Chapter 19
After a restless night of no sleep, Liberty got up the following morning and broke the news to her parents and Mimi that Jesse hadn’t come through. Corbin was taking the ranch. Daddy cussed a blue streak, Mama just sat there looking sad, and Mimi refused to believe it.
“I’m not giving up on Jesse,” she said. “He’ll fix it. You just hide and watch.”
Liberty had believed that too. She had put all her trust in Jesse. And he failed her. Last night, she’d been spitting mad at him. But after her temper cooled, she’d come to the realization that Jesse was only doing what she was doing: siding with his family.
“Jesse isn’t going to fix this, Mimi,” she said sadly. “Corbin is his family. We all know that family comes first.”
Mimi gave her a stern look. “Family isn’t just about blood, Libby Lou. Family is also about the folks who wiggle their way into our hearts without a trace of our blood. And I’d say we wiggled our way into Jesse’s heart as much as he wiggled his way into ours.”
Liberty couldn’t argue the point. She knew Jesse cared about them.
Just not enough.
After talking to her parents and Mimi, she’d texted the sister loop and called an emergency Holiday Secret Sisterhood Zoom meeting. Because the ranch still didn’t have Wi-Fi, she headed into town to Nothin’ But Muffins. Thankfully, the morning rush had already left and the place was empty except for Sheryl Ann who was baking tomorrow’s muffins in the back.
“So Jesse was in on everything from the get-go,” Sweetie said as soon as Liberty had finished relaying everything to her sisters. “I can’t believe it. He was so adamant about talking Corbin out of foreclosing on the ranch.”
“Well, if he lied about Corbin being his brother—or half brother,” Hallie said, “why wouldn’t he lie about wanting us to keep the ranch?”
Last night, Liberty had thought the same thing, but that had been her temper talking. This morning, she was thinking more clearly.
“I know Jesse. And I know he didn’t lie about wanting us to keep the ranch, Hal. But, just like we won’t go against what our sisters really want, he won’t go against what his sister wants.”
“So where does that leave us?” Noelle asked. As usual she was in the kitchen of her pastry school, scooping batter into a pan. But today she looked different. Hallie figured it out before Liberty did.
“What the hell did you do to your hair, Elle?”
Noelle touched her short bob. “I got a bob. Isn’t it the cutest? Luc talked me into it.”
Hallie snorted. “Luc sounds more and more like an ignoramus because that haircut is not cute. It makes your face look like the Pillsbury Doughboy.”
Noelle’s eyes widened. “Did you just call me fat?”
“No, but you’ve always had a round face with chubby cheeks, Elle. A bob is the last thing you needed.”
“Chubby! Did y’all hear that?”
“Enough, you two,” Sweetie said. “We have a bigger problem to worry about. We need to convince Corbin to let Rome pay off the ranch.”
“I don’t think it’s possible,” Liberty said. “Believe me, Jesse is world class at convincing people to do things. If he couldn’t, we can’t. Especially when it sounds like Corbin is holding a grudge against our family for me breaking a date with him in high school—although he didn’t see it as me breaking the date. He saw it as me trying to pull a twin switch on him.”
“A twin switch?” Belle looked stunned. Liberty couldn’t blame her. She had been just as shocked by Corbin’s lie.
“I know. As if we would do that.”
“You used to do it to us and Mama, Daddy, and Mimi all the time,” Hallie said.
“That’s different. You’re family. Belle and I wouldn’t do it to someone else. Especially a guy who had a crush on me.”
“No, you’d just break a date with him,” Sweetie said.
Liberty sighed. “You’re right. I was wrong to break the date.”
Hallie spoke up. “What is going on here? What happened to my tough, determined sister who is never wrong and never gives up and always keeps fighting?”
All her sisters stared back at her and she told the truth. “Maybe I’m just tired of fighting.”
“That’s not the Libby Lou I know.”
The deeply spoken words came from behind her and the heart she’d thought was gone started beating twice as fast. She turned to see Jesse standing there looking like he’d been rode hard . . . and left out in a blizzard. His hair was more messed than usual. His eyes were bloodshot. His skin had a grayish tint.
Just the sight of him made her feel complete and utter joy . . . and pain.
“Can we talk?” he said.
She turned away—mostly because if she kept looking at him, she knew she’d give in to the strong pull he had over her. “There’s nothing to say, Jesse. I know you’re sorry. And I know you tried to talk Corbin into allowing Rome to pay off the loan. So let’s just leave it at that.” She tried to hold back the tears, but it was a losing battle.
