“Jesse told us about that. It sounded like it was quite the event, and he said the pieces you had on display were absolutely amazing.” Rose set the steaming plate of enchiladas in front of my chair at the ginormous dining table. Yes, they’d designated me a seat. I knew they didn’t think much of the gesture, but it had left me bleary-eyed when I’d found out.
“It was pretty awesome.” I had to remove each Walker girl’s death grip from my waist to sit down. They all clamored into their seats around me.
“I wish we could have seen it. I haven’t been to Seattle since . . . well, since so long I can’t even remember.” Rose sat across from me and gave me one of those warm smiles I wasn’t sure I’d ever get used to.
“We’ll take the whole family over and make sure we hit the next one,” Neil said. He approached the table with a plate of Rice Crispy treats in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other. When Neil wasn’t working, he almost always had a cup of coffee in one hand. “What do you think, girls? You up for a trip to the big city next time Rowen has a big, fancy art show?”
Three heads bobbed eagerly.
“It’s settled then. I hope you won’t mind sharing your apartment with six more people, Rowen.” Neil shot me a wink as he took his seat.
“Neil . . .” Rose settled a hand on her hip, giving him a look. “I know you’re not a big fan of them and spend as little time in them as you can, but big cities have really great things known as hotels. Maybe we could rent a couple of rooms. Maybe we could go crazy and rent a couple of five star ones.”
“Five star?” Neil’s forehead lined.
“Never mind. The girls and I will handle all that.”
“Has anyone heard from Jesse yet?” I knew it was an abrupt turn in the conversation. I’d tried to repress the question, but not knowing the details of the emergency Jesse was somehow involved in was making me uneasy. Everything must have been mostly okay or the Walkers wouldn’t have been going about their business as usual, but I doubted I’d be able to eat a bite of dinner if I didn’t find out what was going on.
“They should be pulling up any minute now. I got a call from Jo earlier saying they were coming home,” Rose answered.
I sighed. He was on his way. Jesse would be there soon. Emergency situation had passed. “What happened?”
“Jo can’t chew gum and walk at the same time,” Garth muttered. He was sitting down at the other end of the table.
Rose gave him a look that I think was meant to be intimidating, but it was more filled with maternal amusement. “Sprained ankle, it sounds like. We were worried something had broken, so a minor sprain was a relief.”
“Who’s Jo? Jo as in Josie?” I’d gotten to know all of the ranch hands, and Jo wasn’t one of them.
“No, not Josie. Someone I just brought on to help me and the girls out,” Rose answered.
“Wow. Go, Jo. I need to meet this guy who’s up to the challenge of keeping up with the four Walker women.” That was when I heard a familiar sound. A rumbling, sputtering noise accompanied by the sound of crunching gravel. Only one truck in the world could make that pathetic of a sound and still manage to get me all worked up.
“You can definitely meet Jo, but I think you’re going to be disappointed if you’re looking to meet a guy,” Rose replied.
I stopped chewing. “Jo’s not a guy?”
“No. Jo is definitely not a guy,” Garth said. I wasn’t looking at him, but I didn’t need to be to know what smile was on Garth’s face.
“We call her Jo, but her name’s Jolene. She’s only been with us for a few weeks, so that’s why you haven’t had a chance to meet her yet.”
“And that’s who Jesse took to the emergency room tonight?”
Lily nodded. “She was out delivering the guys’ dinner when she tripped into a gopher hole or something like that.”
“And Jesse was the only one around to take her to the emergency room?”
“No, but he was the only one around who was brave enough to drive Old Bessie through the fields and into town.”
I set my fork down on my plate. “Jo was driving Old Bessie?”
“She drives it all the time when she takes out the guys’ meals.” Lily gave me a confused look like she couldn’t understand why I seemed so surprised.
“She drives Old Bessie,” I repeated, more to myself than anyone else. I don’t know why that was so upsetting. Maybe because I thought Jesse and I were the only people brave enough to drive it, or maybe because—from the way Garth’s had voice had basically made love to Jo’s name—I didn’t like the idea of some goddess in cowgirl boots driving my boyfriend’s truck.
“She also was Miss Montana last year. Just in case you were wondering, or hoping, she fell from the ugly tree”—Garth was eating up my discomfort—“she didn’t. Not even close.”
I wished innocent eyes and ears weren’t close by, keeping me from saying and doing the things I wanted to.
“She’s also a gymnast. Flexible. Super flexible.” Garth clasped his hands on the table and leaned in. “And she has a thing for cowboys. Blond, strapping, smiling-idiot variety cowboys . . . so you girls already have something in common.”
Those enchiladas were not looking so appetizing anymore. Other than throwing them at Garth’s smug face, I didn’t have much use for them. I was at the point between considering and acting out on my enchilada-tossing fantasy when I heard a pair of footsteps coming up the front steps. One set sounded sure, the other set . . . hobbled.
“Sounds like that’s all the Rowen hoarding we’ll get tonight.” Rose stood from her chair. I shot out of mine. We made like a caravan and headed for the front door. That time, Garth wasn’t taking up the rear; he was leading the stampede.
Opportunistic bastard.
I barely had a second to suck in a breath and roll back my shoulders before Clementine threw open the door. “Jesse!” She screeched her standard brother-worship greeting. It didn’t matter if she’d gone days or seconds without seeing him. Her greeting always held the same level of enthusiasm.
Jesse had just scaled the top step and was slowly making his way through the door. He wasn’t alone. A chick who I assumed was Jo had one arm draped over his shoulders as she hobbled pathetically beside him. I’d sprained my ankle a few times before and never once had a sprain constituted clinging to a person that way. The way she clutched his shoulder and looked at him with those big doe eyes of hers made my claws come out. When she giggled as they wove through the front door, my claws were ready for some serious slashing.
“See what I mean? That is definitely not a man,” Garth whispered to me, nudging me in the ribs.
“Oh, go and have relations with your left hand,” I snapped quietly enough the girls wouldn’t hear me.
“I’d rather have relations with her”—Garth lifted his chin toward Jo—“but something tells me she’d rather have relations with a different cowboy. Heads up, Rowen. That goes for your and Jesse’s affairs.” With one last nudge, Garth wove through the Walkers toward Jesse and Jo.
As soon as they were in the foyer, Jesse’s eyes searched for me. They locked on me almost immediately, and his smile moved into place. The one that chased away any and every doubt and insecurity I had festering inside of me.
Garth moved up beside Jo to relieve Jesse, and before Garth’s arm had wrapped around Jo’s waist, Jesse was lunging toward me. I had time to give Garth an appreciative smile and notice the look of disappointment on Jo’s face. The chick really did have a thing for my boyfriend. Not good.
But then all was good again. Jesse’s arms wound around me before lifting me. “I’m so sorry I missed you earlier. It killed me not being there to pick you up.”
I’d forgive a million times over when he hugged me that way. “Being trapped inside a moving vehicle with Garth Black almost killed me too.”
Jesse chuckled into the bend of my neck, gave me one more squeeze, then set me back down. “It won’t happen again.”