Chapter Thirteen

It was her own fault for not asking more questions before getting into the big truck that Vicki herded her in. Dare was already in the passenger seat and they were headed down the highway before details regarding this “great idea” of Vicki’s were shared.

“There’s not much use in hanging around here until Jesse gets back. We may as well go say hi to Marion, and I can help with the kids.” Vicki made a noise. “Not that she’s ever complained about having anything or anyone thrust upon her at the last minute.”

Dare nodded her agreement in a bit of a haze. At that point it was too late to escape unless she wanted to throw herself out the door of a moving vehicle. Although the comment about Marion dealing effortlessly with all the grandkids did register.

Gramma score: +25

Vicki took a quick peek at Dare before focusing back on the road. “I don’t want to be too snoopy, because you’re bound to have a ton of questions thrown at you. So don’t feel as if you have to give out your life story, or anything.” She paused to manoeuver the big truck onto the secondary road before continuing. “Although I think you’re a brave woman to agree to visit for more than a day right off the bat.”

“It didn’t seem that dangerous when Jaxi mentioned it, but I’m reconsidering,” Dare confessed. “I hate to put you and Joel out.”

Vicki waved a hand. “It’s not a bother. We’ve got the room, and it’s not as if you’ll be there all the time. We’ll be lucky to have a quiet evening to ourselves—everyone in the family will want you to come over, and that probably means everyone else who is free will drop in that night as well.”

Dare fought to keep her shudder of dismay from being too obvious. “Did I mention I’m more comfortable in small groups?”

The other woman hummed in sympathy. “Close your eyes and pretend some of them aren’t there? That’s all I’ve got to offer. Sorry.”

“I’ll deal.”

“You will.” Vicki chuckled. “If it makes you feel any better, I did Thanksgiving dinner for my first ‘meet the Colemans’ event. It turned out fine, once my knees stopped knocking.”

God, that would have been worse. “But did you swear?” Dare managed to tease.

Vicki snorted. “Definitely. At Jesse, if I recall right.”

Ha. “Good thing he’s charming most of the time,” Dare offered in return.

Vicki didn’t respond, her eyes fixed on the road in front of them.

Dare’s nerves were still there, but in a way, Vicki’s story had reassured her. She wasn’t the first person to have to deal with meet the family pressure—heck, Jesse had already survived her brothers. This was just a short-term visit. It’s not as if she had to convince all these people they wanted her around twenty-four/seven forever.

Fields and barns passed by, and as unfamiliar as the area was, Dare swore they were retracing their steps. The trip seemed to take them in a circle back to where they’d started.

“Where do Jesse’s parents live?”

“Across the road from Jaxi and Blake’s. Everyone in the Coleman family plays musical houses. There are five houses and the bunkhouses, and no one stays put for long, although that might change now that everyone’s settling in a bit more. The trailer we’re in has been lived in by Matt, Daniel, Travis and now us. I don’t even know the history before Matt.”

“Silver Stone ranch has got my place, and the main homestead, and everyone else lives in bunkhouses. Although Luke has been building a new place off and on for the last year.”

Vicki offered a smile. “Joel and I are doing that. Well, the building a new place, not the off and on.”

“Really?”

The other woman answered with a lot more enthusiasm, as if glad to have a safe topic again. “We started this spring. The foundation is in, and we hope to get everything on the exterior done by the fall so we can spend the winter finishing the inside.”

“That’s exciting.”

“It is. It’s also nerve-racking, because part of me doesn’t want to take on too much debt, but Joel insisted building is a commitment for the future, and there’s no reason to hold off when we can enjoy it now.”

Dare nodded. “I understand the nervous bit. Sometimes it’s easier to keep on with the familiar, although change can be good.”

Look at her being all philosophical and positive and shit. The only change she wanted right now was to not be headed toward a meet-and-greet with Jesse’s mom and dad when he was nowhere in sight.

There was no getting out of it, though. Vicki drove to the house where they’d originally met, then turned east instead of west. The home was old but tidy, and an older woman was coming out the door before the truck engine was even off. She held a child in her arms with a small girl following at her heels.

Vicki offered a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. “Marion is okay. You’ll do fine.”

“I’m still going to kill Jesse,” Dare muttered.

A snicker escaped Vicki. “You fit right into the family.”

Dare didn’t even get to open her door. An older man, obviously Jesse’s dad, appeared out of nowhere, and suddenly there were two people with big smiles and two little people with enormous staring eyes, all waiting for her to climb to the ground.

