Jesse (12 page)

“Need a hand?” Tyler called out walking toward them.

“Yeah,” Jesse answered. “Lacy, this is my big brother Tyler. You can trust him.”

“OK,” she said, grabbing a hold of his hand, but instead of walking her back to the ranch house, he swept her up onto his shoulders.

“Look, Mommy!” Lacy called out from her high perch. “I can touch the sky!”

Wondering if she and her daughter were going to get their hearts broken if they got any more attached to the men of the Circle G, she bit back what she wanted to say.

Jesse leaned down and rasped, “Let her enjoy herself for a little while. She might forget how scared she was when she thought you were hurt.”

Their eyes met and she wanted to disagree, but Lacy's giggling was infectious, and she realized he was right and thanked Jesse for his help.

Just as Danielle was about to warn Tyler not to bang Lacy's head on the doorjamb, he swept Lacy from his shoulders and into his arms. Her squeals of excitement were balm to Danielle's aching heart.

Instead of Lacy's father making her laugh, it was a family of brothers Danielle'd met years ago, men who were all but strangers to her now… but wouldn't be by the time their visit was over.

Jesse was so gentle with her and kind to Lacy.

“You're quiet.” His deep voice summoned her from her thoughts. “Where do you hurt?”

She laughed; she couldn't help it. He set her on her feet by a chair and urged her to sit. When she had, she finally answered him. “All over.”

“I could still drive you over to the hospital,” he offered.

She shook her head. “It's just sore muscles from the added weight of falling with Lacy braced against me. Besides, you and Lacy checked, and my bones are all in one piece. I think I'd know if it something else was wrong.”

He studied her closely, as if he could see through to her heart and discern whether or not she was telling the truth. He finally nodded, satisfied. “You'll tell me the minute something doesn't feel right?”

“Yes, sir,” she answered.

His lips twitched, but he didn't smile; he obviously wanted her to know how serious he was. Finally, he said, “We've got cold tea, juice, or water.”

“Water would be wonderful, thanks.”

“How about you, little Lacy?” he asked.

Danielle's resolve softened when he smiled down at her daughter. There was an innate kindness in him. Rather than worry about how dangerous it would be, she relaxed and followed her heart.

“Juice, please.”

His smile widened as he handed Danielle her water and reached for a smaller glass to fill with juice. “Your momma raised you right.”

Lacy sipped her juice as Tyler and Emily were pouring tea into glasses filled with ice. Her daughter was taking it all in, until she finally sighed, a really big sigh for such a little person. “I gots to tell you what I did.”

Jesse squatted down next to Lacy's chair. “I'm betting it's not as bad as you think, but go ahead and tell me.”

Lacy set her glass down and twisted her hands until Danielle reached out to still the movement. “You aren't going to get into trouble, sweet pea. Just tell him.”

“I got excited about learning to ride and maybe I danced and shouted in front of Trigger and Champ and scared 'em till they scared me back.” The tremor in Lacy's voice had Danielle taking her daughter's hand and squeezing it to reassure Lacy.

Jesse pushed his Stetson to the back of his head, and finally said, “Well now, that could have ended badly if they weren't in their stalls. You could have been hurt.”

“But what about the horses and the Code?”

The way he paid attention to her daughter eased Danielle's worry that he'd be upset with Lacy.

“You care about Trigger and Champ, don't you?”

Lacy nodded.

“And I think you really didn't try to upset them.”

Lacy hung her head, but finally answered him. “That would be mean.”

He touched his knuckle beneath Lacy's chin and coaxed her to look up at him. “Then I think we should go apologize by feeding them an apple. What do you say?”

Happiness shone from her daughter's bright blue eyes. Danielle's throat constricted as emotions long buried tried to surface. Lacy started to bounce, and then seemed to change her mind. Her little girl was smart and learning from her earlier mistake. “Can I, Mommy?”

“If you do exactly as Jesse tells you.”

“Can Mommy come too?”

Jesse slowly pushed to his feet and frowned down at Danielle. “I think she should rest some more. She's still as pale as flour.”

