by Emmy Eugene
“He’s a keeper,” Kim said, easing back over to her desk. Jenna wasn’t sure why, but the flowers bothered her.
Just before lunch, the volunteers started streaming back into the office to sign out and turn in their visitor badges. Seth wasn’t one of them. No, he arrived about a half an hour later, carrying two bags of food.
“Can you lunch?” he asked. “Oh, you got the flowers.” He grinned like he’d become king of the world. “Do you like them?”
“Yeah, of course,” she said, moving around her desk. She didn’t want to kiss him at work, and she glanced at Kim, who was staring openly. “Thank you.” She gave him a quick kiss, feeling awkward and self-conscious. “I can lunch.”
She hadn’t gotten hardly any work done today, but she got a lunch hour. She didn’t have to work through it every day. Seth didn’t seem to notice that anything was off, but he spent most of lunch on his phone, finally jumping to his feet.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I have to run. I have an appointment.” He kissed the top of her head and practically ran out. Jenna watched him disappear, wondering what appointment he was rushing off to. He hadn’t mentioned anything.
“You’re not married,” she muttered to herself. She didn’t need to know his entire schedule from sun-up to sun-down. She hadn’t had a chance to talk to him about any of the activities she’d looked up, and she had piano lessons after school.
She managed to get some work done that afternoon, and she made it through her lessons with a smile. By the time she stood at the door and waved to the mother in the car in the driveway, she was ready for dinner, her sweatpants, and something funny on television.
Before she could close the door, a truck turned into her driveway. Her first thought was that Seth had come to visit. But his truck was much older and it was usually white. This truck was huge, and Jenna thought she’d need a ladder to get in it.
The vehicle was the color of storm clouds, and Seth got out of the passenger seat, pressing his cowboy hat onto his head as he came toward her. “Hey,” he said, lifting his hand. “Look at Russ’s new truck.”
“Wow,” Jenna said, hoping she’d put enough excitement into her voice. All she could see was dollar signs, but she supposed both Seth and Russ had plenty of money.
Seth took the steps two at a time. “I know you’re probably tired,” he said. “We’re just on our way home, and I thought I’d say hi real quick.” He swept her into his arms and kissed her, and Jenna got a second wind. Russ honked, and Seth pulled away from Jenna with a laugh. “That’s all.” He ducked his head and pressed his cheek to hers. “Hi.”
She held onto him and said, “Hi.”
“I also wanted to ask if you wanted to go with me to my parents’ on Thursday night.”
Surprise moved through Jenna. “You want me to eat dinner with you and your parents?”
“Yeah.” He looked down at her, an adorable smile that reached all the way into his eyes.
“Okay,” she said.
“Great,” he said. “And the voting closed on the Edible Neighborhood last night, and we got eight-one percent of the residents who said yes to the concept.”
“That’s great,” she said brightly. Seth backed away from her as Russ leaned on the horn again.
“Right? So I’m going to get started on that too.”
“I can help on Friday or Saturday,” she said.
“Well.” He came closer to her again. “There’s a couples event that’s part of Octoberfest on Friday night,” he said. “I was thinking that would be our Friday-night date.”
“Oh, you were, were you?” She leaned her hip into the doorway and folded her arms. “You didn’t even ask me out for Friday.”
“Didn’t I?” he teased. “I thought it was implied.”
“Hmm, I don’t think so,” she said.
“So you’re seeing other men?”
“No, of course not,” she said, enjoying this game a little bit too much. “Are you seeing someone else?”
“Nope.”
Jenna shrugged. “Maybe the Friday-night date is implied.”
Seth chuckled, leaned down and kissed her, ignoring his brother as he honked for a third time. “Good to see you, Jenn,” he finally whispered, her heart booming in her chest from the careful, tender, passionate way he’d kissed her.
“You too,” she said, almost in a daze. Seth bounded down the steps and got in the truck just as Isaac turned into the driveway and then pulled into the garage.
Seth left, and Isaac climbed the steps. “Was that Seth?”