Like the last time she’d stepped to the end of a high diving board, a full flock of butterflies were doing loops in her belly. Dare took a deep breath, mentally called down curses on Jesse, then took the hand his dad offered to balance herself as her feet hit the dirt.

“Welcome.” His parents said it kind of in unison as Vicki joined the gathering, winking secretly at Dare as she took the squirming little boy from her mother-in-law-to-be.

The silent gesture was reassuring, and enough to free Dare from her momentary panic. She lifted a hand to waggle her fingers. “Hi. You must be Mike and Marion.”

“And you’re Dare. You’re exactly like I pictured,” Marion offered with a happy smile, enfolding Dare in a quick hug before stepping back and giving her space. Marion rubbed her hands on her arms as if she itched to extend the embrace, but was resisting. “It’s good to finally meet you.”

“You too,” Dare returned, holding her expression as positive yet neutral as possible.

Mike held out his hand then shook hers gently, the power behind his grip tempered. “Not everyone is a hugger, but you let me know if you ever need one—my grandkids say I’m pretty good at them. Even the teenagers, if you can believe it.”

Dare nodded, unable to speak for a moment as the couple flipped in her brain from being the slightly intimidating “parents of the guy she’d slept with more than a few times and oops, now we’re sort of related” into simply Buckaroo’s Gramma and Grampa.

Which was why she and Jesse were here in the first place.

Marion laid a hand on the blond-haired little girl clinging to her leg. “This is Lana, and Vicki’s got a hold of PJ. Their big sisters Rebecca and Rachel are at summer day camp for another hour.”

Dare smiled down at the little girl. “Wow. You’re pretty lucky to get to stay and help take care of your little brother.”

“Gamma and me made cookies,” Lana informed her, the importance of which beat out taking care of her little brother by a landslide.

PJ had no opinions on the matter, just kept squirming until Vicki put him on the ground so he could run over to a dump truck that had been waiting on the grass.

“Do you need to go inside for a moment, or would you like to come sit on the porch?” Marion asked.

“Porch is great,” Dare assured her.

“Did you have a good drive up?” Mike asked, once they were settled around a picnic table behind the house with the kids installed in a sandbox on the porch where they were within sight and confined from running free.

Vicki snickered for the briefest second before turning it into a cough as she reached for a glass of lemonade.

Dare bit her lip to stop from laughing as well, instead offering the safest answer. “Roads were fine.”

“I hope you have a wonderful visit, even with this little mix-up at the start. I thought maybe tomorrow I could take you around town for a while.” Marion beamed at her before getting slightly flustered and focusing down at her glass. “If that’s okay.”

“I don’t think we have any set plans, so if it works for Jesse, sounds great to me.” Dare gripped her lemonade tighter and sternly warned herself against enjoying her time too much.

“If you’d like to come out to the barns while you’re here, we have some new horses,” Mike offered. “We could all go for a ride.”

“We can take her down by Whiskey Creek—”

“—and along the ridge—”

“—and there’s the lookout point—”

“It all sounds wonderful, and I’d love to go for a ride.” Their enthusiasm was making her exhausted and thrilling her to death.

Jesse’s mom opened her mouth, and Dare was sure it was to issue more invitations to more activities when an old-fashioned phone tone sounded, and both Mike and Marion jerked upright.

Marion scrambled in her pocket and pulled out a cell phone, answering it excitedly. “Blake?”

The baby.

Marion listened for a moment as happiness bloomed over her face. “Congratulations to you both. I’m glad to hear Jaxi’s doing well.”

Marion continued to speak quietly with Blake, with Mike leaning in to listen.

Vicki nudged Dare in the side to get her attention. “Told you we’d get the news soon,” she gloated.

“You did,” Dare agreed before teasing back. “Gee, you’re like an all-seeing mystic.”

Vicki snorted, then placed her fingers against her temples and hmmmed as if she were communing with unseen forces. “I see…I see you about to be invited to visit the baby at the hospital.”

Damn. “Not funny,” Dare muttered, tempted to poke the other woman back.

Vicki arched one brow. “You doubt the all-seeing mystic?”

Before Dare could respond, Marion interrupted. “Vicki, could we ask a favour?”

She and Dare both faced the older woman whose smile seemed set to full brightness.

“I take it there’s news?” Vicki eased her chair back as PJ laid his hands on her thigh and demanded to be lifted up.

Marion nodded. “Justin Michael has safely arrived, and they’d like us to come to meet him. I thought we’d take Darilyn now, then once the girls get home from day camp, we’ll bring all the children to meet their baby brother when it’s gotten a little quieter. If you could stay with them until we’re back?”

