Jesse (24 page)

“Is it dead?” Lacy wanted to know.

“The tree is, but the hive isn't.” He pointed to a couple of bees that were flying around the top of the tree. “See up there?” When she nodded, he told her to watch where the bees go. “Right there is where the hive is, tucked inside the tree.”

“Is the honey in there too?”

“Yes, ma'am. Want to get a closer look?”

“No,” Danielle said. “We can see fine from here. Besides,” she said, looking at her watch, “we should get back to help Ronnie and Emily with dinner.”

“But we brought pie.”

Danielle paused to ask, “And what did I tell you about being guests?”

“We should always help,” Lacy answered.

“Because?” Danielle prompted.

“It's like saying thank you.” Lacy grinned at her mother and Jesse melted watching the way Danielle smiled down at her daughter. This wasn't the first time he wondered if he was attracted to Danielle because she was such a wonderful mother and he missed having one or because she was a curvaceous, spontaneous, and everything he wanted in a woman.

By the time they got back to the house, the steaks were being pulled off the grill. Tyler smiled at them. “Did you show Lacy the honey tree?”

“I wanted to get closer,” she said, for once eye level with Jesse's brother. “But mommy said no.”

Tyler chuckled. “Mom's are like that. Are you hungry?”

Lacy nodded. “Can I have pie?”

Jesse looked around but didn't see anyone else. “Where is everybody?”

Tyler was watching him closely when he answered, “Dylan's showing them the bunkhouse.”

Danielle's face flushed a delicate pink. Silently vowing to rip Tyler a new one later, Jesse tugged on her hand to get her to follow him and Lacy into the kitchen.

The moment Lacy saw Ronnie and Emily she asked, “Can we help?”

Ronnie smiled. “Wash up and you can help set the table.”

With Danielle at his side and her daughter still in his arms, he headed toward the kitchen sink, but then detoured to the bathroom down the hall when he saw that Emily was washing tomatoes and lettuce.

Hoping not to sound like a fool, he said, “I know that Lacy likes it here, but what do you think of the ranch now that you've seen more?”

Danielle grinned. “I can't believe how big it is. Do you ever get used to the fact that it's yours?”

He shook his head and set Lacy down in front of the sink and turned on the taps, holding his hand under the stream of water until it was the right temperature. He nodded and let Lacy get her hands wet. When she started to wash up, he said, “We wake up every day and work the land just as our ancestors did, grateful for every waking moment that we get to spend under the bright, blue Texas sky, knowing as far as we can see is ours… land that we will plant with grasses so that our herd will graze.”

“You really love it.” She paused to help Lacy reach the hand towel to dry her hands. “I mean, it's not just the responsibility, is it?”

He felt a clutch in the vicinity of his heart and realized that everything he wanted was standing right in front of him. If he could walk on Garahan land with Danielle and Lacy at his side, his life would be complete. Would he be able to get up the nerve to tell them how he really felt?

One day soon… real soon… he hoped he could convince Danielle and Lacy that they wanted to spend the rest of their lives with him at the Circle G ranch.

“Hey,” they heard Ronnie call out. “Where are my helpers?”

“We'd better hurry up, or they might not save any steak for us.”

Lacy laughed. “They have to wait for us, 'cause we din't set the table yet.”

With Lacy in the lead, he followed behind the two women who'd restarted his heart only to capture it and hold it captive.

Walking back into the kitchen was like walking into bedlam, either that or a nonstop frat party. His cousins were drinking beer and charming his brothers' women. “Damn,” Jesse grumbled. “Quit poaching.”

Dylan glanced at Tyler, who nodded to Jesse. “We're going outside in five minutes.”

“You never did like to share.” Mike was grinning at Dylan but nodded at Tyler, letting Tyler know that he would be willing to go a few rounds.

Danielle tried to ignore the undercurrents, worried that the men would go outside to fight before they ate. Burying her worry, she set out the plates and Lacy put the napkins and silverware by each one.

