Fencing You In Read Free

Jenny showed Tess which ones were hers. Tess admired them all and her heart warmed at the excitement in Jenny’s eyes.
    “There’s Katie Sue.” Jenny grabbed Tess’s hand again and started moving across the classroom, weaving in and out between the small desks. “I wonder if that’s her daddy?”
    Tess’s eyes widened as she saw a cowboy crouched on one knee next to Katie Sue so that he was eyelevel with her.
    Gage.
    Heat rushed to Tess’s cheeks as the memory of last night in the shower shot through her mind. She shoved it away and raised her chin as she and Jenny closed in on Katie Sue and Gage.
    Katie Sue was talking and Gage nodded. He tugged at her dark brown braid and she giggled.
    Jenny let go of Tess’s hand and ran the rest of the way to Katie Sue. Tess reached them just as Jenny said, “Is this your daddy?”
    Gage grinned at Jenny and Katie Sue shook her head. “This is Uncle Gage.”
    He glanced up and a sexy expression crossed his features as he met Tess’s gaze.
    “This is my best friend in the whole world,” Katie Sue was saying. “And that’s her mom, Mrs. Grady.”
    “Hi, Jenny.” Gage remained crouched and looked directly at the little girl. He extended his hand. “A pleasure to meet you. I’m going to be your uncle, too.”
    “Really?” Jenny’s eyes widened.
    Gage gave a nod. “Your Aunt Megan is going to marry my brother, Ryan.”
    Jenny’s eyes were big. “Wow.” She looked up at Tess. “I’ve never had an uncle before.”
    Tess smiled. “Well, he’ll sort of be your uncle. You’re going to have five of them in about a month. Gage has four brothers.”
    Her eyes seemed even bigger. “Does that mean Katie Sue and I are going to be related?”
    Tess looked at Gage and he smiled as he looked at Jenny. “I guess you could say so. I’m really Katie Sue’s mama’s cousin, but she calls me uncle.”
    The two girls squealed in delight, clearly excited that they were going to be related.
    As the girls chattered, Gage stood and faced Tess. Nearly a foot taller than her, he towered over her five-three frame. The heat that had crept over her body when she first saw him increased threefold, and she hoped her cheeks weren’t red from the flush she felt in them.
    Trying to gain control of the situation, Tess cleared her throat. “You didn’t say you were going to be at the open house tonight.”
    Gage smiled. “This morning Katie Sue asked me to come to her open house because her father couldn’t make it tonight. She claims I’m her favorite uncle for some misguided reason.” And then he winked. “How was I supposed to know they were in the same class?”
    Tess rolled her eyes.
    He glanced at Jenny then back to Tess. “You do know that you’ll be expected to come to all of the family functions once Megan and Ryan are married, don’t you?”
    Tess raised a brow. “I hear the McBride family gatherings are huge.”
    “They can be.” Gage gave a nod. “But some are smaller than others.”
    “We have a small family.” Tess said. “It’s just my mom, sister, and me. We don’t have any other living relatives.”
    Gage rested his hand on Tess’s shoulder, causing her to shiver. “Well you won’t be able to say that anymore.”
    For a long moment their gazes held and she felt that gooey melty feeling even stronger than she had at the bar.
    “Mommy.” Jenny’s voice and her tug on Tess’s hand jerked her out of the near trance she’d been in. “I want to show you where we have story time.”
    Tess smiled as she turned away from Gage and let Jenny pull her over to a corner with shelves of books and a carpet with big stars on it.
    “Come on, Uncle Gage,” Katie Sue was saying as they followed behind. “Let’s go with Mrs. Grady and Jenny.”
    “This is Barry.” Jenny picked up a large stuffed brown bear and hugged it. “He’s the class bear. We each get to take him home for a week and he’s supposed to go wherever we go.”
    “And we can take him somewhere