maintain the integrity of the information held within. This Special Report is not presented as legal or accounting advice. All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. No parts of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission of the copyright owner.

  NOTICE OF LIABILITY

  In no event, shall the author or the publisher be responsible or liable for any loss of profits or other commercial or personal damages, including but not limited to special incidental, consequential, or any other damages, in connection with or arising out of furnishing, performance or use of this book.

  All Characters, events and locations in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, dead or living, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

  Cover art: Cover art: Sabrina Ihadadene

  Stop reading NOW if you don’t like sweet, romantic stories with a little spice in them…

  Chapter One

  Lana yawned as she walked into the kitchen. She had clearly overslept seeing as the clock indicated that it was past ten. She would have felt guilty if she didn’t remember hearing Pete whisper to her to remain sleeping at what she assumed to be eight in the morning. Now it was past ten and she was feeling a bit lazy. Lana ran her fingers through her messed up hair and looked around. There was a pot of coffee ready for her, warm to the touch and a half opened newspaper on the table. Everything else had been washed.

  She poured a cup of coffee for herself and sat down, opening the newspaper and scanning the headlines. There was nothing of interest and she laid down the newspaper, staring into space as she sipped her coffee. She was trying to think if she had anything to do that day. She didn’t have any art class, her classes had ended a week ago and there were groceries in the fridge, so she didn’t’ have to go shopping. She missed her classes, but after a while she had started to get bored and stressed. It was her ability to quickly catch onto everything that had ultimately acted as a deterrent for her. She was forced to downplay everything which seriously limited her creativity, but Lana didn’t let that get to her.

  Still, she had continued to work and finally she’d gotten the certificate that enabled her to boast that she was somewhat of a learned painter now. Pete had been adorably happy about it, framing it in his bedroom so that she could see it all the time. He had even gone out to buy her some things so that she could continue to study on her own. She hadn’t started working on it yet, but she decided that she was going to do it today.

  After she was done with her coffee, she headed over to make some breakfast for her, humming to herself as she fried her eggs. She was busy thinking about what she was going to cook for lunch as she ate. She decided to do some prep so that the only thing she had to do later was cook it. She was busy with the prep when there was a knock on the door.

  Instantly she knew it wasn’t one of the boys, because they never knocked so she washed her hands and went to open it. The mailman stood on the other side and she took the mail, signing for them. She looked through the names on the envelopes, mostly it was bills, but there was one for Jamie that looked personal.

  The logical thing was to leave it but she had explicit permission from Jamie to go through his mail because he was usually so busy that he never opened mail. That had ended up in a couple of issues that she preferred not to remember. So she ripped open the envelope and read through it.

  Dear Mr. Simmons,

  This is to inform you that our newspaper, Daily News, has sent over our reporter, Mr. Harold, to interview the newly elected councilman for your council. We hope that you will be kind enough to take care of our reporter and show the reporter around as the task is completed. The contact details have been provided.

  Thank you,

  Joseph Miller,

  Editor-in-chief, Daily News.

  Seems pretty important, Lana thought. I better tell him about it later.

  Thinking that she put down the envelope and went back to humming for her work. She had no idea when Jamie would turn up but everything would be fine as long she didn’t forget.

  “Cornbread!” Drew exclaimed with unbridled glee as he reached for it.

  Lana could only laugh as she handed him the plate filled with the cornbread. He snatched two and stuffed one in his mouth as Mark snickered beside him. Lana noted with a smile that Mark had become more expressive lately, probably due to his relationship with Cat. Cat sometimes came to eat with them but her appearances in the house had become rare of late. She knew that Cat came around often, but was becoming busy now that she was fully taking over her dad’s ranch.

  The story of how Cat had infiltrated into their ranch and been Caleb was something only the direct members of the family were aware of, including her. She couldn’t believe it at first but it did make sense after she mulled over it. Caleb had always seemed very femininely handsome to her and Cat had pulled it off to perfection so props to her. Lana found that she liked the female counterpart just as much and the two had become fast friends after interacting with each other a couple of times.

  Pete poked her and she awoke from her reverie and smiled at him. He smiled back and continued to eat. The smile made her remember something important that she had forgotten. She looked over at Jamie and said,

  “You had a letter today.”

  “What letter?” Jamie said, roused from his thoughts. Looking at him, she could tell that he was tired and she didn’t doubt the reason why. Jamie had increasingly become more involved with the council as the days went on to the point where he came home late at night.

  She had thought once or twice about saying something to him about it, but he seemed to be unapproachable about it. She had talked to Pete about it, but Pete had said that it was up to Jamie and that she could talk to him if she wanted to. It hadn’t been much help, but it had put her at ease.

