Page 157 of Rocky Mountain Home

She let out a happy sigh. “You’re my first choice for hero, every time.”

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Blog post: Plant a Seed

One of the things I admire the most about people is when I discover they’ve done something that has far-reaching consequences they may never get to enjoy.

The simplest example of this is people who plant a tree. You’ve seen it, driving through a new area of town where there’s nothing but infrastructure in place. Roads, maybe, and the skeletons of houses rising in the middle of barren land. Once the houses are there, people put in lawns and plant trees, and in some ways it looks a little ridiculous because the trees are about the size of a pencil, but future-thinking people don’t look and see what’s there at that moment. They’re imagining what it will look like tomorrow.

Then we drive across town to a community that’s been there for years. The trees rise above the rooflines, green growing things everywhere.

In the country, we plant windrows. At the edge of a field we put in a line of trees that are nothing but hope and anticipation. Five or ten years down the road, they’ll become a solid line of protection that keeps the soil in place and the crops from damage.

Sometimes we don’t know what a difference we’ll make in the future. Sometimes we do—a deliberate choice.

Either way, it’s an interesting concept to consider that while we live in the present we’re impacting the future.

Jesse knew exactly what he wanted, but getting to that point was proving to be far more difficult than he expected.

He’d been blessed far more than he’d deserved, and had a fair share of miracles, but the good things had come down to fate a lot of the time.

He and Dare had met by chance. He’d only tracked her down because of the meme. Even his first proposal had been spur of the moment, but now that he was no longer being stupid, and both he and Dare knew they were in love, he wanted to do it up right.

He wanted this proposal to be very deliberate. Something that she could look back on and know that he’d put thought and energy into it because she was worth it. A memorable experience for the rest of their lifetime. He was so ready to do this.

Dare was not cooperating.

Not that he expected her to willingly follow his lead when he wouldn’t tell her what was going on, but fate was making it impossible to sneak her away without anyone else coming along. And by anyone, he meant Vicki.

Thick as thieves, the two of them. The fact it didn’t make his mind hurt was another miracle he’d just accept.

That morning he’d made sure to find out when Vicki was busy at work. Then he’d rearranged his work schedule so he could sneak away to have an afternoon coffee with Dare, and finally put into play what he’d been setting up for a while.

Only when he drove into the yard, Vicki’s truck was there.

Fine, he wasn’t going to even try to be sneaky anymore.

Jesse took the stairs two at a time and pushed into the living room to discover them pouring over something on the computer screen. “Ladies.”

Vicki straightened up, grabbed their empty glasses and headed to the kitchen. “Hey, Jesse. I’ll be right back, Dare.”

Dare attempted to rise to her feet and failed. She rolled her eyes and held out a hand. “Help the pregnant lady. I’m stuck.”

He chuckled as he stepped forward and lifted her to her feet. “Hey, did the Buckaroo bump drop about a foot since this morning?”

“You’re so observant.” She patted him on the cheek a couple of times a little sharper than necessary before offering a real smile. “What are you doing home so early?”

He opened his mouth to tell her he was stealing her away when the sound of tires burning out in the parking area drew their attention to the front window.

Tamara was getting out of her old beater of a truck, marching toward the door as if she had an agenda.

So much for his and Dare’s quiet get-together.

The front door opened, and both Jesse’s and Dare’s phones went off. By the time Tamara was through the door, Vicki’s phone was ringing as well, vibrating on the table hard enough it wiggled toward the edge.

Tamara slipped off her boots and left them on the mat. “Twenty bucks says those are from Jaxi or Blake.”

Jesse glanced at his phone. “Blake. He wants to know if I’ve seen you.”