Chapter Thirteen
Jessie slowly swiveled the chair in Chase’s office away from the desk and stared out the window at the snow-covered yard.
Since New Year’s Eve, they’d received more than two feet of snow and the temperatures had fallen into the single digits as the daily highs. She’d never been so cold in her whole life as she’d been the last few weeks.
Lucas, Lori, Mike, and Tim took care of all the work around the ranch. It had been far too cold for Jessie to have any interest in riding Tulip or exploring outside.
However, she had volunteered to trek out to the road daily to collect the mail. It gave her some fresh air and exercise, especially when she felt the need to jog to get to the mailbox and back inside as fast as humanly possible to get out of the frigid air.
She offered to cook meals for the four other occupants on the ranch, but Lori assured her it wasn’t necessary. Mike and Tim took care of their own meals and Lori was a master at putting something into the slow cooker for dinner each night.
Jessie had shared a few meals with Lucas and Lori, once when they’d invited her to dinner and twice when they’d agreed to join her after church for lunch.
Twice a day, she went over to their house to check on Tinsel and feed him. The cat acted like he’d always belonged to the Dunham family, the way he cozied right up to Lucas and purred whenever Lori so much as looked at him. If she hadn’t been so glad the cat had a good home, one she could visit anytime she liked, she would have felt betrayed by how easily Tinsel transferred his affections to the friendly couple.
With a sigh, she glanced at the clock on the wall and rose from the desk. The mail should have gone an hour or so ago.
Jessie stretched her arms up over her head and did a few twists to loosen up her muscles before she walked out of the office and made her way to the mudroom. She pulled on a pair of warm boots then slipped on a heavy parka she’d ordered online since she’d found it easier to shop from home than to drive in the snow.
She still couldn’t get over the fact that Chase’s family had given her a brand new vehicle to drive as a wedding gift. When she returned to her life in California, she would most definitely leave the SUV for Chase. She wouldn’t feel right taking it.
After wrapping a scarf around her neck and the bottom half of her face, she tugged on a pair of warm gloves and opened the door.
Two of the ranch dogs yipped excitedly and ran over to her from where they’d been playing in the snow by the barn.
They raced around her legs as she made her way down the porch steps and walked in the ruts Lori and the ranch hands had made in the snow.
The mailbox was about half a mile from the main ranch buildings, which didn’t seem that far in the grand scheme of things. However, when it was snowing and only two degrees outside, it might as well have been fifty miles away.
Jessie increased her speed and studied the white world surrounding her as she made her way out to the road. Despite how much she disliked the cold, she found the landscape lovely beyond description. The snow was gorgeous, especially when the sun came out and sparkled on it like someone had cast down thousands of shimmering diamonds. Some mornings, as she glanced out the window at the pristine coating blanketing the ranch, she thought it looked magical and ethereal.
For someone who’d spent her entire life in southern California and had never been anywhere it snowed, she couldn’t help but feel a little awed by the landscape. She’d taken dozens of photos with her phone and also the inexpensive little digital camera she kept.
She’d always enjoyed taking photographs, even if she had no desire or skill to be a photographer. Sometimes the images she captured ended up on the book covers or other graphics she designed. The images gave her work a distinctive, unique edge that made her clients happy and left her proud of her efforts.
The two dogs barked, running off to chase a bird. Jessie watched them leap through the deep drifts of snow and laughed at their antics.
Once she collected the mail, she stuffed it into her coat pocket and hurried back to the house. She stopped by Lucas and Lori’s house and left their mail on a small table Lori kept just inside the back door.
At first, Jessie had felt awkward opening their door without one of them being home, but they assured her it was fine.
Tinsel watched as she set down the mail. The cat yawned then stretched before getting out of his bed and making his way over to Jessie. She yanked off her gloves and spent a few minutes rubbing his back and lavishing him with affection before checking his food bowl and water dish. Assured he was fine, she pulled her gloves back on and made her way back to the quiet house.
She removed her outerwear in the mudroom and washed her hands then carried the mail into the kitchen.
While she heated a bowl of leftover soup for lunch, she glanced through the mail. It was mostly junk, except for one letter from an insurance office addressed to Chase. She took a photo of the envelope with her phone and texted it to him.
In the weeks since he’d left, she hadn’t spoken to him on the phone, although they texted back and forth several times a day. He’d asked her to let him know if he had any mail that didn’t look like junk. It was simple enough to text him the images and let him decide what he wanted her to do with the mail.
He’d been good to let her know where he was and when he’d be riding. So far, he’d scored at one of the two rodeos he’d competed in.
