Sometimes Love Is

Jamie fumbled through the cash in his wallet trying to decide exactly how much of a tip he wanted to leave his waitress. Despite the fact that the coffee had tasted like it was three days old and had been microwaved twice, the service wasn’t bad. He reached in and grasped a ten dollar bill and laid it on the table, grabbed his jacket and walked out the door. It had been seven years since he had been in the old diner… the owner and the regulars might of changed, but the food for sure was still the same, and at this point any kind of food was going to be better than that he had received in the mess halls overseas.

Although Jamie had not wanted to end up back in this town, the death of his father had brought him back here, and then there was the matter of his inheritance. Twenty-one thousand dollars, to him was a big chunk of change and he knew that if he didn’t find something that he could show for it, he was even more senseless than he cared to be. So, after driving around town one afternoon visiting old friends and familiar places, he came across the house, the house in which he stood in front of now.

Nineteen thousand dollars for two bedrooms, two bath, fenced in yard… sounded like a great buy… That was until after all the papers were signed and the utilities turned on to find that even though he was assured that the house had been winterized, and that the pipes had been flushed out and the house sealed up tight, which had not been the case. Jamie sighed, aggravated as he looked down at the invoice that had been left in his door by the repair man. Just another check to write, he thought to himself.

It wasn’t a bad little house though, and yeah, it still needed some work, but what older home didn’t? The neighborhood was decent too and it wasn’t like he’d be spending a whole lot of time here anyways. After his father had died, and he had taken his leave with the Army, Jamie had come home for the funeral and met up with his dad’s brother, Steve.

Steve had a farm about six miles south of town and had tried to convince Jamie to come to work for him. Jamie had at first declined, not sure if he was going to stay in this town, but after he closed on the house, he figured that working for his Uncle would be the best thing, since there wasn’t much in this little town and he didn’t like the idea of commuting 30 miles one way to the next town. Plus, too much time by oneself could drive a man crazy and at least he’d be around family.

Jamie walked in the door just in time for his phone to ring.

“Hello,” he answered his voice unintentionally gruff.

“Hey kid,” the familiar voice of his Uncle Steve came from the other side of the line, “What time do you think you’re going to make it out here? I’ve got a horse that’s been down all night and so I’ve got the vet coming out sometime to take a look at her and I’ve got to get the hay loaded up into the barn loft as well as feed the cows, fix up the hen house, repair some fence line… my list goes on and on.”

Jamie rubbed the stiffness in the back of his neck, sleeping in the recliner all night had not done him any good, “give me about fifteen minutes and I’ll be there,” he said and hung up the phone.

He glanced around the house he still had a few boxes to unpack and a whole lot of organization to do. However, that would have to wait until a later time, from the sounds of it he was needed out at the farm. Plus, the thought of being in a house, along, for any long length of time could drive any man insane. At least out on the farm he would keep busy and wouldn’t have time to let his mind wander. Grabbing his keys, he walked out the door.

The drive to his uncle’s wasn’t far and before he knew it he was winding his way down the long drive way and parking in front of a brick house with a lazy coon hound sunning on the concrete patio. A screen door slammed shut in the distance and the sound of his Aunt Diane’s voice rang out above all the other busy sounds of farm life.

“Steve!” she shouted, “he’s here, get your butt out of that garage and come greet your nephew.”

“Hi Aunt Diane,” Jamie said in a less than slightly amused tone.

Aunt Diane had watched him when he was little and had always made a fuss over him. She and Uncle Steve had never had children of their own, for reasons he had never dared to ask, so naturally she had taken to him and treated him as her own.

Jamie gave his Aunt a brief hug and turned to see his uncle shoveling his feet in the gravel as he walked out of the garage.

“Come on Diane, the boy’s 25 years old now. Leave him alone and quit fretting over him. It’s not like he won’t be out here all the time. Go on back to whatever it was you were doing, we men have a lot of work to do out here.”

Diane snapped a quick look of frustration at Steve, hugged Jamie again and headed off back towards the house.

“Sorry about that son, you know your Aunt though,” he shook his head as he walked back towards the garage, “come on, I’m looking for a few things and then we’ll head out to the stretch of fence that needs mended.”

Jamie grabbed a pair of worn out leather gloves from the door panel of his truck and followed suit in behind his uncle. He had a long day ahead of him and he knew it. Unpacking the few remaining boxes at the house now didn’t seem so bad.



