His head tipped to the side. “Popular, maybe, though it makes me sound like a douchebag to say that out loud.” Jesse turned before me, and I stopped dead. “But not the ladies’ man I think y’all believe me to be.”
I raised a brow in disbelief.
Jesse smiled wide. “A few girlfriends, max. I promise.”
My stomach tightened hearing that. I had no idea why—I had only just met him.
I shook my head as we started walking again. “I’m not sure we would have even spoken if we’d gone to the same school,” Isaid. “I was mostly in the library. I wouldn’t have even crossed your path.”
“I would’ve seen you,” Jesse said, and every word was said with conviction. I looked up at him and his face was serious. “I would have seen you, Junebug. Believe me.” But I didn’t—that was the problem.
A familiar sound came from behind me, and when I looked to where Emma and Chris were heading, I saw a field full of quarter horses. A smile spread on my face, and I rushed forward.
“June?” Jesse called out, then ran to catch up with me. When I rounded the corner, a stable yard came into view. It was both the most amazing sight and a punch to the gut. The stables were vast, all painted white, with an outdoor and an indoor arena for training.
I stopped next to Emma and Chris at the fence. I held out my hand as a skewbald quarter horse came toward me. I ran my hand down its face and kissed its nose.
“Horse girl?” Emma asked.
“Used to be,” I said.
Emma nudged me. “Maybe could be again.” She gestured at the stables, where we could see grooms brushing down and bathing horses through the large, open barn doors showcasing inside.
The thought of just being around horses again brought warmth to my heart. I forgot how healing they could be. “Maybe.”
Jesse patted the horse, and it walked away. I burst out laughing when he turned to me with a bewildered look. “What did I do?”
Chris laughed and carried on walking. Emma linked her arm with mine again, and Jesse walked beside us. As we left the stables and went to explore more, Jesse leaned down and said,“There you go, Junebug. As popular as you believe me to be, I’m not among horses.”
“Jesse!” Chris shouted, pointing at a barn filled with tractors and other farm equipment.
As Jesse headed off to Chris, Emma squeezed my arm again. “We may be the most random friendship group to ever exist, but we’re sure gonna be a fun one,” she said.
“That we are,” I said, and felt a moment of true happiness. We may have had a mountain to climb here at Harmony Ranch, but if I could climb it with these people, I thought that maybe it didn’t seem so hard.
CHAPTER 5
Jesse
“Is this gonna be a daily thing?” June said as she opened thedoor.
I was leaning against the doorframe, smiling. “Mornin’, Junebug.”
June was wearing a lilac headscarf, black yoga pants, and an oversized, white T-shirt.
“You look lovely,” I said, and June’s smile faltered just a touch as she dropped her head, breaking eye contact.
I was worried I’d been too bold saying that, but when she uttered, “Thank you,” I didn’t think I had. I just wasn’t sure she believed it, which was crazy to me. Did she not see herself?
“Our last day of freedom,” I said. Tomorrow we started our new “miracle treatment”—or so Chris and I called it. As much as the treatment would no doubt suck, I couldn’t wait to get started. The quicker I could be in remission, the quicker my goals could come into fruition.
“So what have we got planned for today?” June asked as she pulled on her white Converse.
“Toby, Kate, Cherry, and Silas are in the swimming pool. So grab your swim things. We said we’d join them.”
June hesitated for a second, then ducked back into her room. In minutes, she came out with her swim bag, her notebook on the top. She fell in step beside me, and I led the way to the swimming pool.
“How are you feeling about tomorrow?” I asked.
