Again, it was a way that her relationship with Gabe was completely different from any relationship she’d ever had with family.

That was different. She and her brothers were mean to each other, because they always had been. It was a right of birth, and they had to love each other, anyway. It was difficult to be strident with Beatrix because she was so soft herself, and going too hard at her made Jamie feel mean. Though she knew that she had definitely bulldozed her on more than one occasion in the past.

She just never thought about it. It was her knee-jerk reaction to try to prove that she was tough and she could handle things. To make sure that everybody knew she had a firm idea of who she was, and that she didn’t need to be babied.

She supposed one of the big differences here was that she didn’t mind the way that Gabe babied her.

She paused, setting the barrel up on its end and resting her forearms on the top of it. She thought about last night. And she couldn’t help but smile.

“Getting ready to ride, cowgirl?”

McKenna was standing against the fence, her arms draped over the top rail, almost mirroring Jamie’s current pose.

“Yeah,” Jamie said, feeling a little bit embarrassed that she’d been caught fantasizing about her friend’s brother.

Of course, all things considered, it was fair enough, seeing as McKenna slept with Jamie’s brother.

Jamie frowned. That was a little bit of an intense connection.

“You know,” McKenna said, “not that long after I first came to the ranch Grant took me to watch you ride. You were going around underneath the covered arena, getting ready to do a demonstration for some of the guests. It was freezing, and we barely had very many people there. But you were ready to go. I’ve never seen anything like it. I’ve never been to a real rodeo, or anything like that.”

“Grant hasn’t fixed that yet?”

“He assures me that we are headed up to Sisters to see a good one in a couple of weeks.”

“That will be great,” she said, her heart aching a little bit, because she wished that she could be there. Wished that she could be riding at an event like that.

Maybe next year.

She would hold out for that.

It was strange, though, because while her heart ached when McKenna mentioned the event, and while Jamie definitely longed to be a part of it, the primary image in her mind was of Grant and McKenna together. Of them experiencing the rodeo with each other.

She sighed heavily. “Anyway. That will be fun.”

“Yes,” McKenna said, smiling. “Did Gabe tell you that I had dinner with him the other night?”

“No,” Jamie said, her face getting hot. “Why would Gabe tell me that?”

McKenna squinted. “You’re gonna play it that way, too?”

“What which way?” Jamie tried to make her expression innocent. But she didn’t think she had an overly innocent face at any time, let alone when she was being deliberately obtuse.