by Emmy Eugene
Jenna didn’t cringe though. She was made of cheerful unicorns and sparkly glitter during piano lessons, though Sami practically butchered the song. “Okay,” she said, once the girl made it to the end. “That’s not ready to be passed off.”
Sami didn’t even try to make an excuse. Jenna knew the girl’s heart wasn’t on this type of bench, and she wished Sami’s mother would just let her quit the piano. The girl played soccer so much better, and Jenna made a mental note to email her mother.
“So you’ve got all the same pages as last week,” she said, handing the notebook back.
“No sticker?”
“Do you think you earned a sticker?” Jenna lifted her eyebrows.
“No, but…” Sami’s hands twisted around and around themselves. “My mom said if I didn’t get a sticker, I couldn’t try out for the league two soccer team.”
Jenna sighed. That kind of bargain wasn’t really fair. Sami’s mother hadn’t set up her daughter for success. “How many days did you practice this week? And don’t lie to me.”
“One,” Sami said miserably.
“No sticker,” Jenna said. “And I’ll call your mother.”
Panic crossed the girl’s face, but Jenna smiled at her. “Sami, playing the piano isn’t easy. If it’s important to your mother that you do well, she needs to help out more too.”
Sami blinked. “She does?”
“How many times did she ask you to sit down and practice?” Jenna wouldn’t really believe the girl, no matter what she said. Kids were liars; she knew that. They also had selective memories. They said teachers were yelling when they weren’t. Jenna knew all about kids.
“I don’t know,” Sami said, and Jenna liked that she hadn’t lied.
“Okay, well, you’re not in trouble. Just practice more this week, and you’ll be able to pass off some of these songs and get a sticker.” She got up from the bench and headed for the door. Sami was her last lesson, and she’d heard Isaac get home from work ten minutes ago. Not only that, but the scent of marinara sauce hung in the air, and Jenna hadn’t eaten since lunch.
Ooh, lunch with Seth. Her face heated for a reason she couldn’t name, and she hugged Sami goodbye, waved to her mother, and closed the front door. A sigh leaked from her lips as she headed into the kitchen and found her brother with a plate of pizza and cheesy breadsticks in front of him.
“Bless you,” she said, giving him a side squeeze. “I’m starving.”
“Mm,” he said, his mouth full of food.
Jenna got down a plate and loaded it with a couple of slices of the supreme pizza she loved. “Isaac,” she said, deciding now was a good time to discuss Seth with him. “I’m thinking of…I don’t know…putting myself out there again.”
Her brother looked at her, his brown eyes so much like their father’s. So caring and kind. Right now, they sparked with interest. “Really?” he said. “Like, dating out there?”
“Yeah,” she said, watching him with her pizza poised in the air. “It’s not a totally crazy idea, is it?” She took a bite, the flavor of the sauce and the herbs exploding on her tongue.
“Of course not,” he said. “You’ve been home for a few years now. I should probably do the same.”
“Well, you were dating that receptionist.”
“Oh, don’t let anyone hear you say that,” he said with a chuckle. “Julie made it very clear we were not dating to anyone who would listen.” Isaac looked like he didn’t mind, but Jenna knew better. Her brother’s heart had been wounded, and she wondered if the injuries were worse than she knew.
“There’s the Octoberfest coming up,” he said. “That would be a good place to start.”
Jenna didn’t know what to say. How could she tell him that she was thinking of starting right next door? “There are lots of single men in town,” she said. “I don’t need to wait for a special festival.”
“Lots of single men?” Isaac asked. “Like who?”
“I don’t know,” she said, her voice too high. She shrugged and lifted her pizza to her mouth again. “None of the Johnson brothers are dating right now.”
There was silence for half a beat, and then Isaac burst out laughing. A sting moved through Jenna’s whole body, and she stuffed a huge bite of pizza into her mouth. Why was he laughing so loud? And for so long?
