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Brett somehow managed not to choke as he said, “Ten years? How did you manage that?”
“I made Darby and college the focus of my life. It was easy when she was a baby and toddler—between caring for her and classes, I had no life. When she started school, I began work and friends tried to set me up, but no one really clicked with me.” She bit her lip and came clean. “And I was nervous. By that time it’d been so long since I’d been with a guy...” She laughed flatly.
Okay...this was something to mull over.
Brett reached out and took Jacie’s hand and held it, studying her fingers, frowning as he worked through his thoughts. Then he met her gaze straight on. “No sex for ten years.”
She nodded.
“That practically puts you in virgin territory.”
“If you consider how many times I had sex before becoming pregnant...it puts me one experience away from virgin.”
Brett made a sound with his tongue as he too studied the bench. “One away. Damn.”
That was a game changer.
“Mom?” Darby’s plaintive voice drifted out the window. “Are you outside?”
Jacie shot Brett a look before calling, “I’ll be right in, honey. I’m just...” she caught Brett’s eyes, obviously at a loss. “...looking at the stars.”
“Can I come out?”
“I’ll come in.” Again she looked at Brett, who cupped a palm against her cheek before leaning in for brief noncommittal kiss. Oh, yeah. He had some thinking to do here.
Well, she’d definitely killed the vibe with her practically-a-virgin confession, and now, as she lay staring into the darkness, Jacie didn’t know if that had been her intention or not. Kissing Brett convinced her that she’d pushed aside her sexual self for way too long. Even now, a good hour after he’d left, she ached. Ached for what she’d missed over the years, ached for what she might have had if she’d kept her mouth shut, but Jacie was all about honesty.
Immediately after his chaste goodbye kiss, Brett had climbed back through the fence and disappeared into the darkness, apparently guiding himself across the pasture by heading for his own yard light. Good guy that he was, he’d told her before leaving that if she ever needed another cat rescue, she knew where to find him.
She didn’t want him to rescue her cat, but she could think of a couple other favors he could do for her.
Jacie flopped over on her back. It was indeed a night for honesty. She’d been honest with Brett and now it was time for her to be honest with herself. She had needs and she’d been neglecting them. Now it appeared that she had a chance to do something about that with a guy she trusted...there was so much at risk.
She was here to do a job, not to complicate her life.
Glenna McCoy’s claim to fame during high school had been her striking resemblance to Sandra Bullock and, because of that, she’d briefly pursued a movie career. Being a small fish in a big pond hadn’t suited Glenna, though, and a little over a year after leaving she was back in Cherry Lake. She left again to pursue a business degree, then once again hot footed it back to her hometown where people knew how important she was.
Jacie knew this because Lil knew it. Working in a public school and a library, Lil knew just about everything that went on within the city limits of Cherry Lake, and she’d filled Jacie in the night before her first meeting with Glenna to discuss the ramifications of the rotted beams.
Glenna’s job, as owner representative, was to protect the owners’ interests in the matters of schedules and budgetary issues and rotten beams had the potential to affect both. She walked into Jacie’s office wearing a black and white suit that was both edgy and professional while Jacie was more suitably attired for work in a dusty construction site in jeans, steel-toed leather boots and a long sleeved t-shirt. Glenna’s hair was pulled back into a smooth chignon while Jacie sported a ponytail. If someone off the street had walked in on the meeting, Jacie was fairly certain who would be pegged as the big city engineer and it wasn’t her.
Ten minutes into the meeting, Glenna sent Jacie an exasperated look. “There has got to be a way to get around closing the restaurant during Mr. Calloway’s event.”
“I don’t see how. The beams are directly over the kitchen and they need to be replaced.”
“You told us going in that we wouldn’t have to close the restaurant.”
“I told the owners that I hoped we wouldn’t have to.”
Glenna tapped her pen on the tabletop. “From what I’ve read, it’s often possible to repair beams. Why are we replacing?”
“Because the rot has affected more than twenty percent of the beam.”
“You know this how?”
Jacie managed to keep from smacking her forehead with her palm. “I measured and calculated.”
“We are working on a tight schedule.” Glenna warned. “There are several events planned for the Cherry Festival. An art exhibit. A dance.” She sent Jacie a hard look. “The kitchen will not be closed during the festival.”