Just outside of town, Jen pulled her jacket a little tighter around her. The crisp early morning air was already filled with the busy songs of wild birds. She had missed this and was glad to hear the songbirds were back from winter’s long and gloomy stay. She took another sip of coffee and prayed that the caffeine rush would kick in soon, this was only her fifth cup since three this morning when Charlie, her four legged companion, had woken her up from an already restless sleep.

Today was going to be a long day, and the caffeine didn’t appear as if it would help her make it through. Jen glanced down at her watch, “Come on, Charlie,” she said as she looked down at the German Shepherd that laid at the bottom step of her wrap around porch, “we’re running late as it is. Go on; load up,” she pointed to an old 1972 Chevrolet ¾ ton pickup.

Jen had worked hard for what she had, it was a lesson she had learned early in life. A two bedroom farm house that was just a few miles outside of town and from her office, and a truck that she didn’t owe a dime on and still got her where she needed to go when she needed to get there, despite how old it was. It wasn’t much, but she was content with it, after all, it was just her and Charlie.

As a little girl, German Shepherds were all her parents had owned. She had one from the time she was five until she was fifteen and had to make the heartbreaking decision one day to put the old girl down due to old age. Since then, she’d had wanted to own another, but was fearful she would never find one to fill the void in her heart. That was until she had come across Charlie.

He had come to her through one of the local humane societies that she worked with on a volunteer basis. She had been there one day assessing new intakes when one of the volunteers had brought Charlie into the exam room. Jen had always had a soft spot for German Shepherds. It was protocol for the story of each intake to be placed in the file of the animal, as Jen read Charlie’s file, there was something about this pup that called to her heart. Charlie had been brought in by his former owner, a man in uniform, with the explanation that he was being deployed and was unable to keep the pup and had no one who would take him. Charlie had been well taken care of, up to date on all shots, and could already sit, stay and lay down on command. That day when Jen left the humane society, Charlie left with her.

Since then, he was with her wherever she went. At this point, he was her co-worker. He greeted patients and their owners at the clinic every day, and he went with her out to house calls. Sometimes he just sat and watched her work, other times he would sway back and forth in front of or behind a cow or horse to corral them in an area where Jen could get to them without her hurting them or them hurting themselves.

Jen pulled into the drive way of her first patient of the day.

“Good morning Doc,” hollered an old man as he hobbled around the corner of an old farm house. The paint of the old house had long ago begun to chip away, the windows that had once been washed weekly by soft gentle hands now caked with dust and cobwebs and stood out against the yellowed lace curtains.

“Good morning Joe,” Jen hollered back as she dropped the tail gate of the truck, “how’re you doing this morning?” She knew as soon as she’d asked the question, that she had asked a loaded question.

The old man’s eyes narrowed, “I’m coming along about as slow as that damned garden of mine, my advice is don’t grow old!” his gnarled leathered hands plagued with arthritis fought to open the chain clasp that kept the pasture gate from swinging open freely, “she’s out here Doc, she’s quieted down quite a bit since I got her corralled this morning.”

“Joe, you shouldn’t be out here by yourself messing with these cows by yourself, let alone one that’s in the middle of labor and already agitated. You could get yourself hurt.” Jen scolded as she walked through the gate and headed towards the barn, Charlie right by her side.

Joe ignored her reprehension, “I come out to get the eggs for my breakfast this morning and she was standing just at the tree row. I noticed she was separated from the rest of the herd so I figured she was getting ready to have the darned thing. I just went and grabbed a rope, she didn’t even fight me when I slipped it over her head and I pulled her towards the barn. Guess she thought I was going to feed her before I fed myself.”

Jen shook her head giving up on the lecture knowing that she wouldn’t get anywhere with the 80 year old man, “Well, let’s go see where she’s at. If she’s progressing well on her own, I’ll just check to see where the calf is at and we’ll wait a bit to see if anything happens while we’re here,” she advised as she ducked her head entering into the old barn that was in about the same shape the farm house was in.

Inside the barn a Black Herford cow stood shifting her weight from one side to the other and looking rather uncomfortable. It took a few moments for Jen’s eyes to adjust to the dark shadows of the barn. Charlie sat in the corner of the stall, his eyes focused on Jen’s every movement, eagerly awaiting any indication of his services needed.

Jen walked slowly towards the cow, her breathing heavy and her eyes wide, yet tired. The cow had been in labor for quite some time and she looked exhausted. Walking slowly up the cow, Jen rubbed her hands along the cow’s neck, down her side and let them come to rest on the cows backend, “Easy girl, easy,” Jen whispered as she listened with her stethoscope pressed to the side of the cow, listening intently to the calf inside.

