by Liz Isaacson
Sally got up and stretched, making a yowling sound as she yawned too. He wasn’t sure what she was trying to say, because Flynn didn’t understand dog language.
But he knew Jess, and he hurried back into the house and grabbed his keys.
He knew right where she’d go, and he wasn’t going to let her abandon him the way everyone else had.
Chapter 7
“Wow,” Ivy said as she slid into the booth across from Jessie. “You’ve already eaten half of this.”
“Yeah,” Jessie said, glancing up at her cousin. She should’ve known better than to come to the pub, but it was her go-to place to regroup. Find her center. Fill up with chocolate and ice cream, which somehow made her mind work better.
At least that was what she told herself.
“Problems at the ranch?” Ivy glanced toward the kitchen, where she’d probably need to get back to work.
Jessie shook her head, though she didn’t want to talk about Flynn either. It simply irked her that her own cousin assumed her bad mood came from the ranch. As if cows held the power to make her have a good day or a bad one.
No, that power seemed to belong to Flynn and no one else. She almost scoffed. How could he have been thinking about kissing her for years?
He was either a liar or a magician at hiding how he felt.
“We should go to lunch,” Ivy said. “I think you might have something to tell me.”
“Do I?” Jessie asked.
“Oh, definitely.” Ivy slid out of the booth and stepped closer to Jessie. “Something named Flynn Hollister, who’s coming this way now.”
Jessie’s heart bumped irregularly, and she scooped up another bite of baked brownie bliss as if she didn’t care who was coming her way.
“Yeah, like you have something to tell me about Nash,” Jessie said.
Ivy only giggled and walked away, and Jessie really would have to go to lunch with her later and fill her in. Ivy would text relentlessly until she did. But at least she’d get some gossip about her cousin’s love life too. She’d seen the country music star around town, and Ivy was a star with a guitar, just waiting to be born.
When Flynn sat down across from her, she put the treat in her mouth and looked at him. She couldn’t believe he’d liked her for so long and done nothing about it.
“You should’ve told me,” she said, licking her spoon clean and handing it to him.
He took it and focused on the ice cream and brownie between them. “Why does it matter?”
“I was going to leave the ranch,” she said. “Because of you. Because I couldn’t stand to be so close to you and not be yours.”
He lifted his eyes to hers, and she drowned in the dark depths of them. “You’re mine,” he said. “If you want to be.”
She nodded, happiness driving out some of the despair that had filled her. “I felt like I was being so obvious these last few months.”
“Maybe you were,” he said. “I don’t know. I had to put my fantasies about us out of my mind, or I would’ve gone crazy at the ranch too.”
“Did you like any of those other women you went out with?”
“You don’t need to torture yourself about them,” he said.
“You tortured me with them,” she pointed out.
“They were all a poor substitute for you,” he said. “But I was convinced I couldn’t have you. Number one, I’m a lot older than you.”
“Six years isn’t that much older.”
“And yet, I heard Cami’s going out with Malcolm and everyone’s saying how he’s too old for her.” Flynn cocked his head. “You realize they’re six years apart, right?”
“Do we need another spoon here?”
Jessie glanced up at the waitress. “Yes, please. He stole mine.”
“Be right back.”
Flynn handed her spoon back to her, and she simply looked from it to him. “I’m sorry,” he said. “For everything. I just—I don’t care about a female fast, and I don’t care about anyone I’ve been out with or danced with or kissed in the past five years. Just you, Jess.”
Warmth filled her from sole to skull, and she nodded. “All right.”
He glanced around the pub where she’d escaped. “And we’re out now, sweetheart. In public.”
“I suppose so.”
“So I’ll save you a seat by me at church tomorrow.”
Jessie’s eyebrows went up. “You think so?”
“I told you, I don’t have a problem with dating you.”
“Maybe you should let your female fast run out. See if you can trick Rhodes and Newt into believing you did it.” She leaned forward, feeling flirty and dangerous now. “And we need to make it through the Fourth of July with all my cousins and aunts and uncles.”
“So a few more days,” he said. “Then we can go dancing next weekend.”
She shook her head. “Flynn, I’m not a dancer.”
“I’ll teach you,” he said, and the thought of him showing her how to move, where to put her hands, and holding her close had her heart twittering in her chest.
“Would you guys like more than dessert?” the waitress asked as she set another spoon on the table in front of Flynn.
“No,” he said, pulling out his wallet. “Just this, thanks.”
She smiled at him, took his card, and walked away.
“Our steaks will be cold,” Jessie said.
“Then I’ll put in a pizza,” he said. “I just…I’m not in the mood to be out. I just want to be at home with you.”
She liked the sound of that, and she hurried to finish the cast iron skillet full of brownie and ice cream so she could go back to Flynn’s house and lay in the comfort and security of his arms.
Jessie endured church the next day, having told Rhodes about Malcolm asking Cami on a date. Her brother hadn’t been happy about that, and she couldn’t enjoy the sermon for all her wondering about what he’d say about her and Flynn.
He’d claimed Malcolm was “much too old” for Cami, but Flynn’s words about how he and she were the same age difference kept her from focusing on anything else.