“I’ll work around it.”
Glenna closed her leather folder then gave Jacie a skeptical look as if she was making up this entire scenario to inconvenience the mayor.
“The rot is there,” Jacie said, calmly answering the unspoken accusation. “The owners are welcome to come and see it.”
“I’ll tell them. In fact, I can just about guarantee that they’ll want to see this for themselves.”
“Fine,” Jacie said as Glenna got to her feet and smoothed her skirt.
“Hey Jacie?” Neil appeared at the door, a look of surprise crossing his face as he found himself facing Sandra Bullock. “There’s a bit of a situation with the windows on the north wall, second floor,” he said after tearing his eyes away.
“Be right there,” Jacie said, mentally rolling her eyes as Neil gave Glenna another quick once-over before disappearing. The woman’s phone rang and she pulled it out before Jacie could say goodbye, so instead she pointed to the door and left Glenna alone in her office.
Ten minutes later when she came back into her office, she was surprised to find Glenna still there.
“The mayor would like to meet with you in his offices. Today. He’ll be leaving early tomorrow for a governor’s function.”
“No.” When Glenna’s eyebrows arched skyward, Jacie said, “Mr. Calloway is not a hotel owner.” And you are no longer queen of the school. There was no way she was going to jump when either of them spoke, or meet with Clinton privately. “And as I understand it, he has only a minor stake in the restaurant.”
“He’s the mayor. It’s his job to be concerned with the economic well-being of the city and he takes his duties very seriously. It seems to me that if he wants to meet with you, it would be a common courtesy to go.”
Jacie leaned back against her desk, gripping the beat-up oak on either side of her thighs. “You are aware, aren’t you, that the mayor was once married to my mother.”
“Bad blood?” Glenna asked, and it wasn’t in a commiserative way.
“Let’s just say he was not a great stepfather....possibly for the same reasons he’s a successful politician.”
“And why’s that?” Glenna asked politely.
Jacie gave a small shrug. “He’s very good at manipulation, intimidation and coercion. And I’m done being manipulated. Please tell the mayor that I’ll meet with him when and if the matter concerns him.”
Glenna turned without another word and left the meeting room, her less-than-sensible black heels clicking on the parquet floor.
Jacie blew out a breath as the clicking faded into the distance. She wasn’t quite sure if she’d just won or lost.
So what now?
The question kept circling through Brett’s mind as he spent the day driving the swather around his fields. No matter how many times he told himself that nothing had changed with Jacie, it had.
She hadn’t had sex in ten years. She’d only had sex once before that.
He believed her when she said that life had gotten in the way; that she’d focused on everything but herself as she worked on building a secure future for herself and her daughter. But giving up sex for ten years?
He honestly didn’t think he could have done that. Maybe if he was focusing on getting through college and raising a child... maybe...?
Hard to put himself in that position since he’d completed exactly two years of college before pissing his father off by hitting the rodeo circuit full time, and he had never come close to having a child. Sex had always been an option, because he’d only had himself to look out for. He’d tried to change that by marrying Kristen, but she’d chosen to throw her lot elsewhere and here he was. Circling a field and wondering how to handle this deep attraction to Jacie without pushing her beyond her comfort zone.
After he was done with the hay, Brett drove to his father’s house at the edge of the Jackson Cherry Orchards. His dad, Hal, had had an accident in the packing plant two years before, and after dealing with a compound fracture of the femur and a freak infection, had retired early. Brett had still been on the rodeo circuit full time and making decent money, so there’d been no expectation that he take over his father’s job. But when the guy who had taken the job quit right after Brett had retired from the circuit...well, there was still a bit of tension in the family about Brett refusing to apply to his Uncle Robert for the job. The Jacksons were all about keeping it in the clan and Brett had disappointed Hal.
The house was empty when Brett arrived, but he found his father in the back yard, tending to his small orchard of ornamental cherry trees. Once a cherry man, always a cherry man.
“Where’s Mom?” Brett asked when Hal finally noticed him. He lowered his spray bottle.
“She’s with your Aunt Linda at the orchards. Planning their booth for the Cherry Festival. You know how they get.”
