Page 40 of The Maverick’s Legacy

“Aren’t I?” Oscar looked at him with the saddest eyes he’d ever seen. “Because the rest of the team gets to go, and both the coach and Carly have told you that I’ll be in safe hands, but I still can’t be like other kids.”

He looked so defeated. Jesse glanced away, toward the direction of Carly’s homestead.

He loves you, she’d said. I know he does—but do you ever think that maybe you’re not giving him enough space to figure things out on his own?

Carly and Oscar were right. Oscar would never get to live the life Jesse wanted for him if he didn’t allow him to be more independent. Jesse could keep him locked away like damned Rapunzel, or he could let him leave the tower and taste what others got to experience. Because if Jesse didn’t give him a little bit of freedom, he had a feeling it’d only stress Oscar even worse.

“Okay…” he finally said before he could change his mind. “You can go.”

Oscar whipped his head to him. “What?”

“You can go,” Jesse said more firmly. “But I want you to text me when you get there, and you promise that you’ll tell Coach Finn if you start to feel even slightly off.”

“I will,” Oscar told him sincerely. He unexpectedly threw his arms around Jesse and hugged him. “Thanks, Dad.”

Oscar hopped off the truck and hurried inside the house. Jesse stared after him with worry and love vying for control of his limbic system. Oscar rarely liked being touched by others, let alone giving out hugs willingly. Jesse couldn’t remember the last time they had hugged. His heart melted.

Please let him be safe.

He scrunched up the wax paper he’d used to wrap up his sandwich. He was feeling uneasy and needed someone else’s assurance that he’d just done the right thing.

Jesse hopped off the tailgate and pulled his phone out of his pocket. He dialed Carly’s number and waited for her to answer.

“C’mon, baby,” he said before realizing the nickname that he’d given her. The call went to voicemail, and he hung up, shocked that baby had slipped out so easily.

He was getting in way over his head.

Jesse pulled up their text message chain and read the last one Carly sent him, stating that she’d planned on practicing with Nieve all week so she’d be prepared to perform for the Dinosaur Day Rodeo.

That was something else he worried a lot about. Jesse knew that the rodeo was a huge part of Carly’s life, but he worried every time she brought it up. He’d done his best to hide his concern and support any decisions she made for herself. That didn’t stop him from wanting to go all caveman on her and tell her he didn’t want her returning to the circuit.

He would have too, if he didn’t think Carly would bust a rib laughing. She was not the type of woman to let a man make a decision for her—it was honestly part of her charm. Besides, he’d already almost blown their relationship. He was surprised she hadn’t already shown him to the door.

He couldn’t help but worry though whenever she talked about rodeo life. There was a part of him that was scared she’d find the allure too much—especially once she was in front of the crowds again at the Dinosaur Days event—and she’d feel the urge to return to the road. But that was nothing compared to what worried him the most.

He was terrified something would happen to Carly and she’d die just like MaryBeth had. He hadn’t forgotten what Oscar had told him when they’d met her that first time. Carly had been injured in the past year. And though she brushed it off when he’d tried to bring up his concern, he knew people died doing what she did for a living. It was just his luck, falling for someone who had a dangerous job. He’d go out of his mind if he found a new chance at happiness, only for that love to be taken away again. He doubted he’d be able to recover a second time.

“Dad,” Oscar called out. “What are we going to do about the mess?”

And wasn’t that the question of the century.

Chapter Fifteen

The next Saturday, Carly headed to Tenacity Grocery. Things were pretty quiet in town, even for a place as small as Tenacity. It was different than earlier in the week, when there was a buzz in the air leading up to the district football game. A lot of people had decided to tailgate over to the stadium, leaving most of Tenacity like a ghost town. That worked fine for Carly.

Whenever she made her way into town, she always had people coming up to her to ask her about the upcoming Fall Dinosaur Days since word got out that she planned on performing at the rodeo. If they weren’t asking about that, they were asking about Jesse. She was happy to smile and take pictures when it came to anything regarding the rodeo.

But Jesse was a subject she wasn’t as eager to talk about.

Things were fine since she’d advised him to give Oscar some space. Perfectly…fine.

They’d texted throughout the week, though not as much as they had been. She’d asked him if everything was okay at one point, and he’d said he was busy painting his house. That was fair, even if it felt like there was a growing distance between them. She hadn’t asked him what he ended up deciding regarding Oscar going with the football team, but Jesse had texted her earlier that morning asking if he could come over and talk.

She’d stared at her phone for a whole five minutes before she finally responded that she’d get some snacks. He’d responded that he’d bring a pizza. Pizza had to be a good sign, right? She didn’t know what kind of talk Jesse wanted to have, but what kind of sadist dumped someone over pizza?

Carly pulled into an available spot outside of Tenacity Grocery and put her car in Park. She walked out and headed toward the brick two-story building. Two elderly men sat outside, shooting the breeze with one another. They stopped talking as she approached.

“Howdy, Ms. Hawkins,” the one man said. He had salt-and-pepper hair that was mostly gone and wore a flannel shirt. He looked at her over the rim of his glasses. “What brings you to town this beautiful fall afternoon?”