  “A letter about a reporter,” Lana said.

  “Where is it?” Jamie asked sharply.

  “I put it over there,” She said pointing at the counter.

  He got up and walked over to take the letter, scanning the insides before sighing. The sigh had become much more common to her and indicated that he wasn’t happy about something.

  “Something wrong?” Mark asked.

  “Nothing I can’t handle.” Jamie said cryptically.

  “Is this about the reporter?” Lana blurted.

  “Somewhat,” Jamie replied. “I am getting tired of the bureaucracy.”

  “You can always leave,” Pete said. “You don’t have to stay on with the council.”

  “I know that, but it’s like I can’t leave,” Jamie said and took a deep breath. “How do I explain it?”

  “You don’t have to explain anything to anyone,” Drew said. “Do what you think is best.”

  “Thanks,” Jamie said. “I should go tell them about this reporter.”

  “Aren’t you going to finish eating?” Lana asked.

  “I’ve had my fill,” Jamie said smiling. “Thanks, Lana.”

  He walked out leaving her puzzle
d, but Pete rubbed her leg, reassuring her.

  “I’m worried about him,” Lana admitted. “From the way he is always at the council office, you would think that he was the new councilman.”

  “Jamie likes working for them,” Mark said. “Or at least he used to.”

  “I don’t know why he persists in working so hard.”

  “It’s Jamie, he was born to work,” Pete said. “He’ll tell us if he has any trouble. We should trust him.”

  But Lana, as she stared at the door, couldn’t quite quell the disquiet in her heart.

  ***

  Jamie sighed as he got into the truck. Usually he would take his smaller car, but he had forgotten to take the key with him when he had left the house and he didn’t want to go back inside to grab it. He was sure that Lana had seen through him, that she was right now suspecting that something was not quite right. He had figured out a lot about Lana in the time she had been living with them and he knew she was perceptive.

  Jamie sighed as he placed his hand against the steering wheel of the truck. This really was getting out of hand, if it wasn’t for his promise, he would have left a long time ago. Regardless, he started the truck and continued on his way towards town. Hopefully, this reporter wasn’t going to come in and stir things up that shouldn’t be stirred.

  He was preoccupied with his thoughts as he reached the council office. It was a humble place, a two-story building painted white with a marbled path surrounded by fresh plants. He got out of his truck and walked inside.

  “Good afternoon Mr. Simmons,” said Destine, presiding over the desk. She was the secretary for the council office. Seeing as it was such a small office, she was put in charge of all the councilmen and their affairs. She was a pleasant looking, middle-aged woman with dark hair and bright eyes.

  “Hello Destine,” Jamie said, smiling slightly. “Anything happened while I wasn’t here?”

  “Nothing particularly,” she said. “Was there something you expected?”

  Jamie hesitated and then shook his head. “I just came to check up.”

  “The amount of times you’re here,” she said. “You may as well be the secretary.”

  “I’ll consider that when the ranch fails,” Jamie said with a smile.

  “Councilman Hamilton is in, if you want to see him.”

  “I’ll do that.”

  Jamie walked towards the Councilman’s office and knocked before he entered. Councilman Hamilton was busy on the phone, but waved him down as he talked. Jamie settled into one of the chairs and looked around. Councilman Hamilton had made himself at home; the remnants of the last councilman were all but gone. There was a frame with the images of himself and his two children, as well as, a separate frame for his wife. Jamie could easily recognize Cat in the image, she was grinning widely. Cat was a pleasure to interact with and he liked her dedication to the art of ranching. He was glad that Mark had found someone that he could be happy with, Mark had always been too silent about everything and this was a good change for him.

  “What’s wrong?” Councilman Hamilton said, finally off his phone.

  “Nothing is really wrong,” he said. “I was just here to check up on you.”

  “Nothing to check up on,” Council Hamilton said with a smile. “I’m adjusting well, as you can see.”

  “I can see that,” he said. “I also came to tell you about the reporter who will soon be among us.”

  “The reporter?” The councilman asked.

  “I think I mentioned it before,” Jamie said. “A reporter is interested in writing an article on you and your journey to become a councilman.”

  “Sounds intriguing,” he said. “I didn’t think that being a councilman would bring that much exposure.”

  That’s a lie, thought Jamie. You did it, because you wanted all that exposure.

  But he didn’t voice his thoughts and settled on a sardonic smile. Councilman Hamilton was oblivious to his thoughts and Jamie looked down once more at the letter in his lap, wondering exactly what this reporter was going to bring to their table.

  Hopefully it would be something that wouldn’t bring up the skeletons so carefully hidden in this council house.