Crazed. Or so it seemed. Brett’s mother and aunt had had a successful booth at the festival selling handmade cherry products since the time he was born. When he’d been small, he’d hung out with them, “helping” in any way he could, but somewhere around his upper elementary school years, helping had gotten old and he’d spent the days of the Cherry Festival pretty much running wild with the other kids. Good times.
Maybe something that Darby would enjoy...
“How’d the syrup turn out this year?” His mom sold cherry syrup that could be used as an ice cream topping or a daiquiri mix, but it was an open secret that the syrup was Hal’s baby. He tweaked the recipe every year, but refused to admit that he was the mastermind behind the popular product.
“One of your mom’s best.” Hal squirted at the tree again. “Did you get that tractor fixed?”
“I did. For now.”
Hal smiled. “Robert saw you coming a mile away.”
“He knew I needed a challenge.”
“Go ahead and believe that.” But there was no malice in Hal’s voice. He loved his brother and had worked side by side with him for decades. He’d intended Brett to work side by side with his cousin Will, but as much as he hated to disappoint his dad, Brett knew that he wasn’t a shoulder to shoulder kind of guy. He wanted to be his own boss, make his own mistakes.
“Want some coffee?” Hal asked, setting the bottle on the picnic table.
“Wouldn’t mind.” Brett followed his dad into the house where Hal waved him into a seat at the oak dining table.
“Oh, I’m supposed to tell you that the July Sunday dinner is off. The—”
“Cherry Festival. I know. I’ll tell Molly.” Who often came with him to the monthly dinner. It was his mom’s way of keeping the family in contact. Sometimes it was only Brett at the table with his parents. Sometimes they had to break out the card tables to handle the family spillover.
“Speaking of family...guess who’s back?” Brett raised his eyebrows politely, waiting for his dad to spill. “Jessica.”
“No kidding.” When his cousin left town for the bright lights, he’d thought there’d been no question of her returning to Cherry Lake.
“And not doing so well from the sounds of things.”
“Have you seen her?”
Hal shook his head. “Talked to your grandpa. Clinton’s stepdaughter is back, too. Damn. What’s her name?”
“Rose. Jacie Rose.”
“That’s right. She’s in charge of fixing up the Montreau.” Hal gave a small snort. “I hope she doesn’t screw it up. Clinton doesn’t have a lot of faith in her abilities and he’s not shy about sharing his views. Georgia’s getting a little jumpy about it.”
“Jacie knows what she’s doing. And Clinton’s an asshole.”
“We all know that...but how do you know that Jacie knows what she’s doing?”
“We’re neighbors. Her daughter’s in Molly’s horse camp.”
“Having a daughter in horse camp doesn’t make her a good engineer.”
“I was there when she got grilled by people at a reception.” Hal gave him a speculative eye, well aware that his son was not a reception kind of guy, so Brett added, “Jacie and I were pretty good friends in high school. I went to the reception for moral support, in case Clinton was a jerk to her.”
“Clinton isn’t stupid enough to be a jerk in public.”
“Agreed.” He’d done it in an isolated hallway. “Anyway, I don’t think Jacie would have been chosen for this project by a topnotch firm if she couldn’t handle it.”
“Good point.” Hal took a drink of coffee. “And Clinton is an asshole.”
Brett raised his cup in small salute. “Agreed.”
Jacie didn’t see Brett once during the week following her cringe-worthy confession—the confession that’d practically had him vaulting the pasture fence. The crazy thing was that not seeing him made her feel edgier than she’d felt seeing him regularly after horse camp, mainly because she didn’t know where she stood. And she wanted to know, because if Brett was on board for a nice quiet—emphasis on quiet—fling, she was edging closer to thinking that might be a good thing. She wanted to indulge herself. Get what she’d been missing with a guy she trusted. How was she going to explore that option, make a definite decision, if she never saw him?
He’s busy with his fields. He’s a farmer. No need to feel self-conscious and, worse than that, frustrated.
But she did.
Brett wasn’t the kind of guy to play hard to get, but he was the kind who might back off once he discovered that the object of his lust had almost zero experience. The curse of the near-virgin.
If only she’d kept her mouth shut...
But she hadn’t and she had to let it go—which would have been a hell of a lot easier had he not made an unexpected appearance at a roping, and made her start thinking about what she’d been missing for all these many years.
