Jesse (19 page)

“You know that I love you, don't you?”

Her uncle opened his mouth to speak, closed it, and then started again. “Well now, it's always nice to hear the words said.” He touched the tip of his finger to the end of her nose. “Best you remember that and get a going.”

“Thanks. We'll see you tomorrow.”

“Take tomorrow off,” he said as she opened the kitchen door. “Sadie and me are used to the Sunday crowd.”

“Thanks,” she agreed. “It's not easy prying Lacy away from the ranch.”

“Have fun!” he called out as she walked through the diner.

“We will. See you tomorrow.”

“Kiss that cowboy for me,” Sadie said with a wink.

Danielle shook her head and walked outside. Emily and Lacy were chatting up a storm, but her daughter jumped up and grabbed her backpack off the steps and opened the back door to Emily's car. “Can we go now?”

Emily's conspiratorial smile had Danielle feeling like a kid going on an adventure. “The guys will probably be coming in for a break by the time we get back.” She got in the driver's side and waited until Danielle was buckled in before adding, “They work long hours and don't stop for regular meals.”

“It must be hard to keep their energy level up when they're working so hard physically.”

“Ronnie and I keep after them and load their saddle bags with snacks and a big jug filled with plenty of water or iced tea.”

“How do they carry a jug in their saddlebags?” Lacy wanted to know.

Ronnie laughed. “When they're working in the far pastures, one of them drives the truck.”

While Emily drove, Lacy settled down in the backseat, content to be headed back to the Circle G.

By the time they'd arrived, Danielle was anxious and wondering if Jesse's interest had really been more than just physical or if she had imagined the whole thing. Sometimes when you want something badly enough, your mind plays tricks on you. It had where her ex had been concerned.

“Can I open the gate?” Lacy started to unbuckle her seat belt, but one look from her mother and she stopped. “Please?”

Danielle relented. “Lacy and I will open the gate for you.” They got out and pushed the big gate open together. She held tight to Lacy's hand as Emily drove through and they closed the gate behind her and got back in the car.

“Can we go to the pond today?”

Danielle looked over at Emily. “That's not up to me, sweet pea. Let's wait and see what's going on up at the ranch house.”

Emily nodded as she turned to the right and followed the road that would lead to the Garahan's back door.

Danielle rasped, “Does it always feel like you're coming home?”

Emily parked the car and patted Danielle on the arm. “It does for me.” While Lacy fiddled with her seat belt, Emily asked, “Do you believe in fate and destiny?”

Without missing a beat, Danielle said, “Absolutely.”

“Sometimes, they need a little push.”

Emily's cryptic remark had her wondering what was going on, but Lacy didn't give her a chance to respond; she bolted out of the backseat, dropped her pink pack on the porch steps, and dove onto the swing.

Danielle shook her head. “Lacy, you can't just leave this here, someone might trip over it.”

“But—”

“No buts, young lady. We're guests here, and if you don't want anyone to send us home early…” Danielle let her words sink in and from the expression on her little one's face, her daughter would be sure to listen. Neither one of them wanted to go home before seeing Jesse.

Following Emily into the kitchen, her thoughts returned to the handsome cowboy. She hoped he was interested in more than just a quick tumble between the sheets. She didn't want Lacy to be hurt if and when he lost interest in them. So she focused on the prospect of watching Lacy's first riding lesson, knowing it would be like watching her little girl open presents on Christmas morning.

“The men should be back soon, and when they get here, they'll try to eat anything that isn't nailed down,” Emily warned.

Ronnie was pulling a huge casserole out of the oven. Savory spices filled the air as the scent wafted toward Danielle on the afternoon breeze. “Smells marvelous.”

The other woman grinned. “It's my grandmother's lasagna recipe.” Ronnie turned at the thunderous sound of horses riding hard toward the ranch house. “Batten down the hatches, ladies, the storm's about to hit.”

“I don't like thunderstorms.” Lacy moved to stand behind her mother.

Danielle patted her shoulder. “That sounds like horses to me.”

