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Brett stayed with Jacie until the reception ended an hour later, listening as she talked shop with anyone who had questions. He found it amusing to watch the initially skeptical expressions of those who remembered her as a teenager shift to something approaching awe as she expounded on retrofitting, gravity loads, time schedules, budget constraints.
He was a little in awe himself. This woman could have been his wife had she not taken another route. He could still recall how stunned he’d been to discover she’d done just that. There he’d been, at the courthouse in Polson, ready to take on his family and hers, but instead of his bride showing up, her best friend arrived to tell him that the deal was off.
The crazy thing was that instead of feeling relieved that he wouldn’t be taking on two families and embroiling himself into a mess of potential trouble, he’d been disappointed. Maybe even hurt. Jacie had disappeared out of his life without any sort of explanation.
But that hadn’t stopped him from showing up today. He didn’t seem to be able to shut off his protective instincts where she was involved.
Clinton stayed until the crowd had thinned to a mere handful, then stopped by to take his leave, smiling congenially at both Brett and Jacie. The guy was good. The guy was a snake. And if Brett ever found out that he was messing with Jacie, he’d be a sad snake.
When the party broke up, Brett walked her to her car and waited until she unlocked the door. “Thanks for the company, Brett.”
“Glad to oblige.” He couldn’t help letting his gaze slide down her lips. Just for a second.
She smoothed back a few strands of hair. “I have to admit that it was nice having backup.”
“Why’s that such an admission?”
“Sometimes, in my field, women can’t afford to show weakness. So we don’t. I’ve become accustomed to handling things on my own. Or bluffing.”
“I can appreciate that.” She’d handled a lot on her own due to her mother’s choice in husbands. Too much, really. He rubbed his neck and then addressed the issue foremost in his mind. “I didn’t like what Calloway said to you in that hallway. Before I showed up.”
She tilted her chin up a little, making the sunlight dance over the gold streaks in her hair. “Realistically, what can he do?” From the way she spoke, she appeared to have put some thought into the matter.
“He’d better not try to do anything.” Brett popped his fist into his open palm.
That made her smile, but it didn’t last long. “I think he’s so used to bullying me, it’s his first instinct. There’s nothing he can do.”
“You’re probably right. But all the same...”
“Thanks, Brett.” She reached out to lay her hand briefly on his arm before sliding into the driver’s seat. Her touch was butterfly light, but he felt it all the way to his boots.
“How did it go?” Lil asked in a low voice as Darby gathered her horse books into her backpack in the kitchen.
“Over all it went well.” Except that Brett had touched her. She’d touched him. Wanted to touch him again, which simply wouldn’t do.
“How about Clinton?”
“You know, I can honestly say that time has not mellowed our relationship. He seems to hate me as much as ever.”
“That resounding loss when he ran for the legislature?”
“He can’t blame me for that. I was gone,” Jacie said.
“So was your mother. And her campaign funds.” Darby came into the room, dragging her backpack. “We had a great time,” Lil continued brightly, as if they’d been talking about the day. “Tomorrow we’re going to go to the library and see if the Black Stallion book she hasn’t read is back on the shelves.”
“Excellent.” Jacie smoothed her hand over her daughter’s head.
Lil caught her eye, then reached out to squeeze her shoulder. “I’m glad you guys came home.”
“Me, too.”
“I like it here, too,” Darby announced. “Two days until horse camp.” She headed for the door, backpack in tow. Jacie shook her head and followed.
“We’ll talk later.”
“Everything will be fine,” Lil said as she followed them to the door.
Yes it would be. The reception was over. The real work was about to begin and soon she’d be too busy to worry about an ex-stepfather or think deep thoughts about the guy next door.
Or so she hoped.
Brett didn’t know how Molly and her minions did it, but somehow they managed to wrangle ten kids into submission and teach them the rudiments of horse safety when all they wanted to do was climb onto the horses and race hell bent for election across the fields. After the first few minutes of camp, Brett made himself scarce, feeling the need to tear into the hay rake. After that he felt the need to hit the back forty. It was only at pick up time that he ventured back to the ranch proper and that was because he wanted to see if Jacie would stop by to pick up Darby, or if the girl would cross the pasture to go home alone.
Jacie showed up, walking across the pasture dressed in jeans, a flannel shirt and leather work boots—pretty much a fashion one-eighty from the sleek silvery dress and heels she’d worn to the reception, but in Brett’s eyes just as sexy. Maybe even sexier. Flannel suited Jacie. Her hair was braided over her shoulder, the golden streaks glimmering in the sun as she approached the group of campers busily unsaddling their horses. She caught sight of him standing at the shop door and raised a hand. He waved back then disappeared back inside.