“Russ got a new truck,” Jenna said. “How was work?”
“Busy,” Isaac said with a sigh. “And I have something to tell you.”
“Oh?” Jenna followed him inside the house and closed the door behind them. Finally.
“Yeah.” Isaac cleared his throat and continued into the kitchen, where he set down his briefcase bag and pulled open the fridge. “You inspired me. I started seeing someone.”
Whatever Jenna had expected her brother to say, it wasn’t that. She gaped at him until he turned around, and he laughed. “What? Is that so hard to believe?”
“Honestly?” she asked. “Yeah, a little.”
“I’m not the one who said I’d never date again,” he said, lifting his eyebrows to make his point.
“No, but you said once that you didn’t need more than a scalpel and your name on the surgery board.”
“Yeah, and then Mom died, and I left my busy job in Dallas.” He popped the top on the can of soda he’d pulled from the fridge.
“You don’t have to be here,” Jenna said, speaking slowly. “I mean, I love living here with you, but I’m not the fragile Jenna I was three years ago.”
“I know that, Jenn.” He approached and gave her a hug. “You’re strong and smart and I knew you’d break out of your funk.”
“Thanks.” She squeezed him tight and stepped back. “So, who is this woman?”
“She’s a nurse in the pediatric wing at the hospital,” he said. “Her name is Luisa Cruise.”
“Luisa Cruise?” Jenna repeated. “You know she has a son, right?” As soon as she said it, she realized she probably shouldn’t have. Luisa probably wanted to reveal major points about her life to Isaac slowly, on her timetable.
“Yes,” he said. “The Cruises are old blood in Chestnut Springs.”
“Seems like everyone is,” she said.
“Well, they’re like us, Jenn. Come back to the houses where they were raised.” He shrugged and turned back to the fridge. “What do we have to eat?”
“I can order something on the app,” she said. “You go shower, and it’ll be here before you’re done.”
Isaac grinned at her. “You’re the best sister ever,” he said. “My favorite one.”
“Your only one,” she said, laughing as he grinned at her.
“I want pizza,” he said. “Extra cheese. You know what I like.”
Jenna indeed did know what her brother liked on his pizza, and she skipped the app and just called directly.
Then she used her phone to text Seth. I just ordered pizza. You want to sneak away for a few minutes and have a slice?
Chapter Fifteen
Seth really wanted to cross the river and eat pizza with Jenna. He fantasized about kissing her well into the night, like he’d done on the night of the rainstorm. But he’d been in town since leaving to do the reading at the elementary school, and all of his animals needed to be fed.
Russ had taken Travis for a ride in his new truck, so Seth had no one to ask to cover for him. He supposed he could ask Brian, Tomas, or Darren, but they’d already put in a full day, and Seth honestly needed some time with the horses and dogs.
He’d just tapped out his reason for not being able to come when someone knocked on his front door. “Jenna?” he wondered, going that way.
But when he pulled open the door, it wasn’t Jenna standing there. A man had a dog on a leash, and they both looked like they h
adn’t eaten or slept in a while.
“Hello,” Seth said. “Can I help you?”
“A neighbor of mine said you take in dogs,” the man said.
“Depends,” Seth said. “Is it a stray?”
“He’s mine,” the man said. “But I’m…goin’ through somethin’ right now, and I can’t take care of ‘im.” He cleared his throat and looked down at the dog.
“Boy or girl?” Seth asked, crouching in front of the dog. “She’s a German shepherd. Pure breed?”
“Girl,” the man said. “And yes. Her name is Cloud Nine. She was my wife’s.”
Seth straightened and looked at the man. “I can take her.” He reached for the leash, and the man hesitated before handing it over. Seth made a quick decision. “How about this? I’ll keep her here, and you can come get her whenever you’re back on your feet.”
The man nodded, but said, “You don’t have to do that.”
“What’s your name?”
“Jack Woodscross,” he said, his voice strained. “My wife died, and I—”
“Are you hungry?” Seth asked. “I’ve got bread, and we can make sandwiches.”
