Chapter Ten
Carly wore another dress for her next date with Jesse. This one had long sleeves and was the color of rich burgundy. She forbade her sister and cousin from coming over. As much as she loved and appreciated them, she wanted some quiet moments to herself before Jesse picked her up.
She left her hair down, only pinning it back at the sides.
Jesse said to dress so she could move, and after dragging on her red cowgirl boots, she was as ready as she was going to get.
That didn’t stop her from running back to the mirror to eye her selection again.
Carly should have asked where they were going.
Was the dress too fancy? Should she have worn her hair up?
She stared nervously in front of the mirror.
She was overthinking things, but she couldn’t help it.
She wasn’t sure what this evening would bring.
She honestly thought Jesse might not be interested since he went no-contact after their first date.
He was sending her mixed signals. One minute he wasn’t talking to her, the next he was going out of his way to help her.
A knock on the door had Carly’s pulse speeding up.
Taking a breath to steady her nerves, she opened the door to find Jesse waiting on the porch.
He looked just as handsome as he always did, in a black-and-white checkered shirt and black jeans.
He sported a black cowboy hat that shadowed his eyes in the evening sun.
“Wow,” he said. “You look amazing.”
“Thanks. You don’t look so bad yourself,” she responded.
Jesse grinned at her before placing his hand on her back—a move she was getting a little too used to. She took a subtle breath of the woodsy cologne he wore as he guided her to his truck. He smelled so good. After he shut her door for her, he rounded the truck, and they were soon on their way.
“Am I allowed to know where we’re going now?” she asked.
“I thought we might try some line dancing at the Grizzly tonight.”
“You know how to line dance?” she asked.
“Not really.” Jesse laughed. “But how hard can it be?”
Carly snickered. “Oh, tonight is going to be so much fun.”
“Should I be nervous?” he asked.
“I guess we’ll find out,” she joked, feeling herself relax. “How’s the house coming along?”
“Good,” he answered. “Grayson and I were able to get the drywall up in Oscar’s room. I think we should be able to paint it soon.”
“What does Oscar think about this?” Carly had to ask as she waved her hand between the two of them.
“He thinks you’re already much cooler than me,” Jesse said with a self-deprecating smile. “But yes, he’s happy that I asked you out. He’s been really supportive about it, actually. I think he likes that I have something to focus on other than him.”
Carly tried not to look too pleased at that statement. “You focus on me a lot?”
“Oh, nonstop, night and day.” Jesse said it as a joke, and she laughed, but the glance he gave her as they turned down Central Avenue toward the Grizzly made her wonder if she was reading him right.
“Are you ready for this?” Carly asked him as they watched people enter the Western-style saloon.
The exterior had a flat roof, like most of the commercial buildings in town.
The entrance had a large orange door with weather-beaten benches to either side of it and a rough facade of bricks made from natural stone.
A driveway beside the building led to a small parking lot behind the bar where they found a place to park.
Jesse smirked before offering her his hand. “Let’s do it.”
As they headed inside, Carly took in the crowded place. The floors were wood, and there was a long bar. Next to it was a jukebox blasting classic country music. Booths ran along the wall, and on one side of the building were some people playing pool. An antler chandelier hung overhead.
Carly glanced at Jesse and snickered when she saw his eyes go wide as he watched the line dancers moving in perfect sync to the music.
“Come on,” she said, offering her hand. He took it, and they made their way to the dance floor.
An hour later, Jesse had a light sheen of sweat on his cheeks as he tried to follow her moves. “How’d you get so good at this?” he asked as he stumbled over his own foot.
“My sister Elizabeth and I would go line dancing in between shows while we toured Australia. We didn’t get a break often, but when we did, we made the most of it.”
It was some of her favorite memories from the circuit, spending time with her sister.
Sometimes they’d go dancing with Elizabeth’s husband; other times, it was just her and Elizabeth, and they would go shopping or lie on a beach somewhere and talk.
It was nice, like she and her sister were taking on the world together.
It was after Elizabeth’s husband died and she moved back to the States that Carly got so homesick, she’d bought the property in Tenacity.
The music changed to something slow and romantic.
Jesse’s mouth turned upward. “Can I have this dance, Ms. Hawkins?”
“You may, Mr. Abernathy.”
