Page 90 of Rocky Mountain Home

Dare glanced at him. “Seriously? You’re the last one?”

“Last man,” Rafe clarified. “There are three Whiskey Creek Coleman cousins not hitched or engaged yet, but they’re all girls.”

“Women,” Laurel corrected him.

“You’re fighting a losing battle on that one,” Vicki informed her. “I get my revenge by making sure to call them ‘boys’ whenever possible.”

Laurel turned to Dare with a question about her family, and the three women chatted easily as they sauntered toward the arena where Joel and Matt were leading out the new horses.

Jesse and Rafe wandered behind them, distance widening until the two groups were far enough apart they couldn’t hear the others’ conversation.

“How’s the visit been?” Rafe asked.

Jesse grunted, stepping toward the fence as if there was something vital to examine.

“That good? Damn,” Rafe muttered, joining him at the rail.

Did he want to bitch? Jesse kicked at the ground and considered. Of course he did, but should he? It wasn’t in line with his “keep a bold face and don’t let anyone see the truth” line he’d been trying to pull off.

“It’s been fun,” Jesse lied, gesturing toward where the girls had stopped a good twenty feet from them. “She’s having a great time.”

Dare was examining the new breeding stock with interest, her face shining, and for a split second that knot in Jesse’s belly eased a little. She was having fun—at least more fun than yesterday, and he was glad.

Then Vicki said something that made Dare laugh, the two women’s faces bright as they stood next to each other, and tension spiraled upward in Jesse’s belly as quickly as it had vanished earlier.

When it came to fucked-up situations, this was at the top of the list.

Rafe coughed, waiting until Jesse glanced his way to ask firmly, “You want to talk?”

Jesse faked it best he could. “Nothing to talk about.”

“Course not.” Rafe counted on his fingers. “You left here without much of a plan in February. It’s now July and she’s five months pregnant.”

“Congrats, you can add.”

“And you have a magic truck that lets you live in one town and work three hours away.” Rafe examined him with deepening concern. “I had your address, remember? I know where you were, and she wasn’t around for a lot of those months.”

“She’s around now.”

“Clearly.”

Jesse slapped his hands on his thighs. This was the only family member who had any idea why he’d left in the first place. As far as he knew, Rafe had never said a word to anyone else, or given anyone any explanations for his leaving beyond what Jesse had approved.

He also knew the kind of hell that Rafe had gone through without breaking, and he trusted the man.

Which was why he let his frustration rule and snapped back the truth that hopefully no one else in Rocky Mountain House would ever hear.

He spoke quietly, though. No way did he want this discussion overheard. “What do you want me to say, Rafe? You want me to up and announce I got a total stranger pregnant, here, welcome her to the family…?”

Rafe’s expression darkened. “No, because Dare doesn’t deserve that bullshit. I get why you’re doing what you’re doing, but what I was trying to say—badly, I guess—is that you don’t need to lie to me. If you need a safe place to talk, I’m here. But if you’d prefer to suffer in silence, at least have the decency to not piss on the tree you’re trying to protect.”

More cryptic bullshit. Jesse glared at his cousin. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Rafe folded his arms over his chest. “You’re keeping quiet about your relationship with Dare, but it’s pretty clear you’ve got issues with something or someone here in Rocky. The way you act every time Vicki is around, it’s as if you want people to realize this isn’t about you disapproving of the woman.”

Dammit. Jesse caught himself staring at the group of women again, all three of them chatting animatedly. “Fuck. You’re right.

His cousin snorted. “My God, did I really hear those words come out of your mouth?”