“So you know how to cook?” Barrett asked with a wink, taking a big bite of his sandwich.
“I’m not a wonderful cook, but I can make anything basic. And I can always call my mother to find out what I don’t know.”
“Did you tell your family about the wedding yet?”
Jazzy’s face was serious for a moment then lightened. “Not yet. That’s on my list of things to do today.”
“I have a couple of Dad’s outside calls to make, but then I’ll be at the clinic for a few appointments this afternoon,” Brooks informed them both.
Barrett scowled. “You think you’ll be able to handle that on your own with Jazzy here? I’m really fine alone.”
“You’re not going to be alone, Dad, not for the next few days. So just get used to that idea. Jazzy, if you need me, or he becomes too bullheaded, call me. I put your suitcase in the upstairs bedroom, the one with the yellow rose-print wallpaper.” To his father, Brooks said, “I want to talk to Jazzy about some wedding details. Will you be okay for a few minutes?”
“I’ll be fine.” His father pressed a button on the remote. “Don’t worry about me.”
Brooks crooked his finger at Jazzy and they went into the kitchen. She wore khakis today with a red blouse and looked like a million bucks. He’d been trying not to notice but that was hard with her blond hair swishing over her shoulder as she moved, her blue eyes flashing up at him, her smile curling like an old, forgotten song around him. There was something about Jazzy that was starting to make him ache. That was the dumbest thought he’d ever had.
“You want to talk about the wedding?” she asked.
“I called the courthouse this morning and all we have to do is go in and get the license and we’re good. I also checked with the church and we can have the service next Wednesday. Is that all right with you?”
“If you think your dad will be okay by then.”
“Not okay, but I have the feeling we’ll have to tie him down long before then. He listens to you much better than he listens to me. So anything we want him to do is better coming from you. Do you think you can handle that?”
“I’m used to dealing with a younger brother. I can handle it.”
Brooks chuckled, and then he looked at her and he wanted to kiss her. No way, but yes, that was definitely what was on his mind.
To change gears and to drive in a different direction away from that train of thought, he asked, “So you’re going to call your family later?”
“I suppose I’ll have to now. Your dad’s bound to ask me about it.”
“Do you want to wait until I’m around to do it?”
“No. I’ll call Mom and she’ll spread the word. Everyone else will probably call me. I might have to turn off my phone for the next few days. What bothers me most is that I can’t be completely honest with them, at least not yet.”
“It’s not too late to back out.”
She looked as if she wanted to say something about that, but she bit her lip and didn’t.
With that gesture that was both innocent and sexy, he couldn’t keep himself from reaching out and pushing her silky blond hair behind her ear. “We’re in this together and it will work out.”
She turned her cheek into his palm and they stood there that way...in silence. Finally she was the one who straightened and leaned away from his hand. “You’d better get to work. Covering two practices yourself isn’t going to be easy.”
“At least mine’s just getting started. I’ll manage. I forgot to tell you with bringing Dad home and all, the Kalispell practice found another vet who’s relocating from Bozeman. So now I can focus here.”
“That’s wonderful news.” Jazzy threw her arms around his neck and gave him a hug. “I’m so glad. I was worried about you spreading yourself too thin.”
All of his senses registered her sweet smell, her soft skin, her genuine hug. On top of that, he realized he couldn’t remember when a woman had last worried about him. That aching took up residence in his chest again. He pushed it away as he leaned away from her.
Taking his jacket from the back of the kitchen chair, he shrugged into it. He felt her watching him as he walked to the door.
“I’m just a phone call away,” he reminded her, meaning it.
As Jazzy gave him an unsure smile, he wished he was staying right there in that kitchen with her. That thought drove him out of his childhood home. It drove him to concentrate on where he was going and the animals he’d be treating. It drove him to think about anything but Jazzy.
Chapter Eight
“Mom, take it easy, I know what I’m doing.”
Jazzy glanced in the living room and down the hall to the first-floor bedroom. Brooks was in there with his dad setting up a baby monitor he’d bought so he’d be able to hear his father if he needed anything. She really didn’t want either of them to overhear this conversation.