Molly had been running late, so Jacie was in the box ready to rope before she spotted Brett at the end of the arena, manning the gate. A split second later the steer was released and Wilma charged after it. Jacie swung her loop and caught first try, only seconds after Molly had caught the horns and brought the animal around.
Molly gave a hoot and pumped her fist in the air as Jacie shook the loop off the steer’s feet. “I think we’re going to win the beer money tonight.”
“Not bad,” Brett said as Jacie pushed the steer down the arena fence toward the gate, coiling her rope as she rode.
“Thanks.” She smiled as if he was only a guy manning a gate instead of a guy who had her teetering on the brink of something.
After the roping, Brett ambled up to the trailer where she was brushing Wilma, nodding at a passing cowboy before turning his attention to Jacie. He pushed back the brim of his ball cap, giving her a good look at his gorgeous eyes. “A few of us are stopping over at The Corral for fries and beer. Want to come? You and Molly won the beer money.”
“I have Darby.”
“Kids are welcome.”
Jacie frowned at him. “What kind of bar is this?”
“Family bar.”
“Uh huh.” She put on hand on Wilma’s broad rump.
“No really...we sit outside on the patio and the kids run wild.” The words were barely out of his mouth when a group of children raced past, the girl at the rear swinging a lariat at the herd running front of her. Brett nodded at their backs. “Kind of like that.”
“Wow, hard to pass that up.” Jacie untied Wilma as she spoke.
“I know. I was all for an early night until they told me the kids were coming.”
Jacie shook her head as she loosely coiled the lead rope. “If Molly’s game, so am I.”
“She’s game.”
“Hey,” Molly called as she strolled up. “Did Brett ask you about stopping for a beer?”
“He did and I’m fine with it as long as I get Darby home at a decent hour.”
“It’ll be decent, because some of us” she waggled her finger between herself and Jacie, “have to get up early and go to work.”
Brett rolled his eyes. “Who gets up before dawn during mowing?”
“I wouldn’t know,” Molly said with a wicked grin, “because that’s an indecent hour.”
Brett shot Jacie a look. “I’ll see you at the bar.”
“Save us a seat,” Molly called after him. When she turned back she was smiling. “The men in my family have a tendency toward arrogance. It’s best not to let them get too full of themselves.”
“I never thought of Brett as arrogant.”
“That’s because the women in the family keep him tuned up.”
Jacie laughed, then waved a hand at the stands as she caught sight of Darby charging down the stairs. “Time to go,” she called. Her daughter’s shoulders sank with disappointment, making Jacie recall how magical it was playing with a group of like-minded friends near twilight and how much she’d hated to get called in. In Seattle, Darby never got to romp through the neighborhood, so this was a special experience for her. “We’re going to stop for a coke and fries.”
“Really?” Darby’s face lit up.
“Just one coke,” Molly said, “because you and I have places to be tomorrow morning. And your mom has to deal with the city fathers. We all need our sleep.”
“Who are city fathers?” Darby asked as she walked with Molly to the trailer.
“The people who run the town.”
“She talks to people like that all the time,” Darby said in an offhand way that still managed to convey that she was proud that her mom dealt with important people—or in Clinton’s case, self-important people.
When they got to the bar, Brett had indeed saved them seats near the edge of the patio. Molly took the chair farthest from Brett, and Darby climbed into the one right next to him, leaving Jacie the middle chair.
“Long time, no see,” Brett teased and Darby made a face at him.
“I think my memory is better than yours.”
“Probably,” he said with a laugh. “Old age setting in.”
“You aren’t old,” Darby huffed.
They ordered cokes and beer and fries. Most of the other ropers stopped by and the parking lot was soon crowded with trucks and gooseneck trailers. Darby abandoned her chair when the other kids arrived, and Tina Carson plopped down into it and smiled warmly at Brett. Jacie wasn’t certain, but it seemed that Molly rolled her eyes. Apparently Jacie wasn’t the only one who found Tina abrasive and self-important. Brett smiled at her over Tina’s head and Jacie smiled back, her insides tumbling a little as she recalled how excellent that mouth had felt on hers. Their gazes held, making her insides do a happy dance, and then she shifted her attention to Tina, who’d just said her name, apparently for the second time.