“No, I have to get home to my son,” Jack said. “Thank you.”
“Come back anytime you’re ready for her.” Seth tipped his hat. “And if you…never mind.”
“No, what?” Jack looked interested in whatever Seth might say, and he once again listened to his gut.
“Do you need a job?”
“I’m out of work right now, yes,” he said.
“I always need help here,” he said. “With the dogs, even. Come back tomorrow, and we’ll get you set up.”
Jack’s eyes stormed, but he nodded. “Thank you.”
Seth backed up a step, gently tugging on the dog’s leash. “Come on, Cloud Nine,” he said. “That’s right. Come on.” He didn’t have the heart to put her outside in the enclosure with the other dogs tonight, and she happily sniffed Winner and Thunder while he unclipped her leash.
“A new friend,” he said. He hadn’t expected to get a new dog so soon after turning Dodger back over to his family, but he wasn’t upset. There would always be room for another dog at Chestnut Ranch. “Come on, guys,” he said. “We have work to do.”
He opened the back door and let the dogs run outside. Darkness had almost covered everything, and Seth grabbed a huge flashlight from the shelf in the mudroom. “Horses first, guys,” he told the dogs, but they were already out in the night somewhere.
Seth made it to the stables, and he went through all of his nightly checks. Everyone got fresh water, and their feedbags checked. Pearls seemed to be doing well, and he made sure he hadn’t left anyone outside.
“Okay,” he said to himself. “Over to the dogs.” The building seemed emptier, which made sense. He’d adopted out eight dogs, and that was just more than half. At least his chores went faster because he only had seven dogs to bring in from outside and feed and water. A couple of the more nervous ones wouldn’t settle down, and Seth stayed with them for several extra minutes.
He really couldn’t leave them that long, and he hadn’t meant to. Tomorrow, and the rest of the week, he wouldn’t have anything except the reading at the elementary school. He and Jenna would go to the town dinner on Friday, and Saturday, he’d start to plan who would plant what in the Edible Neighborhood. He could make a sign-up form and get Ruth to send it out, and hopefully, by next weekend, they could get some fall plants and bulbs in the ground.
Seth didn’t think the weather ever really cooled off in Texas, but there were some cooler months, and things needed to be planted before they arrived.
He let his mind wander through other work he needed to finish around the ranch. Fixing the footbridges that had been damaged in the storm, and getting in one more mowing of hay. Then they’d move on to fixing fence lines for the winter, and counting their cattle again. There were always mechanical repairs to do, and painting to accomplish, and construction projects to complete.
Not only that, but the entire yard at the homestead would need to be winterized. The garden harvested. Trees and grapevines pruned. Thankfully, Rex actually did most of the work in the yard at the homestead, which freed up Seth to do the same at his parents’ house. Russ would come help with that, and Seth finished up for the night.
“Let’s go,” he said to the dogs, and Winner, Thunder, and Cloud Nine came with him. “I’m going to call you Cloudy,” he said to the German shepherd. “Cloud Nine is too much, don’t you think?”
The dog didn’t answer, and Seth just chuckled. “Cloudy it is.”
Once back at the house, he made the dogs sit down by holding a piece of liver above their heads. “Hold still,” he said, snapping a picture quickly. He was actually surprised Winner let him, because she had a real knack for knowing he had the camera out. She hated getting her picture taken, and she sometimes turned her head away from him on purpose.
Smiling at the three canines, he sent the picture to Jenna. Got a new dog, he said. At least for a little while. Her name is Cloudy.
I know that dog, Jenna’s answer came back. That’s Suzie Woodscross’s dog.
She’s a sweetheart, Seth said. You want her for a bit? He chuckled at his lame joke, but it was just too fun to tease Jenna about having a dog.
You know what? I’ll take her.
Seth’s eyebrows lifted in surprise. “Really?” He typed out the same message and sent it.
Sure, she said. I was friends with Suzie. She died last year, and it was so sad. She has a four-year-old son.
What about Apples and Gypsy?
Oh, I only see them when they’re hungry, she said, and Seth laughed then.
