Jennifer and Donna stood on the floor of the barn, waiting for Alex to throw some hay down to them.
"You really like Alex, don't you?" Donna said.
"A lot," Jennifer replied.
"You think, maybe, you guys are going to get married?" the slim blond teenager asked.
Jennifer thought for a moment, then she smiled. "I wouldn't refuse if he asked," she said.
Donna grinned. "Yeah, I didn't think you would," she told her employer. "I can tell from how you look at him." She giggled. "And I can see it in Alex, too. Sometimes, when he looks at you he gets a kinda goofy expression on his face," she added.
"Who looks at who kinda goofy?" Alex asked. He'd overheard the tail end of Donna's comment as he approached the edge of the hayloft with a bale in his hands.
"Donna thinks you have a goofy look on your face when you look at me," Jennifer told him, feeling her face get hot.
"That true, Donna?" Alex asked. "Do I?"
Blushing furiously, the girl nodded.
"Must be I do, then," Alex said. "Stand back girls, here it comes." He tossed the hay bale down. It didn't matter that it would burst when it hit the floor, they needed to spread the hay around in the stalls anyhow. Then he turned and went back to get another bale.
"There anybody special in your life, Donna?" Jennifer asked while she and the teenager spread hay in one of the stalls.
"Ah...no," Donna replied. "I...I haven't found anybody yet. I..." Suddenly she burst into tears. She knew Mel Ott was in jail, and would never be able to hurt her again, but she couldn't get the memories of the disgusting and humiliating things he'd forced her to do out of her system. She felt unworthy, as if no one could love her. After all, why had all of those awful things happened to her if she didn't deserve to have it happen.
"Donna, what's the matter?" Jennifer asked, concerned. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," Donna replied. "It...it's nothing."
"I don't buy that. I've had a feeling something's been bothering you for a long time," Jennifer said. "Donna, I consider us friends, and I'd like to help. Maybe, if you tell me what is going on, I can help."
"It...it's over," Donna sobbed. "I...there's nothing I can do about it now."
"Alex told me that one of the things he's learned is that when something bad happens to you, it helps to talk about it," Jennifer said. "He organized a team of police officers who help other officers when they're involved in something serious. Maybe if you tell me what happened to you, it will help make it easier for you to get over it."
"I...I don't know," Donna said, sobbing softly. "I...I'm afraid if I tell you, you...you won't be my friend any more."
Jennifer couldn't imagine what the young woman's secret was. It had to be pretty horrible, if she felt that way about it. "Donna, I can't imagine anything you could tell me that would make that happen," she replied. She put her arm around the girl. "Donna, we're friends. Actually, sometimes I kind of think about you as the little sister I never had. If you had a sister, you could tell her what's troubling you, couldn't you?"
"I...I guess so," Donna whimpered. Taking a deep breath, she began telling Jennifer about the things Mel had forced her to do. "One day, when Mr. Ott and I were working out in the barn, he...he told me there was something we had to do in...in the trailer..." she began, and once she started, she couldn't stop. She told Jennifer everything.
Anger clouded Jennifer's lovely face as the young girl told her tale. She could feel her muscles tightening, and began quivering, she was so enraged.
"My God!" she exclaimed when Donna finally finished. "Oh, Donna, I wish you'd told me sooner. I...we...maybe there was something I could have done to help you." She hugged the girl against her.
"You...you don't hate me?" Donna sobbed. "You don't think I'm...I'm a tramp because of what I...what I did?"
"Of course not!" Jennifer replied, stroking the girl's back. "You were a victim! Of that horrid man! He...he's a predator!"
"Hey!" Alex said, appearing in the stall doorway. "You guys going to work, or are you going to goof off?" Then he saw that Donna's eyes were all red and puffy, and recognized the angry look on Jennifer's face. "What's going on?" he asked.
"You need to tell Alex," Jennifer told Donna. "He needs to know so he can do something to see that horrible man is punished for what he did to you."
"What's going on?" Alex asked, stepping into the stall. "What horrible man?"