Instinct told him that after playing watchdog, he needed to keep his distance for a spell, let Jacie get her bearings. He only hoped she knew that if Clinton bothered her again, he was there to provide backup. What kind of asshole attempted to intimidate someone at a catered reception?
The mayor of Cherry Lake, that’s who.
Brett sucked in a breath and started putting away his tools. The rake was ready to go for the next season and now he had to tackle the bearings on the tractor. Thanks to horse camp and hiding out, he was going to be way ahead of the equipment maintenance game.
“Mom, it was soooo excellent! Of course, we didn’t get to ride, because we have to pass a safety test first, but we learned the parts of a horse, even though I already know them, and we have to know the safety equipment....” Jacie nodded and smiled as Darby prattled on. She’d been horse crazy as a kid, but Darby went above and beyond normal horse craziness. Soon she’d be asking, again, for her own horse, and Jacie had to admit that after her next raise, she should be able to afford to stable a horse. Living costs were high in Seattle, but with the extra income, she ought to be able to swing it. Not that she was going to breathe a word before it was time.
For the remainder of the week, Jacie dropped Darby at Lil’s on her way to work in the morning and Lil then ferried Darby to horse camp at noon, leaving Jacie free to concentrate on her building issues as she ate. Once she got home, Jacie would park at her house and walk down the road to horse camp, usually arriving as the campers were unsaddling. She had to admit that horse camp was working out well.
On Friday of the first week, parents were invited to watch their riders solo around the arena, following Molly’s commands to start, stop, turn and circle at a walk. Jacie smiled as she watched Darby ride her mare in a small circle then continue along the rail.
Darby was on the far side of the arena when Brett came out of the shop and crossed the short distance to lean on the fence next to her. He focused on the kids as she surreptitiously focused on him.
“She sits well,” Brett said.
“I’m proud of her.” Jacie kept her eyes on her daughter, but that didn’t stop her from feeling his warmth, drawing in his scent, and she found that her heart was thudding low and slow against her ribs. It wasn’t from nerves. She wasn’t nervous. She was...aware. Unsettled. Concerned about her willpower.
She couldn’t get him out of her head, which was disconcerting, but ultimately harmless. Having him next to her, all lean muscle and long legs—that felt dangerous. She wasn’t in a position to give in to temptation. Not with a kid to raise and keep secure. It didn’t help matters that the very thing she’d hoped to see in his eyes ten years ago was there now. She had no idea how to handle it. Her gut instinct in such situations was to shut down. Shutting down kept people at bay, but it wasn’t the way she wanted to deal with Brett.
Honestly? She didn’t know how to deal with Brett.
“Everything going well on site?”
She realized he was doing more than making polite conversation. He sounded interested. “It’s going well. We’re pulling up the floors and if we have no major rot or damage, then we might even be ahead of schedule.”
He shot her a look. “My cousin, Brock, will not understand how that could happen, what with a woman being in charge and all.”
She laughed, felt herself relax. “I deal with his kind a lot. People don’t expect a structural engineer to be young and female. I get talked down to or dismissed.”
“Until you say something?”
She smiled wryly. “Pretty much.”
“I kind of noticed that at the reception.” He looked back out at the riders before saying a little too casually, “How about Clinton? Any more issues with him?”
“None.”
“If there are...”
“I’ll handle them.” Cold, shut-down voice. Damn. Beside her Brett snorted and she leaned an arm on the fence as she turned toward him. He did not seem one bit offended.
She cleared her throat anyway and made an effort to soften the response, despite his lack of offense. “I appreciate your help, Brett. I honestly do, but I don’t want to become dependent on anyone.”
She could feel his surprise. “Getting help makes you dependent? I don’t think so.” His gaze became serious when he said, “Being dependent is when you can’t handle things without other people. That’s not you.”
“Maybe so.”
“Exactly so.”
He turned back toward the arena, but she still felt the effect of his gaze as it had moved over her. Which was why he wouldn’t be helping her fight her battles. She didn’t have room for complications in her life and hanging around Brett too much could complicate matters but good. Especially if the shutdown had no power over him.
After Molly told the riders to stop and dismount, Jacie joined a small group of mothers waiting for their kids to unsaddle and groom their horses. Brett disappeared back into his barn and Jacie noted that she wasn’t the only woman in the group who watched him walk away. Understandable. He not only had a nice ass, he was approaching thirty and was single—as were several of the moms.
She felt a twinge of jealousy, then sucked in a breath and told herself to get real.
