Lost and Found

Jesse must have slipped out of my bed and either back up the side of the chimney or out my bedroom door sometime before I woke up. It was a good thing he had, too, because a rapping on the other side of my door woke me up, followed by the youngest Walker bursting into my room before I invited her. Clementine, though, was always invited. Just as long as her big brother wasn’t sleeping next to me.

“Mornin’, Rowen!” she greeted, skipping into the room with her braids bouncing up and down. She saw I was still in bed and sleepy eyed. “Were you still asleep?”

I nodded and yawned. “Yep. I didn’t sleep very well last night.” After the night I’d had with Jesse, I didn’t care how little sleep I got or how tired I was. Last night was worth it. After making out to the point both our lips and hands were practically rubbed raw, he nestled beside me in bed, wrapped those strong arms around me, and we fell asleep together. Fully clothed. Even though we didn’t have sex, I’d never fallen asleep more satisfied and content in my whole life.

“You’ve got a silly smile on your face,” Clementine said, giggling as she pointed at me.

I was still smiling. That’s how great last night had been.

“Did you need something, squirt? Or were you just making sure I was awake?” I threw the covers off and headed for the dresser. I was about to open the first drawer when I remembered my dilemma from last night: I didn’t have any clean clothes.

That would make today challenging, if not impossible. I couldn’t very well whisk about the kitchen and the chicken coop in nothing but a white, oversized tee.

“Could I borrow that pretty purple scarf you wore last night?” she asked, coming up beside me and grabbing my hand. “Purple is the color of royalty, so if I’m wearing purple, everyone will know to bow when I walk by.”

The purple scarf was perhaps the only thing clean in my room. I grabbed it off the dresser and kneeled down beside Clementine. “Of course you can borrow it,” I said, winding it around her neck. “And if anyone doesn’t bow when you walk by, just wave your flamingo croquet mallet and say, ‘Off with his head.’”

Clementine’s face squished up on one side. The kid had no idea what I was talking about. She knew fairy tale princesses, but not Alice in Wonderland. I’d been the other way around at her age. Finally, she giggled again when I tickled her neck after tying the scarf into a pretty bow.

“You’re weird, Rowen,” she said, smiling up at me.

“Believe me. I know.” I patted her head, turned her around, and led her toward the door. I couldn’t solve my no-clean-clothing situation with a little girl bouncing around the room. “You know what? That scarf looks so good on you, I’m giving it to you. Okay?”

“What? Really?” If a seven-year-old could look more thrilled, I hadn’t seen it.

“Really, really,” I said as we got to the doorway. A gift bag with a black and white polka-dot ribbon tying the handles together sat just outside. “What’s this?”

Clementine shrugged. “I saw Jesse put it there early this morning when I was going to the bathroom. Then he walked away all quiet and quick.”

So Jesse had snuck out of my room, snuck back to drop the bag off, then snuck off to somewhere else. Not to mention when he’d snuck into my room last night. He’d done a lot of sneaking in twelve hours.

Once Clementine was bouncing down the stairs, I grabbed the bag and hurried back inside my room. I didn’t get presents often. Mom had resorted to pulling out her wallet and handing me a couple hundred dollar bills at breakfast on my birthday since I’d become a teenager. I wanted to take my time untying the ribbon and pulling out the tissue paper.

The moment my fingers tugged on one end of that ribbon though, that bow was untied and the tissue paper was flying. I could have cried when I saw what was inside.

Clothes. New with the tags on them and in my size. A few pairs of jeans that, knowing Jesse, would still hug my butt but hopefully not as bad as Lily’s had. A few tees in different colors, two airy button-up shirts with those pretty, pearly button snaps, and a pair of boots at the very bottom of the bag. Again, they were in my size, a Western style that wasn’t overt about it, and chocolate brown and lavender colored. They were functional for life on the ranch, but still round-toed, didn’t have a heel, and mid-calf like my trusty combat boots.

My clothing problem was miraculously solved by a man. Go figure.

Rose had offered all week to take me into town to pick out some new clothes, but I’d put it off and borrowed Lily’s since the only spare time we’d had was last night, and I didn’t want Rose to miss the rodeo because she was helping me pick out clothes.

I was just about to tug a shirt over my head when a white folded note nestled in the tornado of tissue paper caught my attention. I’d been in such a hurry, I’d missed it. I grabbed it and opened it up.

I picked these up for you last week, but since I was scared you’d bite my head off if I did anything but stay silent and avoid eye contact, they’ve hung out with me in the attic. You know, that place right above you? Where I sleep? Sometimes naked?

My throat went dry when I visualized that. My legs went weak when I thought of me joining him in that naked state.

That was a joke. Kind of . . . Anyways, you needed some clothes, I wanted to help, problem solved. And while I’ve got your undivided attention . . . You remember that date I asked you about last week that you were about to say yes to before someone I shall not name really messed that up? Yeah, well, since you got me to sleep with you last night, I think the least you owe me is a date. Tonight? 8ish? You. Me. Food. Sound okay?

P.S. You can still kick serious ass in these boots.

I read the note once more. It made me laugh. As much as I wanted to read it again, I smelled breakfast. That meant I was running late.

I changed into a pair of jeans which, as suspected, hugged my butt but not as badly as Lily’s had, slipped into the olive green button-down shirt, and slid into the boots. Everything fit. The boots fit my feet so well, my old ones were in danger of becoming my second favorites.

After ripping a brush through my hair, I rushed down the hall. My lips felt chapped, no big surprise there, so I made a layover in the bathroom to slick on some lip balm.

Voices buzzed in the kitchen already, which meant I wasn’t only late, I was really late. As soon as I skidded into the kitchen, my eyes locked onto his and his onto mine. Jesse was already seated at the table with the rest of the hands, eating breakfast. After finishing the bite of food in his mouth, a grin spread across his face as he took me in decked out in my new clothes.

