Sara set two chicken sandwiches on his plate.
“I took my class around the corral. Mickey did a great job and really loved it. Too bad you weren’t able to see him.”
“Um...uh-huh.” She kept her head down, and Jesse bent at the waist to peek under the glass shield, hoping to see her face.
He laughed at her response, then stood and laughed more. Once he started, he couldn’t stop.
Sara joined in. She laughed so hard, she started gasping for breath.
Soon everyone in the chuck wagon was laughing along with them. Anyone who walked through the door looked surprised, then they joined in.
Jesse stepped around the steam table, took Sara’s hand, and led her into a corner of the chuck wagon, out of sight of the eyes of the diners.
“Sara?” He tightened his arms around her, pulled her near him. Yes, lilacs.
The merriment in her eyes faded, replaced by panic. She stiffened. “Jesse, I—I...it’s been such a long time. You have no idea.”
He bent his head again, but Sara pushed his arms. “It’s not the right time, Jesse. I’m sorry.”
Jesse didn’t know what he was thinking. All he knew was that he wanted to kiss Sara when they were both in a happy, playful mood. He wanted to crush her body to his, and kiss her perfect lips—lips that were turned up into a smile.
“We’ll talk. Okay?” he said.
She touched her hairnet, and that seemed to bring her back to reality. “I have to get back to my station. The laughter has stopped.”
It might have for now but he was going to bring laughter back to Sara.
She needed to just give him time.
* * *
Sara had wanted to kiss Jesse, desperately. The atmosphere was light and fun and when he pulled her into the corner by the supply shelves, she knew exactly what he wanted.
But she’d pulled away.
Jesse was a player; she was a widow and before that was in a platonic marriage. A marriage that had been just hanging on for Mickey. Any love that she might have had for her husband had faded a little more with every drink he took. Mike was the only man she really knew, the only man she’d ever kissed.
There were a few stragglers coming in for lunch, and Sara greeted them and passed out sandwiches. Turning to Julia who was ladling out chicken soup, she asked, “Jules, can you cover my station? I’m going to get a little time off before dinner prep starts.”
“Of course. Go!” Cookie waved her away, and Sara hurried to her bunkhouse.
Luckily, the cabin was empty, so she didn’t have to be cordial. She put on shorts and a tank top, stepped into a pair of flip-flops, and hurried to the lake with a towel under her arm.
She needed to do yoga to clear her mind.
Maybe then she could figure out why on earth she didn’t stay in Jesse’s arms earlier and kiss him until her knees buckled.
Perhaps it was because she barely knew him—she wasn’t sure she even completely liked him—and because it had just been a wild time in the chuck wagon, with everyone laughing.
It would have been crazy to kiss him. They were at a kids’ camp, for heaven’s sake! Stealing kisses by the metal storage shelves? Soon they’d be skinny-dipping in the lake!
Her face heated just thinking about that, then the warmth spread through her body. Maybe she should take a dip in the lake first.
Sara couldn’t remember the last time she’d done something on the spur of the moment, but she did so now; she sprinted the rest of the way, ran into the shallow part of the lake and then dived in.
Cold! She just remembered that Jesse had told her that it was a spring-fed lake. Where did the springs come from? A glacier behind the trees?
She swam around a bit to keep moving, then walked to the patch of grass. Shivering, she wrapped the towel around her. Turning her face up to the afternoon sun, she’d dry off in no time.
That was fun! She smiled, trying to remember when she’d done something that spontaneous. She was like a kid at camp herself!
Standing, she was just about to start her yoga program with Salute the Sun, when she heard someone walking on the small stones along the lakeside. She sat back down.
“Do you want to talk?”
It was Jesse. Her heart skipped a beat or ten. His smile, those perfect white teeth. He sported a pair of warm-up pants, navy blue with an orange stripe down the outside of each leg, that hung casually, barely clinging to his hips.
Sara’s smile faded. She knew he’d want to rehash what had happened. She didn’t want to, but maybe she owed him an explanation.
“I was going to do yoga,” she said, buying herself some time.
“Do you mind if I do it with you?”
“Not at all. It’s another perfect day to do yoga by the lake. I was just going to start.”
“I hate to burst your bubble, but swimming lessons start tomorrow. This lake will rock and roll with the kids splashing enough to start a tsunami.”
“I can hardly wait.” She shaded her eyes to look up at him. “I guess I’ll have to find another secret spot.”
“Secret from me, too?”
Sara grinned. “I’ll have to keep it a secret from you the most.”
He clutched at his heart. “I’m hurt.”
“Don’t be.”
She liked bantering with Jesse. He kept her on her toes.
Oh, but she hoped he didn’t think she was flirting with him. She’d never had a knack for that.
“Let’s do it,” Jesse said.
“Huh?” She wasn’t going to bite.
Jesse unbuttoned his shirt. It was nothing, really, but it was one of the sexiest things she’d seen in ages. The cowboy had a muscular body that rippled in all the right places. His biceps were huge. Even if she hadn’t seen him doing push-ups yesterday, she could tell that he worked out regularly.
