Page 39 of Forever After All

She gave Abby one last big squeeze before releasing the hug. “You’re pretty awesome, you know that?”

Abby leaned in and pecked a kiss on Jess’s cheek. “I know. You’re awesome too.”

With that gut-punching compliment, she skipped off to the next admirer.

No one ever told Jess she was awesome. Or even nice. Except Linc.

She wanted to be nice. It was hard to know how. She appreciated her friends, she cared about them, but the sweet sentiments were difficult to put together.

Jess stuck to Linc’s side, and whether he noticed her silent panic or not, he didn’t mention it.

Thankfully, because she had no idea how to explain what was wrong. Nothing was wrong. She was just being emotional for no reason.

One of her least favorite things about being a woman with hormones–feelings. Complicated, messy, irrational feelings. Feelings didn’t make sense.

After they’d eaten cake and ice cream, Linc looked at his watch. “I need to head out. See you at the stables later?”

She’d love to. Except she had other plans.

Linc’s hair was just long enough to fall down in the front, creating a messy look that he rocked as if he were Elvis himself. She was staring, and staring was impolite.

Or so she’d been told.

“Actually, I have a date tonight.”

No matter how many times she said it, the whole dating thing was not sinking in for her. Why wasn’t there a way to skip the awkward dating part?

Oh, there were mail-order brides. Were there mail-order grooms? It was a stupid thought, but she might actually contemplate it if it meant she got to bypass dating.

Linc froze halfway between sitting and standing. His hands were planted on the table beside her, giving her a front-row seat to his thick forearms and biceps, since he’d rolled up the sleeves of his flannel shirt during the pinata bashing.

Those have practical uses, Jess. They’re not for ogling.

“Pardon?” Linc asked, slow and deliberate.

Why did she like it when she made him do a double take?

“Mrs. Letterman called and said her grandson or something was coming into town for a rodeo. I’m going out with him tonight.”

Linc sat back down and stared at her with a blank expression she couldn’t read. “Where?”

“Ha. Nice try. You’re not showing up for this one.” He’d done the protective friend thing before, and she hadn’t made up her mind on how she felt about it.

Scratch that. She had, and she just didn’t like the outcome. Having Linc ride to her rescue, even when she didn’t need it, was nice. More than nice. It was like a safety net.

No one had rushed in to save her before, and she liked it when Linc showed up, even when she didn’t need saving.

“What if you need help? Someone should know where you are.”

“If I need help, I’ll let someone know where to find me.”

Linc straddled the bench seat and faced her. His shoulders rose in a deep swell. “I don’t like that.”

Jess shrugged. What did he expect her to do about it?

He sighed and brushed a hand through his hair. He really needed to stop drawing attention to the parts of him she liked most. “Just let someone know where you’re going, please.”

“I don’t know where we’re going. He said he wanted it to be a surprise.”

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