“Wowza! Don’t you look fabulous,” Rose said when she pulled her head out of the fridge.

“She sure does,” Jesse added, his grin stretching wider. The rest of the hands, along with Neil, turned and took a quick look. A few nods, a couple smiles, then they got back to their breakfast.

“Thank you,” I replied to Rose before glancing back at Jesse. I don’t think he’d blinked yet. “And thank you.” I hoped he’d pick up on the subtle inflection because I couldn’t just walk across the kitchen, kiss him full on the lips, and thank him for the clothes the way I wanted to. I wasn’t sure how his family would take it. I was still trying to figure us out for myself, so whatever Jesse and I had, we’d have to keep it quiet until we figured out just what it was.

“Sorry I’m late,” I said as I rushed over to the coffee pot. That was my area of expertise. I ground, made, and poured the coffee. After that first day, I hadn’t spilled any. Occasionally, I’d be brave enough to whip up the pancake mix or scramble the eggs, but manning the coffee was the safest bet.

“That’s all right, hun,” she said, waving it off. “Clem said you had a tough time sleeping last night. You could have slept in, you know?”

Clementine waved at me from where she flipped pancakes on the griddle while standing on a step stool. Her purple scarf was proudly on display.

“What kept you up? Mind, body, or both?” Rose asked as I grabbed the coffee pot.

I couldn’t look her in the eyes when I answered, “Both.” I promptly spun around and whisked toward the table.

I felt one set of eyes on me. So intently, I remembered the way he’d kissed me last night. It made me remember the words he’d said to me.

Reliving last night when I had hot coffee in my hands wasn’t a good idea. I stopped beside Neil and lifted the pot. “Refill?” It was a rhetorical question. Not once in the past week had Neil turned down a coffee refill.

“Please,” he said with a nod. “Did you end up going to the rodeo last night, Rowen? We didn’t see you there, but it was packed as usual.”

“Yeah, I went.” I focused on pouring coffee into his cup. I did a quick scan of the table and was relieved to see a certain seat empty. I wasn’t quite ready to see Garth Black yet.

“What did you think?” he asked, turning in his seat toward me. “This was your first rodeo, right? I bet it left quite an impression.”

“It certainly left an impression,” I replied as I set his cup back down in front of him.

“Well, good. I’m glad you could make it,” he said as I moved on to the next cup that needed topped off. “Did you do anything especially fun afterward?”

From across the table, someone started choking.

The guy sitting next to Jesse hammered his back a few times while Jesse took a few sips of water. “Geez, Jesse. Try chewing your food before you swallow it. Basic stuff here, buddy.”

Jesse lifted his eyebrows in acknowledgement, took another sip of water, and glanced my way.

I shot him a thumbs up and made a face. He shot me back a smirk.

“I just went back up to my bedroom and stayed there all night.” I continued to make the coffee rounds. Jesse picked his fork back up and dove into his breakfast, but his eyes shifted my way every few seconds. So much for playing it subtle.

“Sounds like an uneventful night,” Neil said.

“Perfectly uneventful,” I replied.

Jesse shook his head and grinned into his plate.

The pot was empty a few cups later. After a detour to refill, I headed back to the table. En route, Jesse lifted his full cup of coffee and took a drink. He didn’t stop until the cup was empty. He swung it from the handle with his finger and winked at me.

If he kept that up, the entire ranch would know something was going on between us.

“Refill?” I stopped beside him and held out my hand. I was likely imagining it, but his eyes twinkled a bit more this morning.

“I thought you’d never ask,” he replied as he handed me his cup. His hand grazed mine purposefully, and in that briefest of grazes, my heart picked up speed.

“Did you have trouble sleeping last night, too?” I asked innocently as I poured his coffee. No one was paying us any attention, but just in case . . .

“Maybe a little.” He twisted in his seat and gave me a not-so-innocent smile. “Once I did fall asleep, I slept great. Best sleep of my life even.”

I was one more flirty innuendo away from a blush. It took a lot to make me blush, and I really didn’t want to do it right here for all of these guys to witness.

“Did you have a tough time getting to sleep last night, too, son?” Neil spoke up. I almost jumped out of my skin. I didn’t think anyone could hear us above the din of conversations roaming around the room.

“Yeah, I did, Dad,” Jesse replied in a collected voice. Like he hadn’t just gone from talking in code with me about last night to discussing sleep with his dad a second later.

“You know, I did, too,” Neil said. “I kept hearing a bunch of creaking around and odd noises last night.”

It would have been my turn to choke if I had anything in my mouth.

“This house is older than you are, Dad. It creaks and makes odd noises all the time,” Jesse said with a shrug while he soaked up some hamburger gravy with a biscuit.

“Thanks for the age reminder, Jesse. Always something I love to be reminded of. But these were odd-er sounds.” That’s probably because your son climbed down a chimney, hurled himself into my room, and made out with me in ways that are probably illegal in this county. “Anyways, I’m sure it was nothing, but it looks like a few of us are going to be getting by on nothing more than caffeine and grit today.”

Jesse lifted his cup and took a sip. “Looks like it.”

I sighed with relief as I reached for the next empty cup. Breakfast was almost over, Jesse and I had dodged a few danger zones, and I’d managed to keep from kissing him the way I wanted to as soon as I walked in and saw him.

Maybe we could keep things on the D.L. until we figured them out and were ready to go public.

That was when Clementine shouted from across the room, “Rowen? Why were you wearing Jesse’s shirt this morning?”

Jesse’s fork clattered to his plate. The empty coffee cup in my hand clattered to the floor.