by Vivian Arend
“I feel fine,” Dare said, pointing at the bag. “You brought my stuff.”
“Jesse called and asked me to bring it.” Her gaze flicked to Jesse’s for a split second then back to Dare’s. “You hadn’t unpacked much. I hope you don’t mind I had to fold the things on the chair. I put your bathroom stuff in a plastic bag at the top so I didn’t have to dig through anything.”
“That’s fine. Thank you for bringing it over.” She was sure she had shorts in there.
The next thing she knew Jesse was standing in front of her, face folded into a frown. “Where do you think you’re going?”
Drat. She’d automatically swung her legs around, intending to get changed. “Oops?”
“Dare.”
“I’m sorry. It’s hard to remember to sit still when I don’t feel sick, okay?” She tucked herself back under the covers and waited as patiently as possible, hands folded in her lap. “May I have my bag, pretty please?”
Vicki laughed, bringing it to the bed. “I’m glad you feel okay. Laurel said to apologize again for your face.”
“She’s not going to stop that, is she?”
Jesse raised a brow. “Apologizing? Probably not.” Then he laughed. “Although it is pretty hysterical when you come down to it. Remember the shiner I had the night we met?”
“Yeah?”
He grinned. “Rafe gave me mine.”
Ha. “Seriously? That was Rafe?”
“Yup.” His smile tightened a little when his gaze slipped over Vicki, then he ignored her as he pulled a chair beside Dare’s bed and sat down. “Here’s the scoop. I know phone coverage is the shits in here, so I went out to the parking lot and made a few calls.”
Dare dug through the bag as he spoke. “Obviously—Vicki.” She glanced up at the other woman. “Which, thank you again.”
“Oh, wait.” Vicki stepped forward and unloaded a second bag that had been slung over her back. “I brought your computer too.”
Hell, yeah. “I could kiss you. Perfect.”
Vicki eyed the bed before bringing the bag to the table against the wall. “How about over here for now? You’ll have more visitors soon, and you won’t want this tossed around or dropped.”
“Good idea.”
Vicki glanced between them, hesitated then backed toward the door. “I’m going to head out for a bit. I’ll be back later, okay?”
“Yes, please.” Dare didn’t want to keep the other woman from whatever else she had planned, but the desire to spend more time with Vicki was real. “I’d like to visit some more.”
Which was good and bad. You’re not supposed to fall in love with people, remember? she scolded herself.
Maybe that was a flawed premise, the other side of her brain offered. Buckaroo deserves awesome people in his life, and if you like them, they have to be awesome.
Dare dragged herself back to alertness to discover Jesse staring after Vicki as she left.
She waved a hand to get his attention. “Sorry for the interruption. Phone calls?”
Jesse shook himself. “Right. Your stuff. Then I called Ginny—”
“Oh God, did she panic?”
“Sort of? That’s what took so long. I was talking her off the edge. The minute I hung up with her, I’d made it nearly to the door when Caleb called wondering what Ginny was going off the handle about.”
Dare considered collapsing back on her pillow like some melodramatic princess. “They’ll be here in an hour, right?”
“Wrong.” Jesse adjusted position, stretching his legs in front of him, all long and lean and far too sexy for her mental peace. “I convinced them to wait until tomorrow.”
“Wow. You’re good.” Dare curled her legs up and wrapped her arms around them. “You should be a hostage negotiator or something, because getting Ginny to change her mind is like magic.”
“That’s me. Magical Jesse.” He lifted his arms and folded them behind his head as he offered a grin. “No, that doesn’t sound right. Jesse and his magic tongue?”
He winked and she let out a contented sigh, kind of shocked that she was able to feel this relaxed. “I hate that I’m sitting here when we had such plans to visit all your family and hit Traders, and the rest, but I’m happy they figured out why I was dizzy.”
