Page 16 of Just Say When

Shit, Mom would have loved this.

Before it could get awkward, Essie piped up with, “Those tables over there look like the right spot.” She wasn’t looking at me when she spoke, but I knew she’d seen me choke up just the same.

That was the thing about Essie. She wasn’t nice, but she was kind. Even to an asshole like me who probably didn’t deserve her kindness. Mom had loved her, too.

With the pie balanced on one palm, Essie lifted her other hand to wave to James, who was organizing the various bowls and dishes of food on the red-checked tablecloth. James waved back. “This way?—”

“I’ll take that.” My dad hefted the pie from Essie’s palm. He aimed a grin at Cat that I hadn’t seen in a long, long time. “Cat Price, as I live and breathe. It’s been too long, darlin’. Why don’t we leave the young people to themselves and catch up?”

I blinked. Was Dadflirtingwith Essie’s mom? I hadn’t seen him flirt with anyone, ever, other than Mom, so I couldn’t be sure that was what I was witnessing. It wasprobably nothing. Essie and I were the same age, but Dad had a good fifteen years on Cat. They headed for the picnic tables, chatting like the old friends they were.

Hannah sighed and stepped after them. “I’ve never been young a day in my life, so why would I start now,” she muttered. “Have fun,young people.”

Essie laughed. “I’ll come with you.”

There was a flash of color as her ponytail swished in my face. Instinctively, I wrapped it in my fist, halting her mid-stride. Hannah kept going, not realizing Essie wasn’t with her.

“What is this?” I asked, examining the rainbow glimmering underneath her natural brown.

“The last thing you’ll ever see if you don’t let the fuck go,” she snapped.

But she stepped closer to loosen the tension on her scalp and that gave me incentive to hold on a little longer. She hadn’t stood this close to me since she’d rubbed her wet body all over me a month ago. In fact, I’d say she’d gone out of her way to avoid me. And when she couldn’t avoid me, she’d made sure to keep a horse or a human between us at all times.

I tugged again and she stepped even closer.

“Pretty,” I remarked like she hadn’t threatened my life.

I ran my thumb over the colors in order. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple. Essie had always liked to experiment with hair color, both natural and unnatural,trying on blonde and blue the way other people tried on clothes. But for the past year or so, she had stuck to her god-given brunette shade. This rainbow on the underside of her hair was a lot more subtle than what she used to go for. It was like a game of peekaboo, trying to find the colors.

“Stop petting me, jackass.” She swatted my hand away. “It’s not for you.”

I grinned and let her hair tumble free. “You did it for your mama, didn’t you.”

Essie’s hair color was another one of those imaginary threats that kept Cat up at night. Her mom had never expresslyforbadeEssie from dying her hair, but there had been a lot of head shaking, lip pursing, and dire warnings every time Cat came home to find Essie sporting a brand-new color.

Essie tossed her ponytail and folded her arms under her chest, testing my resolve to keep my eyes up where they belonged. Fucking sundress. That paired with worn-in cowboy boots was my kryptonite. And the woman wearing them? Kryptonite didn’t begin to describe it. I was the tide and she was the moon, pushing and pulling me however she wanted. I wasn’t even mad about it.

“As a grown-ass woman, I don’t consult my mother on my style choices,” she said. “I told her the same thing I always tell her. It doesn’t matter whether other peopletake me seriously.Itake myself seriously. What other people think of me is none of my business.”

“I bet that went down as well today as it did fifteen years ago.” I tweaked her ponytail. “Like it or not, you’ll always be her baby, Essie.”

Her grimace told me exactly what she thought about that and I laughed again.

“I know she only wants what’s best for me.” Essie’s gaze was on her mom and my dad as she spoke, like she was thinking out loud and not to me specifically. “I know she’s scared I’m too much like her. But I’m thirty-two. It’s not even possible for me to be a teen mom at this point.”

“You can ruin your life at any age,” I pointed out. Lord knew I had seen plenty of adults do exactly that.

“That’s the problem, I guess. People are so goddamned afraid of ruining their lives that they created all these asinine rules to prevent that. But it won’t work, because no one ever ruined their life by dying their hair blue or pivoting to a new career path. Life isn’t that serious.”

Now, that was interesting. This was about more than just rainbow hair, then. Had Cat disagreed with Essie’s retirement from barrel racing?

“Stupid rules,” she muttered. “People too scared of living their own lives so they have to come take all the fun out of mine. Why should I have to live my life in away that makes them feel better about how they live theirs? That can’t possibly be my responsibility.”

“That’s what I like about you, hellion. You don’t follow anyone’s rules.”

She pivoted slowly on her toes to face me, her dark brows drawn together in a deep scowl. “Don’t even think about it, Braxton Hale. I am not your manic pixie dream girl.” She jabbed me hard on the shoulder with her index finger. “Absolutely not.”

“What the hell is a manic pixie dream girl?” I asked.

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