A few minutes later, Darby had said goodbye to her friends and she and Jacie headed off down the road to their house instead of walking through the pasture. They’d barely turned out of the driveway onto the county road when Darby said, “How well do you know Brett?”
Jacie shrugged nonchalantly. “We were friends in high school.”
“I was just wondering. You were talking to him more than you were watching me.”
“How would you know that if your attention was on the horse?” Jacie asked, even as her stomach twisted a little.
“I could see you when I came around the corners.”
“Trust me. I was watching you,” Jacie said. “And it’s been a long time since Mr. Jackson and I have seen one another, so we were catching up.” Which wouldn’t happen again when she was supposed to be watching Darby. “I thought you did a very good job of keeping to the rail. Especially in the corners.”
“Did you see how Blue Bonnet tried to cut in and I made her go back?”
“I did.”
Darby skipped for a couple of steps, swinging her helmet by the chin strap. “I can’t wait to trot.” The story of Darby’s life. She couldn’t wait for the next thing while Jacie wanted things to slow down so she could savor every moment she had with her precious daughter. But life didn’t work that way, and before she knew it, Darby would walk, trot and lope her way into independence.
Brett told himself that he needed to give Jacie room. That he couldn’t push things, but the fact of the matter was that she was only there for the summer, which made him want to make some inroads before she left. He didn’t know if it was because she was the one that got away or if it was because she’d grown from a cute girl into a stunning woman. Regardless, he couldn’t stop thinking about her.
And she was not unaware of him. When he’d joined her toward the end of practice to watch Darby put her horse through her paces, he sensed the change in her. The way she was hesitant to look at him, as if afraid that he could read her thoughts, and when she did meet his eyes, he could indeed read conflicting emotions. She was interested, yet she didn’t want to be, which left him in an awkward situation.
Should he make a move or not?
His gut told him to wait. That Jacie, despite being a woman with a serious backbone, could also be easily spooked. But that didn’t keep him from looking forward to five o’clock every afternoon when horse camp dismissed and Jacie would show up to collect Darby.
Unfortunately, Molly seemed to be watching him watching Jacie. True to form, she didn’t mince words when she decided it was time to get more information.
“So what’s the deal with Jacie?” she asked after the last camper had hit the trail late on a Wednesday afternoon.
“Deal?” Brett asked innocently.
“Yeah.” Molly’s voice was flat, meaning she wasn’t in the mood for games. Too much time spent with kids no doubt. “Deal. Like you hide out all day, but somehow manage to be around whenever she stops by to pick up Darby.”
He smiled at her. “We’re old friends from rodeo club.”
She smirked back. “So’s Tina Carson and you don’t seem to be waiting for her when she picks up Ashley.”
“I think Brock has his eye on Tina. Don’t want to encroach.”
Molly shook her head, trying not to smile. The thought of Brock and take-charge Tina was amusing. She was so much like Brock’s mother, Georgia, that the attraction actually made sense. Someone new to get his cousin out of the messes he got himself into. And that, Brett mused, was an excellent example of dependence, as opposed to accepting a helping hand now and again. But Brett had a strong feeling that Jacie’s insistence on remaining independent in all aspects of her life had more to do with the very obvious attraction they felt toward one another than avoiding dependence. An attraction she seemed determined to ignore.
And then it hit him. What if she had someone at home? Back in Seattle. What if this was a reverse scenario of when he’d been dating Leslie Ann? She was hooked up and he was free?
That would bite.
The more immediate issue, though, was that Molly was on the scent, which meant that he had cause to be concerned. Molly liked the people around her to be content in their lives and she wasn’t beyond manipulating a situation to help them find contentment. The only problem was, sometimes her manipulation backfired. And because of that, Brett stopped showing up when Jacie arrived to get Darby. Beginning horse camp only lasted another two weeks before the next session—intermediate horse camp—started, and that session was already booked solid, so after those two weeks were up, he had a decision to make—did he do something about Jacie or simply let her finish her work at the Montreau and disappear back to Seattle? Where she may or may not have a significant other.
He didn’t like that scenario. For the first time since Kristen had left him for Jake, he felt a budding interest in a woman, and letting her disappear—again—didn’t sit well with him. The problem was, he didn’t know how to approach the problem. Shades of frustration.
Late Friday afternoon, after waving goodbye to the last kid, Molly knocked on his screen door. “Don’t suppose you have a beer for a thirsty cousin.”
“Maybe,” he said, not feeling entirely comfortable with her smug expression. “What’s up?