“Me too.” He rose like a cat and stalked over up to the bed, leaning in with a flirty smile. “I’d suggest we pick up where we were before we were interrupted, but Vicki is right. There’ll be more visitors soon, and you’d probably like to have some clothes on before they arrive, instead of less clothes, the way I’d like.”
A shiver of desire rolled through her. “Didn’t the doctor say something about not getting me excited?”
“I’m not getting you excited,” Jesse said innocently.
Dare took the shorts she wanted out of the bag before offering him a deadpan expression. “Yeah, right. You get me excited just being in the same room.”
His face—like she’d given him a gold star. “You weren’t pissed when I left? Or that I called your family without talking to you first?”
It had to be a trick question. “Was I supposed to be?”
He shook his head.
Dare wiggled the shorts on, lying back to pull them over her hips. Jesse was there in an instant, helping smooth the fabric into place. “You told me you’d take care of me,” Dare reminded him. “I figured that was what you were doing. And you were.”
He stared at her with that unreadable expression for a beat, then leaned in to kiss her fiercely. One hand cupped the back of her neck, and the other found hers on the sheets, fingers tangling together.
Sweet, passionate. Needy and yet giving. She took it and soaked it in.
Then laughed against his lips as another cough echoed in the room.
After greeting his brother Matt and his wife Hope, and saying hello to his nephew Colt who was no longer a baby but a bright-eyed toddler, Jesse took off again.
Dare’s words of praise were like a thermal sweater. Inside and out, he damn near glowed. She trusted him, and that feeling was pretty fucking glorious.
Only now he had work to do.
Tamara might have been off track when she lectured him about being thoughtless, but she’d hit the mark when it came to one thing. He’d been whining and moping inside—face fucking facts, Coleman—about how hard it had been to visit Rocky when there wasn’t a place for him.
So fucking what?
This wasn’t about him, not anymore. It never should have been. It was about what was best for the baby, and for Dare.
Considering when he’d proposed back a month ago it had been with the idea he was manning up, he hadn’t done a very good job of it.
It was time he manned up for real.
The drive to Six Pack ranch was familiar enough he could do it in his sleep, but he eyed the passing scenery with a different eye now than the day before. Then he’d been looking for familiar sights. Now he looked for what was different.
He’d been gone for half a year, but his entire world was no longer the same. Everything had changed—was it the same here?
The only signs of change, though, were good ones. Crops rising strong, herds grazing contentedly. There seemed to be more cowboys riding over the sloping foothills of their land than he could account for with only family, and Vicki’s comment about the bunkhouses being full came back to mind.
Shit. He was more than a stupid idiot, he was a blind, stupid idiot. What if his brilliant idea turned out to be a fool’s errand? No use in turning back. He’d be better off knowing, and maybe this would be a first step in rebuilding a connection to family.
Driving in circles, he realized, was a waste of his time. He hauled out his phone and sent a text to his brother.
Jesse: you free? I’d like to talk
It was only a moment later but it felt like an eternity before Blake responded: I’ve got a few minutes. Come by the office in the barn
The place was hopping as he parked in the yard and headed
toward the room where his dad used to keep the old ranching records. Mike had done most of his office work in the house, but it seemed there’d been a change—another one—since Jesse had left.
He knocked on the door before pushing it open, whistling softly at the new setup. What used to be a dark room crowded with beat-up filing cabinets from the thrift shop was now a bright space with rows of neat shelves and two desks, edges touching opposite walls. They’d put in new windows and painted the walls white, and the whole place looked shiny and efficient.
“Place looks great.” Jesse approached the desk Blake sat behind, dropping into one of the straight-backed wooden chairs opposite him.
“Thanks.” His brother closed the ledger he was working on and gave Jesse his full attention. There was no judgment on his face, only concern. “How’s Dare?”
“She’s feeling good. Comfortable, at least.”
“I bet she’s scared.”
