Chestnut Ridge
Kershaw Ranch
When my sister and Jasper finally stumbled out of the guest room at Jackson’s cabin the morning after our night at the local watering hole, they looked worse for wear. Having experienced this myself when I first started staying with Jackson for longer and shorter visits whenever I could get away from college, I understood why. The beds were old and lumpy, there was no A/C or ceiling fans, and while an open window provided some relief by letting the day’s heat out, which always seemed to accumulate indoors, while letting the cold night’s breeze in, but it also opened the buffet for mosquitoes, and once those had found you, you could forget about restful sleep.
I said nothing, merely grinned at Jackson, who was busy making scrambled eggs and bacon at the stove. He grinned back, winking at me.
“Afternoon, guys,” Jackson greeted them, exaggerating the time of day, it was still late morning, while smirking knowingly. He’s been here before, with me. “I was starting to think you’d fallen into some sort of coma or something. Bri and I already tended to the horses; they and Millie get their breakfast first.”
“Who’s Millie?” my still-‘comatose’ sister mumbled.
“Mah dog,” Jackson replied in that way that always cracked me up.
“I didn’t know you even had a dog.” Iris said.
“You think that’s for your morning coffee down there?” Jasper pointed at the empty dog bowl on the floor by the counter, earning himself a shove and some playful swats from my sister. Unfazed, he made his way over to me, eagerly accepting the coffee I’d poured and prepared just the way he liked it.
With a kiss on my cheek, he sniffed the coffee, then drank it with equal enthusiasm, closing his eyes and moaning.
“Thanks, Bri. You always were my favorite. Should’ve dated you instead,” he teased.
“Best pick a number. Reckon there’s a line formin’,” Jackson added dryly, well aware that Brad was still circling me.
“Keep on like that and you might well get in line for Bri, cos you’ll be single.” Iris grumbled, grabbing her cup from me, sipping it equally as eager.
“Breakfast’s almost ready.” Jackson told her.
“Sorry, I don’t eat breakfast.” she told him.
“Yeah, and I usually don’t do eggs more than maybe four times a month, I don’t trust all that cholesterol and all. You got any cereal around here?” Jasper bemoaned and it reminded me so much of my first stays here, but this time I got to see it from Jackson’s point of view, gotta admit, I was LOVING it, and it was hard not bursting into laughter, so I was hiding my grin behind my coffee mug.
“Cereal?!” Jackson echoed, bewildered.
“Yeah, cereal. Like Honey Nut Loops, Special K, Cornflakes, I’d even settle for some Quick Oats… throw some almond milk on that shit and maybe some clover honey, yes please!” Jasper’s ‘order’ made zero sense to Jackson, I could tell, and his response confirmed it.
“Only oats I got are for the horses, welcome to ’em, they’re out in the big feedin’ bin over by Blaze and Hells Bells shelter.” Jackson delivered it with a straight face
At this point I was doubling over laughing at the images forming in my head of Jasper and my sister in their designer PJs munching their oats under the glares of offended horses who were watching some new-to-them hoomans eat their favorite treats aside from apples without sharing. Jackson’s young stallion Patches wasn’t famous for his patience, he’d be jumping out of his hooves. I remember them monitoring me worse than CCTV when I was still new around here and got too close to said feeding bins.
“No cereal? I thought that was a staple as basic as it can get the world over. I’ll pass then. Just coffee for us.” Jasper sounded defeated.
“Suit yerselves, but know that the next meal all y’all will get won’t be until the sun goes down.” Jackson shrugged.
“Seriously now!? If you wanna be that way, Kershaw, fine. We’ll just go down to that accumulation of geriatric huts you call downtown and eat there.” Iris snapped at him.
“Y’all do that,” Jackson said with a patience I’d never possess, placing two plates in front of my sister and Jasper, undeterred.
Iris picked up on his subtle message. “The restaurant isn’t an option, is it? Did it burn down? Does the owner have to round up some cattle for their burgers first?” Her snarky guesses amused me.
“Naw, it’s Sunday. Nobody works here on the day of the Lord, not until evening. Diner won’t open till late either. So, eat yer breakfast.”
