Chapter 15
Jameson hammered the final nail into the doghouse, then sat back on his heels and rested the hammer in the grass.
“Is it ready for Rascal?” Kace was kneeling beside him.
“Is it ready?” Bo echoed from the other side.
The puppy was sprawled out in the grass a few feet away, gnawing on a stick Kace had found. The pup paused in her chewing and lifted her snout as though sensing she was the topic of conversation.
“It’s solid and sturdy.” Jameson brushed at the roof made of the leftover shingles he’d found in the barn. “But you’ll need to paint it to keep the boards from weathering so fast.”
“I can do that.” Kace sat up straighter.
“Me can do that too.” Bo imitated his older brother.
“Good.” Jameson glided a hand along the arched entrance that he’d sanded and smoothed. “I’ll find you some paint and show you how it’s done.”
Bo ducked down and poked his head inside the house, then wiggled his shoulders through the door until he was inside. He scrambled around and stuck his head out with a wide grin. “Me the doggie. Woof, woof.”
Jameson couldn’t keep from smiling at the boy’s silliness and tousling his hair. “Maybe I’ll have to make you a fort.”
“A fort?” Kace’s eyes took on a glow that reminded him of Lottie when she was excited about something.
She hadn’t been all that excited about him over the past two weeks. Not since their kiss, and not since he’d squelched any future together with his roundabout and half-hearted proposal of marriage.
She’d been mostly right. He had suggested a real marriage out of obligation because he’d felt guilty about their passionate kiss in the grass. But had he also suggested it because he liked her and liked the boys? Could he see himself building a life with them?
He’d been wrestling with those questions more and more lately. After losing Sue Ellen, he hadn’t expected to care about anyone else, hadn’t wanted to risk it, hadn’t thought he deserved another woman.
But the conversation with Lottie that night by the creek had settled deep inside him. You were faithful to Sue Ellen, but she wasn’t faithful back. You’re not at fault for her fickleness and recklessness.
Those words had brought him solace that he hadn’t known he needed.
He had remained faithful to Sue Ellen that summer.
Even when she’d rejected him for Coleman, Jameson had still loved her.
In some ways, he supposed he’d been waiting for Coleman to leave for law school and for Sue Ellen to come back to him.
Maybe that had been pathetic of him. After all, if she’d been able to let go of him so easily, then she probably hadn’t ever loved him the same way he’d loved her.
Whatever the case, the burden of her death didn’t weigh as heavily anymore. He’d even allowed himself to feel some anger toward her. Yes, he still loathed Coleman, but he was beginning to see that Sue Ellen bore some responsibility for all that had happened too.
Jameson wasn’t sure if letting go of the hurts of the past was freeing him to live more in the present, but what he did know was that he was content at the Longhorn Ranch and wasn’t feeling the pressure to move on the same way he had at other places.
Of course, he and Lottie worked well together like always, and they’d spent countless hours together just as they had before. But it was obvious they’d both decided to keep their relationship strictly amicable and nothing more.
“What’s a fort?” Bo asked as he crawled out of the doghouse.
Both boys stared at Jameson with wide eyes and sun-browned faces, and a rush of affection pulsed through his chest. He’d spent lots of time with the boys too, helping them train Rascal.
The puppy was finally sleeping at night and no longer had to be watched over so carefully. That meant it was time for the dog to move out of the house and become more watchful and useful. When the boys had been sad about the dog having to leave the house, Jameson had offered to build the doghouse.
It hadn’t taken him long, and he hadn’t disliked doing it. In fact, he’d almost allowed himself to enjoy using his carpentry skills again.
“Looks like you finished,” called Lottie as she crossed from the house toward them, the evening sun highlighting the strawberry in her gold hair.
His pulse picked up its pace, as it did every time he’d been away from her for any length of time, even just an hour.
It was almost like his body forgot how beautiful she really was in the interim and then, when he saw her, he was stunned again.
Or maybe she just got more beautiful with each passing day and hour.
She rarely wore anything but her men’s clothing, but somehow it suited her. So did the cowboy hats and cowboy boots. If he were honest, the attire only added to her aura of being strong and capable.
As she halted at the doghouse, the boys began showing her every detail, from the shuttered windows on both sides to the pretend chimney on top. Bo went in again and barked. Sensing the excitement, Rascal joined Bo in the house, licking his face and causing both boys to giggle.
Above their heads, he met Lottie’s gaze, and they shared a smile of amusement—something that happened often.