Sara ran through her usual routine: Salute the Sun, Cat, Chair, Cobra, Bridge, and then she launched into the more difficult poses.
Jesse followed her perfectly.
When she was done, she turned to him and bowed. “Namaste, Jesse.”
“Namaste.”
“After my yoga, I usually meditate, but I think you came out here to talk. Right, Jesse?”
“Right as rain.”
“So, go ahead and talk. I figure that you want to talk about our non-kiss.” She dreaded talking about it, but she might as well get the awkwardness out of the way.
“Let’s start with you hiding in the bushes.”
“Must we?”
“We must.” Jesse grabbed his shirt that was hanging over one of the larger rocks and shrugged into it.
“So, why the bushes? Why didn’t you just lean over the corral post?” he asked.
“I didn’t want my son, and you, to think that I was spying on him.”
“But you were.”
“But he doesn’t have to know that.” Sara winced. “You don’t think that Mickey saw me, do you?”
“I’ll guarantee you that he was so busy concentrating on riding that nothing else existed. Did you see how much he loved it? Mickey even shot J.B. a dirty look because J.B. made a snorting noise when I talked about geldings and how they got that way.”
“That’s my son. He loves to learn. He’s an A student.” Sara sat up straighter. “But Mickey’s still way too serious.”
“There’s more,” Jesse said.
“I’m listening.”
“Mickey cleaned the tack like a demon, and he held out his hand for me to shake when I dismissed everyone for lunch.”
“No!” She gasped. “Mickey doesn’t really react or interact much. Not since the accident anyway.”
“Maybe he’s starting to come out of his shell. Okay? Let me handle it.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Let you handle it? Handle wh
at?”
“I want to bring him out more. Mickey needs socialization more than the rest of my guys. The burping contest was a big score. His first day on horseback was another big score. I don’t want you hovering over him.”
“I suppose that your animal husbandry classes in community college taught you how to help a boy socialize, right?”
Jesse shook his head. “Let’s not start this again. I know I don’t have the academic credentials, but I’ve been out there in the world. And the camp therapists agree with my action plans for each kid. With their evaluations and conclusions and mine, it’ll all merge together, and we’ll help the kids.”
She didn’t say anything...yet.
He sighed. “Look, Sara. Let’s forget it. Maybe we should have begun with talking about my attempted kiss, but I think that right now, I just don’t feel like it.” He turned to leave.
She didn’t want him to leave in a negative mood because of her.
“Jesse, it was funny—everyone laughing in the chuck wagon. It was just plain funny.”
“Yeah, it was. And only you and I know that the joke was on you.”
“I know.” She grinned. “And I’ll leave Mickey alone. I can see that he’s safe with you watching over him. All the kids are safe.”
He turned to go again, then looked over his shoulder. “Just one more thing—what was all that rustling you did in the bushes?”
“There was a spider. I hate them. The thing was all over me, and I didn’t want to scream or burst out of the bushes and upset the horses. That would have given me away.”
“Yeah, it would have. And you would have embarrassed Mickey, too. It’s gotta be tough for him to have his mother here.”
“I...um...never thought of that.” She tried to place herself in Mickey’s cowboy boots. Yes, she’d be mortified if her mother had come to camp with her. Camp was for letting loose a little, being independent, making new friends and having new experiences.
And she was clinging to Mickey like a piece of lint!
But she had to stick up for herself. “I just had to see him ride, Jesse. I had to see his face. There was no harm done. He didn’t see me.”
“I know, Sara. You are here with him, and watching him ride would be hard for anyone to pass up. In this instance, I’d do the same thing.”
“Oh! You—you!” She wished she had something to throw at him for putting her through feelings of regret—of being a smotherer, and an overprotective mother.
Sara stood and walked to her bunkhouse, thinking about what Jesse had said. She might as well change out of her freezing wet clothes and get to the chuck wagon early for dinner, to make up time.
Even though they’d be just passing through her station, Sara was looking forward to asking Mickey about how his riding went and watching his face for signs of happiness. Also, she had to admit that she couldn’t wait to see Jesse again.
But why? She’d had enough of his parenting lectures.
It was the almost kiss. Oh, how she wanted to kiss him, but something was holding her back. She’d heard that Jesse was a player and had been around his share of buckle bunnies; maybe she didn’t want to be another one. Or maybe she didn’t want to be compared to his other women.
Where’s your confidence, huh, Sara?
As the years went by, her late husband had made her feel unwanted as a woman; she was just a fixture, like a lamp or an end table.
She didn’t really love him, either. She liked him. He was okay, a good provider and fine with Mickey. That’s why she stayed with him.
She was rusty and scared to get involved with Jesse.
Swinging open the door to her bunkhouse, she entered. There, a small group of her bunkmates huddled together.
“We were just talking about you,” said Jules.
“Oh?”
Jules sighed. “Yeah, we all saw you and Jesse Beaumont hugging in the corner, and were wondering if you two are an item? Is there any hope for any of us with him?”
