My anger gets taken out on the wall after I get back with a ladder and a sledgehammer. Jo stays away from me, and I can only imagine how hot she must be in that makeshift office she has set up for herself. Once, when I sneak a look at the trailer, I notice all the windows have been opened.
I don't know what it is about that woman, but she drives me insane. I've never met another woman tougher than my mother, but I think that has officially changed. I've always thought of Jo as shy and quiet, existing on the periphery. She's always been beautiful, but it was the kind of beauty that's too good for me. Too pure.
But this woman I'm spending all this time with? I can't connect her to the girl I used to know. Maybe I never saw her straight before. Maybe I needed to grow up and clean the dust off the lens through which I viewed her. This woman is strong and firm, intelligent and sexy as hell. She's calling me on my shit.
I like it.
And that, I fear, is a problem.
Tonight is my parents'fortieth wedding anniversary.
I invited Jessie out to dinner, to give them privacy. Not that it matters, because Gramps is at the homestead with them. It's the thought that counts, right?
There's a restaurant in town that Jessie likes, a little Italian place. I know she has a million restaurants to choose from when she's back at ASU in Phoenix, but she swears she craves this place when she's away at college.
We're seated next to the wall, where there's a mural of an Italian countryside. Using my menu to block my mouth from view of the rest of the place, I ask, "Is it just me or is the hostess twelve years old?"
Jessie looks at me like I'm hopeless. "The older you get, the more you think younger people look like babies."
I put my menu down on the table. "That's not true."
She glances at me, her gaze on the fading bruise on my cheek, then back to her menu. "It's totally true."
I make a face and tap the underside of the menu. "You already know what's on here."
She grins. "I know. I just like to peruse."
I lift an eyebrow and she laughs. "You miss me when I'm gone."
"Maybe. Maybe not."
She pokes my cheek with a fingertip. Our server comes over, takes our order, and leaves. I sit back and look around. Sierra Grande is starting to feel new, like it's been asleep for a long time and recently awakened. New faces everywhere I go. I have my sisters-in-law to thank for that. Dakota, for building The Orchard and bringing in out-of-town visitors with her local wines and once a month local vendor fair. And Tenley, because she's as famous as the president and more popular among those in both political parties. Tenley put Sierra Grande on the map. To some, that's a good thing. To others, it's not.
The Hayden’s are no stranger to controversy, so none of this really matters.
I've got my hand on the back of my neck, kneading a knotted muscle, when I see her. In a corner booth, her hair hanging down like a curtain, his fingers slipping through it.
The same feeling from the sheriff's office comes over me once again.I know what it feels like to slide my fingers through that hair.
It can't be, and yet… it is. Inexplicably.
Jo tips her head back and laughs, deep and throaty. I swallow against the overwhelming desire to press my lips against the hollow of her neck.
"Uh, Wyatt?" Jessie waves a hand in front of my face. "You there, big brother?" She turns around, following my gaze to the cozy little corner. She settles back in her chair and waits for me to say something. I'm not sure what to say, and I know Jessie will talk anyway, because she has the perpetual need to fill a silence.
"Do you have a thing for Jo Shelton?"
I prop an elbow on the table, pressing the side of my fist against my lips. "I'm helping her with her ranch."
"Which is weird," Jessie points out, dipping a piece of bread in olive oil. "Why are you doing that again?"
"Out of the goodness of my heart." I lean my head back slightly and tip it to the side. From this angle, I appear to be looking at Jessie, but I can see Jo too, like one of those soft focus pictures where the subject in the foreground is the only thing in focus.
Right now, soft focus Jo is sipping a glass of wine. Setting it down. Fingering her necklace. Toying with the napkin on her lap. Soft focus Jared's mouth is running at an impressive rate of speed. He's missing all of Jo's non-verbals.
"Since when do you do anything out of the goodness of your heart?" Jessie asks, biting into the bread.
"Thanks," I deadpan. She laughs.