“I'm finished,” Lacy said. “What else can I do?”

“Not a thing, little darlin',” Jesse told her, lifting her onto a chair. “Let's eat.”

“Have you lived in Pleasure long?”

Danielle looked at Ben and said, “Lacy and I are staying with my uncle until I can find a place to live.”

“Our house is gone.”

Before her daughter could bare any more of their misfortunes in front of the Garahans and their cousins, Danielle took Lacy's hand in hers and said, “Why don't you tell them about the pies?”

It was just the distraction Lacy needed; while she went into detail about what went into the pies, Danielle blew out the breath she'd been holding, hoping that the ruse would work. Damn her ex for putting them in this position, and damn her for her foolish pride.

She turned to ask Jesse a question and noticed the mix of emotions in his warm brown eyes… compassion laced with understanding. “I have to leave soon.”

She leaned closer to ask, “Where are you going?”

His eyes turned colder a moment before he shook his head, apparently all the answer she was going to get to that question. Why wouldn't he tell her?

Was
it
a
woman?

Good
Lord, was it something illegal?

She was contemplating whether or not she should try to trick him into telling her when he got up and cleared his place. “Who's ready for pie?”

Everyone joined in the discussion of who was going to try which pie, and had pretty much decided what they wanted until Lacy announced, “I'm gonna have some of each one.”

“That's a lot of pie for a little person like you,” Matt said and grinned.

Without missing a beat, Lacy said, “I'm gonna be four and my Unca Jimmy lets me have slivers of each kind.”

“Does your uncle have a spare room?” Tommy asked. “I could get used to living in a house where there's always dessert.”

“My uncle runs Sullivan's Diner in town; his specialty is pie.”

Lacy was nodding her head like a little bobblehead doll. “But the bestest is chocolate!”

When the table had been cleared, Danielle helped Jesse set out the pies and a stack of plates while Emily and Ronnie poured hot coffee and cold drinks.

“Whose idea was it to bring all these pies?” Jesse asked. “Not that I'm not grateful you did.”

Danielle rested her hand on his forearm and said, “My uncle wanted you and your brothers to know what fine men you turned out to be. These pies are his way of letting you know that he didn't hold the pie-napping incident against any of you.”

“Well, I'll be,” Tyler rasped as slices of pie were served and devoured.

“Son of a—” Dylan began before he remembered that a little lady was present.

Then everyone started to chuckle. When Jesse and his brothers joined in, the chuckles deepened to full belly laughter.

“We'll have to stop by and thank him soon,” Tyler said.

“I've got to get going,” Jesse announced, pushing back from the table.

“Where are you off to?” Ben asked.

Jesse bent down to press a kiss on the top of Lacy's head and then one on Danielle's cheek. “See you later.”

With that he was gone.

“So what's he up to?” Matt asked, watching the screen door slam.

“He's got a night job doing something,” Dylan said, digging into a second sliver of pie.

“We haven't tried to beat the truth out of him yet.” Tyler nodded toward Danielle and said, “Certain people would take exception to us beating on our little brother.”

“But that's our job.” Tommy's matter-of-fact statement had Danielle wondering if all brothers accepted that as the way it is, or if it was just this family.

She was about to ask when Ben shook his head. “Matt perfected the fine art of beating me without leaving too many bruises years ago.”

The Justiss brothers started to argue, but Danielle didn't worry because there wasn't an edge to their threats; it seemed to be good-natured.

“It's either illegal or there's a woman involved,” Matt said quietly.

The silence that followed had Danielle wondering if they all knew something that she didn't. Was there another woman, or was she the other woman? Before she made herself crazy, she glanced over at Lacy who'd stopped eating and was watching the adults and said, “We should probably be going too.”

Ronnie shook her head. “There's no need to leave just because Jesse did.”

“Besides,” Emily said, “Lacy's not finished with her first piece of pie.”

“I feel like a pelican,” Lacy said, sitting back in her chair. “I'm full.”

