Chapter 3 : Horseshoes Chapter Three: Horseshoes

Disclaimer: I don't own anything!

Pairing: Rory/Jess of course!

A/N - Please review!

* * * * * * * * * * * *

"Alright Chris, I'm set." Rory gathered her hat and water bottle from the table and headed towards the door.

"I'm glad to see that you like riding." Chris said as he got up from his chair and followed Rory out the door. "You think you'll want to do something a little more daring today?"

"Compared to this morning's ride - definitely. All we did was walk and a little trotting. I wanna go fast!"

Chris laughed. "I didn't really like that girl that went with us earlier. What's her name? Oh, right, Julie. Yeah, maybe we can get Jess to go with us again. I liked him, very talkative fellow."

That was one word Rory could never use to describe Jess: talkative. Back in high school he only really talked to her in full sentences but he could barely speak 10 words to someone else. Oh well, she wasn't complaining.

"So are we going to that game thing tonight?" Rory asked. She was secretly excited that they might have Jess as a guide. She really did want to talk to him and just having him around kept her happy.

"You really wanna go to that?"

'Any way I can see Jess,' Rory thought to herself. "Oh why not, it seems like fun. We might as well make the most of our time here. We can leave early if you don't like it but it shouldn't be that bad."

"If you really want to," Chris said in response.

The rest of the walk to the corral was silent. Rory kept wondering why she always wanted to see Jess. Was it because she hadn't seen him since before college or was it something else?

* * * * * * * * * * * *

"So what do you do, Chris?" Jess asked as they were riding.

Luckily for Rory, Jess hadn't gone out on the trails yet so they got to ride with him. Jess had actually planned out a long ride with beautiful scenery so they could get a good glimpse of the ranch and its property.

"I'm a defense attorney at a law firm in Boston."

"Law, huh?"

"Yeah, I just graduated from the law school at Boston University."

"So, Rory, how about you? Did you go to BU?" Jess tried to make it seem like he didn't know Rory but he felt like fool doing it and he was getting funny looks from her that made him laugh.

"I actually graduated from Harvard. That's where Chris and I met."

"Wow. What did you major in?"

"English and American literature."

"Big reader?"

Rory eyed him and laughed. "Yup, I've been reading since the day I was born."

"I'll admit," Jess said, "I'm a book worm too."

"Oh yeah, what are your favorites?"

"Too many to name, I wouldn't even know where to start. I've got a small but interesting collection of books back at the cabin. I could lend you some if you wanted."

"Yeah, that'd be great. I didn't really get to pack all the books I wanted."

"So Jess," Chris cut in. He seemed to be getting annoyed at Rory and Jess' talking of books. "How long have you been here?"

"I just started this spring. I had to do a 2 month training period to learn the ropes around here but the job actually started this summer when the ranch opened for the season."

"How do you like it?"

"It's going pretty well. You meet a lot of people from all over so that's really interesting. I don't think I'll come back. I'm thinking about going back to New York in the fall though."

"Is that where you are originally from?" Rory asked.

Jess smirked again. "Yup, I grew up there. I lived in Connecticut for a while but that's a long story. If I went back I'd probably take some classes somewhere. I hope to be a writer one day."

"I love the city. I've always wanted to live there." Rory said.

Chris was taken aback by this statement. "Really? You want to live in the city?"

"When I was younger I always imagined I'd live there."

"I've never heard you say that."

"I'm sure I've mentioned it but it's really not that important."

Jess kind of felt bad hearing them arguing and thinking it was their fault. "Hey, I'm sorry I brought that up."

"Oh it's nothing. I just didn't know that about Rory." Chris said.

Rory was a little hurt by Chris' statement. She was sure she'd told Chris at least once maybe twice in their relationship and the fact that it didn't matter to him or what she really wanted hurt her even more.

Jess changed the subject. "I'm sure you get this all the time, Rory, but where does your name come from? It's rather unusual."

"It's short for Lorelai. That's my mom's name too. And my grandmother's."

Jess nodded. He felt like such an idiot asking her all these questions when he already knew the answer. He pulled his horse to a stop.

"Why don't we stop here for a few minutes so I can show you a great view."

Rory and Chris pulled on the reins and got off their horses.

"Shouldn't we make sure the horses don't go anywhere?" Rory asked as Chris and Jess were walking away, a little concerned that they might not be there when they get back.

Chris laughed. "They are trained not to move anywhere when their reins are dropped on the ground like that. It's nothing to worry about."

Rory blushed. How was she supposed to know? She quickly dropped the reins as shown and ran to catch up with Jess and Chris.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

It was 4 o'clock by the time they got back to the barns. The sun was beating down on them and the fact that they had to wear jeans to ride made it even worse.

"You feel like hitting the pool for a quick dip?" Chris asked Rory when they were done putting all the gear away.

"I could definitely go for that."

"Thanks again Jess for taking us out," Chris said as they were leaving.

"My pleasure. I hope I can do it again sometime." He paused. "I assume you'll be at the cook out and activities planned for tonight?"

"We'll be there," Rory said with assurance.

"Good." Jess said with a smile.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

"Smells like they got the fire going," Rory pointed out as she and Chris sat out on their porch.

"I love being out here in the wilderness, so to speak. I wish we could stay here longer."