“Oh, right, silly me. Good thing the Lord’s opening hours only go till sundown. Is that part of His teachings in this neck of the woods—starve thy people?” Iris was not amused.
“Naw, He knows folks ’round here work hard 6 days a week, dusk till dawn, so on Sundays we take it easy if we can and gather ’round having barbecues, socializin’.”
“Being social over barbecues. Got it. And until those are made, we starve?” Iris tested Jackson’s seemingly endless patience.
“No. We fill up on our breakfasts!” Jackson held a fork out to Iris, which Jasper snatched from him, digging in. I couldn’t help but laugh as I handed Iris another fork.
“You know, this isn’t half bad. The eggs taste like they’re from Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods. Are they organic?” Jasper evaluated.
Jackson looked taken aback. “How could an egg not be organic? That don’t make no damn sense.”
I swear I had the hardest time keeping a semi-straight face but tried my best to mediate this travesty. Jackson had stayed at Connor’s place and with my parents and me before, and I’m sure he’s seen and maybe eaten cereal, but he’s not one to analyze food he’s offered, nor would it occur to him to be difficult about it. When staying with me in Brindleton Bay, he ate scrambled eggs and bacon for breakfast and didn’t question what anyone else did.
“Oh no, babe. Jasper means that where we live, most eggs, produce, and meat are mass-produced and sometimes lack flavor. When they’re from small farms with strict regulations on chemicals, they’re considered organic and usually more expensive,” I explained to Jackson.
“Bunch o’nonsense, I tell ya what,” was his response.
“This bacon is amazing! Not greasy, but tender, and with a lot of flavor. I love it. What’s the brand? Gotta tell my mother to have her housekeeper find this one,” Jasper swooned.
Chuckling, I awaited what would come next. I had quit asking about the foods Jackson provided, learned my lesson the same way Jasper now undoubtedly would. One of the many reasons I struggled so hard committing to this life. You’ll see.
“Bison,” Jackson said in between bites.
“Never heard of that brand, but I’m sure my mom’s housekeeper will figure it out,” Jasper said, munching away.
“Not a brand, an animal,” Jackson corrected, and I leaned back over my finished plate, sipping my coffee, watching this unfold.
Iris’s eyes grew wide; she was about 3/4 through her plate, while Jasper froze in mid-chew, with maybe a bite left on his plate.
“You bought bison? Isn’t that super expensive? Thought you’re always tight on cash.” Jasper wondered.
Jackson looked up from his already empty plate, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, still chewing the last bite.
“I didn’t buy it. Chay, Ahanu and I went out and got it ourselves.”
“Wait, WHAT?! YOU went out there and shot a live animal?!” Jasper’s eyes grew wide.
“Well, shootin’ a dead one wouldn’t make much sense now, would it?” Jackson retorted dryly.
“Bruh, that’s rogue! How would you feel if you stood out there and an animal came up to you and shot you just out of the blue?!” Jasper tried.
“Gotta admit, I’d be surprised, all right.” Jackson replied unfazed, while I was nearly falling off my chair snorting, containing my amusement, trying to not burst out with full-on laughter at their reactions and facial expressions as our two worlds collided once again here at the breakfast table.
“So, you literally made a living thing dead, and we ate it!? This here bacon was grazing the pastures until very recently.” Jasper just couldn’t get over the typical circle of life here in this part of the world.
“Well, yeah, along with the rest of the bison. I got some steaks too. We took it to Ahanu’s and Chay’s people’s village, they processed it like their people done long before settlers came and we just got our share and left the rest with them. They’re gonna use every last bit of that animal and there was a celebration dance thanking it for its sacrifice.” Jackson shrugged and I took great enjoyment from watching my sister and Jasper’s faces when they arrived where I had been some time ago. This here was really a different world from what we grew up in.
“Wait, so now you are telling us that you jumped on one of your horses out there, grabbed a shotgun and rode off into the horizon to kill some animal, and in some cowboy and Indians action you dragged it to some Indian village, where they made a wild cow that had just been happily grazing moments before into shoes and purses and our breakfast?”
“I think I am gonna be sick!” Iris looked appalled.
