“I’m thinking tacos.”
“Sounds good,” Addy said.
Everyone they passed wanted to welcome Jesse back home again and ask about Sonny. This was the first time some of the folks had seen Jesse since his return. Several of them took notice of the fact he either was holding Addy’s hand or else had an arm around her waist. When he started to introduce her to most folks, they just smiled and said they already knew her, then asked if her folks still liked living in the panhandle.
When the two of them finally made it to the taco vendor, Addy asked, “What’s going on with Stevie and Cody?”
“They went to the same college, and she kind of had a crush on Cody then. He was a senior when she was a freshman.” Jesse moved up to the front of the line and ordered half a dozen tacos and two bottles of root beer.
“What happened?” Addy carried the root beers over to a picnic table that was set up under an awning.
Jesse followed her with the paper boat holding the tacos. “I’m not sure. Cody never talked about it, and I only knew because Mama found out through the gossip vine. I think she kind of told him how she felt about him, and he broke her heart. Truth is, I had forgotten all about it until I saw them together, and I could be wrong about the whole thing.”
“Is she married or engaged?” Addy asked.
“You’d have to ask Mama about that,” Jesse answered. “But speaking of that, are you going to move in with me when I move into Henry’s house?”
“Are you asking me to?” she asked. “I thought we were going to take things slow.”
He handed her a taco. “Yep, I am. We can give it a trial run in the bunkhouse. That would be the slow part.”
“Do you think we need a trial run?” she asked.
The hair on Jesse’s neck tingled, which meant something wasn’t quite right. “Are we having our first fight ever?”
“No, not the first one,” she answered. “You remember when we were in the ninth grade?”
“Oh, yeah.” He picked up a taco, unwrapped it, and took a bite.
“You told me I looked like a mop that had been hung on the clothesline to dry,” she reminded him.
“Well, you said I looked like some kind of bird trying to take flight when I ran because I had chicken legs,” he said.
She opened both bottles of root beer. “That was our first fight ever.”
“What’s this one about?” he asked.
“I want to know if…” she started.
He laid a hand on hers. “Yes, we have moved up a step or two from being just friends, and I like where we are, but you wanted to go slow. You should have the freedom to spend the night with me in the bunkhouse, but I also want you to know if you need some space, I won’t get angry if you stay in the ranch house.”
“Thank you,” she said. “I like the place we’re in, too.”
“Even in this heat?” Cody sat down beside Jesse.
“You should be used to this after the places where you’ve been.” Jesse really wanted to talk to Addy some more about their present and future, but he sure couldn’t tell his brother to get lost. “Where were you before you made that trip to London?”
“Sudan, and you are right about the heat.” Cody picked up one of the tacos and took a big bite.
“What made you decide to quit and come home?” Addy asked.
“Bullets,” he answered. “Things were getting rougher by the year, and I’m getting older right along with them. I’m ready for a quiet life as a country doctor and rancher. I figure I should be ready to get my practice going by fall, so I’m available to help on the ranch until then. Have you given any thought to being my nurse, Addy?”
“Not much, but I’ve got to admit, it’s tempting. Now that Jesse is home, and you’re on the ranch, I won’t be needed as much,” Addy answered. “Especially if Sonny and Pearl are going to be traveling a little more.”
“I won’t think about hiring anyone else until you make up your mind. There’s no rush. I want to take the summer to relearn the ranchin’ business,” Cody said.
Jesse picked up another taco. “It’s like ridin’ a dirt bike, or a four-wheeler. You just get out there, go to work, and it all comes back to you. Do you think Lucas will ever come back here for good?”
Cody shook his head. “Not unless Dad decides to buy a bunch of horses for him to train. He loves what he does, and when he comes home for a week, he gets bored.” He looked across the table toward Addy. “He’s the quiet, brooding one of us three brothers. Do you remember him?”
Addy nodded. “Very well. He was a year younger than me and Jesse, and he was always sweet to me.”
“Three of us, and we’re all different as night and day,” Jesse said.
“You got that right, brother.” Cody got up and headed toward the taco stand. “I’m getting a few more. Y’all want anything else?”
“How about a plate of nachos to share? We’ve still got thirty minutes to kill before the parade starts.” Jesse reached over and gave Addy’s knee a gentle squeeze. “Another root beer, darlin’?”
“I think I’ll wait for a real beer at the rodeo grounds tonight,” she answered.
“That’s my girl.” Jesse hoped that he was still saying that when he and Addy had been together as long as his mother and father.
That means a lifetime commitment, the voice in his head said.
I’m ready, he thought, but I need to give her time to catch up with me.
* * *
Addy thought that Sonny looked weary by the time the mutton bustin’ started with the little kids aged six and under, but he whooped and hollered for every one of them. Jesse sat on one side of her, the fingers of one hand laced in hers, the other wrapped around a bottle of cold beer that they were sharing.
“One of my first memories was trying to stay on the back of a rangy old ram when I was four years old,” he said with a grin. “Someday, we’ll have kids we can dress up and watch ride in this event.”
“Kids or grandkids?” she asked.
“Both,” Jesse said. “I’m a foster kid who was adopted. We can always get a family that way.”
“I could never be a foster mother.” Addy didn’t want to burst his bubble, but she had to be honest. “I would get too attached, and it would kill me to have to give a child back, and I can’t even begin to imagine giving back a little baby.”
“How about adoption?” Jesse asked. “My folks were almost our age when they took me and my brothers in and then adopted us when they could.”
“That’s a whole different conversation.” She pointed. “That little girl is going to outdo all the boys that have ridden up to now. You see the way she’s easing down off the side of the chute. I’ve seen cowgirls approach a bull or a bronc the same way. Betcha she comes from rodeo folks.”
“And here’s Breanne Wilson, coming out of chute six,” the announcer said into the microphone as he nodded to the two cowboys to open the gate. “She’s six years old, and man alive, look at her ride in those pink cowgirl boots and that shiny shirt. Folks, I believe she’s going to hang on for the full time. Good Lord! The bell has rung and she’s still riding. Look at that ram go!” Two rodeo clowns chased after her and finally lifted her off the ram’s back. She whipped off her helmet to show a full head of blond curls and took a deep bow. “And that’s the way it’s done, folks. Breanne has a score of eighty points, the highest of any tonight. Congratulations, young lady.”