All right, he said. She can roam with my dogs during the day, and you can have her at night.
Deal. Tomorrow?
See you tomorrow, Seth said, not wanting to get drawn into a long texting conversation. He rather liked his sleep, and he knew Jenna did too.
He took the dogs upstairs and let Cloudy get comfortable on his bed while he brushed his teeth and put on a pair of basketball shorts and a T-shirt. He looked at his phone fondly, thinking of Jenna, and laid down with a smile on his face.
Maybe this dating thing wasn’t so hard.
Or, he thought as he drifted to sleep. You’re doing it all wrong.
The following evening, Seth whistled at the dogs as they bounded up to the front door. “We’re not goin’ in that way,” he said. “Come on.”
Jenna had texted to meet her in the backyard, and he went around the corner of the house, Winner barking behind him. Maybe the dog had some sort of canine code. No matter what she’d barked at the other two dogs, they came.
Jenna appeared at the corner of the house, her hands gloved and her face red and sweaty. Wow, she was beautiful, and with the sun haloing her with golden rays, Seth thought he was seeing an angel.
“Hey,” he called to her. “You’re doing yard work?”
“Someone has to weed the pumpkin patch. Isaac planted them, so it really should be him. But. Well.” She exhaled and wiped the back of her glove across her forehead. A smudge of dirt appeared there, and then the dogs reached her.
She giggled as she leaned over to pat them all, and Cloudy seemed especially happy to see her.
“I can send over one of my boys,” Seth said, intending to help her if he could. With Jake now on the ranch full-time, Seth could probably spare someone for Jenna’s yard work.
“Oh, Isaac’s just been so busy at the hospital lately,” she said. “And I don’t mind, really.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, I’m not the one who doesn’t like to be outside.” She nudged him with a palm against his chest, and Seth caught her hand as she pulled it back.
“Well, I like kissing outside.” He chuckled as he brought her close and kissed her, the moment between them sobering quickly. She kissed him back with enthusiasm, and Seth sure did like feeling like someone cared about him.
He knew he had fa
mily who did, but there was nothing like the love of a good woman. She doesn’t love you, he told himself as he pulled away.
But he wondered if she could.
“I have her food bowls in the truck,” he said. “We can bring ‘em in later.” He stepped fully around the corner to find pumpkins spreading their vines everywhere. “Oh, wow. This is a pumpkin patch.”
“And they have one as part of Octoberfest.” She peeled her gloves off. “I want to go to that.”
“Yeah?”
“I love pumpkins,” she said. “And pumpkin flavored things. And pumpkin candles and pumpkin everything.”
“Oh, you’re one of those,” he said. “Have you had the pumpkin latte yet?”
“Have I had the pumpkin latte yet.” She didn’t phrase it as a question and immediately scoffed. “Who do you think you’re dealing with?” She gave him a flirtatious look over her shoulder and bent to pick up the hand shovel she’d been using. “Help me clean up here, would you? Then we can eat.”
“Sure.” He bent to pick up a pile of weeds, throwing them into a nearby wheelbarrow. “You didn’t have to cook.”
“I didn’t,” she said. “Well, unless you count sticking a piece of meat in the slow cooker cooking. Which I don’t.”
They finished outside, and Seth followed her into the kitchen through the back door. She stood at the sink and washed her hands and arms up to her elbows. The air was scented with roasted meat, and all three dogs waited next to the kitchen island.
“Go on,” he told them, and Winner and Thunder moved back toward the door. Cloudy didn’t though, and Jenna didn’t help matters by feeding her a piece of meat straight from the slow cooker.
“It’s good, right?” she asked the dog, and Seth marveled at her. He sure did like this woman.
“I’ll go get her bowls,” he said. “Maybe you can fill one with water for the others?”
“Sure,” she said, and he left her in the kitchen. For some reason, his pulse felt erratic, like it was ping-ponging around inside his chest, looking for a place to settle. He walked slowly to his truck and collected the bowls, trying to get his thoughts to align with his feelings.