“Right,” he said, still chuckling. “You’re going to go out with one of the Johnson brothers.” She got up and put his plate in the sink. “I know, let me text Seth right now and see if he’s interested.” He shook his head like aliens would be more likely to land out by their duck pond in the backyard.
Misery combined with horror inside Jenna. Was it really that laughable that she and Seth date?
“You don’t think Seth would be interested in me?” She looked at Isaac, feeling more vulnerable than she liked.
“Oh, no, it’s not that,” Isaac said quickly, his eyes widening. “I mean, it’s not you.”
“So it’s him.”
“Maybe?”
“Is that a question?”
Isaac sighed and closed the pizza box. “I just think you should look farther than the boy next door.”
Jenna nodded and finished her first slice of pizza. Her mind whirred, and she wondered if she should just let the subject drop. Number one, Seth wasn’t a boy. He was forty years old. Number two, he’d already kissed her.
What Isaac didn’t know didn’t need to be said out loud.
“I’m going to go play the guitar,” he said, making a hasty exit from the kitchen. Jenna ate her way through another piece of pizza, glad her brother had gone when her phone started lighting up with texts from Seth.
Favorite movie?
Oh, and your favorite movie-watching treat, please.
Jenna grinned as she picked up her phone and started responding. Her brother thought a relationship between her and Seth was a joke?
She’d show him.
Chapter Seven
Seth yawned on Thursday morning when his alarm went off. He hadn’t slept until his alarm for months, but the past two days, he had.
And he knew why—his late-night texting marathons with the woman down the street. He loved their rapid-fire back-and-forth sessions that had lasted until midnight each night.
Well, he loved them while he was lying in bed, almost texting with the covers over his head, as if his mother would see the glow from his phone and come in to reprimand him.
But at five-thirty in the morning, he didn’t love the fact that he hadn’t fallen asleep until almost one o’clock last night. The dogs didn’t care about his love life. Neither did the horses. His brothers didn’t know about it, and Seth wanted to keep it that way. Heck, he was still a little surprised he had a love life.
He wasn’t exactly sure what his relationship with Jenna was, but he thought about kissing her all the time, and he sure did like “talking” with her in the evenings.
With a groan, he pulled himself into a sitting position and said, “All right, guys. Time to get up.” None of the dogs moved, not even Dodger. Seth gave them all a hearty pat on his way into the bathroom, where he’d shower and shave and brush his teeth before heading out to get his chores done.
It was Thursday, which meant he’d leave the ranch about three and head into town. He’d mow his parents’ lawn and pick up dinner for them. He whistled as he left the house, all his canines in tow. He ran through his list of tasks on the way out to Canine Encounters, trying to see if he had even a thirty-minute slot where he could catch a nap.
But he had phone calls to make about dog adoptions today, and Dodger’s parents needed a call too. He had to keep a close eye on Pearls, as he suspected she was pregnant and that was why he’d found her lying down for several mornings now. The vet would be coming before lunchtime, and Seth decided that no, he had no time for any shut-eye that day.
He stifled another yawn and wished he’d poured a thermos of coffee and brought it with him. The one cup he’d drained in the kitchen wouldn�
��t sustain him for long. He fed, he watered, he called, he waited for the pregnancy test results. He shook hands with the vet, and congratulated Pearls on her soon-to-be motherhood.
Seth ate lunch on the go, and yawned as he worked, and by the time he drove off the ranch and toward Chestnut Springs, he was ready for the day to be done. He decided to go with something easy for dinner, and he stopped at Noodles Nation before he went to his parents’ house. They made a variety of noodle dishes, including Japanese ramen and Vietnamese pho. They also made Southern mac and cheese to hometown American spaghetti. Or rather, Italian spaghetti. Seth honestly wasn’t sure which.
What he did know was that if there was a recipe with a noodle in it, Noodles Nation had it on their menu. His mother adored the curry ramen with grilled chicken, and his father could eat penne with the half and half sauce every night of the week.
