Chapter Three

It was funny to consider how long she’d spent plotting ways to tell her cowboy the news if she ever found him. There were a couple scripts she’d expected the conversation to follow, and she’d planned appropriate responses.

Worst-case scenario he’d say, “hell, no, it’s not mine”. She’d get that in writing, just in case, ask about his family health history on a “hypothetical” basis, and happily never see him again.

Best case she’d come up with was he’d say “oh, shit”, she’d say “right?” and they’d figure out something that involved him sending her a bit of childcare money every now and then until he forgot.

The sex had been fantastic, but you couldn’t judge the strength of a man’s character by the way he used his dick.

Not even with her vivid imagination had she expected the proposal, which meant she was currently running without a script. Which, okay, meant he got blunt.

She freed her fingers from his grasp and stepped away to put some physical distance between them. “I assume that was shock speaking. You don’t know a thing about me, and you want to get married?”

“I know you’re having my baby. Isn’t that enough?”

“Hardly. I don’t love you.”

“What’s that got to do with it?”

Dare glared. “Everything. I’m not marrying a man I don’t love.”

“You’re having my baby.”

“That doesn’t mean I love you. It means we had sex. Good sex, but that’s not love.”

“Really great sex. And of course you’re going to marry me.”

“Slow your roll, asshole. I don’t know you. The list of things I know about you I could count on one hand, maybe two, without needing to go to my toes.”

“I know you make this noise when you come that gives me shivers.”

All the air sucked out of the room, and annoyingly, Dare felt her face heating. “You didn’t just say that, and I do not.”

Jesse flashed a grin that made her knees tremble. “It’s not a bad place to start, and you totally do.”

Dare pressed her fists to her temples and counted to ten. Okay, so he didn’t fit either of her main scenarios, which meant she had to come up with an alternative solution, fast, because no way in hell was she agreeing to get married as if there were a shotgun to both their heads.

Just a baby in my belly.

She took a deep breath then faced him. “What about we compromise for now? I mean, you’re right. It’s your baby too, so you get to be in their life if you want, but I don’t think we should consider something as drastic as getting married when we don’t even know each other.”

The poor man was getting a workout today, his handsome face tugging into a scowl. “You want to date?”

“Well, that would be one way to find out more about each other than just our first names.”

Jesse shook his head. “I agree we need to get to know each other better because, yeah, it will make raising our kid easier, but I don’t see why we shouldn’t just do it.”

It was horrible that the only thing that registered out of his entire statement was do it, and her thoughts had nothing to do with dating, or marriage, or even babies, and everything to do with sex.

Jesse had the moves, and she knew it. Intimately.

It was totally unfair he’d missed the entire too-sick-to-consider-herself-a-sexual-being months, and instead had arrived when all her hormones seemed to be percolating at higher than usual.

She might have had more resistance to his sex appeal when she’d been feeling green. Now all she could think about was how he’d made her tingle so hard she’d been seeing stars after her third—or was it fourth?—orgasm. A hard pulse hit between her legs…

…and great. She’d been daydreaming about sex while staring into space.

Or staring at him.

Dammit, she’d been staring at his package, and as she jerked her gaze up to meet his, there was a faintly mocking expression in his eyes.

She powered her way forward. “Excuse me, what did you just say? I’m not being a smartass. I really need you to repeat what you said two seconds ago.”

His smile escaped, and another shiver of desire slipped over her body. Slamming up stop signs on her aching libido hurt.

He held up a finger as if he had an idea. “Let’s meet in the middle. Let’s get engaged, because that commitment will be enough to stop most people from talking.” Jesse grimaced. “I know small towns, and small minds, and I hope nobody’s been giving you grief.”

Dare shook her head. “Not many people know yet. Basically just family, although the Buckaroo bump is going to give me away pretty soon.”

He nodded thoughtfully. “What you think? We’re engaged now, and we can get married”—he counted on his fingers—“early October.”

“Good Lord, is that really necessary? Like are you telling me you don’t want to have an illegitimate child, so we need to rush things?”

“No. But this is about…what did you call him? Buckaroo. Whatever he’ll have to deal with down the road, I figure we should do everything we can to make his life easier, right?”

Smooth bastard. “I can’t argue with that.”