"Mmm, that would be nice," Rory said as she was daydreaming about other things. . .

"I'm glad you like this; you were really hesitant about it all at first," Chris observed.

"I'd just never done anything this outdoorsy in my entire life so I didn't know what to expect but it's great and everyone is so nice."

"So you ready to head over to the cookout?"

"Let's just stay here a little longer. I'm kind of enjoying the moment."

Rory leaned her head back on to Chris' lap and drifted off in this perfect setting.

* * *

"Glad to see you finally made it," Jess greeted the couple as they arrived a little late to the cookout.

"Rory fell asleep," Chris said.

"Good dream, huh?" Jess said in response to the look on Rory's face.

"Uh huh," she said, still not really back to reality.

"Rory, sit down. I'll go get you dinner. Do you want a hot dog or hamburger?"

"Which ever is fine." Rory went over to the closest picnic table and took a seat.

"I didn't know I had that affect you," Jess said to Rory.

"What?"

"Just trying to wake you up."

"Well it worked."

"I have a few books back in my cabin if you want to check them out later."

Rory's ears perked up at the mention of books. "Yeah that'd be great. I haven't had good reading material yet this week. It's really quite a shame."

"Come here, I want to show you something," Jess said out of the blue.

"I can't go anywhere, I'm waiting for Chris."

"Come on, it'll take 2 seconds."

"Fine," Rory groaned as she left her seat to follow Jess. "Where are we going?"

"To the barn. I meant to show you the other day but I forgot."

When they had reached the barn Jess led her inside to the stall where Dodger and his mother were.

"Aw, it's so cute!" Rory said when she first saw him.

"His name is Dodger."

She gave him a look. "I named him," he said quickly. "I sometimes sleep in the barn at night with him to make sure he's okay. He was only born 3 days ago I think."

"He looks like a Dodger."

"Hence the name."

Rory looked at her watch. "I got to get back to the picnic tables before Chris starts wondering where I am. I'll see you later?"

"Seems to turn out that way, doesn't it?"

Rory smiled and left the barn and headed back to find Chris already looking for her.

"Where did you go?" He asked with a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"Sorry, Jess wanted to show me something in the barn."

Chris became a little suspicious from that statement and interpreted it the wrong way. "I never liked that guy," he said suddenly.

"Just this morning you said he was the only nice one here, what happened to that?"

He ignored her and said, "Come on, the food's getting cold."

"So are we still going to the game hall later to see what's going on? I heard there'll be some games. I thought that might be fun."

"Yeah, sure we can go."

"Are you mad about something?"

Chris shook his head. "No, sorry I was just thinking," he lied right though his teeth.

"Well if you want to talk, I'm here."

He looked up from his plate and smiled at the beautiful girl in front of him. "Thanks." He could never stay mad at her.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

"Please Chris, one more round of horseshoes?"

"Rory, you've beat me 6 times. I don't think I can be embarrassed anymore. I'm think I'll sit out a round."

Rory tried the puppy eyes.

"Sorry, not gonna work."

"No fun. I'm gonna run to the dining hall to get something to drink. You want anything?"

"I'm fine thanks."

Rory spun on her heel and ran towards the hall. As she was leaving, Jess approached.

"Don't get into the games, huh?" Jess asked as he took a seat next to Chris on a log.

"Rory's beat me like 6 times at horseshoes. I give up."

"Yeah I wasn't too great either when I first started but now I've been playing practically every day so I think I've got the hang of it."

Chris laughed. "I wish I could say the same."

"I'm back!" Rory said as she came running up behind the boys. "Who dares to challenge me now?"

"You're on." Jess stood up and grabbed the horseshoes from the ground. "Prepare to lose."

"You wish."

Chris watched from the side as Jess and Rory played the game. He thought it was kind of funny how well they were getting along even though they'd only known each other for 2 days.

* * *

"Chris, what time is it?" Rory asked.

They had moved over to the bonfire where many other guests were. It was just another chance to talk to the other people. And plus, they had s'mores.

"Wow, it's almost 10," he said looking at his watch. "You wanna head back to the cabin?"

"Yeah, definitely. I'm exhausted. It's been a long day."

Chris stood up then offered his hand to help Rory.

"Do you know where Jess is? I wanted to borrow some books from him."

"Last he said he was going to the barn."

"Will you wait here, I'm going to try and find him."

"Sure." Chris sat back down on the log near the fire.

Rory headed over to the bard. It was really dark and quiet and it seemed like none of the other 'cowboys' were around. Rory, still curious as to where Jess was, headed into the dark barn to look for him.

Suddenly, in the glow of the moon, Rory saw something very disturbing on the ground and she let out a loud, horrible shriek.

"CHRIS!" She turned around and bolted away from the barn.

Chris was still by the fire.

"Chris, come here! Help!"

He heard Rory's voice and turned around and slyly put something into his pocket.

"Rory, what's wrong?" He said as he held a knife in his hand.

"What are you doing with a knife?" Rory asked distracted from why she was really there. "Wait never mind, just come here! Quickly."

Chris folded his knife and put it in his pocket then chased Rory into the barn. He had no idea what was going on.

When they got to where they could see from the light of the moon, Chris saw what Rory was looking at.

It was Jess, lying face down in the ground. They could see the blood glistening in the moonlight.


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