Page 5 of The Maverick’s Legacy

“Are you in town visiting?” Carly asked.

“We moved here last month,” Oscar answered. “We’re staying at my Uncle Grayson’s for now, but Dad is building us our own cabin. We’re going to be ranchers.”

Carly tilted her head. “In Tenacity?”

Jesse stumbled his way back to the present, trying not to reveal how shaken he felt. “That’s right. Over on Ambling Hills.”

His brother had been kind enough to give Jesse and Oscar part of his land. It was enough to start up his own functioning ranch. The house they were building was more of a glorified cabin, but it was their own place under the Montana sky. It was all he wanted for his son.

Carly’s lips tilted up, the movement immediately drawing Jesse’s eyes. It erased some of the earlier horror he’d felt at the idea of her being injured, which was an extreme reaction to have over someone who was a stranger.

“I guess that makes us neighbors,” she said, completely unaware of the turmoil that Jesse was experiencing.

But that finally got his attention. His brows shot to his hairline. “You live in Tenacity?”

“I just moved here actually. I bought the property next door. And speaking of, I should probably get off your family’s land.”

“It’s no problem,” Jesse replied quickly. “You’re welcome here anytime.”

Carly’s uptilted lips bloomed into a full smile. Jesse had to force his eyes away so she wouldn’t catch him staring like some creep.

“I should still let you get to your meal.” Carly turned her horse with the slightest motion of the reins. Nieve instantly moved on cue, turning back toward their property. “It was nice meeting you both.”

“You too, Miss Hawkins,” Oscar called out as she started to trot away.

“Call me Carly,” she told Oscar over her shoulder. She glanced once more at Jesse and said, “See you around?”

“See you around,” he confirmed.

It sounded like a promise. One he was very tempted to keep.

Chapter Three

As Jesse and Oscar headed back to Grayson’s, Jesse’s mind was stuck on rewind, replaying that meeting with Carly again and again. For the first time in a very long time, he felt something that he thought abandoned him long ago.

Interest.

It had felt like forever since a woman had made him feel even remotely that spark. In the span of a few minutes, Jesse had gone through rampant emotions: surprise, amusement, horror, and…desire. It wasn’t just that she was a beautiful woman with a smile that could stop a wild mustang in its tracks. It was the way she’d reacted when Oscar practically shouted statistics at her. A lot of people were easily put off by his son’s ramblings, especially when he went off on one of his streaks.

It was one of the main reasons Jesse had decided to move them to Tenacity. While Oscar’s school in Houston might have had better resources to help him with his autism, he had started to become distant, not only with his fellow students but with Jesse. It wasn’t easy for his son to make friends, and he’d practically disappeared in the large high school’s population. The only people who seemed to notice him were the bullies who made fun of the sensory headphones that he sometimes wore to stop himself from getting overstimulated.

After an especially tough day at school where someone had hidden Oscar’s headphones and he’d had a meltdown in the middle of class, Jesse had called his brother, Grayson. As soon as he’d heard his brother’s voice, Jesse had spewed out all his concerns. It was most of the usual: He was failing as a father, neither of them were doing well, MaryBeth was the only one who could reach their son.

Grayson had let out a soft sigh when he was done before saying, Jess… I think a visit to Tenacity would be good for you and Oscar.

After Jesse had hung up the phone, he’d taken a long, hard look around his house. Not much had changed since MaryBeth had died. Her favorite pictures of them decorated the walls, and the blanket she would curl up under during the winter evenings still had its space on the back of the couch. If he walked into the kitchen, he knew he’d find all of her favorite recipe books on the shelf above the refrigerator, collecting dust. He’d never gotten rid of them, though Lord knew when was the last time anyone touched them. He made simple food for himself and his son: hamburgers, spaghetti with sauce out of a jar, and Friday night’s splurge featuring either pizza or fast food. He’d be the first to admit that the family of two had been living in a rut since their center died.

And he’d thought…maybe for both of their sakes, something needed to change. A few months later, he’d enrolled Oscar into Tenacity High School, and they officially moved to town.

He figured the smaller, quieter setting would be good for Oscar. Maybe his son would have a chance to make a friend or two. But Jesse knew it was also time for himself to start moving on. It had been nearly ten years since MaryBeth had died, and while he’d had the occasional one-night stand, it wasn’t his style to casually date. Just because he was half tempted to turn his horse around so he could hopefully run into Carly again didn’t mean anything. He needed to make sure Oscar was succeeding in his new environment first before he even considered dating someone. When he was finally ready to get back in the market, he wouldn’t date a woman whose whole career was living on the edge and risking her life. He didn’t want to fall for someone he could easily lose with one stumble of a horse. So, there was no point in thinking about a certain internationally famous rodeo star any further.

It was as they were entering the padlock on Grayson’s property that he realized Oscar was quiet—too quiet for someone who’d just met a professional athlete and rattled off her stats. When he glanced over at his son, he caught Oscar staring at him.

“What?” he finally asked.

Oscar gave him a pointed look. “You missed the turn to the barn.”

“What? No I—” Jesse looked toward Grayson’s property and saw that his horse had led him down another trail instead of toward the homestead. He halted the animal and glanced over to where Oscar was stopped at the fork in the paths, waiting for his father to rejoin him.