Page 56 of The Maverick’s Legacy

“You’re the one dating my daughter,” Arthur said, his voice tough.

Jesse didn’t flinch. “Yes, sir, I am.”

“And you’re treating her with the absolute respect she deserves?” Arthur asked.

Jesse tried to keep his face as angelic as possible considering the ways he’d gleefully defiled this man’s daughter. He must not have done a good enough job because Arthur’s hand tightened enough to make him wince.

“Oh, stop,” the woman next to him said. “You seem to forget what it was like to be young and in love.”

In love?

Hope bloomed inside Jesse so hard he couldn’t even feel the hard grip his hand was in anymore. Had Carly told her family that she was in love with him?

Arthur finally dropped his hand so that he could kiss his wife on the top of her head. “I haven’t forgotten what it’s like to be in love. Trust me on that.”

“Ew,” Amy said. “Can we not?”

The older woman blew out an annoyed breath. “What am I going to do with you two?” She turned to Jesse and said, “Hello, I’m Suzie Hawkins. Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too, ma’am,” Jesse replied before looking back at his brother. “This is my brother, Grayson, and his girlfriend, JenniLynn Garrett, the mayor of Tenacity.”

They exchanged greetings before Suzie turned her full attention back on him. “And don’t let Arthur scare you.” Jesse nodded, feeling like he had an ally in Suzie. That was until she said, “He’s a softie compared to me when someone hurts my children.”

Her gaze turned steely for the briefest of seconds before she turned further around to look at Amy. “Now, let me hold my grandbaby.”

Amy laughed before handing Josephine to her mom. Jesse looked blankly at the center of the arena, unsure what the heck just happened.

Amy lightly elbowed him. “Relax. They like you.”

“How can you tell?” Jesse muttered out of the corner of his mouth.

“Because despite their tough act, you didn’t flinch. They respect that. Especially since we Hawkinses can be a handful.”

“You don’t say.” Josh snickered next to his wife. Amy turned to him with a mock glare, to which he quickly responded, “Kidding. I’m just kidding.”

The rodeo started with some amateurs from town. As they performed, a buzz was going through the crowd. Jesse noticed that more than one head kept turning in their direction.

Josh leaned backward so that he could speak to Jesse behind Amy’s back. “You get used to it.”

“What?” he replied.

“This tends to happen when more Hawkins family members are together. Especially when Suzie and her mom, Hattie, are in the house. Suzie and Hattie are living legends in this field.”

“I see,” Jesse replied.

“Carly’s technically the last of us to retire,” Amy said.

“Is she retired though?” Jesse said, looking around the crowd, taking in the awe on people’s faces as they looked their way. He had a sinking feeling in his stomach. He knew that Carly had been offered that deal in Europe. Between the admiration and the money, why would anyone want to walk away from this life?

As though reading his thoughts, Amy said, “There’s more to life than all of this.” She waved her hand toward the arena.

“Such as?” he asked.

She looked at him like he was a fool. “Everything.”

She didn’t say anything else, but she didn’t have to as she grabbed Josh’s hand and pulled it into her lap. He gave her a look that was so tender, Jesse had to look away. He wished that Carly was sitting beside him right now so he could tell her that a life in Tenacity was worth it. A life with him. He’d make sure of it.

The event went on for another hour before the announcer said, “And now, ladies and gentlemen, the moment that you’ve all been waiting for. Carly Hawwwwkinnnns.”