“Of course.” Vicki flicked a glance at Dare that said a blunt I told you so, hands steadying PJ’s as he stole a sip of lemonade from her glass.

“We’re going to go see them already? Didn’t she just have the baby?” Dare felt a little like a football in the middle of the game of pickup. Or was it rugby? One way, then the other, as if she had no choice in the matter.

“The baby arrived over an hour ago, and everything was straightforward, so Jaxi insists people come soon as they’re ready.”

“Of course, she does,” Mike said, offering a dry smile. “I bet Blake’s just as eager to show off his son.”

“I can stay with Vicki to help take care of the kids,” Dare tossed out, not even thinking what she was saying.

“Nice try, but not going to work,” Vicki muttered softly.

“Nonsense,” Marion said. “Vicki is more than capable of handling the children on her own, and I know Jaxi’s been looking forward to meeting you.”

Marion was waiting so expectedly, how on earth could Dare say no?

This time it was her phone that rang.

Thank God, a reprise. “One sec, that’s Jesse.”

She got up from the table and stepped away to answer as Mike said quietly in the background, “So he does still know how to work one of those things.”

Jesse’s voice rang bright cheery. “Hey, darlin’. Miss seeing your smiling face here at the trailer.”

Dare struggled for words. It wasn’t as if she could scold with his parents right there, but she was tempted. “Gee, darlin’,” she echoed his drawl. “You took off in such a high-tailed hurry, I didn’t catch the bit about sitting and waiting for you.”

Which totally wasn’t the what the hell am I supposed to do? that she’d intended to demand.

“Since you’re not sitting at my brother’s, mind spelling out a little clearer where you are?”

No mercy at this point. She was dragging him under the bus with her. “Just getting to know your mom and dad. I’ve been invited to join in the party visiting the hospital. Your newest nephew has arrived.”

Please, please, please let him read the terror in her voice and offer to come and rescue her.

No such luck.

“Nephew? That’s great. Tell you what. I can meet you all at the hospital.”

Dare took a deep breath. So—no rescue from that quarter. “Okay.”

“Miss you, darlin’.”

He’d obviously said it for the benefit of whoever he was near, and she wasn’t in the mood. “Don’t push it, sweetheart.”

She adjusted her expression firmly before turning back to his parents. While she’d been talking with Jesse, Vicki and Marion had carried their lemonade glasses inside and returned with prepackaged gift baskets in hand.

It seemed a trip to the hospital was taking place.

Dare offered the best smile she could. “Jesse says he’ll meet us there.”

Marion’s eyes lit up before she twisted away, fussing with the package she held. “Well, that’s good.”

Mike laid a hand on his wife’s shoulder before gesturing toward the door. “Let’s get rolling.”

Dare took the second basket from Vicki, thankful for something to do with her hands.

Vicki adjusted PJ and glanced over her shoulder to check on Lana who was making a sandcastle with cars on the turrets. “I’ve got the kids under control. Tell Blake not to rush home.”

Marion kissed Vicki’s cheek then hurried to the parking area.

It was tough for Dare to keep her feet moving, let alone the fake happy expression on her face. She was trying though, so it surprised her when Vicki laid a hand on her arm, pulling her to stop. The other woman struggled for a moment before grabbing Dare in for a one-armed hug.

Dare didn’t breathe for a second before realizing she was so far out of her comfort zone she might as well walk blindly into the abyss. She squeezed back, PJ eyeing her inquisitively from only a few inches away.

“You’ve got this,” Vicki offered quietly. “Really, how scary can it be now that you’ve met the parents?”

“Scary,” Dare whispered.

Vicki smiled sympathetically. “I’ve been there. You can do this.”

The vote of confidence was appreciated. “Thanks.”

She hurried to catch up with Mike and Marion who were getting into a small Honda, Marion behind the wheel.

Dare would’ve climbed into the back seat, but Mike was holding the front passenger door for her.

“Ladies ride up front,” he insisted.

Take the path of least resistance. “Thanks.”

Blessed silence hung in the air until they hit the highway. Then it was a relief to have the questions they tossed her way be things she could easily answer.

“You have some great recipes on your blog,” Marion started with, erasing all questions and doubts about whether they knew about the baby. Only she didn’t delve into that topic, sticking to safer areas. “Do you find them online, or are they from a family cookbook?”

Dare didn’t question her luck in avoiding the other topic while Jesse wasn’t around. “A bit of both? My mom and her best friend liked to cook, and between them they collected a ton of recipes. My friend Ginny and I started sorting them out a few years ago, but there’s a lot of work to be done.”

