Page 28 of Rocky Mountain Home

Comfortable. Familiar.

Not home.

Regret swamped him much in the same way the shock of that life-changing statement pregnant kept intruding.

As much as he wanted to go home, he couldn’t.

As much as he wished Dare had greeted him with different news, there was no going back.

Noise travelled in the quiet of the barn, and Jesse made his way toward the distinctive scrape of a rake at work. The barn was warm, the scent of horses and hay a rich, earthy wash in his nostrils. Silver Stone had a lot of quality animals, and Jesse took his time walking past the stalls, pausing to brush a nape and pet a nose.

“Are you lost?”

Jesse turned slowly, even though he’d been surprised, making sure not to spook the animal he stood next to. “Morning.”

The man stepped forward into view, and Jesse recognized him as one of the Stone family. There was enough of a resemblance to Ginny, although this man had to be in his early thirties, and his face held nowhere near the laughter and impulsive mischief painted on every inch of Dare’s best friend.

Dark hair, dark eyes. He was as solidly built as any of the Coleman clan, perhaps a little shorter than Jesse, but obviously a man of the land.

Also someone who was probably prepared to take off Jesse’s head.

No getting around it. Jesse held out his hand. “We haven’t been introduced. Jesse Coleman.”

“Caleb Stone.” He stared at Jesse’s hand for a moment as if it were smeared with shit. “You the one who got Dare pregnant?”

It was a little awkward with his arm just hanging there, so Jesse let it fall to his side. “I am.”

“Ginny told me you were here.” The man eyed Morgan.

“He won’t make trouble,” Jesse promised.

Caleb squatted low and offered a treat he’d pulled from his pocket. Morgan didn’t move until Jesse gave him leave, then took the treat and head-butted Caleb as thanks before returning to Jesse’s side.

The other man nodded in approval at the dog, then grabbed a second rake off the wall and held it out to Jesse.

Thank God.

Not only did it give Jesse a familiar task for his hands, it was also a pretty good indicator he wasn’t about to be shot or hogtied, since both were tough to accomplish if Caleb’s hands were full.

He followed Caleb to a section where the horses had been moved, stepping into an empty stall and willingly getting to work. Over the years he’d had an awful lot of conversations through wooden walls like this. Jesse wondered briefly if it was one of those things that cowboys did because men talking about emotional shit—

Walls were a damn good metaphor and made some of these tough talks a hell of a lot easier.

He’d taken a half-dozen drags with the rake when Caleb spoke, his deep voice clear in the otherwise quiet of the barn.

“You didn’t expect to hear Dare’s news.” It wasn’t phrased as a question.

The man would want honesty. “Could have knocked me over with a feather, yeah. Bit of a shocker, but I’ll do right by her.”

“Can you?” Noises in the stall one over paused. “She’s family. I’m not going to let her ruin her life by hooking up with someone who needs babying. The last thing she needs right now is another person to take care of.”

Jesse held back a flash of anger, knowing it wasn’t a personal attack. This was a man looking out for someone under his protection. “I’m not a slacker. It wasn’t my fault she’s had to manage things by herself until now.”

Caleb grunted. “Dare made it clear she didn’t blame you when I offered to hunt you down, which is why you’re not lying in a ditch, bleeding. Nothing you could’ve done, other than protect her a little harder in the first place, but that boat’s sailed.”

“It wasn’t from a lack of trying,” Jesse protested.

An awkward pause from the other side of the wall. “I don’t want details.”