Page 55 of The Maverick’s Legacy

“He’s with his friends.” Jesse nodded to a group of teenaged boys walking ahead of them toward the arena, clearly done with the dinosaur sumo wrestling so they could watch the rodeo.

“Wow,” Grayson said when he noticed his nephew included in the group. “This is a big day. For both of you.”

“It’s the Carly effect,” Jesse replied. “She’s good for him.”

Grayson nudged his arm. “I’d say she’s good for both of you.”

Jesse smiled, not trying to deny it. In the distance, a gunshot went off, and JenniLynn scowled.

“They better have those hay-bale races done by the time the rodeo starts,” she said. “Last thing we need is for something to startle the horses. Excuse me for a minute.”

She left the brothers and headed for the nearby track where the races were taking place. They watched as she spoke to a tall man in overalls who nodded before going into the fenced-in area where the races were taking place.

JenniLynn came back in a huff. Grayson reached up and pushed a strand of her hair away from her cheek.

“Everything okay?” he asked.

“Yes, Al said they just started the final race. Next year, they can move the event to the other side of town. That starter gun is fraying my last nerve.”

Grayson pulled her against his side and murmured against her temple, “I love it when you get all mayoral.”

“Oh, you,” she replied, her cheeks turning red.

“Can you save that for when you’re at home? My poor eyes,” Jesse deadpanned.

Grayson reached out with his free arm and pulled his brother to his other side. “It’s good to have you here, little brother. What are the chances we can get Jonathan, Amanda, Benjamin, and Evie to move to Tenacity?”

Jesse chuckled. “The whole clan? I think you have a better shot of moonwalking on the actual moon.”

There was no way they’d get all of their siblings to move to Tenacity. Especially their youngest sister, Evie.

They entered the arena and found seating on the indoor steel bleachers that put them at the center of the course. Jesse would be able to see every move that Carly made. Oscar and his friends took seats in the front row of the same section, to Jesse’s relief. He was growing more and more okay with giving Oscar the space he needed, but Jesse was the first to admit that he needed to let go in baby steps.

As he took in the setup, his stomach started to swirl and his hands tightened where they rested on his knees.

“You okay?” Grayson asked.

“Yeah… I just want Carly’s event to be done and for her to be in front of me safe and sound.”

He didn’t have to go into detail; his brother understood.

Grayson clasped the back of Jesse’s neck and gave it a light squeeze. “She’ll be fine. She’s a professional, one of the best in the world.”

“I know,” Jesse replied, though that knowledge did little to comfort his nerves.

“Mind if we sit next to you?” a woman asked.

Jesse looked over to see Carly’s sister Amy with her husband, Josh Aventura. Remi and her fiancé and an older couple were behind them.

“You’re welcome to it,” Jesse said, waving at the empty spot next to him.

Amy sat beside him. She had her baby with her, sporting noise-canceling headphones similar to what Oscar wore. The kid looked at Jesse with the biggest eyes he’d ever seen.

“She’s a cute kid,” he told Amy. He had the urge to make a good impression on his girlfriend’s family. He wanted—no, needed—them to like him. But…he wasn’t lying to be polite. The baby’s face looked like it belonged on a baby-food bottle.

“Thanks,” she said before turning to the older couple that took the seats in front of Amy. “Mom and Dad, this is Jesse Abernathy.”

The older man turned around with a serious expression. From what Oscar had told him when he first started spewing statistics about Carly’s family, Arthur was once a rodeo star himself. It showed in his beefy frame. If he was twenty years younger, he probably could have crushed Jesse with one hand. … Maybe ten years younger, Jesse thought as the man shook his hand. The grip was like a vice.