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She swallowed. Peeked at Jackson. “Uh, sure.”
* * *
Jackson tightenedthe brace wire in the fence, then pulled the wire sideways. His gloved hands felt the equal tension, so he knew his job was done. He straightened, stretching his back as he glanced across the low hills of their valley.Theirvalley was a slight misnomer. His friend and neighbor Liam Darcy might own the land to the west, but he didn’t own the views, or the sunsets, or the way the hills held a purple shroud just before it rained.
He drew in a breath of fresh-cut hay and then released. One of his favorite scents, one that always made him think of summer. He drew in another breath, and for another precious moment the worries of the week slowed. He might not have the money or connections the Darcy family had, but this land had been Reilly land since long before old man Darcy first bought his spread, sixty years ago. Reillys had farmed here for four generations, even if some of those generations hadn’t been as respectable as some might like. But no family was perfect.
His gaze swept across to the other hill, catching the last of the afternoon sun. If he stood on the seat of the ATV, he could catch a glint of the Darcy estate’s solar farm, with the angled glass and metal absorbing radiant energy from the sun. Their ranch might be four times the size of the Reilly’s, but the Darcy’s greater focus on renewable energy in recent times had caused some furor among some of the other ranchers. Jackson could see the point of environmentally sustainable practices. And if he had spare dollars then he might investigate it more, too. But Reilly finances had never been flush; they kept the ranch afloat by sweat and prayers.
That thought led to another, and the memory of a certain woman’s smile. Thank goodness his sister wasn’t privy to everything Jackson thought, because ever since dropping Lexi home on Thursday night, he’d found himself wondering about her, caught between amazement about what she’d thought about him and Ellie, and anticipation about what Sunday would bring. Mucking out stalls, checking fence lines, struggling to get his head around finances, dealing with Mom … none of it mattered. How could Lexi have thought he and Ellie were an item?
The fact she had, as Ellie had told him on their return from dropping Lexi off, had made him laugh so hard he’d almost missed the turnoff to their road.
“No wonder she was shy around you,” Ellie had said. “I thought it was your natural unawesome charm, but apparently she sees something not one hundred percent unattractive. Weird. I don’t understand it at all.”
“Be weird if you did.”
“So modest.”
“That’s me.”
Her snort of laughter made him smile. But his sister’s words had buoyed his heart. Okay, so it was nice to know he hadn’t inadvertently done something to offend Ms. Franklin, and the fact she’d obviously tried to avoid him gladdened his heart. She might’ve misunderstood some things, but he liked that it stemmed from a deep respect for marriage vows, something his family hadn’t exactly excelled in. Of course, Dermott and Mindy seemed to be chugging along fine, their visit for Christmas last year coming as a surprise. He’d never been close with his older brothers. Dermott had left when Jackson was ten, and Mitchell had been more focused on hockey than family. Jackson had always been closer to Ellie and Cooper, even though they were both younger than him by several years. Cooper now worked in IT near San Jose. He wondered how old Lexi was …
The two-way radio crackled. “Jackson?” Denny Ronaldson, their ranch foreman called him. “It ain’t good news. You better come to the barn real quick.”
Jackson’s heart clenched as he got on the ATV and accelerated up the hill. The barn beckoned, its traditional large red frame a badge of western movies everywhere, which was why it had proved a fun location for the town’s New Year’s Eve dance six months ago. Too bad those fun times had died not long after midnight.
Two minutes later he’d throttled down and switched off the ignition and raced inside. “Denny?”
“Over here,” Denny called from the stall. Ellie stood nearby, arms crossed, forehead creased.
Jackson’s heart sank some more as he drew near. He already knew what Denny was going to say, and he was right. It wasn’t good at all. “It’s Brutus, isn’t it?”
“I don’t think he’s improved none.”
Jackson gritted his teeth to stop an expletive from slipping out. Ever since that first bout of hot weather several weeks ago, Brutus had been out of sorts. He studied the bull, who seemed a far cry from the proud creature he’d paid top dollar for. “Do we call Jess in again?”
“I hate to say it, but I don’t think that young filly knows a lot about bulls.”
“I think you underestimate her,” Ellie said. “She’s savvier than people around here give her credit for.”
“That remains to be seen,” Denny muttered.
Jackson shot his sister a warning look—riling Denny wouldn’t help—and they spent the next few minutes trying to soothe the bull whose kicking signaled an aggression he hoped wasn’t a sign of inferior breeding. “I’m gonna call her anyway.”
“Your dime.” Denny spat on the ground, and walked back into the pen, crooning to the sick animal in a way that saw the old man keep his job when his ornery manners might’ve had him fired long ago.
“Jess is good,” Ellie said. “She graduated top in her class.”
“But Denny is right. She lacks experience.”
“Which she won’t get if nobody gives her a chance.”
Jackson sighed. “Who else is there anyway?”
“James couldn’t help having a heart attack.”
Jess’s dad had recently been forced into retirement. “Maybe he could come with her.”
