Page 63 of Rocky Mountain Home

As options we have saddlebags, a backpack and a big-ass purse that my sister bought as a gag gift one Christmas, and by big-ass I mean of extraordinary bootie nature. It’s all about the bass, my friends…

I was tempted to use the saddlebags at first before I realized there’s a reason I store them in the tack room. (Ahem, use your aromatic imagination, and make it really horse-y.)

The backpack makes me feel as if I should be climbing mountains and fording streams, not stopping in for a coffee. It’s also awkward because inevitably the item I want the most works its way to the bottom, and I have to dump the entire contents to get at it.

So—big-ass purse it is. Good thing I don’t need much…stuff…oh, lordy.

***ten-minute break. I know you didn’t see me leave, but I did***

Okay, I’m back and no longer hyperventilating. It hit me I’m going to need to haul baby stuff around in a while, not to mention the baby when it’s no longer in my belly—and my heart just about pounded out of my chest. At some point this will become old hat, right?

*glibbers with panic*

I’m excited about the baby, don’t get me wrong, but maybe a few of you out there who have a little more experience Buckaroo-wrangling can reassure me that, at some point, I too will nonchalantly deal.

It had been the longest car trip ever. Dare fought to keep from squirming, but the three hours seemed like twice that long, and the more distance they put between them and Heart Falls, the more she wondered what the heck she was doing.

Only the echo of Ginny’s plainspoken questions kept Dare from ordering Jesse to turn the truck around and cancel the entire trip.

They’d left Morgan behind at Silver Stone. Jesse had suggested it, since he wasn’t sure where they would end up staying during their time.

It felt wrong to Dare for Morgan to not be with them, although the dog was happy enough—he and one of Dusty’s border collies had become fast friends, much to her little brother’s disgust.

But no dog meant no distractions, which meant she had to face her fears straight on.

Did she want to meet his family?

She was iffy on her personal answer, but it was clear what Buckaroo’s opinion would be. He or she deserved to have all the family possible—if they were good people. It was way easier to figure that out in person, and now rather than later.

She and Jesse would visit, and Dare would hopefully have the angelic choirs burst into song to let her know yes or no regarding spending more time with the Colemans in the future. This was an exploratory trip, nothing else.

Not a time to madly fall in love with his parents, or with the intensely nosy but caring Jaxi or…or anyone. Dare did not need these people for her own sake.

This was about Buckaroo. Period.

If she repeated that often enough she might even remember it.

The terror rushing through her at the thought of meeting his parents had left a terrible taste on her tongue.

“You okay?” Jesse didn’t take his eyes off the road.

“Fine.”

She stared straight ahead as well. This was the worst interaction the two of them had shared since reconnecting a month ago. Normally he was annoying, charming, flirtatious, infuriating—

Jesse, as she’d come to understand him, was a simple man. He could deal with pretty much anything if he could take control or take action. Right now, with the extended periods of silence and his grim determination to put as many miles under their wheels as possible, as quickly as possible…

He was out of his comfort zone with this trip, and gee whiz, didn’t that make her concerns even more intense.

Squirming in her seat helped with the jitters, but did nothing to ease the increasing pressure on her bladder. Stupid when the discomfort was preferable to dealing with her fears.

She was about to give up and ask him to pull off onto the nearest convenient gravel road when she spotted a large green sign at the side of the highway.

Rocky Mountain House.

“It is far to the ranch?” Because she knew a mailing address in a town didn’t always have much to do with where the ranch was located.

Thank goodness, this time it wasn’t one of those we’ll-be-there-in-an-hour situations. “Ten minutes to Blake and Jaxi’s, if I take the back roads,” Jesse offered.