Tawny streaks lightened the dark color of her hair. She was slimly built and tall—almost as tall as Jessy herself. The clean line of her features and the flawless quality of her skin gave her an impression of beauty, but it wasn’t the breathtaking kind that so often blinded men. Jessy took some comfort from that.
Automatically she altered her course away from the desk to approach her son. “I was about to check out. Did you drop off your room key?”
“I took care of that earlier,” Trey confirmed, then turned a soft, warm glance on the woman beside him. “Mom, I’d like you to meet Sloan Davis. I invited her to spend a few days at the ranch with us. Sloan, this is my mother, Jessy Calder. And that’s Laredo Smith behind her.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Calder.” Sloan was quick to extend a hand in greeting, yet there was just a trace of self-consciousness in her demeanor that betrayed an otherwise undetectable vulnerability. “I hope it won’t be too inconvenient for me to come on short notice.”
“Not at all. Company is always welcome on the Triple C—on short notice or no notice at all. Trey knows that.” She spoke the absolute truth. “And please call me Jessy. Everyone does.”
“Thank you.”
Laredo stepped forward, touching his hat in greeting. “It’s good to meet you at last, Ms. Davis. I guess you know Trey hasn’t had anything else on his mind since he met you.”
The man’s wide smile made it impossible for Sloan to take any offense at his comment, yet the reference to her relationship with Trey made her a little uncomfortable, mostly because she wasn’t used to total strangers making personal remarks.
Trey, on the other hand, was completely unfazed by it as he curved his arm around her shoulders and smiled down at her. “I know a good thing when I see it.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment,” Sloan replied and exchanged a quick glance with Trey.
“You should,” Laredo replied. “I meant it as one.”
“Thank you.”
“I’ll call Cat and make sure she has a guest room ready when you arrive,” Jessy said to Trey, then clarified, “You are driving back tonight, aren’t you?”
He nodded. “As soon as the last rider touches the ground.”
“Laredo and I will be leaving before that,” she told him and smiled at Sloan. “I’ll see you later tonight at The Homestead.”
“I’m looking forward to it,” Sloan echoed.
Trey touched her arm. “We’d better go if you want to grab something to eat before the action starts.”
“Of course.” Sloan let Trey draw her away.
“Be careful on the road,” his mother offered in parting.
“Always,” Trey responded with his usual answer to the admonishment.
It wasn’t until they were outside in the pickup that Sloan’s curiosity got the better of her. “What did your mother mean when she said she would see us later at The Homestead? I thought the ranch was called the Triple C. Or is The Homestead just your name for it?”
“It’s the name for the house where we live.” Trey turned the ignition key and started the engine. “It was built on the site of my great-great-grandfather’s original homestead claim, and it’s gone by that name ever since.”
“Really?”
“You sound surprised.”
“I suppose I am,” Sloan admitted. “I guess I never thought of ranchers as homesteaders. And I certainly would never have suspected that the Triple C Ranch started as a one-hundred-and-sixty-acre claim.”
“The ranch has a long history behind it. You’ll have to get Gramps to tell you about it. He knows all the old stories.” Trey pulled out of the motel parking lot. “Did you want to go to a restaurant or grab something to eat at the fairgrounds?”
“The fairgrounds,” she answered without hesitation and absently touched the camera that hung from her neck.
He saw the movement in his side vision and knew without being told that she wanted to be on hand when t
he first chute opened so she and her camera could capture the action. It was a pairing that always left him the odd man out.
It was her work. A dozen times that afternoon Trey told himself that he respected that. The pride she took in it and the satisfaction she got from it were obvious. But that didn’t make it any easier for Trey to stand on the sidelines and watch while she moved from one vantage point to another, always intent on getting the next shot.