Page 46 of The Maverick’s Legacy

He winked at Oscar, who stood a little straighter. Jesse tried very hard to fight back the large grin that wanted to appear on his face. He didn’t want to make things awkward for his son by pumping a victory fist in the air. He couldn’t wait to tell Carly.

The thought of her brought him back to the night before. Their connection had been like a match to a stick of dynamite. Incredible. Explosive. Jesse ached to be near her again, whether to have sex or just to be beside her, he didn’t care as long as he was with her.

Because he was in love with her.

He had a feeling he knew that leading up to what happened between them last night. Aside from Oscar, Carly was quickly becoming the most important person in his life. After they’d made love, he’d gone into the bathroom, feeling unsteady from the way she’d completely undone him. He’d had to stay there for countless minutes as his heart pounded with the reckoning of his feelings for her. He knew it was too soon in their relationship to be blurting out declarations of love, but he needed her in a way he hadn’t felt in years.

And that was the thing. She made him feel again. He felt like he’d finally woken up from a ten-year coma. She made him laugh and worried the hell out of him. She called him out on his mistakes and made him feel like he was home whenever he was with her. He hated leaving her that morning.

He wished they could have talked before he’d left, but after he’d come out of the bathroom, she’d been asleep, and he hadn’t wanted to rouse her. He should have gone home—she hadn’t asked him to stay the night—but he couldn’t fathom the idea of leaving her after what they’d shared. So instead, he’d gotten back in bed with her, moving as carefully as possible so he didn’t wake her. Despite not wanting to disturb her, he hadn’t been able to resist touching the soft skin of her back, tracing the delicate bones of her spine. She was it for him. Now he needed to be patient so that he could eventually convince her of that.

As he and Oscar walked to the truck, he asked, “Are you hungry?”

“We ate at the hotel, but that was forever ago, so yeah.”

Jesse snorted. “Forever” was actually about a couple of hours ago, but Oscar was a teenager. He was always hungry.

“Why don’t you and I get some brunch at the Silver Spur Café,” Jesse suggested. “And then you can tell me all about yesterday.”

“Okay,” Oscar replied.

Together, father and son made their way to the center of town, the world a little brighter for both of them. Thanks to Carly.

* * *

Carly walked toward the center of town, pulling her fall coat a little tighter to her. She was supposed to meet the contractor soon to go over some of the ideas she had for the school.

“Carly!” someone called out, and she looked around to see who it was.

JenniLynn Garrett came over to her, a warm smile on her face.

“Hello, Mayor,” Carly replied.

The other woman waved that off. “Please call me JenniLynn. I mean, you’re dating my boyfriend’s brother, right?”

Carly’s lips compressed. “Right.”

JenniLynn eyed her reaction, her smile turning to concern. “Uh-oh, what did he do?”

“Nothing. Everything is fine.”

The mayor made a tsking noise. She grabbed Carly’s arm and led her over to one of the benches in front of Tenacity Grocery.

As they both settled, JenniLynn said, “Okay, spill.”

“I don’t have anything to spill,” Carly insisted. Her feelings were confusing enough as it was. She couldn’t very well blabber how hurt she’d been by Jesse’s reaction after they made love.

JenniLynn shook her head. “You know I’m also in love with an Abernathy man. I love Grayson dearly, but when people google the ‘strong and silent type,’ I guarantee you’d see a picture of the Abernathy men. They have huge hearts, but they aren’t the best at expressing themselves.”

“I…” Tears filled Carly’s eyes, and before she knew it, she was telling JenniLynn everything. As she finished, she said, “I don’t know…maybe there was only room in his heart for one woman, and she passed away.”

JenniLynn stared across the road, her face reflective. “I never met MaryBeth, so I can’t speak on Jesse’s relationship with her. I know that he loved her. I think that’s fair considering she was the mother of his child.”

“I didn’t mean—”

“I know you didn’t mean anything by it,” she assured her. “From what Grayson told me, Jesse lost his way for a long time after she died. It wasn’t expected. She passed from a brain aneurysm.”

Carly sucked in a shocked breath. “I didn’t know that. Jesse never told me what happened other than she died.”