She placed her hands on his shoulders, and his went to her waist. They began to sway to the melodic sound.
As they moved, she was slightly aware that there were a lot of people looking in their direction.
But it was white noise. Carly was too distracted by the feel of Jesse’s body under her palms, the weight of his hands on her waist.
He smelled so good, like cedar and fresh hay.
As Carly slowly raised her eyes to his mouth, she wondered what it would feel like to finally be against her own lips.
Against other parts of her. As she finally met his eyes, he stared intently back before his own gaze dropped to her mouth.
The air around them changed, becoming electric.
Her breath hitched as he tightened his hands on her waist, pulling her more firmly against him until there was no space between their bodies.
Carly wanted to feel more of him. All of him. She was just about to tell him that when the music changed and a sharp honky-tonk song came on that had the crowd cheering.
Her face felt hot—whether from dancing or from fighting back the temptation to make a public exhibition of herself, she didn’t know. She pulled back so suddenly, his eyebrows shot up.
“You okay?” Jesse asked.
“I, um, I need to go freshen up. Will you excuse me?”
“Sure,” Jesse said. “I’ll meet you at our table.”
Carly nodded and hurried toward the bathroom. As soon as she was inside, she walked over to the sink and turned on the cold water. She wet a paper towel before wiping the damp cloth over her warm cheeks. The door to the bathroom opened, and a beautiful Black woman walked in.
“Oh!” the woman said. “Hello, Carly. It’s good to see you again.”
“Hi, Michelle. How are you?” Carly asked in response.
She’d met Michelle Corey a couple of times since officially moving to Tenacity, though she didn’t know her well.
Michelle’s brother, Shane, was engaged to Carly’s cousin Remi.
The couple of times she had met Michelle, though, she had liked her, and she looked forward to having a friend in town.
Michelle joined her at the sink, copying her and wetting a towel to dab at her face. “Gosh, it’s hot out there.”
“It’s a sign that people are having a good time,” Carly replied.
Michelle leaned a hip against the sink. “You and Jesse sure looked like you were having a fun time.” She wiggled her eyebrows at Carly, who laughed. “I didn’t realize you two were seeing each other. You make a cute couple.”
“‘Seeing’ is an interesting word. This is only our second date. To be honest, I’m not sure if we’ll end up dating or just being really good friends.”
Michelle smirked. “Good friends or not, I can only hope to find a man who will look at me someday the way Jesse looks at you.”
Carly flushed all over again as she remembered what it felt like on the dance floor, to be held against Jesse. “A good man is hard to find,” she said, though she hoped that Jesse might be the one for her and not a friend.
Michelle completely distracted her by saying, “Oh, I totally get that…although I already found one.” Her face saddened though before she muttered quietly, “Not that he feels the same way about me.”
Carly looked at the woman in concern.
She wanted to ask more about it, but Michelle changed the subject. “Are you going to participate in the Fall Dinosaur Days Rodeo?”
“I…didn’t even know there was one,” Carly admitted.
“Oh yeah. Tenacity’s Dinosaur Days Festival is a big deal around here.
Lots of places get involved. My family owns Little Cowpokes Daycare Center.
We’re holding a kids’ event during the celebration.
If you want to be a part of the rodeo, I can make some calls.
I’m sure the townsfolk would be tickled pink to have one of the Hawkins Sisters perform. ”
“Well…if you think they’d want me there, I’d be happy to be a part of it,” Carly told her.
Michelle squealed. She rushed over and gave her a hug. “I’ll have Remi send you the details once I know more.”
“Sounds good.”
Michelle beamed at her. “I should probably stop holding you up. Your man will be wondering where you are.”
She gave Carly a nod and left the room. Carly turned back to the mirror as her Michelle’s words echoed in her mind.
Jesse Abernathy wasn’t her man.
But she was starting to really wish he was.
She returned to their table and saw Jesse drinking a glass of water.
“I got you some water,” he said, nodding toward the glass next to his.
“Thanks.” She sat down next to him. “This has been a lot of fun tonight.”
“Yeah,” Jesse replied.
“I ran into Michelle Corey in the bathroom.” She told him that Michelle asked her to do the rodeo. By the time she was done, he was frowning.
“Are you going to?” Jesse asked.
“Yeah, I think so,” she replied. “Michelle said the townsfolk would enjoy it.”
