Chapter Three
As Jesse and Oscar headed back to Grayson’s, Jesse’s mind was stuck on rewind, replaying that meeting with Carly again and again. For the first time in a very long time, he felt something that he thought abandoned him long ago.
Interest.
It had felt like forever since a woman had made him feel even remotely that spark.
In the span of a few minutes, Jesse had gone through rampant emotions: surprise, amusement, horror, and…
desire. It wasn’t just that she was a beautiful woman with a smile that could stop a wild mustang in its tracks.
It was the way she’d reacted when Oscar practically shouted statistics at her.
A lot of people were easily put off by his son’s ramblings, especially when he went off on one of his streaks.
It was one of the main reasons Jesse had decided to move them to Tenacity.
While Oscar’s school in Houston might have had better resources to help him with his autism, he had started to become distant, not only with his fellow students but with Jesse.
It wasn’t easy for his son to make friends, and he’d practically disappeared in the large high school’s population.
The only people who seemed to notice him were the bullies who made fun of the sensory headphones that he sometimes wore to stop himself from getting overstimulated.
After an especially tough day at school where someone had hidden Oscar’s headphones and he’d had a meltdown in the middle of class, Jesse had called his brother, Grayson.
As soon as he’d heard his brother’s voice, Jesse had spewed out all his concerns.
It was most of the usual: He was failing as a father, neither of them were doing well, MaryBeth was the only one who could reach their son.
Grayson had let out a soft sigh when he was done before saying, Jess… I think a visit to Tenacity would be good for you and Oscar.
After Jesse had hung up the phone, he’d taken a long, hard look around his house.
Not much had changed since MaryBeth had died.
Her favorite pictures of them decorated the walls, and the blanket she would curl up under during the winter evenings still had its space on the back of the couch.
If he walked into the kitchen, he knew he’d find all of her favorite recipe books on the shelf above the refrigerator, collecting dust. He’d never gotten rid of them, though Lord knew when was the last time anyone touched them.
He made simple food for himself and his son: hamburgers, spaghetti with sauce out of a jar, and Friday night’s splurge featuring either pizza or fast food.
He’d be the first to admit that the family of two had been living in a rut since their center died.
And he’d thought…maybe for both of their sakes, something needed to change. A few months later, he’d enrolled Oscar into Tenacity High School, and they officially moved to town.
He figured the smaller, quieter setting would be good for Oscar.
Maybe his son would have a chance to make a friend or two.
But Jesse knew it was also time for himself to start moving on.
It had been nearly ten years since MaryBeth had died, and while he’d had the occasional one-night stand, it wasn’t his style to casually date.
Just because he was half tempted to turn his horse around so he could hopefully run into Carly again didn’t mean anything.
He needed to make sure Oscar was succeeding in his new environment first before he even considered dating someone.
When he was finally ready to get back in the market, he wouldn’t date a woman whose whole career was living on the edge and risking her life.
He didn’t want to fall for someone he could easily lose with one stumble of a horse.
So, there was no point in thinking about a certain internationally famous rodeo star any further.
It was as they were entering the padlock on Grayson’s property that he realized Oscar was quiet—too quiet for someone who’d just met a professional athlete and rattled off her stats. When he glanced over at his son, he caught Oscar staring at him.
“What?” he finally asked.
Oscar gave him a pointed look. “You missed the turn to the barn.”
“What? No I—” Jesse looked toward Grayson’s property and saw that his horse had led him down another trail instead of toward the homestead. He halted the animal and glanced over to where Oscar was stopped at the fork in the paths, waiting for his father to rejoin him.
“You’re distracted,” Oscar concluded.
“No, I’m not,” Jesse muttered as he turned his horse around so they could get back on the right track.
Right before they reached the barn, they came to another stop.
Jesse had just swung his leg over the horse when Oscar said, “You should ask Carly Hawkins out.”
Jesse was so startled that his foot caught in the stirrup and he almost fell onto his butt. He thankfully caught himself before hitting the ground. Meanwhile, his son gracefully hopped off his own horse, patting the mare on the side of her face before leading her into the barn.
Collecting himself, Jesse followed suit. “What are you talking about?”
“Pleeeeease, Dad. You were practically drooling.”