“So it’s settled. We’re engaged, and we’ll—”

“It’s not settled,” she snapped, feeling a little stupid about complaining, but all control seemed to be tipping rapidly out of her hands. “Other than spending one night together, I know nothing about you. My family knows nothing about you.”

“So, let’s go meet your family. I’ll convince them that I’m not an axe murderer, and you’ll tell them we’re engaged.”

She eyed him. “The guy I met at the bar that night had a lot of smarts and charm. Either you’re not really him, or you hit your head hard sometime between then and now.”

“What am I being stupid about? Tell me.” He offered another of those seductive smiles. “I can be charming, darling.”

“Obviously, since you charmed your way into my panties easily enough—” Dare cut herself off and shook her head. “I’m sorry, that’s not fair. This is not your fault, and I was totally on board with the panty charming. I just need a minute to get my head on straight. Okay? Today’s held a few shocks for both of us, in different ways.”

He eased back and his body language went soft, like the guys did when they were around horses that spooked easily.

That she caught what he was doing was balanced by the fact he knew how to do it.

Jesse spoke quieter. “How about this? I should move my truck. I kind of abandoned it when Emma did her header. Come with me to get it. Heck, if you feel up to it, you can take me on a tour of the ranch then we’ll grab some burgers. Nothing fancy, nothing involving a big outing in public—”

“—safe from my brothers coming and giving you the third degree before we’ve even found out each other’s last names?”

“That too.” He held out his hand.

It took a moment before she realized he was pretending to meet her for the first time. His grip was firm, but careful, his far greater strength held in reserve.

“Jesse Coleman.”

“Darilyn Hayes, but everybody calls me Dare.”

One of his brows arched higher. “Darilyn? Pretty. I was wondering if it was a nickname or something.”

“And now you know.”

“Now I know.” Jesse released her fingers and gestured to the door. “Show me your home.”

 

 

What the hell was wrong with him?

Dare was right. Jesse knew how to be charming, and yet he’d gone and barreled forward without paying one bit of attention—which was the exact opposite of how he usually treated the ladies. No wonder she’d shoved walls up right away.

She’d dashed off to pull on different clothes, giving him time to start pondering, and now the self-recrimination continued as they walked in silence down the gravel drive to where his truck was parked.

He didn’t blame her one bit for not wanting to marry him. He wouldn’t want to marry him, either—cocky, arrogant bastard. If this had any chance of working, he needed to up his game big time.

Although, he was struggling to put together everything that meant.

A kid.

Married…

It was as if his brain was happier if he just ignored thinking what those words actually added up to. If he looked at them through a hazy glass as if they were far in a future that didn’t involve “soon” and “the right thing” and “brothers ready to kick his ass into tomorrow”.

She’d been walking and watching the action by the barns where a few men were working with the bay and chestnut horses.

Okay. Get to know you time. That much he could deal with. “You have a horse?”

Dare flashed him a quick smile. “Yeah, Baby.”

Jesse opened his mouth, then shut it. “Seriously?”

“He’s a sorrel gelding, and nearly ready for retirement. He was my mom’s, and when she passed on, I took him as my own.”

Oh man. “I’m sorry to hear about your mom.”

She nodded. “Hey, I did have a hint at your last name.”

Obviously changing the topic. He went with it for now. “Was it tattooed on my ass?”

“Your sister emailed my blog today. Wanted to know the current whereabouts of my March model.”

Sister?

“That picture just keeps giving and giving. Who was it that emailed?” He led her to the driver’s side, holding the door open for her.

She frowned.

“You know the territory. You may as well drive.”

Without another word Dare climbed in, adjusting the wheel angle to place herself comfortably on the wide bench seat. She waited until he settled on the passenger side before answering his question. “Someone named Jaxi. She said you got on her last nerve.”

“The feeling is mutual at times. She’s my sister-in-law. Married to Blake, my oldest brother.” How much did he share? Man the torpedoes, full steam ahead. “I had a wicked crush on her at one point, but she and Blake are perfect together. Disgustingly in love.”

She drove to the end of the driveway and headed west. “Typical younger brother in love with the forbidden older woman?”

Jesse snorted. “Forbidden, because Blake would have ripped me apart once he stopped being stupid and denying he was in love with her. But she’s barely a year older than me. She just bosses the hell out of everyone because she kind of grew up with the family.”