Seth wouldn’t say no to pasta either, and he put in an order for the Chinese noodles with orange chicken along with his parents’ selections. While he waited, he dozed in his truck, managing to get a good twenty minutes of sleep in before the buzzer went off.
Feeling rejuvenated, he continued to Victory Street and took in the containers of food. “Hey, Ma,” he said, sweeping a kiss along his mother’s forehead. “How’s Dad?”
“Daddy’s sleeping,” she said. “Did you bring me that curry soup?”
Seth grinned at her. “I sure did.”
“Aren’t you the best son?” She hugged him tight, and Seth didn’t dare tell her it was barely four o’clock and not really dinnertime. She got out her cardboard bowl of soup and lifted the lid. Bliss filled her face as she breathed in the curry-scented steam, her smile contagious.
Seth chuckled. “Keep mine warm, Ma. I’m going to go get the lawn done.” He left her in the kitchen, digging for a clean spoon in the silverware drawer, and went outside to the back shed. Everything about this backyard was familiar, as he’d been helping with it for years. Even when he and Wendy were still married, he’d come visit his mother at least once a week.
They’d lived in nearby Hollister, and sometimes Seth missed his life there. But he didn’t miss the commute to the ranch, and he didn’t miss the arguments with Wendy. He didn’t miss the way she dug at his choice of a career, and he didn’t miss walking on eggshells whenever she was home.
Thankfully, they’d had no children, and Seth had been able to walk away from the relationship without too many regrets. He had some, of course, but at least they didn’t involve a small human.
His phone buzzed in his back pocket, and he knew the message would be from Jenna. School had just gotten out, and he pulled out his phone as soon as he stepped inside the shed.
She’d said, Only three more hours and then piano is done for the week.
He smiled at the text, suddenly wanting to know more about her than just her schedule and some of her favorites. He had learned more than that through their texting, and he now knew that if he wanted to win her heart, he needed to have a lot of chocolate-covered pretzels nearby. He knew she loved both of her jobs, but that sometimes she just got tired. And he knew she was smart, and detailed, and well-respected in town.
Mowing my mother’s lawn, he sent back. Then I have evening chores.
You win, she said, with a smiley face.
We’re still on for dinner tomorrow, right? he sent.
Yep.
Great, he said. And I need to get to bed early tonight. I’m exhausted.
Haha. Me too though.
With that, Seth put his phone away and focused on his tasks. He really did have miles to go before he could collapse into bed, and he might as well start with the first step.
He got the lawn done, his thoughts never straying too far from the pretty brunette he’d accidentally kissed at the hospital. When he’d finished and put the mower away, he found his father sitting on the back deck.
“Dad,” he said, barely able to get up the few steps to sit beside him. “You shouldn’t have come out here.”
“Oh, your mother helped me with the step,” he said, waving away Seth’s concern. “Thanks for dinner, son.”
“Yeah, of course.” Seth groaned as he lowered himself into the chair. “I think it’s a tiny bit cooler.”
His father grumbled something about Texas being too hot, and Seth took off his cowboy hat and wiped the sweat from his forehead. “Come on, Dad,” he said. “Let’s go inside.” He got up and helped his father stand too. They moved slowly, and Seth didn’t ever want to get old.
Inside the house, he watched his mother come over and help her husband, the tenderness and care there quite obvious now that Seth was looking for it. Maybe he did want to grow old—if he could have a good woman at his side through thick and thin.
He’d thought that person would be Wendy, but now he wondered if having the love and support of someone as unconditionally as his mother loved and supported his father was even possible for him.
He wanted to believe it was.
“Are you seeing anyone, dear?” his mother asked, getting out a box of ice cream bars.
“You know what, Ma?” He took a treat from the box as she offered it to him. “I think I am.”
She clearly didn’t know what to do with his answer, because she simply gaped at him. He laughed and added, “Oh, come on, Ma. Don’t look at me like that.”
She shut her mouth and turned back to the freezer. “Well, who is it?”