“Nah. I rode off to the village first, with Ahanu and Chay, and they told us they needed us to get them a bison or an elk, so we went and got it for them. Ahanu made the kill shot, Chay and I flanked in case he didn’t hit it right the first time. You need at least one or two people with ya for huntin’, can’t just drag a full-grown bison anywhere by yerself, thinkin’ you got no idea how big and heavy them animals are. The bacon and steak were our payment. They are makin’ jerky, but that has to cure and dry and we’ll get our share when that’s done. That’s how it works around here.”
“Ah. So, if you want a new horse you just go out in the prairie and rope you one? Got it. Definitely cost effective, I give ya that.” Iris sighed, shaking her head.
“No. We never touch the wild herds, they need to stay together, like a unity, we breed our own, and either trade or sell. Or keep. Sometimes, rarely, you have some mares in heat suddenly pregnant by some lone wild bronc, that’s why some horses here look like wild mustangs. Their daddies were wild ones, but we don’t catch them.”
“Damn. Now I am getting why Bri has such a rough time with this. I mean, you are pretty cool, nice to look at and clearly, you got more to offer than meets the eye, or my sister wouldn’t have risked getting in so much trouble because of you, not to mention spending most of her teen years grounded five million times for sneaking out to see you all the time. But this …. THIS … seriously Jackson. Yikes. That is seriously backwoods!” My sister told him.
“The bacon was good though. If I quit thinking about where it came from …” Jasper shrugged.
“Where do ya think all y’all’s meats come from? Plucked off some chicken and beef tree, next to the pork and fish shrubs? If ya wanna eat meat, some animal has to die unless you’re some goddamn cannibal and eat other humans, though technically, we’re all part of the animal kingdom too.” Jackson hit the unsavory nail on the head. He was right. This was what he had told me too. Can’t argue with that logic.
“And you are okay with all that?!” my sister now stared me down as if I had murdered a dozen puppies in front of her.
“Well, I love the boy, can’t have the boy without accepting this, so I guess yeah I am.” I told her the truth. No, I wasn’t thrilled with all the appalling truths that came with living on a ranch either, but it’s either this or no Jackson at all.
Jackson’s smirk grew wide and turned into an open chuckle when Jasper added
“If that isn’t a big compliment right there, my dude. You keep saying how you have nothing to offer, but this girl picked you over the only heir of the oldest and probably wealthiest family of Brindleton Bay, even though Bri is a well known animal lover and knows her man murders cute wild cows.”
My sister interjected her take before Jackson could say anything back.
“Don’t be silly, Jas, we’re richer than the Cunninghams, they just got all that old money fame and stuff going for them that makes people in the Bay jizz themselves for reasons unbeknownst to me. But yeah, what he said. Seeing all this, living through it, it MUST be real love. Congratulations. No offense, but I mean, you have seen the Cunningham’s estate, Jackson, sooo…”
“Yeah, I have. Nice place, even the people weren’t bad, at least to mah face, but guessin’ Bri been lookin’ for something real, where she can be real, and that ain’t with Brad or those like him and his folks. Ain’t that right, darlin’?”
There it was again, the way he said darlin’ just always did something to me. It made me smile and googly eyed, so my sister took the floor.
“Well, better be, seeing how according to you, you announced some unofficial engagement yesterday.” Iris added dryly, which immediately snapped me back from cloud nine.
“Iris! Don’t you say anything like that around mom and dad or they will flip! You know they want us to finish college and get established in our lives after first. If you say anything, even jokingly, about potential engagements, mine or yours, dad will chase Jackson down with mom’s meat cleaver or something. And Jasper too, just in case.”
“Me? What did I do now?! Dude, your sister informed me that I was gonna marry her, like an order. I never said anything of the sort. So your daddy better leave that meat cleaver holstered around me or he’ll have to answer to my parents.”
“Oh, right, you poor baby! Well, if you don’t want to, then I will find someone else. Maybe I’ll go back to Sterling.” Iris barked at him.
“Whoa, when did I say I didn’t like it? I just said I didn’t say anything about marriage, YOU did during our last ski vacation! So, if your daddy were to start some sort of meat cleaver massacre, it should be YOU not me. But then again, I would have to save you, so the outcome is probably the same. Maybe Jackson the Wild-Cow-Assassin could save us.” Jasper nudged Jackson, who just grinned, shaking his head.