Lacy's worry changed to wonder. “Is it cowboy Jesse?”

Ronnie and Emily laughed. “And his brothers too.”

The tantalizing thought of being this close to Jesse again had her hands shaking. Needing to do something with them, she asked, “What can we do to help?”

Emily pointed to a drawer and said, “You could set the table.”

Finally having something to do to still the trembling, Danielle set out the flatware and dishes and kept an eye on her daughter, who was standing by the screen door watching for the men. “They're coming!”

She raced over to the table and then back to the door. “Can I go out, can I, Mommy?”

With a look to make sure there were no loose horses, she told her, “You can go stand on the porch and wait for them.”

“But—”

“If you step one foot off that porch, we are going home.”

Lacy stared at her for a moment, but the sound of horses whinnying and deep voices talking had her dancing from foot to foot in anticipation. “OK.”

Using her most stern voice, she cupped Lacy's face and lifted it gently so their eyes met. “Promise me.”

Lacy crossed her heart and solemnly said, “I promise.”

Danielle pressed her lips to Lacy's forehead, her daughter's signal to go ahead. She chuckled watching her daughter blast through the back door and rush to the edge of the back porch, gripping the railing. “Cowboy Jesse! We're here!”

Unable to stop herself, Danielle followed her and waited.

“Looks like you got yourself an itty-bitty cowgirl waiting on you, Bro.” Tyler grinned.

Dylan poked Jesse in the ribs and nodded toward her. “Looks like she brought her fine-looking momma with her.”

Jesse stopped in his tracks and shifted his gaze until it collided with hers. She could feel the instant the banked heat in his eyes flared to life. Need slashed through her outward calm as her skin warmed by degrees… more than a match for the fire that was slowly beginning to burn inside of her.

He was close enough for her to get lost in his velvet dark eyes. She licked her suddenly dry lips and couldn't help but become captivated by the way his pupils dilated, his nostrils flared, and his jaw clenched.

He wanted her.

Tingles of awareness electrified her skin as the need to touch, to taste, arced through her system. She had to swallow the saliva pooling in her mouth—no way was he going to see her drool.

Instead of the greeting she'd begun to imagine, he winked, shifted his gaze to her daughter, and said, “I can see that, little darlin'. You ready for a riding lesson?”

“Yes!” Lacy screamed, prepared to leap into his arms. But a quick look over her shoulder and she must have remembered her promise. “But I gots to stay on the porch.”

Jesse's eyes brightened, and she would swear he wanted to laugh out loud but didn't. A feeling of contentment filled her along with the realization that he was trying to spare Lacy's feelings by not laughing at her.

“Well then, hang on,” he rumbled. “I'm coming.”

When had her ex ever treated either of them with that kind of consideration? Lost in thought, she didn't notice that Jesse had reached the edge of the porch. “Let's go, little darlin'.”

Lacy grinned and leaped off the top step and into Jesse's waiting arms.

Danielle smiled at the sight of Lacy's bright pink cowgirl hat flying out behind her as she jumped, but it was the joy in her daughter's eyes reflected back at her that caused Danielle's heart to lurch. While she wrestled with yet one more aspect of the cowboy she was falling for, his brothers walked over.

“Nice catch, Bro,” Tyler said, patting him on the shoulder.

The three of them were a solid unit. Although she'd seen them scuffle and ride each other's case, at the end of the day, it all came down to family and sticking together.

“Be sure to pay attention to Jesse,” Dylan reminded her daughter. “He's a good teacher.”

Dylan's words redirected Danielle's thoughts. She asked, “He is?”

Jesse's shrug wasn't the answer she was looking for. But her chance to ask disappeared as he lifted her little girl up onto his shoulders. Lacy tilted her head back and gave a rebel yell that would have made her grandmother proud.

“Where'd you learn to do that?” Jesse was smiling as he set Lacy back on her feet by the split-rail fence.

“My gramma.”

“My daddy would have loved to hear you do that.”

“I can do it again.” Lacy beamed. “Where is he?”