Lacy tilted her head to one side and asked, “Like Unca Jimmy uses for his pies?”

Everyone laughed at the image Lacy planted in their minds… everyone except Danielle. She wasn't happy to be relegated to the kitchen while her little girl went back out to the barn with the cowboy Danielle was too attracted to and Lacy worshipped. But she'd already caused enough of a problem by interrupting the Garahan men.

She kept her troubled thoughts to herself and smiled as Jesse got two apples from the bowl on the kitchen table and reached out his hand for Lacy's. That simple action caused her heart to skip a beat, and in one painful moment, her worst fears were realized—Lacy wasn't the only one who was over the moon about cowboy Jesse… she was too.

The door closed and Tyler sat down across from her, pulling Emily onto his lap.

“Tyler, we have company.” Emily struggled to her feet.

He grinned and leaned across the table and confided, “She can't keep her hands off me.”

Emily laughed, smacked him on the shoulder, then kissed him before settling on the chair next to him.

Danielle couldn't help but smile. Tyler and Emily were so obviously in love. She thought she and her ex had had something special, but it turned out, she was in love alone. Trying hard not to sink back into that abyss of loneliness and recrimination, she looked toward the back door again.

“Don't worry about Lacy. Jesse will guard her with his life,” Emily reassured her.

“So, Danielle,” Tyler said, folding his hands on the tabletop, “what the hell were you thinking running out like that in front of our horses?”

She opened her mouth to speak, then closed it. What could she say that wouldn't have her sounding like a shrew?

When he continued to wait for her to answer his question, she threw her hands up in the air, and asked, “What do you think I was doing? Did you even see Lacy running toward you?”

He nodded. “Ranchers have to have a sixth sense when it comes to what's going on around us. We'd never survive out there otherwise—neither would our herd.”

She fell silent. Well, he'd answered more succinctly than Jesse had. “I'd do the same thing again in a heartbeat. It's my mom-radar. Can't turn it off and can't ignore when my gut says Lacy's in trouble or danger.”

“So,” Tyler drawled, “you planning on getting into more trouble so my little brother will have to rescue you again?”

“Of all the—”

“Tyler don't tease, Danielle,” Emily chided. “She's had enough for one afternoon.” Turning toward Danielle, Emily added, “The Garahan men have an odd sense of humor.” As if that explained it all, she got up and started to clear the glasses away and put them in the dishwasher.

“We should be going,” Danielle said getting to her feet. She knew she'd feel worse tomorrow, because she'd been hugging forty pounds to her chest when she landed on her back just now.

“Stay for dinner,” Emily offered. “We're having—”

“Sandwiches,” Tyler interrupted with a sheepish grin.

Emily's lips twitched as if she were fighting to hold back a smile. Danielle really liked Emily and Ronnie. She missed not having female friends. When she and Buddy first got married and settled in their apartment, she'd been sick for her first trimester; by then, time seemed to pass by at warp speed, and before she knew it, she was raising Lacy and working part-time at a real estate office. Friends were a luxury she intended to indulge in now that she was here in Pleasure.

“If you're sure you have enough, we'd like that.”

Emily seemed pleased with her answer. “Tyler, please go tell Ronnie that we need to throw something else together to go with the sandwiches.”

Danielle stopped him. “If we're staying for dinner, let me help.”

Torn, Tyler hesitated in the doorway. Finally, Emily nodded. “You might want to check on your brothers.”

Once he was gone, Emily said, “All that man has to do is stand there looking at me and I forget my own name!”

Danielle smiled.

“So, what else besides potato salad and macaroni salad go with sandwiches?” Emily whispered.

“Do you have any chocolate and heavy cream?”

“Not sure, hang on.” Emily opened the fridge and got out a small container of cream. “Will this be enough?”

“Perfect, but what about the chocolate?”

Emily rummaged through one of the overhead cabinets and called out, “Got it!” Putting it on the counter next to the cream, she asked, “So, what on Earth are you making that goes with sandwiches?”

“My uncle's famous chocolate pie.” Emily giggled and Danielle said, “Pie goes with anything. It's really the perfect food.”