“I’m gonna keep her a secret for a bit,” Seth said. He did like the idea of his relationship with Jenna being private, but he also wasn’t even sure how to define it yet. “I’ll let you know more after we go out tomorrow night.”
Seth had double and triple checked with Russ about the evening chores getting done. His brother looked like he was going to murder him at lunch, and Seth had finally told him he had a date with Jenna Wright.
Thankfully, Russ was laid-back and chill about things, and he hadn’t asked Seth a thousand questions.
“Movie,” he muttered to himself. “Snacks, check. Dinner, yes. Chairs.” He turned in a full circle in the garage, trying to think of what else he needed for the perfect date with Jenna. He may have misspoken when he’d told his mother they were going out, because technically, they weren’t leaving Chestnut Ranch.
His nerves fired like cannons, and Seth really wished he could press a button and make himself calm down.
The original plan had been for him to pick her up at seven, but she’d texted that afternoon and said she’d just meet him at the ranch. He wasn’t sure what had changed, but he was also too nervous to focus on that.
The doorbell rang, and he bolted out of the kitchen and toward the door. He managed to get himself to a normal speed before reaching the door and turning the knob. Jenna stood on the front porch, her dark hair falling in waves over her shoulders. She wore a pair of jeans that seemed painted on her body, and a flowery top that made him want to reach out and feel the fabric.
He fisted his fingers and swallowed. “Jenna.” Backing up, he added, “Come in.”
Instead of doing that, she hooked her thumb over her shoulder. “Are we not going out?”
Seth had kept his idea for this date under wraps, and excitement poured through him. “Nope, come in.”
She looked dubious, but she did indeed enter the homestead.
“Okay,” he said, pulling out his phone. “Our dinner should be here in…eleven minutes.” He showed her the restaurant delivery app he’d ordered from.
“Oh, you got Wok This Way,” she said. “I love that place.”
“I know you do,” he said. “You told me this week.” He smiled at her and led her into the kitchen. “I don’t have a fancy screened-in air-conditioned patio like you. We’ll eat here.”
She giggled, and Seth reached over and took her hand in his. Tingles and warmth raced through him, and he couldn’t believe this woman had been living half a mile down the road all these years.
“After we eat, we’re going to go outside.�
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“But it’s hot,” she said in a teasing voice.
“It won’t be bad once the sun goes down,” he said, pushing through the back door. “And we’ll be on this side of the house, which has been shaded all afternoon.” He led her to the right, around to the east side of the house, where he’d set up a blow-up loveseat with an apple crate for an end table.
“This will hold our movie snacks,” he said. “Don’t worry, I have all of your favorites in the house. I just didn’t want them to melt.”
“Wow,” Jenna said, taking in the scene on the lawn. “Dinner and a movie. I like the unique spin.” She squeezed his hand and nodded toward the huge screen he’d set up about thirty feet from the loveseat. “What are we watching?”
“Guess,” he said.
“Well,” she said, still scanning the setup. “Seeing as how you asked me what my favorite movie is, I’m going to go with Can’t Buy Me Love.”
“We have a winner,” he said, laughing with her. She hugged his arm then, clasping both hands around it.
“This really is great,” she said, looking up at him. The moment lengthened, and Seth wondered if he could kiss her again, right here, right now.
Before he could move, she ducked her head, and the moment broke.
“We can bring out a blanket if we get cold,” he said. “And this loveseat is actually pretty comfortable. Come see.” He walked over to it and sat down. She joined him, and he thought the squishy seat was actually a little too hard with both of them on it. “We can let some air out.”
“A blow-up loveseat,” she said. “Fascinating.”
“You can buy anything on the Internet these days,” he said, getting to his feet. He pulled her up too, right when his phone chimed. “Oh, dinner’s here.”
Instead of going back inside, he took her hand and led her around to the front of the house. They intercepted the delivery driver at his car, and Seth thanked him for bringing the food all the way out to the ranch.