He stared at his glass intently. “And you’re up for it?”
She gave him a puzzled look. “What do you mean?”
“The first day we met, Oscar had mentioned you were recently injured. Are you sure doing a rodeo is a good idea right now?”
Carly didn’t know if she should react with indignation or lean over and kiss him for caring.
“I appreciate the concern, but I’m fine.
I was hardly hurt. The reporters made a bigger deal about it than necessary because I’d quit the Australian circuit around that time and moved home.
The injury was seriously nothing. I’m as good as new. ”
She melted a little at the relief on his face.
“Can I escort you to the event?” he asked.
Carly practically glowed. That didn’t sound very friend-zone-like to her. So maybe they would end up being more than just friends, just as she hoped.
“Yeah,” she answered. “I’d really like that.”
He cracked a grin. “Good. It’s a date.”
On the way home, Carly couldn’t stop anticipating their good-night kiss. Everything was going so well, and after their connection earlier on the dance floor, she could not be mistaking the looks he’d been giving her all evening. He wanted to kiss her just as badly as she wanted to kiss him.
Once they arrived at her house, Jesse walked her toward her porch. She glanced toward the sky and sighed contentedly.
“I don’t know what it is about Tenacity,” she murmured, “but the stars seem a little bit brighter here than anywhere else I’ve been.”
They came to a stop at her steps.
“Do you have a favorite constellation?” Jesse asked, his eyes on her instead of the sky.
“Well, I’m a Virgo, so I have to give my love to that,” Carly joked.
“I remember when I first arrived at Suzie’s place, she and Arthur took all of us to an observatory.
I got to see Saturn and all its rings. You could even see their shadow against the planet.
It was incredible. Before I found my forever home, I would spend hours staring up at the night sky, wishing on as many stars as I could see—which wasn’t very many.
Most of my foster homes were in cities, and light pollution ruined my view. ”
“What’d you wish for?” Jesse asked, his voice soft.
Carly’s face turned a little sad. “At first, I used to wish for my birth parents’ accident to have been a mistake, that they weren’t dead but were actually out searching for me.
And then one night, I had a really bad night with my foster parents.
The guy came home drunk and started lashing out at anything and anyone he could find.
I—” She couldn’t tell him what happened; she didn’t want to relive it.
“Anyway, later that night I went up to my room and stared up at the sky. I saw one star that night, and I wished with all my heart that I could find someone who would rescue me from the hell I was living in. When my social worker came to check on me and saw…the bruises, she removed me from the home. The next family I was sent to turned out to be Suzie and Arthur. The rest is history.”
She gave him a half smile and saw that he was staring at her with sadness on his face. Oh hell, had she ruined the mood?
“I’m sorry you went through that,” Jesse finally said.
Carly gave a small shrug. “It all worked out for the best in the end. I couldn’t have asked for two better parents than the ones I ended up with.
They introduced me to horses and the rodeo life.
Everything I have is because of them.” Deciding they needed a change in subject, she asked, “What about you? Any wishes on stars?”
Jesse tilted his head back and looked at the sky.
“I was always too busy, I guess. When I was younger, we had my parents’ ranch we had to take care of.
Though sometimes my brothers and I would camp outside.
We’d lay out under the night sky, and I’d count as many stars as I could before I’d fall asleep. ”
“I’m sure you were able to count every single one,” she teased.
“I think I got to three hundred and then I’d either lose track or fall asleep,” he said with a laugh.
Carly gave the stars one final look. She wished the night would never end. When she finally glanced at Jesse, she found that he was staring at her again. She could read the intention in his eyes.
“Carly…” Jesse rasped.
“Yes?” she said, trying not to sound too eager.
“I—” His phone buzzed, and Jesse dropped his gaze to the phone he pulled out from his pants pocket. He read the text, his eyes deepening in concern.
“Is everything okay?” she asked.
“Yes…just my son.” He put his phone back in his pocket. “I need to go.”
“Okay,” Carly said, trying to hide her disappointment in the sudden ending to their date. “Thank you for the lovely evening.”
“You’re welcome.” He stared at her for a second, his mouth opening and closing. He finally said, “Talk to you later.”
“Bye,” Carly responded.
She stood there for a long time, even after his truck disappeared from her view.