“Sounds a little like Caleb—the bossy part.”

“He your oldest brother?”

“Sort of?” She turned onto a gravel road and drove them up a steep section of road, following the sweeping curve of the foothills. In the near distance the Rocky Mountains rose majestically, sharp grey granite peaks and dark shadows. The mountains were closer than the section of Rockies the Colemans saw at home, the landscape changes here in central Alberta sharper and more intense.

Dare took them counterclockwise, the road changing to angle northward as they rose. They were now tucked against the hillside, the mountains to the west hidden from view, but the land to the east was laid out like on a map. Thin roads stretched in straight lines all the way to the horizon. Between them lay acre after acre of grazing land, tiny dark dots of cattle and horses peppering the land.

She parked at a wide turn out on a corner. Jesse got out and shut the truck door behind him, waiting until she came around to join him. His gaze drifted over the land. They didn’t have this kind of viewpoint back home.

“That is a gorgeous sight. We have a few rises where you can see for miles, but this is incredible.”

Dare paused. “It is. I find it humbling. We’re just a speck in the middle of something so much bigger than we are.”

“Cowboy philosophy 101. There’s always something bigger than you are.”

“Seems that way.” She touched his arm briefly. “Follow me.”

She led him to a path at the side of the lookout where a narrow trail meandered horizontally toward a patch of tall pine. Tucked into the trees was a bench, and Dare settled on one side, leaning forward to rest her elbows on her knees. She stared over the land, and he paused to admire the closer view. With worn jeans, a pale blue shirt and a dark cowboy hat, she made the prettiest picture, and the panic that had seized him eased slightly.

He didn’t know her yet but she seemed a decent person. They could do this.

They had to.

He joined her on the bench, taking a cue from her and checking the land.

She pointed toward the base of the hill where the sunlight was turning the lake surface into a shimmering mirror in the midst of a green setting. “Silver Stone ranch. Boundary to the west is behind us, up against the wilderness area. You can see the south border parallel to the highway, but the north is out of our sight. That’s Big Sky Lake, and the smaller one is Little Sky.” She pointed farther north. “We’re lucky to have two water sources and the river running through the ranch. You can’t see it from here, but if you keep walking this path you end up at Heart Falls, the source of the river.”

“The town’s named after it?”

“Yeah. This bench where we’re sitting and the waterfall don’t belong to the ranch anymore. About an acre got donated to the municipality so everyone could enjoy it.” She glanced over at him. “My dad, Joseph Hayes, who was known as Silver, and his best friend Walter Stone bought the ranch together—thus the Silver Stone ranch.”

Interesting. “I love hearing where names come from. I mean, sometimes it’s obvious, but that’s one with a lot of character.”

“Jaxi mentioned she lived on the Six Pack ranch. Big drinkers?”

“Ha, not really. Six boys, two generations in a row.”

“Damn.”

“Means there’s a bunch of Coleman around. Four of the original six settled in the area, so we’ve got Six Pack, Angel, Whiskey Creek—that one’s simple enough to explain—and Moonshine.”

“You’ll have to tell any child-appropriate stories to Sasha. She loves to know that kind of stuff. Have to be careful, though. She’ll talk your ear off if you let her.”

“Sasha seems like the type to want to tell a lot of stories.” Jesse paused. “Because she talks for Emma as well as herself?”

Dare turned toward him, pulling her feet up on the bench. “There’s a million things to say to you. So much history, and yet I can’t find a place to start. It’s not like a simple ‘what I did on my summer vacation’ essay.”

Jesse chuckled. “Don’t start on the school memories. I already feel a little as if there’s going to be a flash test sometime in the next half hour. Let’s start simple. How old are you?”

“Twenty-six.”

“Me too.”

Dare’s lips twisted. “Gee, we have so much in common. We should get married.”

Jesse laughed. “Smartass. We do have a lot in common. Sounds as if you’ve got a lot of brothers.

She made a face. “I do, and I don’t. It’s complicated and it’s not something I enjoy talking about, so I should probably just get it out of the way before things get too awkward.”

“Snapshot is fine,” Jesse insisted. “We’ll have plenty of time to get to know details later.”