Mike and Tommy were laughing; they'd obviously heard the childhood rhyme about a pelican's eyes being bigger than his belly, but their Colorado cousins seemed baffled.

While Danielle explained it to them, Lacy asked, “When's cowboy Jesse coming back?”

There was a brief moment of silence before Matt snickered and Ben elbowed him.

“Hey, Danielle.” Jesse stood in the doorway. “Can you move your car?”

“Be right there.” And before she could tell Lacy to wait, her daughter was out of her chair and running to the door. With a huge sigh, she followed her daughter.

Jesse was sitting on the steps listening to something Lacy was telling him, but when Danielle closed the door behind her, he smiled up at her. “Lacy's reminding me that I forgot to let her hug me good-bye.”

Danielle's belly flipped over. Did Lacy remember that her father had left without saying good-bye? Sadness engulfed her as she watched the way Lacy kept chattering while Jesse paid attention to her, really listening.
Women
develop
their
memory
skills
at
an
early
age… they never forget.

“If you'll watch Lacy, I'll move my car.”

When Lacy asked, “Can we swing?” Jesse called out, “Catch!”

She glanced up in time to snag his keys. Jesse got to his feet and walked over to the swing with Lacy. While they sat and chatted, she got into her car to move it. After she moved his truck, she decided she and Lacy should go, so she asked Jesse to wait one more minute. Saying a quick good-bye to everyone, she hurried over to where they still sat on the swing.

“Jesse said that we can come back anytime,” Lacy told her.

“Really?” Danielle asked, staring up into Jesse's eyes. Watching closely for a reaction, she said, “Maybe we can come back tomorrow night.”

He frowned. “Actually, I'm working tomorrow night too.”

Wondering what the big secret was, and thinking maybe his cousin was right and he was either doing something illegal… or worse… that there was a woman involved—she screwed up her courage and asked, “Where exactly is it that you're working?”

His jaw clenched at the same time his hands curled into fists. Not a good sign. When he didn't answer her, she knew where she stood… on the outside of his life. He wasn't willing to confide in her, but he'd taken her to bed. Too bad he'd been too busy at his job… whatever that might be… and moving the herd to sweet-talk her back into bed.

Maybe there wasn't going to be another time. The thought made her stomach churn and her head pound. “Time to go, Lacy.” Grabbing her daughter by the hand, she whisked her into her arms and had her buckled into the seat belt before Jesse had moved off the porch.

Gunning it, she peeled out and had the immense satisfaction of seeing Jesse throwing his arms in front of his face to protect it from all of the gravel her tires spit out as she floored it and headed down the drive.

Lacy didn't say one word until the second time Danielle got out to close the gate to the ranch.

“Why are you mad at cowboy Jesse?”

“It's a long story, sweet pea,” she said. “But it comes down to Jesse not trusting me.”

“Oh.” Lacy was quiet the rest of the ride home. When they pulled up outside, her uncle was waiting on the porch.

“Had a phone call a little while ago,” he said, getting to his feet.

“Who from?”

“Tyler.” Her uncle waited until they'd walked over to the porch. “He wanted me to let him know when you got home.”

“Why?”
Why
couldn't it have been Jesse who was worried about them?

“He said Jesse had called him from work, worried about you and Lacy, and wanted Tyler to find out.”

“Did Jesse leave a number where he could be reached?” Not that she expected that he would after the way he refused to divulge any information about where he worked.

“He told Tyler he'd call him back on his next break.”

“Is there anything you want me to tell Tyler?”

She laughed. “Tell him thanks. Lacy and I had a nice time. Oh, please tell him that we'll be by to pick up the baskets tomorrow.”

Her uncle frowned down at her, but she ignored him and said, “Lacy go on in and get ready for your bath.”

“Do I have ta? I'm not dirty.”

“Yes,” she said. “You do.”

Clomping through the house and up the stairs, Lacy let her displeasure at having to have a bath be known.

