Page 136 of Rocky Mountain Home

He liked where this was going. “Are you trying to seduce me, Ms. Hayes?”

“I’m offering to fuck your brains out, Mr. Coleman.”

He glanced at his watch. “Oh, look at that. It’s time to go home already.”

Jesse picked her up. Right there in the middle of the dance floor, he swung her into his arms and marched toward the door. Applause broke out from the Colemans and others in the bar.

Dare clung to his shoulders, laughter escaping her lips. “What are you doing, you crazy man?”

“Bullshit on hanging around for a couple of hours after you make an offer like that. I’ve decided to save the caveman behaviour for the moments that matter the most. This definitely counts.”

Dare didn’t argue as he settled her into his truck. “Take me back to your cave,” she offered.

So he did.

Dare thought she would miss Heart Falls more, but the truth was she heard from Ginny nearly as often as before, just without the random drop-ins and thievery of chocolate from her pantry. She got text messages from the boys on a regular basis, and a phone call every week from Caleb, who refused to enter the technical revolution.

The girls Skyped her. Sasha chatted up a storm about everything they’d been doing. Emma made Dare teary-eyed as she held out her favourite stuffy like an offering then hugged it fiercely. They both whined about the babysitters Caleb seemed to be running through like sand, Sasha with loud, determined phrases like “mean and stubborn”, Emma with all too evocative eye motions to back up her sister’s complaints.

Her blog was going strong, and the new Ranching with Buckaroo section was a big hit. More than that, there’d been a special kind of joy getting to know the other Coleman women better, especially Vicki.

It wasn’t as if Dare had been living in a cave. She’d had friends at school. She’d had all of the Stone family, but having to step into a new setting where everyone else seemed solidly connected had forced Dare to step out from behind the computer screen.

A screen which had to be located a little farther away on a weekly basis as Buckaroo took up more and more room.

Dare caught herself now and then staring at her belly in surprise. Not as if she could forget it was there, but still, sometimes she did. She went to roll over in bed one night, and it seemed easier to put a hand under her belly to help turn—it was weird having a body that wasn’t quite hers alone anymore.

Suddenly they were two-and-a-half months out from Buckaroo Arrival Day, as Jesse had begun to put it. Somehow Dare refrained from stepping on his toes every time he made some comment about BAD to the bone.

When his phone rang during breakfast, Jesse checked the display then answered it, his expression more confused than anything. “Hey, Travis. Did I miss something on the schedule? Am I late?”

Dare and Vicki exchanged glances.

“Time?” Dare asked quietly.

Vicki shrugged. “Could be.”

Jesse hung up, his expression complete puzzlement. “All he said was ‘Ashley’s in labour’, then he hung up.”

“It’s time.” Vicki popped to her feet and hurried to the fridge. “I have a basket ready for you to take.”

Dare was eager to go and scared to death. She turned to Jesse who was sitting like a lump at the table in stunned silence. “Come on. We gotta get over there.”

This time Jesse and Joel exchanged panicked glances before Jesse turned back. “Are you out of your ever-lovin’ mind?”

“Nope. I told you this,” Dare reminded him. “Remember? I said Ashley thought it would be a great idea for me to get a little more experience with what having a baby was like, since I have no idea. Well, other than cows and cats and ranch animals, but human babies are different.”

She had him by the hand and was tugging him to his feet, the reluctant sack of bones that he was. “I thought that meant we were going to babysit sometime. With supervision.”

“It means Ashley, who is having a homebirth, decided since she was already going to have a bunch of people around, she doesn’t mind having us watch what goes on to deliver a people baby.”

Dare guided Jesse toward the front door.

Behind them at the table Joel was laughing out loud. “You really know how to have a good time, bro. You can keep Travis company after he faints.”

“I don’t know if this is a good idea,” Jesse complained again.

She shoved him into a chair and pushed his boots at him. “Neither do I, but we’re doing it. Get a move on, and I might let you hide out if you really feel squeamish.”