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“It’s been a long day for them.”
“It was.” Jessy nodded in agreement and drifted toward the door along with Ty.
Both paused in the opening to make a final check on the pair. A dim nightlight spilled over the sleeping toddlers and the baby monitor was positioned on a dresser between the cribs, ready to transmit the first cry from either of them.
Satisfied that all was quiet and likely to stay that way, they left the room, closing the door behind them. In a companionable silence, they walked to the master suite next door to the twins’ room. Jessy went directly to the closet to change into her nightshirt while Ty crossed to the bed and sat down to pull off his boots.
The first one had thudded to the floor when Jessy called from the closet, “What time are you getting up in the morning?”
Ty held the other boot while he thought about it. “It’s a two-hour drive to South Branch. Three-thirty, I guess. I want to be there by first light.”
He placed the boot next to its mate then reached over to set the alarm clock as Jessy emerged from the closet, wearing a T-shirt that stopped about midthigh.
“Set it for three, and I’ll fix you some breakfast before you go.” Tomorrow might be Sunday, but once roundup started, it continued seven days a week until it was finished.
“No, I’ll grab a bite at the chuck wagon with the rest of the hands.” Ty stood up and tugged his shirttail out from the waistband of his dress jeans.
“I won’t argue,” Jessy replied, a faintly mischievous gleam in her eyes. “I’ll be glad of the extra sleep.”
“Keep gloating like that and I’ll make sure you’re wide awake before I leave,” Ty declared in a mock threat, peeling off his shirt and tossing it at her.
She caught it easily and detoured to the clothes hamper. “As soon as the twins wake up from their afternoon nap tomorrow, we’ll drive over and have supper with you.”
“No, don’t.”
The firmness in his voice prompted Jessy to pause in the act of depositing his dirty shirt in the hamper. She threw him a startled look. “Why not?”
“Because there is no need for you to drive all the way over there. I’ll be home by nine or ten.” There was an edge to his voice that puzzled Jessy.
“The twins will be asleep by then.” She dropped the shirt in the hamper and closed the lid.
“I expect they will be.” Ty emptied the pockets of his jeans and placed their contents atop the tall dresser, his back angled to her. “Just the same, I prefer that you don’t come out.”
He had left something unsaid, something Jessy had a feeling she wouldn’t like at all. But she needed to be certain.
“Don’t come out tomorrow—or anytime?” Her demand for clarification was close to a challenge.
After the smallest pause, he turned, his glance bouncing off her. “Anytime,” Ty said, a closed-up look to his expression.
The incident with Buck Haskell was behind this; Jessy was certain of it. “Buck Haskell is not going to scare me into hiding,” she declared with force, angered that Ty would even suggest that she should.
“Jessy,” Ty began in a reasoning tone.
“Don’t Jessy me!” she flashed.
As calm and steady as she was by nature, Jessy had a temper that was the match of any man’s when aroused. And Ty knew he had triggered it. He moved into her path, catching her by the shoulders and immediately noting her stiffness.
“Cool down and listen for a minute,” he said.
“Why? I’m not going to like it any better this time.” Jessy glared at him, not backing down an inch.
Ty studied the angry glitter in her eyes, aware that she felt all things passionately—love and hate, joy and grief—but she seldom let it show.
“I don’t often ask you to do something for me. But I’m asking now.” Ty was careful to word it as a request, not an order. “Stick close to headquarters.”
“I won’t be any safer here than at roundup. That rebuilt shoulder of yours is proof of that,” Jessy stated with heat. “At roundup, I would be surrounded by dozens of hands. Here, it’s just me and a bunch of old men.”
Ty couldn’t explain why he felt so strong about this. There was no logic in it. The request was based purely on a gut feeling that wouldn’t stand up under an argument.
