knew better than to touch her, after seeing what she had done when Ricky had.
She shook her head, but the tears still fell. "I'm sorry. I'm not normally like this. I like what you did. It was a nice thought. But for a moment, when I woke up this morning, I thought he was back. My husband. He would cook me breakfast in the morning his speciality was French toast. For a second, I thought him dyin’ in the war had all been just a bad dream. To see you both down here this morning just threw me for a spin."
Nash could not help himself, as he reached up and brushed away one of her tears with the rough pad of his thumb. She looked at him and blinked her chocolate orbs. A small smile tugged at the corner of her lips. "I'm sorry for your loss," Nash said. "I can't imagine what it would be like to lose someone like that. I would fall apart. I don't know how you've ran this ranch by yourself. It's a good thing we're here to help you out."
She wiped away her tears and nodded. "It was hard, but I'll keep this ranch alive if it kills me. It's the last thing I have of him. We weren't able to have kids before he went away." Jessi sighed and looked down at her food. "This this really good, I'm impressed you two know how to create something like this. I had to teach him how to make French toast, before he got better than me at it." She laughed. "I'm sorry. Let's eat. I'm actually really hungry this morning. "
"Let us take care of all the chores today. You can relax in here and do whatever you want," Ricky said. "Let it be another gift from us."
Jessi shook her head as she finished taking a bite of egg. "I can't let you two do that."
"Don't worry about us. We work for you. It won't be hard," Nash said.
She looked at them both before smiling. "I have wanted to do some banking."
Ricky scooted a little closer to her, she didn't move away. "See, now you can have some time to do that. Leave the grunt work for us. We've proved we can run a ranch just fine."
She nodded. "That you have. Okay. Just for today."
Both men smiled and tucked into their breakfasts, they were starting to win her trust.
That same day, Ricky finished with his morning chores first and headed into the kitchen for something to drink. The sweet scent of baking chocolate met him at the screen door and he smiled. He could get used to coming home to the smell of baked goods and dinner. He stood at the screen door and watched Jessi. She didn't know he was there. Her hair pushed up into a messy bun. She had chosen a red dress that morning. A white apron made a cute white bow just above her round butt.
Under her breath, she hummed as she mixed brown batter in a bowl. He truly had never met a woman that took his breath away. Sure, he had the occasional romp in a tool shed, but those weren't the girls he took home to granny. Why had Jessi changed his world? He shook his head, not just his world but Nash's as well and he was more fussy when it came to his women, always had been. Now he was competing with his cousin to win her heart and he didn't want to lose, but the choice was hers.
He opened the door and she glanced over her shoulder at him. She smiled, her lips painted red, he hadn't seen her with lipstick before. He desperately wanted to put her on the table and kiss her senseless. "Hey, do you need something?" she asked.
"I finished mucking out the stalls and I need something to drink."
“Help yourself to the fridge." She pointed her batter-covered whisk at the object.
He smiled and grabbed a glass before he got some milk. He leaned his back against the counter near her. "It smells mighty good in here, Jessi."
She smiled. "Thank you, Ricky."
"How does it taste?" he eyed the batter.
She glanced at him and her smile got a tad bit bigger. "Have a taste." She lifted the whisk up for him to lick. He stared into her eyes as he leaned forward and took some of the batter into his mouth. She