“She's an awful lot like you were at that age,” her uncle reminded her. “What happened at the Circle G?”

“I learned that I'm not as important in Jesse's life as I thought.”

“And you know that because?”

She sighed. “I don't want to talk about it.”

“Then how will you ever reason through whatever problem's weighing on your mind?”

“Don't worry about it.” She kissed him on the cheek and told him, “I've got to get Lacy in the tub.”

A little while later, Lacy was tucked in and sleeping peacefully while Danielle was still all churned up and couldn't settle down. She'd tried reading a book, but when she realized she hadn't turned the page in a half hour, she closed her book and headed downstairs to the back porch.

“I didn't know you were still up.”

His gaze met hers and didn't waver. “You ready to talk?”

She was the first to give in. “You win,” she groaned.

“What?” he asked. “The stare fight or the contest of wills, which means you're gonna spill your guts?”

Danielle rolled her eyes. “All of the above.” Slumping into the chair next to him, she put her feet up on the railing and crossed her ankles, then crossed her arms in front of her.

“Not exactly proper body language for someone who's ready to talk. Your body says you've already closed your mind.” When she still didn't say anything, he grumbled, “Just spit it out, June bug; you'll feel better for it.”

Maybe he was right. She didn't have anyone else to talk to at the moment, and he'd always been a good listener. “Jesse works nights.”

After a few minutes of silence, he said, “And—”

“He won't tell me where.”

He chuckled, then cleared his throat. “And this is a cause for concern because?”

“What if he's not telling me because it's illegal?”

“That might be a cause for concern, but probably not the reason he won't tell you.”

“What if it's another woman?”

“A man'd have to be superman to work that ranch all day, fit in visits with you and Lacy, and another woman besides. Has he slipped up and called you any other woman's name?”

“Well, no, but—”

Her uncle held up one hand. “Has he treated you any differently than he has from the first?”

“No, but—”

“Do his brothers know where he's working?”

“Well, no, but—”

“June bug,” he said softly. “Give the man a chance. He's had it the roughest, being the youngest. He was two when his dad died and ten when his momma died. His granddad raised those boys, which is why they ran wild for a time, but they all settled down and turned themselves into upstanding members of this town. He deserves your patience… and your trust.”

“I trusted blindly before,” she rasped. “Look what it got me!”

He nodded. “Divorced, but with the cutest little cowgirl this side of the Mississippi.”

Deflated, she sat there and stared down at her hands. “Maybe there's something wrong with me…”

“Now, don't go barking up the wrong tree. That man's crazy about you and my grandniece. Give him time to come around. It's probably not my place to tell you, but since you're convinced otherwise, let me tell you that that boy had his heart broke by the same woman… twice!”

That got her attention. “Recently?”

“Couple months ago. It's a long story, but the point is that the woman he thought loved him ran away and married the same loser… twice. You think on that while you're sitting out here feeling sorry for yourself.”

The screen door banged once before it settled in the door frame. Great, she'd made both Jesse and her uncle angry with her, all in the same day. Shaking her head, she closed her eyes and let her mind drift. Crickets started singing; maybe it was because she and her uncle had finally stopped talking. A few minutes later, the call of a whippoorwill brought tears to her eyes, reminding her of her mother's favorite Hank Williams song. But she wasn't really lonesome; she was heartsick. Not sure which was worse, but not sure there was anything she could do but listen to her uncle's advice and give Jesse a chance to come around.

She started to add up all of the things she liked about him; when she got to honest, she paused… because he hadn't lied about where he worked… he'd refused to tell her… that was a whole other ball of wax.

While she sat, the bird called again, this time an answering three-note call had her smiling. She'd give Jesse a chance. After all, the only thing he'd done wrong was not tell her where he worked.

She was being ridiculous… and selfish…
and
bitchy.
She sighed and nestled back into the chair until she was more comfortable. Her breathing deepened, and while the crickets and whippoorwills serenaded her, she fell asleep.