Jesse hesitated. He was going to toss off something noncommittal, but from the expression on Blake’s face, his brother was serious, Jesse let out a long slow breath. “I think she’s a lot more scared than she’s letting on, yeah, but the baby’s moving lots. She was pretty upbeat when I left her with the girls.”
“How are you doing?”
“Me?”
“You,” Blake confirmed. He made a face. “Nothing I hate more than having to sit helplessly when Jaxi’s hurtin’.”
That unanswerable ache inside flickered up, but Jesse pushed it away, knowing somehow that his brother would let this one ride if he switched topics. “I know I was a bastard last February, and there’s been a million times I wished I’d done that differently, because it was shitty to leave you a man short with no notice. I’m sorry.”
He wasn’t expecting Blake to outright forgive him or say that everything was fine, which was good because he got what he expected.
“You’re right. You should’ve done things differently, but we can’t change that now.” Blake folded his arms across his chest. “What do you need, Jesse?”
“I need work,” he said.
His brother raised a brow.
Jesse looked him in the eye. “I don’t expect any favours, but I don’t know how long Dare will be in the hospital. It’s only until Monday for sure, but what if it’s longer? I don’t want to sit on my ass and twiddle my thumbs. I need to work, not only because I need to take care of her. Because I’m going to go stir-crazy waiting until we know what’s happening.”
Blake eyed him, leaning back in his chair and staying silent.
“I mean it. You need me to clean stalls 24/7, I’ll do it. I can’t tell you how long I’ll be around, so wherever you have tasks to be done. You know I can deal with just about anything, but put me where you need me the most.”
Because whatever happened, he was going to make sure that Dare was taken care of. Right now that seemed to mean he needed to be here in Rocky Mountain House.
For the first time a crack appeared in Blake’s iron-solid walls. “I can give you some jobs. Only between when you need to be with Dare, so before and after visiting hours.”
“I want time with her, yes, but she doesn’t need me there all day,” Jesse pointed out. “You know Mom and Jaxi and the rest will want to visit.”
Blake made a face. “True. But you need to stay within cell phone range.”
“Starting tonight?”
His brother hesitated. “If you’re ready. There’s a crew headed out at eleven to the west grazing lands to pick up some cattle and move them to summer fields. They’ll be back before seven.” Blake stood and opened a thin cupboard with keys to the tractors and combines and all the rest lined up in neat rows. He pulled a set off the hook and tossed them to Jesse. “You can drive the trailer. Kent Parken is lead on the transfer.”
The ache in his gut had spread until his chest and throat were tight. Before Jesse’d fucked up and left, he used to run lead, and Kent had been the hired hand.
Regret was the only emotion he felt—well, regret and gratitude that Blake was giving him a chance.
Jesse rose to his feet. “Thanks. I won’t make you sorry.”
Blake nodded tightly. “Jesse…”
Jesse paused in the doorway, turning back to wait while Blake considered his words.
“Tell Dare we’re here for her. Anything she needs. She just has to ask.”
God damn. The sincerity and the caring and the—
That hard knot in his chest was going to close off his throat one of these times. “I know she’ll appreciate it.”
I appreciate it. The words hung on the tip of his tongue. Why were they so damn hard to say?
Jesse gathered himself up, checking his watch. He had time to stop off at the trailer for a quick shower and to get changed before returning to the hospital.
If he was going to start burning the candle at both ends, he’d better get ready.
Chapter Nineteen
Blog post: Stuck in the Middle With You
Looks as if I’m in Pregnancy Prison for a few days. Just precautionary, but I have a confession—I’m not a very good patient.
Or maybe that should read I’m not very patient.
Either one…
Other than she wasn’t sure what the mystery meat had been in the dinner offering, Dare’s first evening in captivity went better than she’d expected. All sorts of visitors stopped by; a trickle in the beginning followed by more and more people until her room felt like a gathering place during one of Ginny’s barbeques.