“Looks like you averted another crisis,” she whispered.
“I did?”
“I was afraid I’d have tears to deal with when it was time for Rascal to move outside, but now the boys won’t mind.”
He watched the boys for another moment, then dragged in a breath of contentment.
She bent down and examined the chimney. “It’s so well done. Where did you learn to do such intricate work?”
“It wasn’t hard.” Enrique had a variety of tools and had brought them over even before Jameson could ask him for one. Some of them worked and some didn’t, making him wish he had his own carpentry tools again.
He was actually surprised at how much he’d wished to have his own tools.
“You don’t have to tell me about it,” she said quietly again. “But it’s obvious you know a lot about carpentry.”
He hadn’t wanted to talk about any of that, had wanted to forget about those years of apprenticing for Sue Ellen’s father, but he’d already told Lottie the worst of his life. Surely she would understand this part too.
She opened then closed one of the shutters with a wide smile that warmed his heart.
“I apprenticed with Sue Ellen’s daddy.”
Her gaze shot to him. Her brows rose, and her blue eyes were filled with questions.
“In between my ranching duties, I worked in his workshop in Breckenridge part-time for about four years.”
“So Sue Ellen’s father was a carpenter?”
He nodded. “He taught me everything I know, and I had initially planned to become a journeyman and join him in business once Sue Ellen and I were married.”
“So he expected you to marry Sue Ellen too?”
“Yes. He had no sons, only daughters, and was happy to have someone to train.” Sue Ellen’s parents had never expressed any anger or frustration toward him over what had happened to Sue Ellen. They’d only gotten frustrated with him when he’d quit the apprenticeship and refused to come back.
“Her daddy was a really nice fellow. He came out to the ranch several times the autumn and winter after Sue Ellen died and tried to talk sense into me.”
“But you were too stubborn to listen?” Even though her words were direct, her tone was gentle.
“I was a wreck at that point.” He’d been drinking in town just about every night that he could make it in, had been skipping his ranching duties, and had become a disgrace to everyone.
Lottie traced the arch in the doorway. “Have you considered taking up carpentry again at some point?”
“I hadn’t planned on ever doing it again. But I don’t hate it anymore. So who knows.” He turned his attention back to the boys, who were now arguing about which of them got to sleep in the doghouse with Rascal.
“I’m older.” Kace was still outside the doghouse, while Bo had curled up inside with the puppy. “If anyone gets to sleep with Rascal, it’s me.”
“No, me sleep with Rascal,” Bo stated belligerently.
“Boys,” Lottie cut in. “Neither one of you is sleeping out in the doghouse with Rascal.”
Kace’s shoulders slumped. “But she’ll be lonely.”
“Why?” Bo poked his head out.
“She’ll be fine.” Lottie knelt and brushed at the dirt on Bo’s nose. “The reason you have to sleep in the house is because people stay in houses and animals live outside or in the barn.”
Bo pulled back a little and gazed up at Jameson. “But Jameson is a people, and he sleeps in the barn.”
Bo was a smart little fellow and would probably be a handful when he got older, especially if he didn’t have a father.
“There are exceptions,” Lottie said, seeming to choose her words carefully. “And Jameson has to stay in the barn because it wouldn’t be decent for him to sleep in the house.”
Both boys had furrowed brows and were clearly trying to make sense of the difference between people and animals and sleeping arrangements.
Jameson nodded in the direction of the fenced-in area near the barn, where the dairy cow was grazing. “The bull can’t stay with the cow, can he?” The moment the question was out, Jameson regretted his analogy.
Lottie’s gasp only confirmed the inappropriateness of it.
He glanced at her. “I’m not helping, am I?”
She quickly clasped her hand over her mouth, but not before he caught sight of her smile and heard the hint of her laughter.
Kace glanced back and forth between Jameson and Lottie. “We’ve got to keep the bull separated from the cow so he doesn’t mate with her.”
“Whoa, now.” Jameson could feel a strange sense of panic rising. He’d definitely said the wrong thing.
“Is Jameson trying to mate with you, Mother?” Kace’s question was out before either Jameson or Lottie could cut it off.
Behind her hand, Lottie began choking. Was she laughing? Her eyes were certainly alight with merriment.
The panic was swelling too quickly inside Jameson to find any humor in the exchange with Kace. He had to change the subject. And fast. But first, he had to assure Kace that he wasn’t trying to mate with Lottie. “No, Kace.” Jameson’s voice came out almost a squeak.