Chapter Three #2
He wanted to get back to his roots. While he still did remote IT work, he was counting the minutes until he could finish the house, quit his job, and get back to full-time ranching.
Some of his fondest memories included following his dad around their property when he was a kid and helping with chores.
Jesse hoped Oscar would love it as much as he had.
The conversation he and Oscar had the other day popped into his head.
He couldn’t believe his son actually encouraged him to ask Carly Hawkins out.
He didn’t plan on doing it. He had to focus on his ranch and making sure he hadn’t made the biggest mistake of his life dragging Oscar out to the country.
He wanted his son to be happy and to have the world at his feet.
But the world didn’t exactly come crawling to Tenacity, Montana.
Though…that hadn’t stopped a beautiful, worldly woman like Carly from moving to town.
As much as he wanted to pretend otherwise, he couldn’t stop thinking of her.
Just hearing her voice for those precious few minutes made him want to smile.
A woman like her could have her choice of men.
He seriously doubted that she’d want to give a single dad like him a shot.
Hell, he didn’t even have his own roof over his head yet.
Jesse scowled as he took off his cowboy hat and wiped at his sweaty forehead with the back of his arm.
Even though fall was right around the corner, it was still warm.
He put the Stetson back on and was about to reach for the final post when he heard a vehicle coming down the dirt road that split his property from Grayson’s.
A familiar truck came to a halt in front of him, and his brother rolled down his window.
“Hey, man,” Grayson said as he came to a halt. He looked down the line of fencing that Jesse had been working on. “Things are looking good.”
Jesse glanced at his project, his mind still occupied with Carly. “Thanks. The contractors are working on the electrical at the house and seeing as that’s not my specialty, I figured I’d work on some exterior projects.”
Grayson was silent for a moment before he said, “What’s wrong with you?”
“Nothing,” he muttered as he grabbed his mallet off the ground so he could whack the post a few more times.
“You sure? ’Cause you look like a thunderstorm is headed our way.”
“It’s nothing. Just something Oscar said the other day.”
Grayson put his truck in Park before turning his full attention back to his brother. “Hit me.”
Jesse ran his fingers over the smooth top of the mallet. “Do you know Carly Hawkins?”
Grayson’s eyebrows pulled together. “Not well, though I heard she bought the property next to mine, so I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before JenniLynn invites her over.
” He sounded grumpy, though the fondness in his eyes when mentioning his girlfriend revealed he wasn’t really upset. He usually wasn’t when it came to her.
“We ran into Carly when we took the horses out the other day…” Jesse went on to explain the encounter with the woman he couldn’t forget.
Grayson smirked when he was finished. “Oscar get a little crush on her?”
Jesse set the mallet on the post. “No. He said I should ask her out.”
“Oh…” Grayson said, his expression not holding back his surprise. Jesse didn’t blame him.
“I know. It’s a ridiculous idea.” He went over to the pile of posts he’d set out earlier and bent down to grab one.
“Why is it ridiculous?” Grayson asked.
Jesse straightened to look at his brother. “You know why.” He lifted his work-gloved hand and starting counting off. “For one, she’s a famous rodeo star. Two, did you forget about Oscar? I can’t date right now. He just started at a new school.”
“Finn told me he’s keeping Oscar under his wing,” Grayson said.
A lump formed in Jesse’s throat. He hadn’t realized his brother was talking to the school’s football coach and looking out for his nephew.
“All things considered Oscar’s a pretty independent kid. He might need a little wiggle room to get his feet under him in school.”
Jesse opened his mouth to argue that but instead said, “That doesn’t change the fact that Carly is a huge star.”
“You can still ask the woman out,” Grayson responded. “What’s the worst she can say? No, right? At least you’ll know.”
Yeah. That actually sounded horrible. Jesse glared at the remaining posts.
“Is this about MaryBeth?” Grayson asked, his tone careful.
Jesse’s throat bobbed, but he didn’t answer.
His brother let out a sad sigh. “She wouldn’t want you to grow old alone.”
“I know,” Jesse replied after swallowing hard. He stared at the ground. “She was always so good with Oscar. Do you remember how she could calm him with just a look? I feel like I screw up all the time with him.”
“You’re not. He’s a good kid who handles situations a little differently—that’s all.
You deserve to be happy. You both do.” Grayson reached for the gearshift and put it back into Drive.
“Ask the woman out, Jess. And if she says no, JenniLynn is the mayor. She knows literally everyone in this town. She can find you a nice woman to date.”
He waved at Jesse before continuing down the road.
Jesse’s mind raced with everything that his brother said, but one thing stood out—that Grayson offered to set Jesse up with someone.
He’d need to put an end to that. It was bad enough whenever he made a trip to town for something that the single women circled him like sharks.
He didn’t need his family setting him up with some random woman.
He certainly didn’t want it to get around town that he was open to dating.
Because if Jesse was going to ask out anyone, it would be the one he couldn’t stop thinking about. The one who made his pulse jump just by thinking of her. The one he shouldn’t have. She was off-limits, and he needed to remember to keep it that way.
So why was it that every time he told himself to forget her, she found a way to slip back into his thoughts?