Jesse's wistful expression had Danielle's hands itching to grab a hold of him and hug him until every trace of sadness disappeared, but she hesitated when he said, “He died when I was younger than you.”

Lacy wrapped herself around Jesse's leg and held on tight. “I don't gots a daddy anymore either.”

***

The walls around Jesse's heart shattered, as Lacy's confession touched him deeply. No one had been able to breach the gap that had widened when his mother died and grew even more when his grandfather passed away.

Unable to trust his voice to speak, he reached down and rubbed Lacy's back. When she looked up at him, her baby-fine hair blew into her eyes. He loosened her hold on him so he could squat down and smooth the hair back off her forehead. Setting her hat on her head, he knew his life would never be the same.

Women had come and gone in his life, and he'd been so focused on one in particular that he had ignored others. He was Irish enough to believe in fate and destiny. But a tiny part of him still questioned—would he have found something as precious as this woman and her child if he hadn't had his heart broken?

Was this love or his desperate need to find the kind of love his brothers had? He heard the soft sound of someone clearing their throat and knew that Danielle was waiting for him to say something to her daughter.

They'd both gone up in flames when they'd finally let their hearts lead them into bed. But he needed to find his footing again, or else he might misstep by saying the wrong thing and making light of something so wonderful as this little bit of a thing offering her compassion.

Lacy probably didn't understand what she had confessed to him, but Jesse did. Whoever her father was, the dickhead had thrown away this little girl… and for what? Garahans weren't stupid, and he intended to embrace the chance to fill the gap Lacy's father had vacated.

“My daddy built that swing over there for my momma.”

Lacy nodded.

“When I'm missing him, sometimes it feels good to just sit and rock and remember him.” He didn't add that he usually drank whiskey while sitting there, but hey, a man could change, and besides, he didn't have to confess all of his secrets. “If we swing there later, maybe I won't miss mine so much.”

He hugged her tight and felt like he'd been surrounded by sunshine.

She giggled. “You're squishing me and I wanna ride Trigger.”

He laughed and set her back down. “Well then, let's see if your mommy's ready to watch you learn how to ride.”

“I'm ready!”

Jesse's gaze shifted from daughter to mother and the breath whooshed out of his lungs. Her eyes were filled with unshed tears, but she was smiling. A blue so pure, and a smile so sweet, he'd later swear he heard the angels singing. Shaking his head to clear it, he asked, “Will you ladies wait here? I'll go and get Trigger.”

Danielle blinked back her tears and nodded.

Leading the horse out of the barn, he had a moment to watch mother and daughter. So many things about Danielle reminded him of what he missed… that loving touch only a mother could give. He'd had his grandfather and his brothers, but it wasn't the same. Need to have Danielle brushing a lock of hair from his eyes or cupping his face in her hands and pressing her lips to his cheek filled him to bursting, as the maelstrom of emotions churning inside of him threatened to drag him under.

This wasn't what he usually felt for the women he dated, and it scared the hell out of him. He needed to get control of the situation, forcing those weird thoughts aside; he led Trigger into the corral. “He's happy to see you.”

The horse walked over to where Lacy and her mother stood and lipped the brim of Lacy's hat.

“Sometimes he forgets his manners,” Jesse said, telling the horse to quit it. Trigger eyed Jesse, but finally lifted his head up and down as if he was agreeing to behave. “Now. Let's see if you remember what Ronnie told me she taught you the other day.”

As they talked about the different ways to approach a horse, good and bad, and how and where to pet a horse, Jesse knew he had an apt pupil. “You're pretty smart for a little bitty thing.”

“I'm not that little,” Lacy replied, looking up at the saddle and then back down to her toes. “Can you lift me up?”

Danielle's laughter was infectious, and he was amazed that he wanted to hear it again, but under different circumstances—when it was just the two of them. Knowing better than to lose concentration around one of their horses, he focused on his star student and asked, “Ready?”

She grinned up at him and nodded. As he lifted her and set her down on the horse, she started to throw her arms open, but stopped and frowned. “Sorry.”

He was not sure what had happened to her happy mood, so he asked, “For what?”