Page 52 of Roping My Rival

“Yeah, so it’s been around. I’ll have to see if I can get the welder in to fix it.” He scrubs his hand in his hair with a sigh. “I should learn how to fix this.”

“I can fix it.”

Jesse’s eyes widen. “Seriously? You can weld?”

I see-saw my hand back and forth. “A little. I’m not a pro or anything, but I’ve done some work before with a home kit. We don’t need a gas welding unit or anything.”

“Do you have the tools for it?”

“I don’t, but they aren’t hard to get. Canadian Tire would have the stuff. Maybe $500, and you could keep it all here for yourself.”

He bites at his lip as he surveys the broken weld and mangled hinge. “If it’s under $1000, I don’t need to check with my brothers. It’s also a repair that’s necessary. Do you have time to do it today?”

“Totally. Warren is signing us up for rodeos, and I have time to kill.”

Jesse’s smile is almost as disarming as his brother’s. “Great! We’re going shopping!”

Canadian Tire doesn’t just sell tires.

I’ve browsed blenders, paint colours, and even rabbit supplies. I almost bought a box of rabbit treats for Warren’s rabbits, but held off because how would I explain that to Jesse?

Thankfully, they also had everything I needed for fixing the fence, and I loaded up the cart, explaining to Jesse what everything was.

Then we wandered the aisle for outdoor play toys because he wants to get a playhouse or slide for the backyard for Maise. As we head to the checkout, Jesse grabs a few chocolate bars for the haul while he answers a phone call.

After a tense moment, he pockets his phone and scrubs a hand over his face.

“Sorry about that. I have to swing by the daycare to get my daughter before we go back to the school. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Not at all. Is everything okay?”

Jesse pulls out a credit card to pay for our supplies and dutifully folds the receipt and places it in his wallet before answering.

“Yeah,” he sighs. “My daughter, Maise, she’s only four, and since her mom left, she’s been a bit of a terror. She bit a kid, so I have to pick her up.”

“Wow. Is that, uh…do kids often bite people?” Fuck, some days I wish I could bite people when I’m angry. Kids don’t know how good they have it.

“Yes and no.” We reach his truck, and together we load the bags into the truck. He rummages in the bag and tosses me a Coffee Crisp chocolate bar. “Hide it or eat it before we get her.” After sliding behind the wheel, he opens his own chocolate bar and eats while he drives and explains more than I probably have any right to know.

“My ex is a wonderful woman. She struggles with her mental health, and I’ve always supported her. Her postpartum depression was bad. Like…so bad I brought her to the hospital and asked them not to let her come home until they had properly assessed her. She scared the hell out of me.” He pops the last of his chocolate bar in his mouth. “When she came home and had meds to take, I thought she was past it. I didn’t understand that it’s not always that simple. She left. Went to some kind of wellness centre in the Yukon, and now she doesn’t want to come back. Maise is finally acting out over it. They talk on the phone and FaceTime, but a month ago she dropped the bomb that she won’t be back, and Maise doesn’t understand, you know?” He stops at a set of lights and turns to me. “She’s acting out, misses her mom, and now biting is on the list.”

For the first time since I’ve known the guy, his sunshine demeanour is gone, and I notice the heaviness he carries. The dark circles around his eyes and how his once easy smile now seems harder to wear. I only know what it’s like to lose my mom suddenly as a young adult. I couldn’t imagine how a small child must be feeling. Poor thing.

“So, what do you do? Can you get her help?”

The light changes, and Jesse continues the drive to the daycare. “I’m trying. I’ve tried a nanny, and she didn’t enjoy living in Kissing Ridge. I now have a manny. He has a degree in child behaviour or some shit I don’t understand. He’s like a live-in therapist and caregiver, which I don’t mind paying for if it helps my daughter.” He pulls into the parking lot of the daycare. “It’s also his day off, or he’d be picking her up and calling me. She starts school in the fall and can’t be biting kids.” He puts the truck in park but leaves it running. “I won’t be long.”

Jesse leaves me in the truck, and he left his empty chocolate bar wrapper in the cupholder. I grab it and stuff it in my pocket along with my own. When he emerges with a little girl, I’m shocked that this sweet little thing with pigtails and a swirly dress would bite someone. She’s so cute and happy.

He opens the door of the truck. “Up you go, Peanut. This guy is Dane. Say hello.”

“Hi.”

I twist around and watch her climb into the car seat, and Jesse buckles her in.

“Hi, Maise. Nice to meet you. I like your dress.”

“Daddy likes it.”