“How can I take it easy when you broke up with someone recently, and now you’re getting married?” her mother asked.
“Griff and I were never right. You and Dad, Abby and Laila and Annabel liked him. Jordyn and Brody liked him, too, but they understood better how I felt.”
“And how did you feel?”
“Like all of you were rooting for a relationship I didn’t want. When Laila told me she knew Griff was going to propose, I had to break it off.”
Her mother sighed. “Griff was such a good catch.”
“Mom—”
“How can you be getting married when you haven’t known this man very long? What’s his name again?”
“It’s Brooks Smith. I told you. He’s a veterinarian.”
“That’s about all you’ve told me. You didn’t even tell us you were dating him. Dean didn’t even mention it.”
“Dean doesn’t know everything,” Jazzy said, holding on to her temper.
“So is this going to be a long engagement?”
Jazzy swallowed. This was the hard part. “No, we’re getting married in a week to ten days. I don’t have the details yet. As soon as I do, I’ll let you know. But Mom, I know this is quick, so it’s really not necessary for all of you to come. Really. But if you do, I can reserve rooms at a Kalispell motel.”
“A week to ten days! Jazzy. Why the rush? You’re not—”
“No, I’m not pregnant. This is just...right. Brooks and I know it.” Jazzy was realizing more and more that this marriage would be right for her. How Brooks might feel at the end of the year was another matter.
“I wish your father was here.” Her mom had mentioned that her father had gone to visit a friend.
“Dad won’t change my mind.”
“Then maybe your sisters can.”
Jazzy knew she was going to have to say what she didn’t want to say. However, maybe it was time. “Mom, do you know why I left Thunder Canyon?”
“Yes. You went to Rust Creek Falls to help the flood victims.”
“That’s true. But I also needed to get away from all of you. I needed to find out who I am on my own without four sisters’ opinions, and Brody telling me what he thinks is best, too. I needed to make up my own mind about everything from work to getting a degree to dating.”
Her mother was silent for a few moments and Jazzy was afraid she’d hurt her. But then she said, “You never told us any of this.”
“I don’t think I fully understood what was happening until I was here. I mean, I knew I wanted to get away from something, but I wasn’t exactly sure what it was. After I was here, I realized there’s so much noise in our family, and its growing in leaps and bounds with Laila, Abby and Annabel finding their dream husbands. I felt lost sometimes. I felt invisible sometimes.”
“Oh, Jazzy.” Her mother’s voice was filled with the compassion she felt for her.
�
�I don’t feel that way here,” she murmured. “I don’t feel that way anymore. I feel like Brooks needs me—with work, and personal things, too. I feel like an equal...a partner.”
Again, her mother went quiet. Finally she asked, “Jazzy, is this truly what you want?”
“It is. And as soon as I know more about what’s happening, I’ll let you know. I promise.”
“Your sisters are going to call you.”
“I know.”
“Brody might, too.”
“I know.”
“And you won’t get upset with them because they care.”
“I won’t. But you might as well tell them my mind is made up. I’m getting married to Brooks Smith.”
After the conversation was over and Jazzy had ended the call, she felt worn out. This afternoon, she’d made soup and generally checked on Barrett, yet she’d also had to dodge his questions about her relationship with Brooks. She’d sidetracked him with anecdotes about her brother and sisters and her family. She’d done pretty well, but she didn’t know how long she could keep it up.
At least Barrett was turning in now, and she and Brooks wouldn’t have to deal with his scrutiny as they had during dinner and a few games of gin rummy.
She went down the hall to Barrett’s room and found Brooks plugging the small monitor into a receptacle.
“So you’re going to hear me snore all night?” Barrett was asking his son.
“I’m sure you don’t snore all night. I’ll sleep a lot better hearing you snore than I would worrying about the fact that you could need something.”
Barrett gave a harrumph and turned to Jazzy. “So you called your parents?”
“I spoke with Mom. Dad wasn’t there.”