She gave a nonchalant shrug. “Nothing. Just happy it’s Friday.” She traipsed into the kitchen, rummaged through the fridge and came back with two beers. “Are you still planning to man the gate for us tomorrow?”
“Why? Did Len get back from his trip early?” He’d promised to help with the team roping practice at the rodeo grounds on Saturday afternoon if they were short-handed.
“No. I’m just firming everything up.”
“I’m firm,” he said, still getting an odd vibe from his cousin. “What’s really up?”
“Guess you’ll have to show up and see.”
He didn’t know if he was brave enough to do that.
Jacie fought to keep herself from calling Molly and telling her the deal was off, but the problem was that Darby had been there when Molly asked her to the team roping that afternoon. And the other problem was that she wanted to rope. It’d been over ten years since she’d been on a horse, swung a rope. She would, no doubt, fail miserably, but it was good for Darby to see adults try something they didn’t excel at. Failure wasn’t a problem. Not trying was. So even though she was nervous, she didn’t make the call. If she missed her catches, that was life.
“You used to rope a lot, right, Mom?” Darby asked on the drive to the arena.
“Yes. In high school.”
“How come you stopped?”
“Let’s see...something to do with where we live?”
Darby laughed, but her voice was serious when she said, “But if we ever lived somewhere else, would you start roping again?”
“It’s a pretty expensive hobby, because first you need a good horse. Then you have to feed that horse.”
“And I get the first horse,” Darby said.
“Yes,” Jacie agreed. “If we get a horse, it’s yours.”
“So we will get a horse?”
Jacie laughed and reached out to rub her hand over the back of Darby’s neck. “Well played young one.”
She pulled into the arena parking lot, feeling a flash of nostalgia. This place had been her sanctuary, her getaway after her stepfather came into her life. The rodeo team had been her family in some regards, even though most of them hadn’t a clue as to what her life was like. It wasn’t as if she told anyone her problems, except for Lil and Brett, but the rodeo friends had simply been there. A steady and reassuring part of her life.
And it appeared that a lot of them were at the arena today. She saw several familiar faces, none of whom seemed surprised to see her. She hadn’t expected this much of a reunion, but as she talked to her old friends while Darby scampered around the stands with her horse camp buddies, she realized how much she’d cut herself off from her old life. Because she’d gotten pregnant? Or because she’d wanted as far away from her stepfather as she could possibly get?
Or maybe because she’d assumed Brett would have filled people in on their aborted marriage plans. He hadn’t.
Molly waved her over to her trailer and gestured at a sturdy sorrel mare. “This is Wilma. She’s trained a lot of novice ropers, so I figured she’s the perfect comeback horse.”
“I like how you put that,” Jacie said as she approached the mare. “Because right now I feel very much like a novice roper.” She shot a look up into the stands. “I hope I don’t embarrass my kid too badly.”
“You’ll be fine.”
“Define fine.”
Molly laughed and Jacie found herself grinning at her. As it turned out, she was fine. She practiced on the dummy until she and Molly were up. Her first loop missed as she tried to heel the steer Molly had headed, but she caught the heels on her second loop, kinetic memory taking over as she dallied without catching a single one of her fingers.
“Good one,” Molly called as she shook her rope off the steer’s neck.
It had felt great, too.
She missed being a cowgirl. Imagine that.
She roped twice more before the evening was over, then unsaddled Wilma and groomed the mare before handing her over to Molly to put into the trailer.
“Thanks for coming,” Molly said as she took the horse. “If you want to rope again next week, we’d love to have you. Wilma needs the exercise.”
“I might do that,” Jacie said, wondering why she kept getting an unsettled vibe from Molly. As if something was wrong and she was doing her best not to dwell on it. It was on the tip of her tongue to ask, but Darby interrupted.
“I’d like to come back next week.”
Molly laughed. “Then bring your mom with you. The days change depending on the arena schedule, but I can get you a copy of all the summer ropings.”
They got into the car as the sun was going down and Darby peppered her mom with questions as they drove home. They turned off Mission Range Road onto Ralston Lane and then Jacie slowed as she caught sight of a man walking down the side of road in the twilight ahead of them.
“You can’t pick up a stranger,” Darby said in a warning voice, but the guy walking down the road was no stranger. It was Brett and Jacie couldn’t see driving past him.
“It’s Mr. Jackson.”
“Brett?”
Jacie pulled over and rolled down the window. “You need a ride?”
He flashed a smile at her. “Wouldn’t mind one.” He opened the back door and got into the small back seat and suddenly the car seemed...different. “My tractor broke down. I tried to get it running, but once it started to get dark I couldn’t do much.”