Dare nodded. “So—my parents and their best friends bought the ranch.”

“Joe and Walter?”

“Best friends, like I said, and they did everything together. Got married around the same time, moved to Alberta, bought the ranch, started having kids. Only ten years ago there was an accident, and all four of them and my little sister died.”

Oh my God. “Jesus, I’m so sorry.”

“Thanks. It was hell, as you can expect, but Caleb was twenty-four and old enough to take over the ranch and be guardian to us all. I’m not legally their sister, but in all the ways that count, I am. Make sense?”

She’d said it clearly, and pretty much straight-up unemotional, but he was floored. “You told me in February you were holding a wake.”

“Yup. Ten-year anniversary of the accident.”

Jesse couldn’t stand it any longer. He slid closer to her and lifted her into his lap. She seemed almost not to notice because she didn’t protest. Just sat there, frigid and cold.

He curled an arm around her and pressed her close to his chest. “I’m sorry that they’re gone.”

“Me too.”

They sat in silence, Jesse rubbing her back as he considered how much pain that must have been for a sixteen-year-old to face. Just sharing the story had turned her brittle, her body stiff and nearly frozen, and minutes passed before she took a deep enough breath to supply her body with what had to be much-needed oxygen.

She softened slightly, leaning into him and resting her head on his shoulder. Her eyes were dry, but so, so sad, and something inside him snapped.

Jesse wanted to fix this. He wanted to be there for her. Not sexually—hell, he was attracted to her, but this was completely different. It wasn’t about jumping her bones, but man did he want to lighten her load. He wanted to turn this around…

And there was nothing he could do. He was helpless in a way he’d never been before.

A moment later Dare patted him on the shoulder and straightened up. “Sorry. I don’t usually lose it like that. It’s not as if I spend every minute of the day and night thinking about it. Not anymore.”

Jesse shook his head. “You didn’t overreact one bit.”

“But it’s in the past,” she said. “Ginny and I were sixteen when Caleb took over the ranch, and he did his best. The other boys helped as much as they could. We kind of all worked through hell that next year. Caleb, Luke, Walker, Ginny, me and Dustin. They’re not really my brothers, but they are. Anyone else who asks I simply say they’re family, but you and I—well, our relationship is a bit more complicated than the average pair of strangers.”

Way more complicated, she was right about that.

“They’re family,” he agreed. “It makes perfect sense.”

She nodded, climbing off his lap and brushing her hands on her thighs. “Come on. I’ll show you the falls.”

As if she wanted to walk away from the memories.

Jesse followed her down the path. The dirt trail was wide enough to walk side-by-side, but they strode in silence, Dare staring ahead determinedly, Jesse considering what she’d shared.

Hell of a thing for everyone involved. Heck, Caleb had taken over running the ranch at twenty-four? A momentary twinge struck Jesse, considering he was older than that and barely responsible for himself.

“Do you all work on the ranch? I mean other than I know you’ve got the blog.”

“The guys do. Walker is on the road a bit these days—he’s riding the circuit—but Caleb, Luke and Dustin are always around. And Ginny, of course. Plus, I’ve always done my share of chores but I have less time and energy now, and the blog brings in money. Well, it’s not enough to live on. Close, though.”

“Your blog looks great. You definitely post awesome photos.”

She snorted. “Thank you for being photogenic.” She glanced over and swore lightly. “I’m sorry, do you want me to take the picture down? I should’ve asked right away.”

“No reason. The horses are out of the barn, so to speak, and there’s no getting the pictures off the internet, so you may as well get as much mileage on your blog as possible.”

She rubbed the side of her nose. “I’m so glad you aren’t an asshole.”

He was pretty sure there were mixed opinions on that assessment, but he’d take the compliment at face value. “That’s good, because one of my biggest life goals is to be considered not an asshole.”

Her sad expression brightened a little, and he counted it as a win.

They stepped out of the trees into a clearing and the falls burst into view, and the next while it was all about the scenery.

But something inside Jesse turned inexorably forward, like a set of old-fashioned wind-up gears that couldn’t be stopped until they’d reached their destination. The bright wild child who he’d played with for what he thought would be a brief moment in time was far more complicated than he’d expected.

The future was full of questions, and they’d barely even scratched the surface.