Absorbed in her work, Jen began to evaluate the cow and the unborn calf, finally after a few moments of listening and feeling here and there, Jen turned and looked at the old man who leaned against the wall of the stall with one wrinkled hand scratching behind one of Charlie’s ears, “ I think she’ll do just fine Joe. I don’t see any signs of her being in distress. I can tell she’s tired which is nothing out of the ordinary. I would go ahead and turn her loose. Let you wander around and walk a bit. It’ll help her labor. If by this evening she hasn’t done anything, give me a call and I’ll come back out and we’ll see about pulling the calf.”

“Thanks Doc,” Joe was still scratching behind Charlie’s ears, “what do I owe ya?”

“I tell you what Joe, why don’t you just give me some goodies from your garden and we’ll call it even. Does that sound good to you?” said Jen, knowing that the old farmer didn’t have much other than the house and the few cows he had.

A smile pulled at the corner of the old man’s face and he nodded, “Sounds like a deal doc, I’ll bring you some as soon as I can get some picked.”

“No worried Joe, I know where you live,” Jen smiled back, “I better get headed on to my next patient of the day, now don’t you forget to give me a call if she hasn’t done anything by this evening, you got it?”

“Will do,” said Joe as he fought with the clasp to the gate again.

“Load up Charlie,” said Jen as she stood at the end of her truck, “I’ll call you tomorrow Joe, if I don’t hear from you tonight, to see how everything’s going.” Jen wasn’t sure if the old man had heard her, he had already rounded the back of the house, “Well Charlie, we’re off to our next appointment.”



Jamie wiped sweat from his brow and glanced back at the fence he’d just finished. His hands were hot inside the soft worn leather workman’s gloves and were hard to peel off due to the sweat, “All done here,” said Jamie to his uncle who sat in the truck reading the newspaper, “what’s next?” he said as he placed the wire stretched, wire cutters and the spool of galvanized steel wire on the bed of the old beaten truck.

“Let’s head back to the house, we’ll get some tea and take a break, we’ve been hard at it,” said his uncle as he folded the paper in half and tossed it in the seat next to him.

All Jamie could do was roll his eyes and hop on the bed of the truck next to the tools he’d tossed in there. There was a slight breeze that blew, carrying the smell of fresh cut grass. Jamie had missed spring and all the smells that came with it. Overseas in where he’d been stationed for the majority of his time in the Army, he was in the desert which meant mainly sand for as far as the eye could see.

After a short bumpy ride, the old flatbed farm truck came to a stop in front of the garage. Jamie jumped off the bed and grabbed the few tools from the truck bed and hauled them to the garage to put them back in their proper place. His Aunt Diane appeared out of the house carrying a tray with a pitcher of iced tea and two glasses filled to the brim with ice.

“Here you go honey,” she smiled sweetly as she poured one glass full of tea and handed it to Jamie, “is there anything else I can get you?”

“Nah, this is just fine, thank you,” he said as he chugged the glass. Tea dripped down his chin and onto his broad chest, soaking his t-shirt.

“I think your vet might be here,” said Jamie wiping tea from his chin and pointing toward the cloud of dust racing behind an old Chevy pickup.

Jen’s Chevy truck came to a stop behind the old flatbed farm truck. Charlie didn’t even wait for Jen to let the tailgate down; he was already on the ground and making his usual round of greeting, “How’re you all doing today?” asked Jen as she grabbed her stethoscope from the cab of the truck.

“Oh hello Jen,” came the boisterous voice of Aunt Diane, “we’re doing fine, just fine!” she exclaimed.

“Charlie! Get over here now and leave that man alone!” exclaimed Jen, as she watched Charlie excitedly begged for attention at Jamie’s feet, “I’m so sorry, I don’t know what has gotten into him, he doesn’t usually act like that,” she apologized as she bent down to rub Charlie’s chest, who had come to sit at her feet after having been called.

Jamie simply nodded, lost for words as he watched Jen tucked a strand of auburn hair that had fallen loose from her pony tail behind her ear. His mind flashed back to a summer night, a campfire with a bunch of friends and a girl with long auburn hair… the image faded just as swiftly as it had come.

“Steve, you said you noticed you had a horse down this morning? Has she been up since you called?” Jen asked, not thinking twice about Charlie’s little outburst of misbehavior or even noticing that Jamie’s eyes were fixated on her every little move.