Fortunately, she had her back to Jesse.
Unfortunately, she was facing her sisters.
“Libby.” Belle’s eyes welled with tears.
“Ahh, honey.” Sweetie pressed a hand to her chest.
“Oh, Liberty.” Cloe’s voice quavered.
“What?” Noelle said. “Why is Liberty crying?”
“Wait a second.” Hallie blurted out. “Is something going on with you and that jackass who helped his brother steal our ranch, Libby? Hey, asshole! Taking our ranch is one thing, but you hurt my sister and I’m going to hurt you.”
“Hurting her is the last thing I want to do,” Jesse said. He placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed gently. “Please, Libby Lou, don’t cry. Please just give me a chance to explain.”
Try as she might, she couldn’t ignore his plea. “I’ll call y’all later,” she said to her sisters before she closed her laptop and got up. Without saying a word to him, she headed for the door. Once they were outside, she whirled on him. “So say what you want to say.”
He reached out and gently brushed a tear from her cheek. “Not here. I’ll follow you out to the ranch.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea. Daddy will shoot first and ask questions later.”
He studied her, his brown eyes sad and heartbreaking. “And you’d care?”
She wished she could lie, but her aching heart wouldn’t let her. “I’d care.”
She waited for him to return the sentiments, but he didn’t. “Regardless of your daddy filling my hide with buckshot, I need to talk to your family.” He hesitated. “Then we need to talk.”
The way he said it didn’t sound promising. It sounded like he was dreading whatever he had to say. Which could only mean one thing. He was going to tell her he was leaving.
Why she felt so hurt, she didn’t know. Especially when she had already ended things with him. But she did feel hurt. Her heart felt like an egg that’s fragile shell was slowly cracking. All the way back to the ranch, every time she glanced in the rearview mirror and saw him sitting behind the wheel of his ridiculous vehicle, those cracks got bigger and wider.
Like she had predicted, as soon as they pulled up in front of the house, her daddy came striding out of the barn looking fit to kill. He didn’t have his shotgun, but he did have a pitchfork that he was pointing at Jesse.
“Get off my property, Jesse Cates! This ain’t your ranch yet.”
Jesse came around the front of the truck with his hands held high. “You’re right, sir. But I’m not here to claim the ranch. I’m here to try and make sure it stays yours.”
Hank lowered the pitchfork, as surprised as Liberty was. “So you’re going against your own brother?”
“No, sir. I can’t do that. When I invested in Corbin’s business, I promised him that I wouldn’t interfere and he’d always have free rein to run it the way he saw fit. Even if I disagree with his decisions, I won’t go back on my word.”
“Then how are you going to make sure my family keeps the ranch?” Liberty asked.
He flashed his cocky smile. A smile she had missed way too much. “By giving Corbin exactly what he thinks he wants. Holiday Ranch. But my plan includes you being willing to allow him and our sister to move in here so you can show my greenhorn brother exactly how tough ranching is. Depending on how difficult you make it, I figure he’ll be out of here within a month. Two, tops.” He glanced at Liberty. “Then everything can go back to normal.”
Normal. Why did she suddenly hate that word so much? Probably because she knew what normal was for Jesse. Traveling around and not having a care in the world.
The screen door flew open and Mimi stepped out to the porch with Mama right behind her. Both women had to be eavesdropping because they were smiling. When they came down the porch steps, they each gave Jesse a big hug.
Mimi sent Liberty a smug smile. “I told you our Jesse would fix things.” She hooked an arm through Jesse’s. “Now you come inside and I’ll open that bottle of elderberry wine so we can celebrate.”
Jesse shook his head. “We can’t celebrate yet, Ms. Mimi. First, we have to get Corbin to agree to let y’all live here. And it has to be his idea.”
“And how do you think we do that?” Daddy asked. Liberty was wondering the same thing. But it appeared Jesse had thought his plan through because he answered quickly.
“You invite Corbin to dinner before the eviction date and show him around, making sure you give him a long list of everything he needs to do to keep up the house and the gardens and the stock.”
“But we don’t have any stock,” Mama said.
“I figure Rome can help you out with that.” He grinned. “My job will be to put a bug in Corbin’s ear about needing someone to show him the ropes of his new ranch.”
Everyone stood there mulling over the plan for a few minutes before Daddy laughed. Liberty couldn’t remember the last time she’d heard her daddy’s big barrel-chested laugh. “Well, son, it sounds like you got things all figured out.”
