“Is this about your young lady?” she asked.
“Possibly. I think I should have gone with her today.”
“Well, you haven’t been near a saddle since you were three years old, so I wouldn’t recommend heading right out to the trail, but if you want to spend time with her, I don’t know a woman who wouldn’t love the idea of a man stepping outside of his comfort zone just so he could spend time with her,” she said, but then she frowned a bit and gave him a hard look. “But only do it if you want to, Junior. You’ve made a lot of changes lately. Good changes. And I love Lily-Grace. She’s a wonderful young woman. Just make sure there’s a good balance there. Okay?”
“Yes, ma’am. I hear you.” And he did. She didn’t want his desire to please Lily-Grace to lead to resentment down the road. He’d keep that in mind, because he didn’t want that either. “I’m going to go out and meet them.”
“Tell Lilah to come see me before she scurries off to shower.”
“Will do.”
Jesse stepped outside just as Zach pulled into the cul-de-sac. He could see Lily-Grace’s SUV and Fetu’s truck still making their way up the lane. He walked right for Zach and Evie as they hopped out.
“I gotta ask you something,” he said to his brother.
“Yeah, shoot.”
“With the help of a licensed therapist to deal with the actual fear, do you think you have the patience to teach me to ride Françoise?”
Zach’s eyes popped wide as he nodded. “I think you should learn on Bam Bam, ’cause Françoise is never going out on a trail, but yeah, I can do it if you have the patience to learn.”
“Okay. Let’s do it.”
He ignored the way Zach and Evie were looking at each other, and walked over to his house. He waved Lily-Grace into the driveway, then directed Fetu to park his truck beside her SUV
Lily-Grace hopped out, that same luminous smile still highlighting her beautiful face. Jesse took her overnight bag out of her hand and pulled her in close for a kiss.
“How was it?” he asked, his gaze still taking in every inch of her.
“Amazing! I’m going to be sore as hell tomorrow. But we had a great time. Your brothers are hilarious. Also, Zach proposed to me on your behalf for tips on the Golden Gulch deal.”
“I’m gonna have follow-up questions, but okay.”
“You got Fetu, Jesse?” Lilah called out from across the driveway. She was holding hands with the veterinarian in question, and Jesse remembered what Fetu had told him about his feelings for his baby cousin.
“Yeah. Fetu. Got the guest room shower all set up for you.”
“You’re gonna love it,” Lily-Grace assured him.
“Dope. Let’s do this.” Fetu chuckled. Jesse tried not to cringe as Lilah hopped up on her tiptoes and kissed Fetu on the mouth, then turned and practically skipped back to Miss Leona’s, faking that fresh, in-love glow. Fetu’s eyes followed her, his cheeks turning dark red as he probably thought about how this situation wasn’t getting any easier for him. Jesse might have to talk to Lilah about this genius plan of hers. Fetu was gonna get hurt.
“I desperately need to bathe.” Lily-Grace’s groan of disgust brought him back to the moment. “I might need a nap later too.”
“I think we can manage both. Come, Doc!”
“Right behind you.”
Jesse showed Fetu to the guest room and left him to it once he was all squared away. Then he led Lily-Grace down to his bedroom. He sat down on the bed, pulling her close between his spread thighs.
She set her Stetson on the nightstand, then pressed a light kiss to his lips. “Hi.”
“How you doing?”
“Better now. Uh, I have something to tell you.”
“Sure. Tell me.”
She bit her lip, her gaze dipping down to his lips before she looked him in the eye. “I’m gonna stay. I’m gonna move back to Charming.”