Brindleton Bay
Seaglass Haven (Chase and Hailey’s home, Bri and Iris’ childhood home)
I was assisting Mom and Iris with clearing the table when I noticed Dad heading out to the backyard with Jackson and Jasper. Instinctively, I set down the dirty plates and turned to follow, but Mom held me back.
“Let them have some boy time. Here.” With that, she thrust a sponge into my hands, handing my sister a dish brush.
Condemned to kitchen duty, I resigned myself to letting Jackson and Jasper handle whatever awaited them outside.
Chase wrapped his arms around Jackson and Jasper’s shoulders, each of them flanking him, as they strolled along the pathways of the sprawling, park-like backyard.
“So, since it appears you both are serious about my girls, I thought we’d have a little man-to-man chat.”
Jasper saluted at Chase.
“Sir, yes Sir! I’ve got excellent references, Sir. You can ask my daddy and that other fella who helped raise me—forgot his name,” Jasper quipped, earning himself a playful hair ruffling from Chase, the other man who played a role in Jasper’s upbringing.
“What?! I’m dead serious! If I turn out to be a jerk, you’ve only got yourself to blame. Sooooooo…” Jasper shrugged, attempting to fix his now messed up hairdo.
“Well, our chatty friend has a point. And you, Jackson? Anything to share that would warm the fatherly cockles of my heart? Looks like we’re all stuck with each other for the foreseeable and likely also the distant future.” Chase challenged.
“Only that I love yer daughter, Sir. Beyond that, I prefer to let my actions do the talkin’.”
“Whoa, listen to Romeo Reloaded over there, Chase. Deep stuff, Jackson.” Jasper teased.
“Actions, huh? Let’s review. Your actions thus far include getting my daughter arrested, turning our family into the talk of the town by stealing royal horses from my niece, and the unmentionable reason why, ensuring my daughter spent her teenage years grounded because of you, swiping cars from her brother without asking, and even ‘borrowing’ one from my dad–unasked. Quite the résumé! Does a father proud.” Chase chuckled, shaking his head.
“BAM! Match point, Chase Cameron.”
“Jasper, can we PLEASE do this without your narrations?” Chase told him, frowning.
“If we must, but it’ll be hella boring.” Jasper shrugged.
“We’ll survive. So, Jackson? Sell me on yourself.”
“With all due respect, Sir, but I don’t see why. Y’all already know all there is to know about me and I ain’t tryin’ to date you,” Jackson said genuinely, setting Jasper off into fits of laughter. Even Chase struggled to maintain a straight face.
“Breaks my heart, but okay. So, you’re a tough one, huh? The rebel type?”
“No, Sir. Bri decided long ago she wanted me, and I gotta say, once you’ve experienced your daughter, there ain’t no other girl a man could want. She’s a breath of fresh air that blows yer mind, her smile lights up the darkest of nights, and I’ll make sure she has plenty of reasons to smile. She’s my world.”
Jasper fell silent, staring at Jackson.
“Bruh, which bumper sticker didcha get that off of?”
“Jasper, can you go inside, find Hailey, and tell her she wants you for something?” Chase told him.
“What?”
“Get lost, kid.” Chase made himself clearer.
With one eyebrow raised, Jasper grimaced, shook his head, and turned to Jackson.
“Blink twice if you want me to stay for safety.”
“GET, Jas! Or I will help you leave, and it won’t be pleasant!” Chase roared.
Once Jasper left, grumbling to himself, Chase fixed his gaze on Jackson.
“So now that we can actually hear ourselves think without motormouth hijacking every moment of the conversation, Jackson, there are things about my family you might not know, but if you’re truly serious about my daughter, which appears to be the case, I think you should. I asked Bri several times to fill you in, but she didn’t, so now it’s my turn.”
“If ya mean Bri’s medical history, I’m aware she has fertility issues. She told me not long after it happened.”
“Right, but that’s not quite what I meant. You’ve met my parents—you know they’re not your average folks, and I’m not just talking about their fame.”
