But he hadn’t known her then. Not really. He had thought she was beautiful, sure, but it wasn’t like this.
No. It wasn’t like this.
They were setting up card tables in the middle of the arena, and Jessie walked behind the stables. He got up from his seat and went to where she was standing. “That’s a new routine?”
“Yeah. It’s … it’s hard work. My muscles are kind of sore.” She said that last part in a low voice. Right. Her muscles were sore because of him.
Normally, he might feel a little bit proud of that, but he was still recovering from the surge of adrenaline he’d gotten watching her routine.
“You guys do this all the time?”
“Yes. Well. This is a new act, like I said, but this and things like it.”
“It’s like acrobatics.”
“Yes. It is. A little bit gymnastics, a little bit trapeze.”
“A lot of flipping upside down on the back of a running horse.”
“You sound tense.”
“I feel a little tense.”
“Well, don’t. My trick riding is not a facade. I’m actually very good at it.”
“Is that where the other act comes from?”
She nodded slowly. “Yeah. Well, look at my dad.” William was back on the podium, making gestures and introducing the next event. “Is anyone in town all that close to him? No. But if you were going to ask around, you would get the sense that he’s well liked. The thing he does … Everyone responds to it.”
He had to admit, her dad was pretty charming.
“I decided to copy him.”
“What does your mom do?”
“She makes costumes. She helps a little with the choreography of the routines. She doesn’t like to be in front of people much, so when I got old enough to ride, she decided not to do it anymore.”
“She used to do that stuff?”
“Yes. But I don’t think it was ever fun for her. Oh, the tricks were. She still does all that. And sometimes she still drops in to perform. She just doesn’t want to do it all the time. She kind of likes keeping to herself and being left alone with her different collections.”
“Collections?”
“She has a lot of them—crystals, houseplants, spurs. She actually has a whole trailer in our little circle dedicated to them.”
“I see.”
“We’re all weird,” she said. “She’s not a hoarder. Everything is very organized.”
“Somehow I imagined that.”
“My mom will probably be at the show tonight.”
Theyou could meet herwas silent, but he felt it hanging in the air. And then he could see Jessie grow a little insecure. A little nervous. But hell, he supposed they were becoming enmeshed in a way they hadn’t intended to be. She had come to his house. She knew that side of his family. Hell, she was running for mayor against the other side. It made sense for him to meet hers.
“Well, I’ll look forward to that.”
Jessie jumped, then reached into her pocket and took her phone out. “It’s Millie.”
