Chapter Twenty-One
Carly was supposed to be resting. Instead, she was staring out of her living room window, hurt and anger warring inside her.
She was on day three of recovering from a concussion, sprained wrist, and overall bruising that happened when a thousand-pound horse landed on you.
Thankfully, Nieve had rolled off her quicker than he fell, but she was left feeling like a punching bag.
She could deal with that. She’d had worse falls before. What she could not deal with was Jesse Abernathy going silent on her. Again!
He’d texted her a few times to make sure she was okay, but she hadn’t spoken to him or seen the man.
Considering the direction she thought their relationship was going, she figured he would have at least visited her in the hospital when they’d kept her overnight or that he would have stopped by her house since.
But nothing.
She’d tried calling him a few times, but she always got redirected to voicemail.
Carly tried to be understanding. She had a vague memory of Oscar being there when she’d gotten injured. He’d been upset, and Jesse would have had to calm him down before he overstimulated.
That was three days ago though.
“Honey, you should be lying down,” her mom said.
Between her parents, Remi, and Amy, Carly should have been fine with not seeing Jesse.
They’d made sure she lacked for nothing from company to food.
But as much as she loved her family, they weren’t the ones she needed to see right now.
She needed to see her boyfriend and give him a piece of her mind.
Tomorrow. The doctor said you can drive tomorrow.
“I’m fine,” Carly insisted. She turned to face her mom and sister who were currently visiting her. “I’m seriously okay. I love and appreciate you both so much. But I think what I need is some alone time. I’m not in any danger at this point, and it’ll be good for me to have a second to think.”
Amy’s eyebrow raised. “And what are you thinking about?”
Carly let out a sigh. She turned to face the window again, staring sightlessly at the woods bordering her property. “I’m thinking I should have taken up Dex on his proposal and hightailed it back to the circuit.”
She could see Amy and her mom exchange glances in the window’s reflection.
“You’re reconsidering?” Amy asked cautiously.
Carly briefly closed her eyes. As much as she wanted to say yes, she knew there was no way she was going to leave Tenacity anytime soon.
She wasn’t a quitter, and she wanted to see her dream come true.
She was also going to chew out Jesse and tell him that he needed to choose.
Her and better communication skills, or nothing at all.
Because Carly was done with him going AWOL and giving her the silent treatment.
“No,” Carly finally answered. “I’m not leaving Tenacity. If this recent injury has taught me anything, it’s that I’m getting too old to be doing this.”
“You’re thirty.” Her mom said it lightly, but there was relief in her voice. “You’re hardly over the hill.”
Carly shook her head. “I know, but my life goals aren’t the same anymore. I want to start my horse-riding school, Suzie-Q’s Healing Hooves.”
She’d decided to use her dad’s nickname for their mom as a way to honor both her parents. Her mom instantly teared up, recognizing it.
“Oh, darlin’.” Her mom came over and hugged Carly carefully. “You girls spoil me.”
“I don’t think any of us are going to top that one though,” Amy said before jokingly adding, “Way to show us up, sis.”
“You can always name your next kid after Mom,” Carly returned.
Amy snorted. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
Their mom turned to look at Amy, her eyebrows raised. “Do you have something to tell me?”
Amy rolled her eyes. “I’m not pregnant, if that’s what you’re asking. I’d like Josephine to get a little bigger before we try for baby number two.”
“Anyway, thank you for keeping me company today…” Carly said, hoping her family would take the hint.
“Okay, we’ll get out of your hair,” her mom replied. “But you call us if you’re feeling uncomfortable or need anything at all.”
“I will. Thank you both for everything.”
She smiled as she watched them go, but the little joy that their presence had sparked inside her dimmed as she went back to staring out the window.
Rodeo accidents weren’t going to be the death of her.
But Jesse Abernathy very well might be.
There was a knock on the door, and for half a second, she thought it might have been her family returning because they forgot something. A quick glance around showed that nothing was amiss though—no items left behind.
And then, against her better judgment, Carly started to feel hope. Maybe it was Jesse finally coming to check on her. She was back to debating if she wanted to throw herself at him or tell him to take a hike.
Another knock vibrated the door, this one even more insistent than the last. Carly hurried down the hall but paused in front of the hallway mirror to give her hair a quick check.
She wouldn’t win any beauty contests at the moment—not with the dark circles under her eyes and the pallor to her skin—but she’d do.
Taking a deep breath, Carly opened the door.
Her jaw dropped at the sight of the man before her.
“Hello, beautiful,” he said with his thick Aussie accent.
“Fletch.”
* * *
Jesse manually sanded the board of his front porch. He needed something to do with his hands.
He couldn’t think. Couldn’t focus.
He ached to see Carly. He felt more and more gutted the longer he stayed away.
As much as he wanted to see her, though, he couldn’t get the image of her lying lifeless on the arena floor. His mind kept playing that moment relentlessly on repeat until he couldn’t breathe.
Jesse needed to sort out his brain before he saw her, or he might just end up begging her to never get on her horse again—a conversation that he knew wouldn’t do either of them any good.
Knowing how strong-headed Carly was, she’d probably slam the door in his face if he tried—her resilience was one of the things he loved most about her.
No, he needed to get his crap together before he went out of his mind from not seeing her or touching her to make sure she was alive and well.
A car pulled up to the house, and he looked up in confusion when he saw who it was.
“Hi,” Amy Hawkins said when she got out of the car. “The house is looking good. I always thought this was too pretty a piece of property to not have some life on it.”
Jesse ran down the steps to her. “Is Carly okay? Tell me she’s okay.”
He bit back bile. Why else would Carly’s sister be here other than to tell him that Carly’s injuries were worse than originally thought?
“She’s fine,” Amy assured him. “Well, as fine as can be expected. The doctor said she should be able to start driving tomorrow. She’s champing at the bit to do so.
I know she’s got a lot of things to get in order before she leaves town again.
” She walked over to the side of the house, admiring the boards.
“Are you going to paint this? Because I have to tell you, it looks great natural.”
Jesse barely heard her over the ringing in his ears. “What the hell do you mean that she’s leaving town?”
“Oh!” Amy looked at him, surprise on her face. “Didn’t she tell you? I thought you two had grown close. When I stopped by to check in on her this morning—because that’s what people do when they love someone—she had mentioned something about calling her agent and accepting the European tour.”
Jesse dropped the hammer that he was still holding. It barely missed his foot. He didn’t even notice. He was too busy staring at Amy with horrified eyes.
“She can’t leave,” he whispered.
Amy shrugged. “What does she have in Tenacity worth staying for? Last week I would have said you. Just going by town gossip and what my sister has told me, I thought you’d end up like Josh and me.
I’ve never seen Carly as happy as she’s been with you, but I’ve been over to her house every day since she was injured, and I haven’t seen you there, Jesse. ”
“I… I had things I needed to do.”
“Well, I hope they were important.” Amy walked back to her car and opened the door. She nodded toward the house again. “It really is shaping into a nice home. I’m sure you and your son will be very happy here for years.”
Jesse didn’t miss the fact that Amy hadn’t included Carly in that statement.
He stood frozen as he watched her drive off until she was gone from view, then he slowly turned and went inside the house to grab his car keys and wallet.
Once he was in his truck, he pointed the vehicle toward the only direction he ever wanted to go again.