“Yes, Sir. Your daddy’s a crude potty mouth with a knack for gettin’ others in trouble, but yer momma is a fine classy lady like no other,” Jackson smirked, and Chase chuckled.
“Well, yeah, that is certainly true as well, but not what I meant either.”
“Say no more. I know. They’re vampires. Which is why they disappeared from the public eye, once people started wonderin’ how they look younger than some of their kids now.”
“Right. That. But here’s the twist and where I am trying to go with all this: my entire family used to be fanged as well. After many hiccups, the vampire leader, who also happens to be my grandfather, finally found a real cure, which only works for those whose ages haven’t exceeded the natural lifespan of regular humans. Please don’t ask how we found that out. It was harrowing, to say the least.”
“Yeah, I’ve heard ‘bout that too. You and Colton were born as vamps, which explains the band name, 2Dark2C. Like vampires on a hunt. And your son Connor could port—teleport, that is. Did it a lot when Stryker was recoverin’ at my place. But now he can’t anymore.”
“Exactly. Now, here’s the kicker: All my children were born with the spark. ALL of them.”
“Spark?”
“Yep. It’s what the vampire community calls it. We keep it hush-hush outside the inner circle. The spark is what turns a person into a vampire—gives immortality, but takes a slice of their humanity. And a lot of other stuff which is not meant for non-vampiric ears.”
“Ah, gotcha. Wait, all yer children? Y’all only got three, right?”
“Yup.”
Chase gave the wheels he could see turnin’ in Jackson’s head some time to process. By his reaction, he could tell the young man had worked out the meaning.
“Yer sayin’ … Bri and Iris … they are …”
“Were. Now those two are a bit of a different situation, they didn’t have to be unturned per se. Their older brother had manifested, as you know, which happens once a child hits puberty. Jasper, Iris, and Bri were unturned before puberty, they were twelve, so they never actually lived as vamps, but they all were born with the spark. Without the remedy, they would be fanged now. So, now you are part of that inner circle. Does that change your plans for a mutual future with my daughter?” Chase’s eyes locked onto Jackson, monitoring for even the slightest reaction.
The young man held his gaze.
“Why would it? Connor was fanged ever since I first met him, and it never bothered me none. My love for your daughter ain’t conditional, Sir. Thought that was clear by now, but if I didn’t do a good enough job making that clear to you, I’ll try harder.”
“No need. You passed. Look, it’s nothing personal, Jackson, but growing up in the type of family and environment I grew up in, any of us can tell you long stories of gold diggers and friends who are only friends when you fit their motives. You’d think we could smell those with ulterior motives from miles away by now, but if that were true, nobody would fall for them anymore. They are good, but I like to pride myself in my BS detector being better.”
“All righty then, on that note, and at the chance that yer daughter will throw me off those there cliffs, I feel like I should tell ya that I do plan to ask Bri to marry me one day. Not today, not tomorrow, and not in any hurry, but that day’ll come. I would love yer blessin’ for that, when that day arrives. And so ya don’t think I want any of yer money, I don’t, and I know there are papers you can sign statin’ that—I’m prepared to do that. And just so ya know, being her father and all, I want ya to know that I make sure Bri and I both steer clear of accidentally finding out how hard it would actually be for her to conceive, if ya catch my drift. I know all y’all believe in that Cameron Curse thing, and I ain’t in the market of puttin’ that to the test against Bri’s medical challenges.”
“Wow. Jesus H. Christ, son! That’s all you took from my speech?”
“Nah, I heard ya, but none of whatcha said needs commentin’ to—except that part. Look, Mr. Cameron …”
“Jackson, at this point, I didn’t think I still had to offer you my first name, but please call me Chase.”
“All right, Chase. I know I ain’t the partner all y’all imagined for yer Bri, also know that most folks around here take one look at me and only see some dumb country hick, assumin’ I can’t count to three using all fingers and toes, and that all I can do is ride horses and girls. But I ain’t like that. Ask Bri. She ain’t no fool; she’s a really smart girl. You think she would’ve done all the car stealin’ and sneaking away and gettin’ herself in all that trouble just to see me, then and now, to spend time together at my little ranch, roughin’ it, if this weren’t the real deal? Anyone who thinks otherwise at this point is dumber than they all think I am.”