“I don’t think we should count our chickens before they’re hatched, sir. Corbin might not go for it. And even if he does, he could take to ranching better than I think.”
“Well, at least we’ll have tried,” Mimi said. “That’s all we can do. And I don’t see why we can’t go on in and have a glass of my wine just to celebrate a good plan.”
“Can I take a rain check, Ms. Mimi?” Jesse glanced at Liberty. “I need to talk to Libby.”
A big smile spread over Mimi’s face and she patted his arm. “Of course you can. Libby Lou, why don’t you take Jesse up to the hayloft where it’s nice and cool and quiet.”
Liberty knew what Jesse wanted to talk about. He was breaking things off with her. She knew he cared for her and her family, which was why he’d come up with the plan to save the ranch. But she also remembered too clearly the scared look on his face when she’d mentioned love.
This was confirmed when they got up into the hayloft and he acted so nervous. He pulled off his hat and ran a hand through his hair, then put it back on before taking it off again and rolling the brim through his hands as he looked around.
“Nice loft.”
“Is that what you want to talk to me about? How great my hayloft is?”
His gaze settled on her. “No.”
“Then what?”
He cleared his throat. “I’ve done some thinking . . . and well . . . I—”
She tried to act like her heart wasn’t cracking in two and cut him off. “Like I said before, you don’t have to explain anything to me, Jesse. I didn’t think this was forever. You’ve made it perfectly clear you don’t do forever. That’s okay. I don’t know if I’d be real good at forever either. So you can leave and not feel guilty. I’ll be just fine.”
He studied her for a long, heartbreaking moment before he spoke. “You might be fine, Libby Lou, but I won’t be.” His eyes softened. “I love you. I’ve fought it for a long time and I just can’t fight it anymore.”
She blinked. “You fought it? Are you saying loving me is like catching a bad cold?”
“No.” He paused. “Although love does kinda feel like that. It makes you achy and out of your head. And you do make me ache, Libby Lou, and feel out of my head.” He cringed. “Shit. This has to be the worst declaration of love in the history of love declarations. The only excuse I have is that it’s the first and only declaration I’ve ever made. And I’m standing here shaking in my boots, scared to death that you don’t feel the same way and that I’m gonna leave Wilder with a bigger hole in my chest than when I came.”
“So you’re still leaving?”
“No! I mean I’m not if you don’t want me to. If you want me to stay, I’ll stay . . . forever, Libby.”
Liberty had worked so hard at being the tough Holiday sister. The one who didn’t crumble easily. But she crumbled then. Her knees gave out and she crumbled into a sobbing heap, tears falling much faster than she could blink them back. Suddenly, Jesse’s arms were around her and he was pulling her into a hard chest that smelled of soothing campfires and cool summer nights.
“Lib. Baby. Please don’t cry.”
She swatted his chest and spoke through a tear-clogged throat. “I don’t cry!”
He rubbed her back. “Of course you don’t.” He kissed the top of her head. “But if you ever feel like you need to cry, it’s safe to cry with me, Libby Lou. I promise I won’t tell a soul.”
That was about the sweetest thing she had ever heard. She lifted her head and looked into his eyes. “You make me feel achy and out of my head too, Jesse Cates. But you also make me feel so much more. Until you showed up, I forgot how to live. I was just fighting my way through each day without enjoying it. You taught me how to slow down and enjoy life. Now I can’t imagine that life without you.”
He brushed a tear from her cheek. “That’s good, darlin’. Because I can’t imagine life without you either.” He kissed her. It wasn’t a heated passionate kiss. It was a soft, sweet one. And yet, it rocked her world more than any other kiss. Because this kiss was filled with all the emotions both of them struggled to express. When he drew back, they were both smiling. Although Liberty’s logical brain didn’t let her smile for long.
“So how are we going to do this? How are we going to share a life when I live in Houston and you live . . . all over.”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess we’ll have to figure out a place to live that works for both of us.” He hesitated. “Like maybe Wilder.”
“Wilder? You’d move here?”
“For you, Libby Lou, I’d move anywhere.” He leaned in to kiss her, but she stopped him.
“Just to be clear, I’m still ticked about you not telling me Corbin is your brother.”
He grinned. “I figured as much. I also figured that this won’t be the last time you get ticked at me.” He pulled her closer. “So I guess it’s a good thing I’m excellent at making up for my sins.”
He kissed her.
And he was right.
She forgot all about his sins . . . and wanted to do some sinning of her own.