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“It’s my building. I’m the one who will pay for it to get renovated. You’ll pay rent to me.” He smiled wickedly. “In fact, I’ll enjoy making you pay.”
She didn’t laugh at his teasing. This was business and she never joked about business. “We’d have to have a contract.”
He sobered. “Of course.”
“And I’m not paying you a pretty penny. This is Wilder, after all.”
The grin came back. “I’m sure we can come up with a contract that meets both our needs.”
She stared at him as she finally realized what moving her business here would mean. “Belle and I would have to move back here.”
His eyes softened. “I don’t see that being a problem. You might act like a hardnosed city girl, Libby Lou, but it’s quite obvious that being here makes you happy. This is where you can be your true self.”
“And exactly what is my true self?”
He reached out and yanked on one of her braids. “A sweet little braid-wearin’, roll-bakin’, skinny-dippin’ country gal.”
She lifted her eyebrows. “Sweet?”
He laughed. “Okay, maybe not sweet. But sweet is overrated as far as I’m concerned. I prefer my country gals to be full of sass and vinegar.” He went to kiss her, but she placed a hand on his chest.
“Do you really think we could move the business here and it would still be successful?”
“With you at the helm, I don’t see how it can fail.”
It was crazy. She knew it was crazy. But the more she thought about it, the more excited she became. She got out of bed and started to pace.
“You’re right. Wilder is centrally located. Although it’s still over an hour away from Houston and Austin—more if the city traffic is bad. And while some people won’t mind as long as they can have an authentic barn wedding, the drive might deter other people. I just wish there was a hotel close, at least for the wedding party. A cute boutique hotel . . . or better yet, a sweet little bed-and—”
She cut off and glanced around the room as a thought struck her.
“Fanny Fields’ Bed and Breakfast,” she breathed. “It would be perfect. People could have their weddings in an old country barn and their honeymoons in an infamous house of ill repute. What couple wouldn’t jump at the chance to do that? We could research what the rooms looked like online and try to replicate them.” She snapped her fingers and pointed at Jesse. “There’s this antique dealer in Houston. I did a wedding for her daughter and I’m sure she would be willing to do the research and track down what we need if we bought most of the furniture through her. Mama said that Fanny named all the rooms after desserts she loved to eat? Bananas Foster. Strawberry Shortcake. Chocolate Truffle. We could keep those names and maybe use them as a theme for each room. We could even get Sheryl Ann to bake us some signature muffins to serve every morning with cute but naughty names. People would eat it up.”
She glanced at Jesse to find him staring at her with something that looked like panic. With a sinking stomach, she realized what she’d done. Jesse had made it clear he wanted to take their relationship one day at a time. And suddenly, she had jumped from renting the carriage house to renovating and running a bed-and-breakfast in Wilder . . . together.
What had she been thinking? She didn’t want to run a business with Jesse. And a bed-and-breakfast? Where had that come from? She might follow a few bed-and-breakfast sites online because she enjoyed looking at their quaint, homey décor and comfy, inviting rooms and country breakfast buffets all set up on an antique sideboard with crocks of homemade butter and jam, but she didn’t want to own one.
She had a business.
A business in Houston.
She forced a laugh. “I’m sorry. My brain sometimes gets the best of me. Of course you don’t want to run a bed-and-breakfast here in Wilder. And I don’t either. I was just rambling to ramble. Turning this falling-down house into a bed-and-breakfast is a crazy idea. Even turning the carriage house into our event-planning business doesn’t make sense. Holiday Sisters Events belongs in Houston. And so do I.”
“I don’t agree,” he said. “You belong here, Libby.”
And where do you belong, Jesse?
The question popped into her head, but she didn’t ask it. Instead, she started gathering her clothes. “I better get home. I promised Mimi I would help her pick cherries.”
They didn’t talk much on the drive home. Jesse seemed to be in deep thought and Liberty knew she had sent him into panic mode. She wouldn’t be surprised if after he dropped her off, she never heard from him again.
The thought sent a sharp pang of pain through her heart. She realized that, regardless of how much she tried to tell herself this was just a brief fling, she had started to fall for Jesse. She had let her guard down and gotten too attached to a man with commitment issues. After finding out about his mother, she now understood his fear of relationships. Unfortunately, that knowledge wasn’t going to make the pain any less when he did leave.
And he would.
His reaction today proved it.
Decker’s sheriff’s car and Rome’s truck were parked in front when Jesse and Liberty arrived at the ranch. Sweetie, Decker, Rome, Cloe, Mama, Daddy, and Mimi were all gathered on the front porch. Liberty hadn’t known her sisters and brothers-in-law were coming over for supper and the sight of them lifted her depressed spirits.