“Wow. Quite the speech, my friend. And I promise you, nobody in my family—or Colton’s—thinks you’re dumb, and nobody of any relevance gives a shit what anyone else may or may not think about you. And I assure you, kid, it’s never even crossed my mind or Hailey’s that you’re just circling for a big payday. Don’t forget we lived with our daughters for a lot longer than you have even known them, so we KNOW they aren’t balmy to one’s soul all the time. At least you usually only have to endure one of them, and the sweet one at that, but you even managed two of them plus Jasper for four days at your cabin, which I would have deemed impossible to survive, period! When they told me they weren’t coming home for the four day weekend, but instead staying with you, Hailey had to keep me from writing your eulogy. So, I think you deserve a medal and a stiff drink. Anyways, I trust my son’s instincts and he is best friends with your dad and always only had good things to say about you. Also, while I may not be immortal anymore, I’m not planning to croak anytime soon, assure you my wife and I are in the best of health, we can’t help it with a doctor for a son, and I told my wife she better stick around longer than I will, or she will be the first ghost haunted by a living man. I know you love my little girl and she is crazy in love with you, despite some other ghosts of her past in her ear, but I always knew she already made her choice just needed time to wrap her head around it fully. Why do you think my wife and I have always been so supportive despite all the trouble you caused us, intentionally or otherwise? You think I want my sweet Bri to move to Chestnut Ridge and be off the grid, standing on some high mountain like the Statue of Liberty, just to get a cell signal to call us? Definitely not, but what I do want is for her to be happy, so that’s gonna be with you.”
“Actually, no use climbing around hills, best signal’s downtown, by the bar/bowlin’ alley.”
Chase grinned, playfully shoving the younger man.
“Maybe, but mine’s funnier.”
“Look here, Mr. Cameron …”
“Still Chase.”
“Gettin’ used to that. Chase, I’d never keep Bri away from you. If she gets homesick—which we both know she will, ’cause she already does—I’d drive her to the airport instantly so she can see you. I can’t always come along, ’cause I’ve got a lot on my plate back home, but I will, if I can.”
“Well, I guess you do have a pretty good head on your shoulders. Not that I ever thought you were a dumb redneck—let’s be clear here—but I did underestimate your levelheadedness because of your age. You are only two years older than my girls and Jasper and for the most part, they are still very immature, or, to use my dad’s words, too dumb to dump out a bucket of water if you give them the handle in one and the bottom in the other hand, doubt that’ll improve significantly in two years. You are very mature for your age, not to mention a lot more patient with her bullshit than I have ever been. I think you’re good for my Bri.”
Bri was trying to fight her mother for a better viewing spot, all three girls and Jasper glued to the large windows inside.
“Mom, I can’t see. What are they doing?”
“Dad just kissed Jackson. Mom? What the hell?”
“How am I supposed to know? I’m in here with you, aren’t I?”
“Can’t you read lips or something useful, Hailey? I reported back all I could before your husband sent me out to pasture. Your turn, woman!” Jasper said, receiving a shove from her.
“I can do a lot of useful things, and your butt is about to find out some of those involving my six-inch heel, you little gnat!”
“What’s with the sudden-onset-Jasper-hatred, lady? I know Iris barely hears anything any man says, and Bri is just in la-la land because her two favorite men are having a moment of tenderness out in y’all’s yard… so you’re my only hope, Obi-Wan-Hailey.”
“Y’all’s? Sounds like my dad isn’t the only one obsessed with Jackson.”
“Slipped out—I’ve heard it so much while staying at his bloodbath ranch. And if I am anything, I am mildly infatuated with him. I love only you, Iris.”
“Kids, shut up and act busy! Here they come. Act normal, do something inconspicuous!” Hailey exclaimed.
By the time Chase and Jackson entered, they both halted, taken aback. Hailey and Iris were staring intensely at an old childhood photo on the wall, Jasper was fixated on the soundboard in the back of the grand piano, and Bri was ‘inspecting’ the leaves of the rubber plant.
EchoesOfLegacy 