She had a few chores after church and dinner with her family, and she took her time out on the ranch. The land radiated peace to her, a sense of serenity she couldn’t find anywhere else. Not that she’d really tried.
She’d been born and raised in Quinn Valley and had no desire to leave town—at least now that Flynn had confessed his feelings for her.
The landscaping at the homestead was coming along nicely, and it felt like the ranch was holding its breath for the next big thing to happen. Everyone in the Quinn family would be coming out for the Fourth of July celebration, and Jessie normally liked having all of her aunts and uncles, cousins and significant others, around.
But this year, she felt…off.
“What is it, Lord?” she asked, finally feeling that calmness she usually found at church. God didn’t answer her, but then again, He’d never spoken in a loud voice, with thunder and the shaking of the Earth.
Jessie still felt Him nearby, carefully watching over her and her family. “And Flynn,” she murmured. He’d said he’d been mad at God, but he’d gone to church every week since she’d known him. He couldn’t have been that mad.
Or maybe he viewed church the way Jessie did—as a sanctuary. A hospital for the sick and weary, for those simply doing their best and trying their hardest.
“Please help Flynn get his ranch back,” she said to the puffy, white clouds as they moved through the sky. “Help him find happiness.”
She could see now how many fronts the man had up, though he claimed to really love dancing. “Might as well have some fun, right?” he’d said last night after they’d gone back to his house to finish their steak dinners. “None of those women meant anything to me, Jess.”
She believed him, and she hoped with everything in her that she wouldn’t be left feeling foolish because of it.
The days passed, with Flynn stopping by in the morning to hav
e a private hello with her. He hadn’t kissed her yet, and Jessie honestly wondered if he would. He seemed…careful with her in a way he didn’t exhibit around others, but he didn’t have a problem holding her hand, or touching her hair, or holding her close to his heart.
The morning of the Fourth dawned bright and early, and Jessie got out of bed with the sun so she could get the bulk of her chores done before the family picnic—and the heat.
Betsy was already up and cooking in the kitchen, their mother helping as Jessie and Cami pulled on their cowgirl boots. As Jessie waited for her toast to pop up, the front door opened and Granny walked in with Rhodes and his new girlfriend, who was also the landscaper, Capri Harwood.
He didn’t have to worry about older brothers or younger sisters approving of his boyfriend, though Jessie knew he worried about plenty of other things. “Morning, dear,” Granny said, smiling at Jessie. She wore a perfectly pressed pair of navy blue slacks with a red, white, and blue blouse.
“You’re so festive,” Jessie said, hugging her grandmother. She always was. The woman had rings and earrings for every holiday, and she never let an opportunity go by without dressing to the nines and looking her best.
“I love the Fourth of July,” she said. “And toast.”
Jessie giggled as she buttered her toast and handed it to Granny. “There you go, Granny.”
“Oh, I can’t take your toast.” But she bit into the buttery, crispy slice of bread as Jessie put down two more pieces. “Did you impress someone at that card game?”
Jessie’s first reaction was to sigh and say no. Instead, she tilted her head and looked at Granny. “Maybe.”
Granny grinned, her bright blue eyes sparkling like sapphires. “I knew there would be someone there for you.”
“But it’s all the same men,” Jessie said. “How did you know?”
“When you get to be my age, dear, you can smell things in the air.” She laughed, her voice a little scratchy, telling the world how much wisdom she had from the years she’d spent on this planet.
“You must really be smelling a lot, then,” Jessie said, reaching for the toast as it popped up. “Rhodes has a new girlfriend. Robyn and Ben—I know that marriage contract had your name written all over it. Riley just got engaged too.” Jessie lifted her eyebrows, almost daring Granny to argue with her.
“It’s a curse,” Granny said with another laugh.
“I’ll bet,” Jessie said dryly, taking her toast with her toward the mudroom. She stuffed her hat on her head with one hand while she held a piece of toast in her mouth.
She couldn’t help scanning the ranch beyond the house where her parents lived, because she often saw Flynn at work out in the fields in the morning.
Today, though, Rhodes had a dozen men out in the field just south of the homestead, erecting the huge tents that would shade the family later that day.
“I’m not going to go out with Malcolm,” Cami said, stepping to Jessie’s side and startling her.
“Where did you come from?”
“I was waiting for you to come out,” Cami said with a smile.
“So no Malcolm? Why?”
Cami shrugged, though there had to be a reason. Jessie didn’t like it when her sisters pressured her to say more, so she didn’t ask again. Cami wasn’t usually reserved, and she and Jessie were close.
“Remember how I told you about that cowboy I liked?” Jessie asked.
“Yes,” Cami said slowly, her eyes glued to the side of Jessie’s face now.
“He asked me out.”
Cami’s face split into a grin. “That’s great, Jess. Is that where you’ve been disappearing to at night?”
“A couple of times,” she said. “It’s not like I go see…him all the time.”
“You were gone almost all day and all night on Saturday.”
“I was helping Granny all morning,” she said. “I didn’t even go to town until afternoon.”
“And the Saturday before that.”
“That was—yeah,” she said.
