Page 63 of The Maverick’s Legacy

The remaining rigidness left Carly. In all the scenarios she’d come up with to explain his behavior, for some silly reason, this was one she hadn’t thought of. It seemed so obvious now.

Carly walked over to the couch and sat down. She looked at him and then the spot next to her. He took that as the correct cue and took a seat beside her.

When he didn’t say anything, she said softly, “Tell me about it.”

“I’d come home from my job. I’d been employed at this company working in IT doing analytical work. I hated it. MaryBeth and I had been fighting more and more about it. We lived in the city, and it was suffocating me. I’m a country boy through and through, and I thought Oscar might benefit from the fresh air instead of the city pollution. MaryBeth didn’t want to move. All the best schools for Oscar are in Houston, she’d say.

“The night before she died, we had gotten into a really bad fight. The kind where I ended up sleeping on the couch. We were polite to each other the next morning, but there was tension like I’d never felt before in our marriage. We really loved each other, but that last year, we seemed to be on completely different pages. I hated how we’d left things that morning, and I’d felt uneasy that entire day.

“By the time I got home, I was exhausted. All I wanted was to eat dinner with my family, put Oscar to bed, and then talk to MaryBeth and see if we could come up with a compromise. Instead, I came home to Oscar screaming his head off, saying, ‘Mommy won’t wake up.’ I found MaryBeth in the kitchen unconscious.”

He turned his head and briefly wiped at his face. She reached out and grabbed the hand that was closest to her.

He looked down at it blankly before continuing with his story. “I watched them load her up into the ambulance. I couldn’t go with them, not with Oscar as hysterical as he was. Thankfully, my brother Jonathan was in Texas, but he was still an hour away. By the time I was finally able to get to the hospital, she was gone.”

He reached across from her and picked up her injured hand. He leaned down and kissed the brace covering her pulse before he gently placed it back down.

“I blamed myself for years,” he admitted. “If I hadn’t stressed her out maybe she wouldn’t have—”

“No, don’t.” Carly started peppering his face with kisses. “Don’t do that to yourself.”

He half smiled at that. “The damage is already done, I’m afraid.” He leaned his forehead against hers briefly before pulling back again. “I felt like I owed it to MaryBeth to be the parent she was to Oscar. I said it before, but she was amazing with him. I put all my efforts into taking care of him. We stayed in Houston for years, in her dream house. I had no time for anyone else other than the occasional fling. I didn’t want to find the time. It was safer that way, you know?”

She nodded. She did know. She’d spent a good chunk of her life pushing people away because it was easier than risking her heart on them.

Jesse tucked a strand of Carly’s hair behind her ear. “Then you came along, and here we are.”

Carly held his hand to her cheek. “And where is that?”

“I love you, Carly,” Jesse said. He didn’t even hesitate. His voice became urgent as he begged, “Please don’t leave me.”

“I’m not going to,” she assured him. How could she? He was her cowboy. He and Oscar were her family now. A party of three.

“But—” Jesse gave her a frustrated look. “I know, okay?”

Carly frowned. Maybe she was distracted by his confession of his feelings, but she somehow lost track of their conversation. “Know what?”

Jesse’s hand fell to her waist as if holding her there. “I know that you’re going to accept the European tour. If it’s what you really want, I won’t stand in your way, but I don’t think it is. I think you want your school and me and Oscar. And I—”

She put a hand over his mouth to silence him. “Who said anything about the European tour?”

He kissed her palm before moving it away from his lips so he could answer. “Amy stopped by my house a little while ago. She told me.”

Carly huffed. “That busybody.” She gently grabbed Jesse’s chin. “I want you to look into my eyes when I tell you this for the last time. I’m not going on the tour. I’m retiring from the circuit to focus on my school.”

Jesse’s forehead furrowed adorably. “Then why did Amy—”

“—tell you otherwise? If I had to guess, she was playing Cupid and got tired of us pussyfooting around each other.”

Jesse looked at her hesitantly. “You said it was an amazing opportunity though. I don’t want you to give it up because of anything holding you back here.”

Carly shook her head. “I’m doing this for myself. The rodeo lifestyle isn’t what I want anymore. Besides, I found out today that my ex was behind the tour.”

“Is that why he was here?” Jesse asked.

Carly sighed, remembering that while she could promise Jesse until she was blue in the face that she’d never leave him, it didn’t mean he wouldn’t want to leave her after what she had to say…and she couldn’t blame him.

Jesse took her good hand and held it against his leg, like an anchor keeping her steady in turbulent seas.