Hope Coleman waltzed in first with an entire box of flannel scraps and the other requirements for making squares for a baby quilt. Her husband Matt, one of Jesse’s brothers, had come along, and to Dare’s amusement he joined in the impromptu sewing lesson Hope gave, his thick fingers moving carefully over the soft material as he good-naturedly followed his wife’s orders. Colt refused to let go of his mom, so Matt had acted as demonstrator.
The way Matt looked at Hope as she spoke, and the easy way he slipped a hand around her hip in a familiar caress spoke volumes about the connection between them. Dare ended up poking herself in the finger with her needle hard enough to draw blood, she was paying more attention to the simmering glances they kept giving each other.
Shortly after they’d arrived another set of Colemans marched through the door, and then another, and every one of them simply joined in the conversation, and there was no fuss and no awkwardness.
For which Dare was very grateful, considering she was sitting on a bed in her pyjamas for all intents and purposes.
By the time Jesse returned, damp hair curling at his neckline, the room had settled into small groups. The women all stitching together squares while the guys each cheerfully completed one before abandoning the task and pulling out a deck of cards. How they managed to play while holding babies and entertaining a couple of boys under the age of two, Dare had no idea.
Jesse stood beside the bed and offered her an amused smile along with a fresh glass of water. “What are you looking all bewildered about?”
She made a small gesture at the room and answered quietly, “It’s like my room is Grand Central Station.”
“There’s no train arriving any time soon,” he teased. “I hope you’re ready to share your hospital food with the entire horde.”
Dare pulled herself up regally. “Jell-O for all, my good man.”
He leaned in close, forehead touching hers as he looked into her eyes. “You let me know when you’ve had enough, okay? They can come back tomorrow. In fact, unless you order them to stay away, it looks as if Little Hospital Room on the Prairie is the happening place to be these days.”
“I’m okay,” she insisted, stealing a quick kiss before he stepped back. A dangerous smolder in his eyes promised her many things before he slid into a chair next to Matt and Daniel and joined in their card game.
The party broke up at eight o’clock when regular visiting hours were over, and she lay back on the bed surprisingly tired. “Co
nsidering I haven’t done anything except lie here and talk, I’m pooped.”
Jesse shrugged, settling in the chair beside her with a cup in his hands he’d appropriated from somewhere down the hall. The rich scent of coffee hung on the air. “No one’s keeping track. If you want to hit the sack early, go for it.”
“Maybe I will.” She looked him over, wondering why he was drinking coffee at this time of the night. “You don’t have to stay with me all night.”
“I know. I’m going to do a pickup run for Blake tonight. I’m leaving in a couple of hours, but don’t worry—if they need to get in touch with me, I’ll be here pretty damn fast. I’ll be back to see you first thing in the morning.”
She thought it over for a moment, having to adjust her mental processes. “I thought Blake said he didn’t need help.”
Jesse put the coffee cup down, his expression going serious. “About that. I meant it last night when we were talking by the fire pit about this and got interrupted. Blake didn’t do anything wrong, I did.” He looked away for a moment before meeting her gaze again, his typical cocky teasing subdued until nothing but sincerity remained. “I was stupid when I left last February, and my stupidity put them in a tough situation. That’s why Blake wasn’t blowing sunshine up my ass, but I totally deserved it. I’ve talked to him. Apologized. It’s okay now.”
“That’s good.” His explanation didn’t answer all her questions, but she was glad because some of the stress seemed to have leached out of him. When he finally kissed her good night an hour later, it was easy to give in to the siren call of her pillow.
The next thing Dare knew it was morning and the curtains were being pulled open to another blue-sky day.
She stretched a bit, happy that she felt so normal and rested—although considering she hadn’t had to lift a finger for most of yesterday, her burst of energy made sense. She wasn’t looking forward to two more days of limited mobility. AKA, sitting around on her butt.
“When you’re done in the washroom, we’ve got some tests we need to put you through, as well as another dose of medicine,” Tamara informed her.