Jessie tried not to think about the possibility of him getting hurt. It was probably a good thing she couldn’t flip on the TV and watch him ride. Lucas told her many of the rodeos weren’t televised.
Sitting down at the table with her bowl of soup and a piece of toasted bread, Jessie pulled up pages of decorating ideas she’d saved on her laptop and scanned through them.
The room that she wanted to tackle first was the kitchen. Other than Chase’s office where she’d set up her computer equipment, with his permission, the room she spent the most time in during her waking hours was the kitchen.
She liked the white cupboards and the granite counters, but the room needed more color and personality. The white walls were too blah and the inexpensive light fixtures were boring.
As soon as it was warm enough to paint, she wanted to transform the room.
She’d also started a folder with ideas for the living room, although it didn’t interest her as much as the kitchen. They needed to make that room appear homey before the next interview with Rodeo At Home magazine, but Jessie honestly didn’t know where to start.
Her soup bowl was empty and all that remained of her bread was a few crumbs when she heard what sounded like a vehicle stopping outside.
She quickly set her dishes in the sink then rushed to the front of the house where she peeked out the living room window and watched Kaley McGraw and Kenzie Morgan climb out of a ranch pickup and stroll up the front steps.
Although she was shy, Jessie was so happy to have someone to talk to, she threw open the door and stood on the top porch step in her fuzzy pink socks with a big smile on her face.
“What a wonderful surprise! Come in out of the cold,” she said, accepting hugs from both women as they hurried into the entry. Jessie shut the door then helped Kenzie out of her coat while Kaley shrugged out of hers. “How are you feeling, Kenzie?”
“Huge, mostly,” the woman said, rubbing a hand over her belly. “I still have two months to go before this little one decides to make an appearance. Honestly, I’m glad the baby isn’t due sooner. It would be awful to have a newborn in this frigid weather.”
“It certainly would.” Jessie motioned for them to move into the large gathering room that she preferred to call the living room. After she flicked on the gas fireplace, she looked at the two women, both married to retired rodeo stars. “Would you like something to drink? I could make tea or hot chocolate.”
“A cup of hot tea would be wonderful,” Kenzie said, looking to Kaley for agreement. The woman nodded. “We can help you make it.” Kenzie groaned as she started to get off the couch, making Kaley laugh.
“I think you better just sit right there. I can help Jessie.” Kaley put a hand on Kenzie’s arm, keeping her from getting up.
“I can get it. It will just take me a moment. Please, just rest and enjoy the warmth of the fire,” Jessie said, and then rushed from the room. In less than five minutes, she had three cups of tea on a tray, along with sugar and cream, and a plate of cookies. She’d baked some the previous day because she was missing Chase and needed a distraction. Pleased she had something homemade to serve to her guests, she added napkins to the tray and carried it down the hall to the living room.
Kaley and Kenzie both smiled at her as she set the tray on the coffee table.
“I didn’t know if you like sugar or cream,” she said, picking up a spoon and dipping it into the sugar bowl.
Kaley grinned. “A spoon of sugar for each of us, no cream.”
Jessie handed them the sweetened mugs of steaming tea and a small plate with a cookie and napkin.
“What brings you two all the way out here on such a cold day?” she asked as she sat back and tried to relax. Being around people she didn’t know well always made her nervous. She’d gone to church the past few Sundays at the same church the McGraw and Morgan families attended. After they all pitched in to help get ready for the New Year’s Eve party, they were more than strangers, but Jessie wasn’t sure they’d consider her a friend.
“We’re suffering from a bad case of cabin fever and needed some fresh air. Since you are new to the area, we thought you might enjoy a visit. We hope it’s okay we dropped by unannounced,” Kaley said, sipping her tea.
“Honestly, I’m thrilled to have someone to talk to. The dogs don’t sit still long enough to talk to and Chase is allergic to my cat so he’s moved in with Lucas and Lori.” Jessie grinned. “The cat, not Chase.”
Kenzie smiled. “We heard Chase left to get back on the rodeo circuit. It must be so hard to have to adjust to a new home, new area, and new life with him gone.”
Jessie figured her existence on the ranch was probably much simpler without Chase there to send the butterflies in her stomach into flight or tempt her with his earth-shattering kisses, but she sure wouldn’t tell that to Kaley and Kenzie.
Instead, she nodded in agreement. “It has been a bit of an adjustment. I’d never seen snow in person until I moved to the ranch.”
Kaley lifted a dark eyebrow and humor filled her pale blue eyes. “I bet you’re probably sick to death of snow.”
“Oh, it’s still enough of a novelty to me that I find it lovely, but I could definitely do without the cold. I haven’t been warm since I arrived in Oregon. Chase told me my blood will have to thicken up, whatever that means.”
