Page 7 of The Maverick’s Legacy

Jesse winced at the noise before checking to make sure Oscar wasn’t getting overly stimulated. Oscar’s hands clenched and unclenched, a sign that he was starting to stim.

“Where are your headphones?” Jesse asked.

“In my bedroom,” Oscar said. “It’s fine—”

“Stay here. I’ll go get them,” he insisted.

As he hurried into the house, he remembered why he didn’t date anyone seriously. Oscar was his main focus. Jesse was all Oscar had. And he needed to remember that.

* * *

Two days later, Jesse was hammering a fence post in place. His back ached and his shirt was soaked with sweat, but he only had a few more to install and then he could get the barbed wiring done. It felt strange to get back to ranching after living in the city for so long. He’d worked in an office, doing analytical work. He’d hated it, but it kept him in Houston, which was where MaryBeth had grown up.

The truth was he’d missed this life. There was nothing better than being out in the fresh air at the crack of dawn, making sure the animals were fed and cared for. After he and Oscar had made the decision to move to Tenacity, Jesse had been more than a little excited to leave the corporate world behind and all the stress that came with it.

He wanted to get back to his roots. While he still did remote IT work, he was counting the minutes until he could finish the house, quit his job, and get back to full-time ranching. Some of his fondest memories included following his dad around their property when he was a kid and helping with chores. Jesse hoped Oscar would love it as much as he had.

The conversation he and Oscar had the other day popped into his head. He couldn’t believe his son actually encouraged him to ask Carly Hawkins out. He didn’t plan on doing it. He had to focus on his ranch and making sure he hadn’t made the biggest mistake of his life dragging Oscar out to the country. He wanted his son to be happy and to have the world at his feet. But the world didn’t exactly come crawling to Tenacity, Montana.

Though…that hadn’t stopped a beautiful, worldly woman like Carly from moving to town.

As much as he wanted to pretend otherwise, he couldn’t stop thinking of her. Just hearing her voice for those precious few minutes made him want to smile. A woman like her could have her choice of men. He seriously doubted that she’d want to give a single dad like him a shot. Hell, he didn’t even have his own roof over his head yet.

Jesse scowled as he took off his cowboy hat and wiped at his sweaty forehead with the back of his arm. Even though fall was right around the corner, it was still warm. He put the Stetson back on and was about to reach for the final post when he heard a vehicle coming down the dirt road that split his property from Grayson’s. A familiar truck came to a halt in front of him, and his brother rolled down his window.

“Hey, man,” Grayson said as he came to a halt. He looked down the line of fencing that Jesse had been working on. “Things are looking good.”

Jesse glanced at his project, his mind still occupied with Carly. “Thanks. The contractors are working on the electrical at the house and seeing as that’s not my specialty, I figured I’d work on some exterior projects.”

Grayson was silent for a moment before he said, “What’s wrong with you?”

“Nothing,” he muttered as he grabbed his mallet off the ground so he could whack the post a few more times.

“You sure? ’Cause you look like a thunderstorm is headed our way.”

“It’s nothing. Just something Oscar said the other day.”

Grayson put his truck in Park before turning his full attention back to his brother. “Hit me.”

Jesse ran his fingers over the smooth top of the mallet. “Do you know Carly Hawkins?”

Grayson’s eyebrows pulled together. “Not well, though I heard she bought the property next to mine, so I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before JenniLynn invites her over.” He sounded grumpy, though the fondness in his eyes when mentioning his girlfriend revealed he wasn’t really upset. He usually wasn’t when it came to her.

“We ran into Carly when we took the horses out the other day…” Jesse went on to explain the encounter with the woman he couldn’t forget.

Grayson smirked when he was finished. “Oscar get a little crush on her?”

Jesse set the mallet on the post. “No. He said I should ask her out.”

“Oh…” Grayson said, his expression not holding back his surprise. Jesse didn’t blame him.

“I know. It’s a ridiculous idea.” He went over to the pile of posts he’d set out earlier and bent down to grab one.

“Why is it ridiculous?” Grayson asked.

Jesse straightened to look at his brother. “You know why.” He lifted his work-gloved hand and starting counting off. “For one, she’s a famous rodeo star. Two, did you forget about Oscar? I can’t date right now. He just started at a new school.”

“Finn told me he’s keeping Oscar under his wing,” Grayson said.