The other woman shook her head. “Actually, brownies are the truly perfect food. I baked a batch yesterday, but the guys found them and demolished them before breakfast.”

Working and chatting, Danielle had the crust ready and in the oven and was creating the chocolate filling when Jesse and Lacy returned.

“Yeah!” Lacy said, running toward the table. “Unca Jimmy's chocolate pie!” Suddenly, the little one stopped and looked over her shoulder at Jesse and then back at Danielle. “Is this an ‘I'm sorry we scared you' pie?”

Danielle couldn't keep the smile from her face. With a glance at the tall man standing just behind her daughter, she nodded. “Actually, it's a ‘thank you for inviting us to dinner' pie.”

“Really?” Lacy and Jesse said at the same time.

***

Everyone started to laugh at once, and Jesse had the strangest feeling that his life had just shifted on its axis, turning in a new direction. He couldn't quite put his finger on what had changed—whether it was having the life scared out of him watching Danielle scoop Lacy off of her feet, hit the ground hard, and not get up, or the simple fact that Lacy and her mother were here at the Circle G, where he'd wanted them from the first.

Wanting to wipe the smudge of flour off the bridge of Danielle's nose, he started to move forward when Emily turned and noticed the same thing. She handed a towel to Danielle and pointed to her nose, and his chance to touch the delectable Danielle was gone.

Having held her in his arms, he knew how perfectly she fit against him. He'd held other women, but something was innately different about this woman. Maybe it was her prickly nature or her protective streak where her daughter was concerned. Maybe it was the way her eyes deepened to a warmer, darker shade of blue when he'd kissed her last night. He'd felt the shock when their lips met; it felt like that time he'd been too close to a lightning strike.

Ushering her daughter to the sink, he lifted her up so she could reach the faucet and wash her hands. When he was finished and had set Lacy on her feet, he washed his. He could hear her talking to her mother about the pie she'd made. A definite plus in his book. A woman who was kind and caring to her child, pretty as fresh milk, and could cook. Maybe he ought to snap her up and stake his claim now. He was scowling as he dried his hands.

“Something on your mind, Bro?” Dylan stood in the doorway with his hand wrapped around Ronnie's waist.

Jesse narrowed his gaze at the way his brother seemed so relaxed.
Damn.
Dylan and Ronnie had been outside for quite a while before Jesse and Lacy went out—but Dylan and Ronnie had been nowhere in sight. One look at the flush on his sister-in-law's cheeks and he knew why and what they'd been up to.

“No.” He shook his head and walked over to hang his Stetson on one of the empty pegs by the back door. As Danielle put the pie in the fridge, he knew he wanted to spend more time with her—in bed or out, didn't matter. He wanted more time with Lacy too. Danielle was a bit skittish around him, and it was either because the hurt from her divorce was still fresh in her mind, or something a whole lot more fun, if he was reading the signals her body had been sending to him.

Willing to test his theory, he walked around the room and opened up the cabinet above where Danielle was standing, washing the bowls in the sink. Their bodies brushed as she backed into him. Hadn't she seen him or was she planning on playing with fire?

She jolted and he had his answer; she'd been preoccupied. Taking things a step further, he reached out to steady her, pulling her against him—her back to his front. Lord, it was a miracle he didn't spontaneously combust. Every curvy inch of her backside was nestled snug against him.

Her sharp intake of breath was all he had to hear to know she'd been just as affected as him. Relieved, he pretended to lose his balance and wrapped his arm around her middle. The sensation of holding the wasp-waisted woman in his arms went to his head like a shot of the Irish. Reeling from the contact, sizzling along the length of the arm still wrapped around her, he stood stunned. Outfoxed by his own experiment.

“Please,” she rasped, pushing against him. “Let go.”

He bent low so he could whisper, “Dani darlin', I don't think I can do that.” He was delighted when she shivered against him.

“Is my mommy all right?”

The quivering sound of Lacy's voice had him backing up as if he'd been burned. What the hell was wrong with him? They were standing in a room filled with people, and Danielle's daughter, and he was thinking with his johnson! He was lower than dirt… he was pond scum.