The Cowboy's Girl Next Door: A BWWM Cowboy Romance Read Online Free PDF Page B

“Of course. Ranching is hard work, and I hope that we can be good neighbors and friends. Came over here with no other thought.”
     
    They were silent as they continued their walk. Jess felt a bit stung by the preemptive dismissal, but he understood, and, truth be told, respected her for it. It was clear to him that while her beginnings here were small, she was eager to make Heart’s Home everything it could be, and he admired her determination to do it on her own and, he assumed, on her own terms as well.
     
    Claire mentally chastised herself. How could she have been so assuming about his intentions? He’d done nothing untoward, said nothing that could be construed as anything other than friendly. Her experience with Kyle had made her wary, that was all, and she comforted herself with that thought as they walked into the kitchen.
     
    “What can I do to help?” Jess asked after putting the pie on the counter. Boxes marked “kitchen” were stacked against the far wall, but he could see a camp coffee pot on the stove and a carafe and mug nearby. “I use one of these,” he said, pointing to the pot.
     
    Claire gave him a bemused grin. “My mother’s. She insists it’s the only way to make proper coffee.” She laughed, then added, “I took her to a Starbucks once, and she complained the entire time about the coffee being burned. I thought the baristas were going to toss us out, so I bought a couple of pounds of their ground beans to take home as a sort of peace offering.”
     
    “And when I made their coffee my way, you said it was infinitely better.” Claire and Jess looked toward the living room where Carmen leaned against the doorway, arms folded. Jess liked her immediately, her brown eyes twinkling under a head of silver close-cut  curls. He walked over and extended his hand to her. “I couldn’t agree more, ma’am. Jess Hardy, owner of Bar None, the ranch next door.”
    Carmen shook his hand. “Carmen Robinson, mother of the finest horsewoman you’ll ever meet. At least,” she said as she released his hand and walked over to her daughter at the kitchen counter, “that’s what her coaches always told me about her. Don’t have much use for horses, myself. Give me a car or a bike and I’m good to go.”
     
    Claire blushed at her mother’s words and busied herself getting mugs, paper plates, and utensils from the box of kitchen essentials.
     
    “Well, I’ll be!” Carmen exclaimed, and Claire turned her attention to her mother who was removing the cover from the pie. “This is art.” The room was instantly filled with the scent of warm sweet berries and crust. “Seems a shame to cut it,” she added, “but I have no shame when it comes to homemade pie.”
     
    She took the knife that Claire offered her and made the first cut into the honey brown crust, then served slices for each of them while Jess helped Claire bring coffee and plates to the small round kitchen table.
     
    They talked as they ate, Carmen filling Jess in on the adventures of their moving trip and the inadequacies of the movers in between exclamations about the pie. Claire couldn’t help but notice Jess’s discomfort every time Carmen brought up the pie, but she was unable to steer her mother away from the topic entirely. It was a great relief, therefore, when one of the movers came in to ask a question about the bedroom furniture, and Carmen bustled out after him, threatening his life if he messed up the stairs.
     
    “A forced to be reckoned with,” Jess said as he finished the last of his slice of pie. “Will she be living here with you?”
     
    Carmen shook her head as she sipped her coffee. “No, Mom’s very much attached to her life in Atlanta, especially her weekly mah jong game. She’s here to help me get settled, but I hope that one day she’ll decide to join me out here.”
     
    They sat in awkward silence for a few moments. Neither wanted the interaction to end, but Claire needed to pay Mark and his