“It shows.”
Jillian tipped her head to one side, looking at him.
He shrugged. “Most people would be dangling by the thread of their last nerve surrounded by this many hyper kids.”
“They’re not hyper,” she corrected. “They’re just excited to be with so many friends.”
“Whichever,” he said, shaking his head. “Seems like hard work to me.”
“Harder than training wild horses?”
He laughed unexpectedly, and the deep sound of it rolled over her, lighting up every cell in her body. What a smile did for that handsome face of his should be illegal. Or at least come with a warning label.
“Oh, yeah. Give me a mean horse any day over this many kids all at once.”
“You’re terrific with Brody and Mac,” she reminded him.
His smile slowly faded as he turned to look at those two children in the crowd. “They’re different.”
Before she could ask him what he meant, he set his hat on his head and said, “I’ve got to go. Things to do at the ranch.”
“Okay…” She watched him turn for the door and wondered what had made him change so abruptly from teasing laughter to shadows in his eyes and a curtain dropping over his features.
“Jesse?”
He stopped and looked over his shoulder at her.
With his gaze on hers, Jillian couldn’t think of anything to say. And since she felt like an idiot, she finally said, “Nothing. Goodbye.”
“Yeah. Bye.” He left then, and Jillian couldn’t look away as he walked to his truck, climbed in and drove off.
Probably wasn’t a good sign that her heart was still racing.
* * *
By the time Lucy came to pick up Brody, Jillian had had a long day. As much as she loved her darling daughter and every other child in the day care, she wanted half an hour of silence all to herself. It was all Jesse’s fault, she told herself. She’d been doing fine until he showed up with his black cowboy hat, scuffed boots and whiskery jaws. After that, she’d had to work twice as hard to concentrate on the kids who needed her, because her mind kept dragging her back to Jesse.
“You look a little ragged,” Lucy said, hugging her son to her side while she talked.
“It’s been a day,” Jillian admitted, though she didn’t tell Lucy that it was Jesse making her a little crazed. “The kids are great, don’t get me wrong, but—”
“A break would be nice?” Lucy asked.
“Heaven,” Jillian agreed, glancing around the room. Most of the kids had been picked up already. There were only four left now waiting for their parents. The noise level in the room had dropped dramatically, but still, Jillian longed for quiet.
“I can fix that,” Lucy said.
“What?”
“I’ll take Mac with me. I’ve got an extra car seat in the truck—” She grinned. “Sometimes Brody’s friends need a ride. Like today for example.”
Jillian shook her head, automatically refusing the generous offer. She just wasn’t used to this level of friendship and though she liked it, it was going to take some getting accustomed to. “You don’t have to do that.”
Lucy smiled. “I know. But I just had three solid hours of a break. The least I can do is return the favor.”
Jillian laughed. “You weren’t on a break. Jesse told me you had a meeting.”
“Yes, but I was talking horses! Trust me, that’s a break.”
Not surprising that the whole Sanders family seemed crazy about horses. They did live on one of the biggest ranches in Texas.
“Did you get your breeding/rescue barn all figured out?” Jillian knew absolutely nothing about horses or how to care for them, but she was interested in her friend.
“We did,” Lucy said eagerly. “It’s going to be gorgeous.” She paused. “Bigger than I’d expected it to be, but that’s okay. Just means I can rescue more horses.”
“That’s what’s really motivating you, isn’t it?” Jillian asked. “I noticed the other day when you were talking about this that you seemed more excited by the prospect of saving animals than you were by the breeding program.”
“I’m that obvious, am I?” Lucy laughed a little. “I guess I am. It’s so…satisfying—and that’s not the right word, either—to help neglected animals get healthy and happy again. I just—”
“You don’t have to explain.”
“Good, because I don’t think I can.” Shaking her head, Lucy hugged Brody, still attached to her left leg. Looking down at him, she said, “Brody honey, why don’t you go get Mac and we’ll head home.”