“How is the renovation going?” she asked.
“Great.” Most people were happy with a one-word reply when they politely asked about her work, but not Tina.
“So there’s no problem with the...” she wrinkled her forehead “...structures?”
“What structures?” There was something in Tina’s tone that Jacie didn’t like.
“Floors? Plumbing? Some kind of rot?”
Jacie wasn’t going to discuss her job with someone who wasn’t involved, especially when it took next to no time for a rumor to fly around the community. “I’m quite happy with the way the job is progressing.”
“I heard there were issues.”
Jacie refused to bite, refused to ask what issues she’d heard about. “Nothing that’s not normal in a project such as this.”
Tina looked her in the eye. “So you really know what you’re doing?”
Jacie blinked at her. “Yes. Do you?”
Tina’s forehead wrinkled with confusion. “Excuse me?”
Jacie leaned closer and said, “Did you really mean to sound so insulting to me?”
“N-no. Of course not,” Tina sputtered. She glanced over at Brett, went red at whatever she saw in his face and Jacie had the strong feeling that she’d made an enemy. “That wasn’t my intent,” she said. “I only meant that you were kind of quiet in school. Now here you are in charge of renovating a hotel? Well, some of us found it...surprising.”
“Ah.” Jacie worked up an understanding smile while trying to run through Tina’s family tree in her head. Who was Tina related to who might be unhappy about the Montreau closing even briefly during tourist season? Or was it only Tina’s meanness?
Tina let out a breath and Jacie almost felt sorry for her trapped there between her and Brett, who’d turned out to be an ally. “I need to get the girls home,” Tina finally said. “Good luck with the renovation.” She jumped to her feet and wound her way through the tables toward the grassy area where the kids were playing.
Jacie watched her go, still trying to figure out what the deal was. “Who’s she related to?” she asked Brett. He patted the seat next to him and she slid over one.
“I think she’s dating my cousin, Brock.”
“Which means that she’s looking out for Georgia.”
He nodded without looking at her.
“Your aunt.”
He nodded again.
“Who’d like to have me for breakfast if I cause the Montreau to lose any money during tourist season—even though they’ll make it back and there’s no getting around the fact that the beams need to be replaced soon.”
“Georgia might try to have you for breakfast, but my money’s on you.”
When he gave her a sideways look, heat started to pool low in her abdomen as their gazes connected. It didn’t help matters when their thighs touched and he didn’t move away. If anything, he held the pressure steady, keeping his leg just close enough that there was contact.
Jacie cleared her throat, brought herself back to the conversation before people noticed her staring at Brett like a fool. “She isn’t the first difficult owner I’ve dealt with. I’ve developed some skills.”
Again he turned smiling blue eyes toward her. “In other words, you’ve become a hard ass.”
“I’m not hard ass,” she said. “I tactfully hold my ground.”
“A rose by any other name...” He emptied his beer and set it on the small table in front of them. “Clinton behaving?”
“He tried to summon me to his office. I didn’t go.”
“He’s such an asshole.”
“No arguments from me.”
Brett drummed his fingertips on his outstretched leg before saying, “You know...I always wanted to make him unhappy, because he made you unhappy.”
“Really?”
“Yep. I wanted to pound him. More than once.”
Jacie glanced around, but no one seemed to be paying attention to them. Tina was gone, Darby was playing and a good-looking cowboy was hitting on Molly.
“I didn’t know that.” Although it made sense, since he’d come to the reception to keep an eye on Clinton. But pounding him? “Have you ever...pounded someone?”
“Not since I was fifteen.” He met her eyes, his tone ironic as he said, “Big brothers are notoriously protective.” His gaze slid down to her lips. “Guys with repressed crushes are even more so.”
Molly scooted her chair back before Jacie could form an answer, which was good because she didn’t have an answer. “I hate to break things up,” Molly said, “but I need to get home.” She leveled a look at Brett. “Early morning for some of us.”
“I’m ready to go.” Jacie got to her feet and looked around for Darby. Brett pointed at the parking lot and, sure enough, she was playing tag with a small group of kids. “Thanks.”
“Any time.” But there was still something in his expression that made Jacie’s breath catch slightly before she made a conscious effort to exhale slowly.
A promise maybe?
