Page 68 of Rocky Mountain Home

It wasn’t a thing anyone would want to eat.

Caleb’s offer to find him a place at Silver Stone had put some of his worries to rest. Dare would want to be near Ginny, close to her brothers and the familiarity of her home. Jesse needed to be close to her and Buckaroo.

Visiting the Six Pack ranch was a good idea, though. He could put on a happy face and make it clear he was moving on, and that would be that.

He refrained from calling himself a lying bastard, no matter how truthful the description.

Jesse drove the back roads until he knew it was stupid to avoid tracking down his brothers. At this time of day they’d usually be scattered over the far reaches of the ranch, but with Blake and Jaxi headed to the hospital, custom said routine would have given way to an impromptu gathering.

He congratulated himself on calling it right when he spotted familiar vehicles gathered outside the main barn. Parking in the middle of his brother’s trucks, Jesse paused for a moment until he’d gathered up enough don’t give a damn to face them.

Only stepping into his childhood playground stripped away his bravado. The scents and sounds were echoes of the past, and he held onto the doorframe and waited for his heart to stop pounding.

Stupid fucking heart. Between worrying about Dare, and the baby, and getting riled up over his damn past, it was a wonder he didn’t fall over from a heart attack.

He headed toward the corner where his brothers’ voices rose clearly.

“We going to finish the north fields this week?”

“We’ll get them done twice as fast without Blake checking his phone every five minutes to see what Jaxi’s doing.”

Laughter filled Jesse’s ears, and he rounded the corner and walked into the middle of it.

Matt and Travis were there, lounging against wooden support posts of stalls. Cassidy sat on a bale with one foot up as he leaned on the stall behind him. The kind of gathering Jesse had joined in a million times before.

Only this time when they spotted him, the laughter vanished. Cassidy straightened, and Matt’s eyes widened.

Travis swore and stepped forward.

Jesse wasn’t sure what to expect, but if it was fists, he wasn’t even going to defend himself. He froze on the spot and waited for what came next.

“You sorry son of bitch,” Travis muttered as he closed in on Jesse.

“Travis.” Cassidy’s voice held a warning.

Jesse braced for impact.

It was a good thing too, because the next second Travis connected with him full force, wrapping his arms around Jesse’s torso and squeezing the hell out of him. “Fucking ass. Where the hell have you been? I should tie you behind the tractor and drag you around—”

“You want to let him go now that you’ve proven he’s not a ghost?” Matt stepped up. “Although I agree with the ass bit. Jerk. Dickhead.”

Jesse wasn’t going to argue, not with the sense of relief flooding his system. This could have gone so differently. Insults were just fine. “Good to know you guys are still working on your vocabulary lists.”

Matt smacked him on the shoulder—harder than a friendly pat. “Stupid little brother.”

“Are you coming back?” Cassidy asked. “Also hi, I guess. I’m not sure if I’m supposed to hug you or hit you.”

“We could do both,” Travis offered, the fire in his expression making it clear his suggestion wasn’t a joke. Anger was replacing his earlier shock. “The only reason I’m not beating the shit out of you right now is that Rafe gave us updates.”

“Plus Jaxi put the fear of God into us over this visit.” Matt shook his head. “I hope you know what you’re doing, but I don’t think it’s likely. What the fuck, Jesse? What the hell were you thinking?”

Cassidy made a rude noise. “Umm, Matt? You might want to make a more specific list before asking that.”

“True.” Matt raised a hand and counted off fingers. “You fucking up and left without a word of warning. You didn’t send Mom and Dad more than one damn update. You’re engaged to be married to some woman from who the hell knows where who we’ve never met, and you’ve got a kid on the way.”

“She’s from Heart Falls, which isn’t that far from here,” Jesse snapped, temper flaring. “Beat the shit out of me for being a jerk and taking off unannounced, but you leave Dare and the baby out of your rants.”

A slow clap sounded from the doorway, and they all turned toward the sound.