“There’s lots of hope for all of you.” Sara laughed. “We aren’t an item.”
Surprisingly, it bothered her to say that.
Patty giggled. “He’s just gorgeous, and he’s interested in you. What are you waiting for?”
“It’s a long story, and my love life is nonexistent, and my son takes up all my time...well...” She shrugged, shocked at how much she’d just told relative strangers about her life.
Jules raised an index finger in the air. “What you need, Sara, is a summer fling! Jesse will be at the party tonight for the ramrods and staff. Time for some romantic dancing.”
A summer fling?
No way!
Then again, why not?
The next time Jesse Beaumont wanted to kiss her, she was going to kiss him back...and more.
* * *
Jesse had another beginners’ class, the other half of Bunkhouse 13, to teach at the barn and corral. He was looking forward to it. It would probably be a quiet one, with no one lurking in the bushes.
He was still chuckling over that one.
He was still stumped over Sara’s reaction to his almost kiss. Adrenaline shot through him, and he wanted to share more time with Sara.
But she had other ideas.
Sara continued to be a mystery to him, but he was going to break down the emotional walls surrounding her, block by concrete block.
He assumed that Sara would be at the party tonight. He should have asked her to be his date, was up for some boot scootin’ and to cut loose. It’d been ages since he’d been with his fellow bull riders at a honky-tonk taking over the dance floor and the bar, and being around all the single women.
But before he could think about the dance, he had to think about the next equine group.
The other half of his wranglers from Bunkhouse 13 needed more attention due to their physical challenges. There was still one ramrod to one wrangler on a horse with an equine therapist and another four ramrods standing by.
Everything went perfectly; the wranglers had a great time, and they soaked up all of his information like a sponge.
After tack cleaning, they put everything away. Then Jesse dismissed the class for dinner.
As he washed up, he thought about how he wanted to show Sara a good time tonight at the dance. He suspected that she hadn’t been out in a while. He should have asked her personally, but he just assumed that the entire staff would be there to cut loose from their charges. The wranglers were having game night tonight, supervised by the roving ramrods.
Sometime during the evening he wanted to have a good conversation with Sara so he could learn more about her.
What was wrong with him? Were his buckle bunny days a thing of the past? After all, his brothers had settled down, and they had been worse than him.
Jesse never lacked for female companionship or a woman willing to warm his bed. He was even getting interested looks from the female staff, but Sara Peterson was keeping him at a distance.
But he was up for the challenge.
Chapter 7
Sara didn’t have much time on the dinner line except to ask Mickey how his ride went and to spoon a Sloppy Joe on his plate before he moved on.
She was rewarded by a big grin from her son.
When Jesse came through, he smiled and told her that he’d see her at the dance that night.
Jules elbowed her in the side at that remark, and Sara hoped that Jesse didn’t read anything into that. She wouldn’t want him to think that she was chasing him.
Not now anyway.
The words summer fling kept rolling through her mind. She couldn’t think of anyone else who was more of a good time guy than Jesse; Sara had had a lot of time being a mother, and now she needed to feel like a woman, if only for a while.
Unfortunately, there was a lot of cleanup after the meal, which cut into
her preparation for the party. She had hoped that her bunkmates would help her with makeup and find her something suitable to wear out of the clothes that she’d brought.
“I haven’t been to a party in ages,” she told them later in the bunkhouse. “Actually, I haven’t gone anywhere in ages.”
The invitations stopped coming after Michael died. It seemed as though no one in their circle of friends wanted an extra person. She wouldn’t have accepted their invitations, anyway, because she’d never hire a babysitter for Mickey.
She was going to launch her plan tonight. A shock of excitement ran through her as she thought about dancing with Jesse. She’d work up the courage to ask him to dance—a slow dance.
Sara felt like a giddy teenager. She and her bunkmates all shared makeup, passed around clothes and jewelry, and laughed.
When the dust settled, she wore a pastel sundress, a white bolero sweater scattered with sequins and white strappy sandals.
She looked in the half mirror at the back end of the bunkhouse and barely recognized herself. Her bun was gone and her hair, let down around her shoulders, shone; her green eyes twinkled in merriment, and they really popped with a smoky lavender eye shadow.
If only she knew how to flirt. No. She was too old for that. She was just going to be herself, but lighter, less intense, and maybe they could avoid talking about her parenting.
They all walked to the recreation center, laughing and joking as they went. The moon shone above, the weather was perfect and she could hear the music coming from the center.
She wondered if Jesse was there yet. She’d soon know.
As she walked in, she saw Jesse at the edge of what was the dance floor. He sure looked fabulous. He sported a pair of jeans that he was born to wear, shiny boots and a blue-and-red-checked shirt, and a belt buckle that was the size of Oklahoma, topped off by a white cowboy hat. He was surrounded by a group of four women that Sara recognized as being from the therapy staff.
She followed her bunkmates to a table, and she sat where she could secretly watch Jesse.
Garth Brooks was singing about friends in low places, a fun song. During the chorus, everyone chimed in, including Sara.
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