“So,” Cami said. “Who is it?”
“I’m not sure I’m ready to tell,” Jessie said. Flynn had said he didn’t care who knew, and Jessie realized it was all her holding them in the shadows.
“He works here, doesn’t he?” Cami stopped and looked toward the group putting up the tent. “Is he over there?”
Flynn indeed stood at one of the corners, holding the ropes with two gloved hands. “Yes,” Jessie said.
“Oh, girl, you sighed that.” Cami burst out laughing. “Yes.” She exaggerated the breathiness of the word and dragged it out way too long.
Jessie could only smile, because she’d heard the soft emotions in her voice. “If I tell you, will you promise not to tell anyone? I want to talk to Rhodes about it first.”
“That’s a good idea,” Cami said. “He wasn’t happy about Malcolm asking me out.”
Jessie watched Wyatt point to something and Clay reach for another section of the tent. Jessie understood Rhodes better than her other sisters did, but she didn’t tell Cami that.
“It’s Flynn,” she said, turning her back on him and heading toward the calf barn where she started all of her mornings, holiday or not.
“Flynn?” The level of shock in Cami’s voice could not have been louder. “Are you kidding?”
“No,” Jessie said, not slowing as Cami darted in front of her.
“Jess.” Cami touched her arm to get her to stop, and Jessie sighed as she did. Telling her sister had been a mistake, and it had only been ten seconds.
“He dates everyone,” Cami said.
“I know,” Jessie said.
“He’s not serious about anyone.”
She thought of all the very serious conversations they’d had in the past couple of weeks. “I know.”
“How long have you liked him?”
“A long time.”
“And he asked you out? When?”
“Poker night a couple of weeks ago.” Jessie sighed and adjusted her hat. “Can we not discuss it to death? We’re getting to know each other better, that’s all.” She stepped around her sister, knowing full well she was doing more than that.
She was praying for him, and helping him with his ranch, and dreaming of a future with him.
“Okay, okay,” Cami said. “But wow. Flynn Hollister, going out with someone for a couple of weeks. That’s a record or something, right?”
Irritation ate through Jessie, and she gritted her teeth so she wouldn’t say something rude to Cami. “Don’t tell anyone,” she said when they reached the calf barn.
“My lips are sealed,” Cami said, continuing over to the chicken coops, where her day usually began.
“Please help Cami keep her mouth shut,” Jessie muttered, and then she determined she wasn’t going to pray for every little thing that day.
Chapter 8
Flynn liked his new morning routine. He let the dogs out of the back of his truck, and they went tearing off into the cattle pastures. He worked in the fields near the homestead, checking fences and chutes as sometimes the “troublemaker” cows in this pasture chewed through things in the night. He fed and watered them, then moved to the stables.
He slipped away each morning when he knew Rhodes would be busy with something else. Now that his best friend was dating Capri, Rhodes didn’t have his eye on every little thing around the ranch, freeing Flynn up to spend more time with Jessie in the calf barn.
Hardly anyone came in there, and she’d started bringing him toaster pastries and those little cartons of chocolate milk he’d enjoyed growing up in elementary school.
They’d been getting along really well, and Flynn pushed into the barn a few days after the Fourth of July to find her bent over her workbench, her hair falling over her shoulders in a soft, sexy way.
“Morning, sweetheart,” he said, taking her into his arms.
“Hey.” She wore a smile in her voice, and Flynn wanted to kiss her so very badly. He’d been w
aiting for her to make the first move, because he didn’t want to seem too forward. Too much of the player everyone thought he was.
“Flynn?” she asked, swaying with him.
He closed his eyes and enjoyed the movement of her body, the scent of something clean and fruity about her. “Yeah, sweetheart?”
“Are you ever going to kiss me?” He stilled, and she laughed. “Got you with that one, didn’t I?”
He looked down at her, not an ounce of teasing in him at the moment. “I’ve been waiting for you to kiss me,” he said. “I didn’t want to go too fast.”
“Oh, in that case.” She reached up and swept his cowboy hat right off his head. He normally didn’t like anyone touching his hat, but the way Jessie held it with reverence as she gazed at him, all sorts of soft things in her eyes, Flynn didn’t mind so much.
She ran her free hand through his hair, and Flynn closed his eyes again, his synapses firing on all cylinders. The woman knew how to drive him crazy, that was for sure.
Curling her fingers around the back of his neck, she balanced, and he felt her moving closer, closer, closer. Finally their lips touched, and Flynn growled in the back of his throat.
He held her tight, one arm hooked around her waist, and the other coming up to her face. Kissing her was unlike any other kiss he’d had, and Flynn’s pulse romped through his chest as he enjoyed the best kiss of his life.
She pulled away far too soon, but Flynn let her. She kept herself right beside him, the only space between them near their faces. “Did you hear from the bank?” she whispered.
“Yes,” he said. “They called this morning. I got approved.”
“That’s great,” she said, her voice bright.
It was great. But not as great as kissing Jessie, so he dipped his head and did that again.
Half an hour later, she said, “I have to go feed that calf that won’t eat without me.”
“You do?” He kissed her again. “Are you sure?”
