Page 29 of The Maverick’s Legacy

“You okay?” Jesse asked.

“I, um, I need to go freshen up. Will you excuse me?”

“Sure,” Jesse said. “I’ll meet you at our table.”

Carly nodded and hurried toward the bathroom. As soon as she was inside, she walked over to the sink and turned on the cold water. She wet a paper towel before wiping the damp cloth over her warm cheeks. The door to the bathroom opened, and a beautiful Black woman walked in.

“Oh!” the woman said. “Hello, Carly. It’s good to see you again.”

“Hi, Michelle. How are you?” Carly asked in response. She’d met Michelle Corey a couple of times since officially moving to Tenacity, though she didn’t know her well. Michelle’s brother, Shane, was engaged to Carly’s cousin Remi. The couple of times she had met Michelle, though, she had liked her, and she looked forward to having a friend in town.

Michelle joined her at the sink, copying her and wetting a towel to dab at her face. “Gosh, it’s hot out there.”

“It’s a sign that people are having a good time,” Carly replied.

Michelle leaned a hip against the sink. “You and Jesse sure looked like you were having a fun time.” She wiggled her eyebrows at Carly, who laughed. “I didn’t realize you two were seeing each other. You make a cute couple.”

“‘Seeing’ is an interesting word. This is only our second date. To be honest, I’m not sure if we’ll end up dating or just being really good friends.”

Michelle smirked. “Good friends or not, I can only hope to find a man who will look at me someday the way Jesse looks at you.”

Carly flushed all over again as she remembered what it felt like on the dance floor, to be held against Jesse. “A good man is hard to find,” she said, though she hoped that Jesse might be the one for her and not a friend.

Michelle completely distracted her by saying, “Oh, I totally get that…although I already found one.” Her face saddened though before she muttered quietly, “Not that he feels the same way about me.”

Carly looked at the woman in concern.

She wanted to ask more about it, but Michelle changed the subject. “Are you going to participate in the Fall Dinosaur Days Rodeo?”

“I…didn’t even know there was one,” Carly admitted.

“Oh yeah. Tenacity’s Dinosaur Days Festival is a big deal around here. Lots of places get involved. My family owns Little Cowpokes Daycare Center. We’re holding a kids’ event during the celebration. If you want to be a part of the rodeo, I can make some calls. I’m sure the townsfolk would be tickled pink to have one of the Hawkins Sisters perform.”

“Well…if you think they’d want me there, I’d be happy to be a part of it,” Carly told her.

Michelle squealed. She rushed over and gave her a hug. “I’ll have Remi send you the details once I know more.”

“Sounds good.”

Michelle beamed at her. “I should probably stop holding you up. Your man will be wondering where you are.”

She gave Carly a nod and left the room. Carly turned back to the mirror as her Michelle’s words echoed in her mind.

Jesse Abernathy wasn’t her man.

But she was starting to really wish he was.

She returned to their table and saw Jesse drinking a glass of water.

“I got you some water,” he said, nodding toward the glass next to his.

“Thanks.” She sat down next to him. “This has been a lot of fun tonight.”

“Yeah,” Jesse replied.

“I ran into Michelle Corey in the bathroom.” She told him that Michelle asked her to do the rodeo. By the time she was done, he was frowning.

“Are you going to?” Jesse asked.