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“Experience.” Jesse shifted in the saddle. “I rode with an outfit down in Texas for three years.”
“Herding cattle?”
He nodded. “We moved a thousand head every year.” Jesse kept watching those trying to round up Holden’s herd. “Those cowboys new to Willow Creek?”
“Yes,” Holden said. “Most of them rode in a few weeks ago. It’s been hard getting anyone to sign up for the cattle drive. No one wants to be away from home for two months. It made it a bit easier since they have no connections here.”
“Aaron said you were needing men to go along with you.” He shifted in his saddle again when images of Alex and Hugh, walking arm in arm down the sidewalk filled his mind’s eye. He glanced at Holden. “You still looking?”
“Depends,” Holden said. “You offering?”
A voice in the back of his head screamed, “no,” but common sense told him he couldn’t watch Alex and her new beau live the life he’d come back to town for. He nodded, slow and long, his lips pursed. “Yeah, I think I may be.”
Holden smiled. “You have no idea how relieved I am.” He laughed, his horse side-stepping as the noise startled him. “It’ll be a long two months trying to keep an eye on that bunch by myself. It’ll be nice having another man I can trust on the trail with us.”
He’d gone from no job to signing up for a two-month cattle drive in a matter of moments. Jesse listened as Holden told him everything about the drive he could. He heard most of it but that little voice in his head was still whispering. He’d waited ten years before coming home and showing Alex they were meant to be together. Now he’d never get the chance.
Five
Will you marry me?
Alex blinked, the words echoing through her head but all she could focus on were the bruises marring Hugh’s face. Those on Jesse’s face came to mind, too. They had been fighting. But why? They didn’t know each other. Hugh and Walter had been celebrating. Was this the reason? And if so, why would Jesse hit him for it? Surely he couldn’t have been upset by it. He hated her, didn’t he?
Hugh waved a hand in front of her face. “Do you hear me, Alex?”
His whispered words held a hint of fear. She cleared her mind of all the questions she had and tried to smile. “Yes, I do.”
Someone on the other side of the screen yelled, then laughed before saying, “She said, yes!”
Alex’s heart slammed against her ribcage at the announcement, her eyes widening at the same moment Hugh’s did. He leaped to his feet before she could say another word and rounded the table and lifted her from her chair, pulling her into a tight hug.
The entire room burst into happy applause, excited voices ringing out in deafening levels until all Alex could hear was a dull ringing inside her head.
What the hell just happened?
Hugh lowered his head and kissed her on the mouth. In the entire time she’d known him, he’d never been so bold. Shock caused her pulse to leap. She placed both hands on his shoulders and pulled back, giving him a wide-eyed stare.
“I’ll make you happy, Alexandra.” His words sounded sincere and she didn’t doubt for a minute he meant them.
The noise inside the hotel restaurant was still echoing off the walls. The celebration must have been one everyone was anticipating. The screen was moved and Alex could see the faces of the revelers. The glee they felt shined on every face she saw.
She just wished she felt an ounce of their joy.
Hugh let go of her and accepted hearty slaps on his back and more handshakes than she could count. People she’d only seen on the street but never spoke to congratulated her from across the room, every new face she saw driving home the knowledge that everyone assumed her answer to Hugh’s question, Do you hear me? was her acceptance of his proposal.
To everyone in the restaurant, she was now engaged. A glance at Hugh and she felt sick. He looked so happy. As prospects went, he would make a fine husband for someone. But not her. She wasn’t ready.
So how did she get out of this without breaking his heart?
It wasnear dark by the time Jesse made it back home. He’d stayed at the Avery ranch and met the rest of the men going along with Holden on the cattle drive and made arrangements with Holden to come do a bit of work for him up until they were ready to go.
Grace had supper on the table when he came in. He took off his hat and hung it on one of the pegs by the door and headed to the sink. “Smells good in here,” he said, turning on the water and grabbing the soap.
“Chicken pie and those pan fried potatoes with onions you like.”
He finished washing his hands, then dried them on the towel on the counter. “You’re going to spoil me, Grace. Between all this good cooking and having my clothes washed and folded up and put away, you’re going to make getting my own place someday hard to do.”
“It’s not my fault you chose to stay away so long. I have a few years to make up for.”