  Chapter Two

  Gabrielle Montague could happily have strangled Joe if he had the misfortune of being in front of her. She glared at the patch of hay on the back of the truck and continued to curse under her breath as it shuddered on its way to her destination.

  At one point, there was a loud noise and she started at it, before focusing her fiery gaze on the offender. She was quite miffed that she was stuck on the back of a truck and that she was huddled in the corner, hay sticking to her skirt and hair as it inched its way towards the town where her assignment waited for her. This wasn’t the best assignment she’d ever gotten and the amount of work she was doing for this assignment wasn’t near enough in her opinion.

  Gabrielle never thought that Joe would have the guts to send her so far away from home for a measly councilman interview, but she had to admit that she wouldn’t have been able to do anything in his position. It was no doubt something that she’d brought onto herself.

  It didn't justify the trouble she was going through just to reach this place, however. For two days, she had been on the road, because Joe hadn’t had the decency to buy her a bus ticket. He hadn’t even bothered to check the schedules and had done everything last minute, which meant that she was unaware that the only bus company that went to the town was currently dealing with issues. This meant that in the end, there were no bus routes available to her. She had already reached the halfway point, before realizing that and had been lucky or perhaps unlucky enough to find a man who would take her the rest of the way on the bed of his truck.

  She tried to salvage whatever was left of her appearance, but another bump from the truck stopped all progress and she settled for leaning back against the cold metal wall, as she tried to keep herself from jostling around too much. She was trying to gather her thoughts to try and not be ill composed when she actually reached the town. She replayed her assignment in her mind.

  She was to go to the town, talk to the councilman, compose an article, send it to Joe and when it was approved, she would be able to come back. Her reporter mind told her that it wouldn’t take more than ten days and having the experience that she had accumulated in her six years of working in the media sector, she knew she would be able to finish it in one week.

  That is if she was going to follow the brief. She had another thing in mind which if she was able to implement it, would make sure she could regain the loss she had felt.

  Damn you Dave, she thought in her mind. It was because of him she was on this truck right now. Joe was partially to blame and so was she, but in her mind it was Dave who had the biggest blame of it all.

  Before she could dwell on Dave, however, the truck went through a pothole which made her squeak. She growled under her breath and hugged her bag closer to herself. It centered her and she breathed in slowly to calm herself down. It shouldn’t be long now, an hour at most. The man had said it would take three hours to reach the town and it was already past the two hour mark, or at least she thought it was. She confirmed with a quick glance to her watch and prepared herself for the rest of the ride.

  To while away the time, she took out her notebook and tried to review her questions as the truck bounced under her.

  What made you run for office?

  What are your aspirations?

  Do you have any changes planned?

  How do you feel now that you are an official council member?

  These questions are rubbish, she thought with disgust. Of course Joe would come up with these questions, they were too tame, but then again, it was a normal interview. I am going to change that, she thought. I am going to make it something that is going to get me back in good graces.

  A lot was riding on her for this interview, she had a lot to prove and she would be damned if she let Joe ruin it for her. She was being harsh o
n Joe, if it wasn’t for him she would have lost her job by now. Still, it didn’t diminish the feeling that he could have done better than demote her into a normal reporter. All that work she had done in the last six years had gone down the drain.

  She noticed that she could see the outline of the town and sat up so that she could peer carefully. Yes, that was it. It was the town, which was a good thing for her, because that meant this wretched ride had come to an end. She didn’t lean back as she waited impatiently for the truck to enter the town limits and when it did, she breathed a sigh of relief.

  The man had said that he was going to drop her off at the center of town, so she waited until he reached what seemed to be the center of the town. After that, she had to make her way into the rented house that Joe had gotten for her. She had thought that he was going to put her in the local inn, but he had said that he didn’t want to incur too many costs, cheapskate, and that a rented house was more practical for her. She hadn’t offered any protests, but she was already trepidous about it, seeing as it was going to incur more work for her and she wasn’t the type of person to spend hours in the house.

  The truck stopped and the man who had helped her came around the back to help her get down. She kept a smile on her face as he did so, because she had started to realize that it wasn’t fair of her to blame the man; after all he had been nice enough to give her a ride. The man smiled back as he took down her backpack as well. She brushed the hay off her clothes as he said,

  “Where are you off to ma’am?”

  “Just a little further from here,” she said. “I have to meet someone called Miss Hay.”

  “Oh that’ll be Jennie,” the man said. “You renting her house?”

  “Yes, how did you know?” she said, with surprise.

  “The town isn’t small, but we all know each other,” he explained. “Jennie has been looking for a person to rent her house ever since her sister passed away.”