Shoe Strings

“Well, you’re talking about Sequoyah
Falls’ most eligible bachelor.   Although, truth be told, I haven’t seen him with anyone lately.”  
    “Does he still have a thing for Kerri Ann?”
    “Jesse?”   The
million dollar question.   When Jesse
had returned home after three years away, Bryce had thought his time was up,
thought he’d blown his only opportunity to make a life with Kerri Ann and
Ty.   He assumed she’d jump at the
chance to have Jesse back again.   But she’d shown no interest in getting back together with Jesse and he
seemed too interested in making up for lost time with Ty and getting his
rafting business afloat.
      “Hard to say, as
she’s the last thing he’d talk to me about.   I can tell you that after he saw us at
the Pizza Den together, he called and asked a bunch of questions about you.”
    “He did?”   By her
hopeful expression, he knew she was more interested than she’d admit.
    Bryce held up three fingers.   “Scouts honor.   Listen, Lita, I’m not a good person to
ask about relationships and such, but I grew up with Jesse and he’s a good
guy.   He was…confused for awhile,
but now he’s just been working and spending as much time with Ty as possible,
much to Kerri Ann’s chagrin.”
    “You care about her, Kerri Ann?”
    Was it that obvious?   “Let’s just say she’s one of the things here I can’t seem to live
without.”   She’s why he’d come
home.   He’d set up his practice in
the mountain town he’d always considered home and waited for her to come to
him.   And with every shoulder he
offered her to cry on, every favor he obliged, he waited.   He was damned tired of waiting.

 

 
    Chapter 7
    Jesse had been feeling like a kid again.   He’d found Ty and his dad, knee deep in
mud, dredging the culvert that kept the spring thaw water in the streambed and
away from the cabins.   It always
made him chuckle to see Ty doing all the chores he used to be forced to do as a
teenager.   The old man was a slave
driver.  
    He’d dropped off Angelita’s tire, ordered the part for his
ATV, and delivered Ty to the Pizza Den where Kerri Ann cussed for five straight
minutes about the muddy mess his shoes left on her freshly mopped floor.   He’d snuck out the back when she was
mid-rage and was headed back home for a quick shower.   He had a date.   She’d invited him, although somewhat
begrudgingly, for dinner—alone—at her cabin.   He’d been damn near floating on
air.  
    Until he saw Angelita skipping down the stairs of Bryce’s
office.   What the hell was up with
her and Jenson anyway?   He’d already
embarrassed himself and called to get the scoop on Bryce and Angelita like a
love struck high schooler.   Bryce
had assured him he was just welcoming a visitor to town, but after seeing her
leave his office, smiling and bubbly, he couldn’t quite shake the feeling he had
some competition for Angelita’s affection.   And didn’t that just suck, considering she was the first woman to spark
his interest in…he couldn’t remember how long.
    As he headed up the road to his house, he thought it ironic
that he and Bryce were once again fighting over the same woman.   Some things really didn’t change.   He and Bryce had struggled for Kerri
Ann’s attention all those years ago and Jesse knew he’d won by default.   If you’d call their pitiful excuse for a
marriage winning.   Those were the most
painful, regretful years of Jesse’s life.   Truth be told, he was grateful to Bryce for coming back to town just
when Jesse took off.   Bryce had been
there for Kerri Ann and Ty while Jesse was sewing his oats and grieving for his
mother in the big city.
    He showered quickly, pulled on a clean pair of jeans, threw
a button-down over his t-shirt, and grabbed a bottle of wine before heading out
the door.   As promised, the tire sat
waiting outside Bobby Joe’s closed garage doors and Jesse managed to load it without
getting dirty.   He drove up to
Cal’s, wondering what the old man would think of Angelita inviting him to
dinner.   He’d probably think what he
usually did when Jesse took an interest in a woman—that she’d be smart to
steer clear.   Oh well, Jesse couldn’t
blame his dad for his knee jerk reaction or do much about it.    
    He heard music when he cut the engine, something slow and
smooth.   He unloaded her tire from
the back of the Scout and rolled it to a rest by the stairs.   He didn’t see