“I’ll have to pick your brain about that. I wanted to make a formal family cookbook some time, but organizing it is beyond me.”

“I can take a look.” Dare hesitated to offer more. They were only there for a few days, and she wasn’t about to get inexorably tangled up with the Colemans.

She was not allowed to fall in love with the family, remember?

Mike shifted position in the back seat. “I was looking online at the Silver Stone operation. You’ve got a lot of quality bloodlines.”

Another area she could speak on with confidence. “Caleb and Luke have been trying hard, and they’ve been lucky, but it’s a work in progress.”

“Always is.”

For a few moments things were comfortable, and Dare forgot a little about being on show and having to make a good impression.

That moment of peace vanished when they pulled into the hospital parking lot to find Jesse waiting for them, leaning nonchalantly against his truck, immobile until his mom parked.

Mike spoke up as Marion pulled to a stop beside his truck. “Now don’t you go crying all over him, woman.”

Marion hurried to undo her seatbelt before shoving open her door. “You worry about your own tears, Mr. Coleman, and I’ll worry about mine.”

Dare was getting out of the car, so she missed the actual moment Jesse was enveloped by his mom, if a five-foot-three woman could envelop a man six foot plus.

Jesse wrapped his arms around his mom and hugged her back, his eyes closed, face twisted with emotion.

A moment later Marion had released him and Jesse held out a hand to his father.

Mike ignored it completely, pulling Jesse against his chest and patting him firmly on the back. “Good to see you again, son.”

They were clearly emotionally wrought over the reunion, and Dare promised herself to give Jesse another firm thunk upside the head for not warning her more about his family dynamics.

She was so focused on their interaction she was caught by surprise when Jesse slipped an arm around her and turned to face his parents.

“It’s not quite the introduction I had planned,” Jesse began.

“We should get inside,” Dare interrupted. She didn’t want him to make some cocky, dramatic announcement at this point, and her discomfort was enough to give her the drive to be outright rude. “I need to make a stop.”

The awkward moment passed as her unspoken demand was understood quickly—these people were used to dealing with pregnant women in a hurry.

Jesse kept hold of her hand, walking at her side silently as they headed into the hospital, Marion one step short of a dead run. Mike had a basket in one hand, and Jesse carried the other as the four of them made their way rapidly toward the elevator.

“We’ll be right up,” Jesse offered as he paused on the main floor outside the public washroom.

His parents waved as the elevator doors closed, and Jesse turned on her but she was already escaping into the washroom.

Maybe she could hide there for the remainder of their trip.

Dare didn’t even have to go, but she took advantage of the opportunity to wash her face, wondering how it was possible her reluctance and uncertainty weren’t etched into every line of her expression. She looked—normal. Far too normal for the riot of emotion in her gut.

The door opened partway and a masculine voice taunted her. “You need a hand? Because I will come in there.”

“Stop stalking me,” she ordered.

Then damn if he didn’t follow through, stepping right in and closing the door behind him, one muscular wall of interfering S.O.B.

“What’s wrong?” he demanded.

Really? Dare offered him the dirtiest glare possible. “You have to ask?”

He had the grace to look sheepish. “I didn’t expect Vicki to haul you over to my parents without me.”

“Gee, me neither.” She rubbed her temples in the hopes the stress would ease before she ended up with a headache.

She found herself tucked against his chest, his strong arms pinning her in place, and for one brief second her throat tightened and she could barely breathe. Screw it. She laid her head against him and let herself soak in his strength.

“It’s been a hell of a day for both of us,” Jesse offered.

“It’s not even three o’clock,” Dare pointed out in a mocking tone of voice, not quite sure what he had to complain about, but hey, at least they were both suffering. “Gee, Wilkins, I can hardly wait for the next big adventure.”

His arms tightened around her and a slow rumble shook his chest as he laughed softly. “Potty mouth.”

Tension made her snicker. “Don’t tempt me.”

His arms were rocks, his body warm as they stood there, finding a moment of peace. It took a little while before her breathing settled, Jesse’s deep inhalations synchronized with hers.

She’d finally found a balancing point when Jesse tilted her head back to examine her face, his blue eyes moving slowly, his expression filled with concern. “You ready for this?”

Dare managed a hesitant nod.

They separated, slipping out of the bathroom before anyone noticed. The elevator doors were closing before she realized she was clutching his fingers like a lifeline.

Screw it—right now, she wasn’t letting go.