“I was not!” Jesse grumbled, leading his mare to the cross-tie area so he could take off the tack.
They worked in silence for several minutes as they each took care of their horses.
They carried the saddles into the tack room, the sharp scent of leather and saddle soap filling the air.
Dust motes drifted lazily through the shafts of afternoon sunlight cutting across the space.
The day’s ride had left both of them sweaty and tired, but the familiar routine of cleaning the tack relaxed Jesse.
Oscar broke the silence first. “It’s okay, you know.”
He glanced at his son. “What’s okay?”
“If you want to ask Carly out.” Oscar said it so casually, like he was commenting on the weather. “She’s single, you know. She was dating Fletch Alistair, but they broke up. Probably ’cause he’s not a very good bull rider.”
Jesse’s hand stilled mid-motion, the rag half-draped over his saddle horn. He tried to play it off, focusing on a stubborn bit of dirt on the stirrup leather. “That so?”
Oscar shrugged. “Yeah. I saw it on Australian YouTube. It was all over the news over there.”
“Why are you watching Australian YouTu—You know what? Never mind.” Jesse’s pulse kicked up a notch at the confirmation—Carly was single—but he tamped it down just as fast. He wasn’t some lovesick teenager.
“I’m not interested in dating Carly, or anyone else, so it doesn’t matter,” he said, a little too quickly.
Oscar didn’t seem convinced. His brow furrowed as he went to the utility sink, the faucet squealing in protest as he turned it on. He soaked a cloth and wrung it out, then came back to his saddle. “You don’t think she’s hot? I mean—for an old person?”
Jesse huffed, a laugh escaping before he could stop it. “Old person, huh? She’s what, thirty?”
“Exactly,” Oscar said, as if that proved his point. “Basically ancient.”
“Careful,” Jesse warned lightly, running a hand along the saddle’s flank. “By your standards, I’m prehistoric.”
Oscar grinned. “You said it, not me.”
Jesse shook his head, hiding a smile. He focused on the saddle again, but Carly’s name lingered in his mind longer than he wanted to admit. No, he told himself firmly. He didn’t have time for that kind of complication.
But as the silence stretched between them again, the thud of cloth on leather rhythmic and steady, the thought stayed anyway. “Yes, she’s very pretty.” Pretty didn’t even describe how beautiful the woman was, but hadn’t Jesse just told himself that he wasn’t going to think about her anymore?
Oscar. Focus on Oscar.
“Enough about my love life,” Jesse said.
“What love life?” Oscar muttered. “You need to get a life so you don’t worry so much about mine.”
He ignored that. “And on that note, what’s going on with you? Is school getting any better?”
His son’s face soured for a second before it brightened again. “Coach Finn is great.”
Jesse would always be grateful that Finn Monahan had bonded with Oscar over football and had encouraged the teen to be part of the football team in his own way.
The kid was like a sponge—absorbing anything sports related that he could.
Football was something he could talk about to anyone who’d listen.
Finn was a former NFL quarterback and respected Oscar’s knowledge.
But would the students his age give him a chance to talk?
As they left the barn and started heading toward the house, they could hear the children of Grayson’s girlfriend, JenniLynn Garrett, yelling from inside.
Jesse winced at the noise before checking to make sure Oscar wasn’t getting overly stimulated. Oscar’s hands clenched and unclenched, a sign that he was starting to stim.
“Where are your headphones?” Jesse asked.
“In my bedroom,” Oscar said. “It’s fine—”
“Stay here. I’ll go get them,” he insisted.
As he hurried into the house, he remembered why he didn’t date anyone seriously. Oscar was his main focus. Jesse was all Oscar had. And he needed to remember that.
* * *
Two days later, Jesse was hammering a fence post in place.
His back ached and his shirt was soaked with sweat, but he only had a few more to install and then he could get the barbed wiring done.
It felt strange to get back to ranching after living in the city for so long.
He’d worked in an office, doing analytical work.
He’d hated it, but it kept him in Houston, which was where MaryBeth had grown up.
The truth was he’d missed this life. There was nothing better than being out in the fresh air at the crack of dawn, making sure the animals were fed and cared for.
After he and Oscar had made the decision to move to Tenacity, Jesse had been more than a little excited to leave the corporate world behind and all the stress that came with it.