“Men can be such…” Kaley searched for the right word.
“Idiots,” Kenzie suggested. She giggled before changing the subject. “Chase told Tate that you run your own graphic design business. What sort of projects do you do?”
“Book covers, advertisements, a lot of web graphics.” Jessie hesitated a moment but then rose to her feet. “If you don’t mind waiting a moment, I’ll grab my laptop and you can see some of my work.”
“I’d love that,” Kenzie said, looking at Kaley for agreement. The other woman enthusiastically nodded.
Jessie grabbed her laptop from the kitchen along with the teapot she’d left warming on the stove. She carried both back to the living room and poured more fragrant, steaming liquid into their mugs before opening the laptop.
“What are you working on?” Kaley asked, noticing all the images up on Jessie’s screen with kitchen décor ideas.
“Chase asked me to make the house seem more like home while he’s gone. I thought I’d start in the kitchen, but I think I need to paint first before I do anything else.”
“Painting is a good starting point, but these ideas are great,” Kaley said, pointing to several she liked.
Kenzie nudged her friend. “Kaley is so good at decorating and crafts, Jessie. If you need any help or want to bounce ideas around, she’s the girl to talk to.”
Kaley smiled at Kenzie. “Thanks. It’s just something I have fun with and enjoy. We’ve pretty much decorated everything we can at my house and Kenzie’s, including the baby’s nursery, so if you do need help, just let us know. Kenzie will be out of commission for a while this spring, but I’m more than happy to help.”
“Really?” Jessie looked at them in surprise.
“Absolutely. This is like a blank canvas just waiting for the painter to add splashes of color and life.” Kaley and Jessie discussed decorating ideas for several moments before Jessie pulled up her website and showed the two women some of her projects and the slide show she used to catch the attention of potential clients.
“You’re super talented, Jessie. I love the covers you did for that one western series. They are incredible,” Kenzie said, absently rubbing a hand over her belly as they looked through more images. “I don’t know how you do what you do. It’s far beyond my abilities.”
“I’d be interested to learn more about the direct sales company you work for,” Jessie said. She knew from past conversations with the women that Kenzie developed training programs at home. The company she worked for shared the trainings with all their consultants, but she didn’t know much about Dew or its products.
Kenzie shifted into trainer mode. “I’ll bring a catalog to church with me on Sunday. It’s easier to show you than tell you about our products. It’s one of the oldest skin care companies in the nation and has a proven record at making women look and feel beautiful.”
Kaley giggled. “Watch out, Jessie, or she’ll make a convert out of you.”
The three women laughed and visited for another hour before Kaley glanced at her watch. “We better get back. Grace will be up from her nap and Cort will be debating whether he can wait for me to get home or if he should change her diaper.”
Jessie smiled. “Your daughter is such an adorable baby. She’s just beautiful.”
“Thank you. Anytime you want to get a baby fix, come over for a visit. We’d love to have you.” Kaley gave Kenzie a hand and helped her to her feet. Jessie retrieved their coats from the entry and held Kenzie’s for her while Kaley slipped her coat on and went out to start the pickup then hurried back inside.
“I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you both coming for a visit today. Thank you.” Jessie walked with them to the front door.
“It was our pleasure, Jessie. We meant what we said. Come visit us anytime. In fact, why don’t you plan to come to our house after church Sunday for lunch?” Kenzie asked as they stood in the entry.
“Oh, I wouldn’t want to impose,” Jessie said.
Kenzie gave her hug. “It certainly wouldn’t be an imposition. Not at all. Let’s plan on it.”
“Is there anything I can bring?” Jessie asked as Kenzie glanced down at the doormat and elbowed Kaley.
“Did Chase pick this out?” Kaley asked, smiling at Jessie.
“No. His grandmother sent it as a housewarming gift.”
“I think I’d like to meet her.” Kenzie grinned.
Jessie nodded. “I would, too. From what I’ve heard, she’s quite a character. Now, about lunch on Sunday. May I bring something?”
“How about dessert? Anything you bring would be fine. Our men aren’t picky at all.” Kenzie tugged on her gloves as Kaley opened the door. “Stay warm and we’ll see you at church.”
“Thank you. I’ll see you then. Drive safely home.” Jessie stood in the doorway, watching the two women as they walked back to the pickup and Kaley gave Kenzie a hand climbing in the passenger side. Kaley turned the pickup around and waved as they headed out the driveway.
Jessie waved then hurried inside. In spite of the cold that had turned her fingers and toes into icicles, she felt warmed from the inside out from an afternoon spent making new friends.