Jacie looked at him in the rearview mirror and he met her eyes. Even though it was nearly dark what she saw in them made her breath catch.
“How was the roping?”
“Mom caught the steer.”
“Your mom was really good at that back when we were in rodeo club.”
“Roping looks hard.”
“It takes a lot of practice.”
Darby worked on that bit of information while Brett once again caught Jacie’s eyes in the mirror. “Molly’s going to be ticked at me. I was supposed to be at the roping.”
“I’d wondered about that.”
“Did you?”
“Don’t read anything into it,” she said dryly. “People kept asking where you were.”
“And here I thought you missed me.”
Darby glanced over at her, and Jacie kept her eyes carefully on the road. The best tactic here was to do nothing because no matter what she said, she had a feeling Darby would have questions later.
“How’s the Montreau?” Brett asked apparently realizing that a change of topic was in order.
“Progressing nicely. The structures under the third-floor flooring were in better shape than we’d thought they’d be, which means no delay there.”
Darby lost interest and Jacie breathed a silent sigh of relief.
“I can walk from your place,” Brett said as they got closer.
“Why were you so far from home in your tractor?”
“I do some work for Paul Crenshaw.”
“Old Man Crenshaw?” Jacie asked with a smile. Their high school principal.
“Yeah. Old Man Crenshaw must have been all of forty-five when we were making fun of his age in high school. He’s still principal.”
“Funny what ten years does to the perspective.”
“Yes. Isn’t it?” There was a wealth of meaning in his words and Jacie chose to keep her eyes on the road and her mouth shut until she turned into the driveway. But that didn’t keep her from feeling as if the air was vibrating around her.
“Hey, thanks,” he said after getting out of the vehicle. Darby raced for the house, snapping on the lights as soon as she got inside.
“TV show,” Jacie said. “We don’t have a recording device, so we have to go old school and actually be present to watch.”
“Does the show involve horses?” Brett asked on a note of amusement.
“Close. Kids on a dude ranch.”
Brett’s eyes crinkled as he smiled. “I think Molly watches that show.”
Jacie laughed as they took a few slow paces toward the pasture fence. He didn’t seem in any hurry to leave and Jacie found she was okay with that. What was it about humming nerves and slow burns that made one feel just a little bit more alive?
“So how’s the haying going?”
Brett put a hand on the wooden fence rail, looking out across the pasture at one of his fields. “I’m a little behind this year because of all the rain we got in May. But the meadow hay really sprang up. I’ve got to cut it soon or I’ll lose it.”
“Why hay and not cherries?”
He gave a shrug. “Cherries are Dad’s thing. I prefer a more ranch-oriented business.”
“I bet your dad isn’t too keen on that.” She remembered Brett talking about how devoted his dad was to the orchards and how he’d hated Brett wanting a rodeo career. Rodeo riding was wasted time according to Hal Jackson.
“We’ve had a discussion or two. But,” he smiled a little, “I prefer hay.”
A small dust devil swirled past them from the road into the pasture, wildly blowing Jacie’s loose hair. She automatically started gathering it into a ponytail and when she was done, Brett reached out to smooth some of the strands away from her cheek, tucking them behind one ear and causing a shiver to go through her that had nothing to do with the chilly wind.
“I’d better go,” he said as his hand fell away. But he didn’t move.
“It’s getting late,” Jacie agreed, now feeling a touch desperate to send him on his way. He was looking at her so intently that she felt like a wide open book. No secrets. Nothing.
“You feel it, too.”
“Feel what?” Jacie asked as warmth spread across her cheekbones. But it was almost dark. There was no way he could see her guilty flush.
He moved half a step closer and Jacie’s nerves jumped. “That.”
She tilted her chin up, her eyes narrowing slightly. “What if I do?”
“Well,” he said, the timbre of his voice sending more sensual shivers through her, “Sometimes when people feel ‘that’ they do something about it.”
She shook her head. “I wish I could.” Her voice softened as she said, “I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“I’m dealing with some extenuating circumstances.”
“Can something be done to mitigate circumstances?”
She almost laughed. No. Her daughter was number one in her life and that wasn’t going to change. She’d made a commitment to single parenthood and she was going to see it through.
“I don’t think so.” She was surprised to hear the open regret in her voice.
He hooked his thumbs in his belt loops and looked down at her with a considering expression. “You’re certain.”
“It’s the way it has to be, Brett. I have a responsibility to Darby. I made a commitment when she was born, and I’m sticking to it.”
“Because of what your mom did to you?”
“I’m sure that’s part of it. But it’s also something I need to do. For her.”