“And—”
Jazzy felt her cheeks getting a little hot. “They’re concerned, of course, because it’s short notice. But my mom just wants me to be happy.” She went over to Brooks, took his hand and looked up at him adoringly, though it really wasn’t much of an act to do that.
This is what they’d been doing all evening, and he played along with her, too. Leaning toward her, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “They’ll come around. I can’t wait to meet them.”
Something in his eyes told her that he was being honest about that. Did he want to meet them to learn more about her? Or because he’d be dealing with them, maybe, for the next year? This was all getting a bit confusing. Boundaries were blurring. Were they colleagues or were they friends?
Taking his arm from around her, Brooks said, “You’re all set up, Dad. You don’t have to do a thing. Just leave it on, and if you need anything, yell.”
“If I yell, you’ll hear me without the monitor.”
Jazzy had to smile at that.
“So you two are turning in, too?” Barrett asked with a quirked brow, as if he wondered if they’d be sleeping in separate rooms.
“I have a few journal articles to catch up on,” Brooks said.
“I’ll turn in early because I want to get up and make both of you breakfast,” Jazzy added.
“We’re both early risers,” Barrett warned her.
“No problem there. I am, too. We’ll see you in the morning.”
But before she and Brooks exited the room, Barrett called after her, “That was a fine right soup. I’m glad there’s leftovers for tomorrow.”
Jazzy laughed as she and Brooks entered the living room and headed for the staircase. They climbed it in silence.
After Brooks walked her to the guest-room door, he frowned. “I didn’t think being around him was going to be so tough.”
“That’s because we’re pretending.”
They stared at each other, each weighing the other’s motives, needs and ultimate goals. After what Brooks had told her, she understood now why he was a confirmed bachelor. He’d been hurt badly. As far as she knew, he’d never trust another woman. Yet there was something in the way he looked at her that told her he wasn’t immune to her as a woman, and she knew there was something in the way she looked at him that told him he was a very attractive man.
“We’re going to have to do a lot of pretending with my family, too,” Jazzy warned him. “They’re probably all going to call me. I told Mom I don’t expect them to all make it to the wedding. After all, Annabel’s husband is a doctor.”
“So from what you’ve said, there’s Abby and Cade, Laila and Jackson, Annabel and Thomas. Brody and Jordyn are still single.”
“That’s right. I told Mom I could reserve rooms at a Kalispell motel if they want to come up and stay overnight.”
“That’s probably a good idea.”
“How many guests do you think we’ll have?”
“Maybe about fifty.”
With Brooks’s eyes on hers, with him close and the memory of his arm around her still fresh, she said, “So we’re really going to do this.”
“We really are.” He changed the subject before either of them thought too much about it. “Dad wants to help with chores tomorrow morning, but I told him that’s out of the question.”
“I can help.”
“You’re making breakfast.”
“Breakfast takes about five minutes. I help with chores at home, you know.”
He grinned at her. “You do, do you?”
“I’m not a city girl. I’m used to small-town Montana.” Maybe she’d said it because she wanted to make the distinction between herself and Lynnette.
Brooks’s eyes narrowed. “Are you trying to tell me something?”
“I’m trying to tell you, you can trust me to keep my word. You can trust me to be a partner in this. Helping you look after your dad means taking a load off your shoulders. I’ll do that with you, Brooks. After all, it’s our agreement.”
Even without the agreement she would do it for him if he asked.
Brooks was close, but now he moved a little closer. The nerve in his jaw jumped and his eyes darkened. She thought she knew what that darkening meant. It was his desire. He was fighting it for all he was worth, and she had been fighting hers, too. But now, she didn’t know what was more prudent. She wished he’d act on that desire.
As he leaned closer to her, she thought he might.
But he didn’t even touch her this time. His lips, that had been so sensual moments before, thinned and drew into a tight line. His shoulders squared and his spine became even straighter.
Then he let out a breath and he shook his head. “I confided in you about Lynnette, but that’s not something I do very often. And even though I did, trusting is tough for me.”
Although he hadn’t touched her, she had to touch him. She clasped his arm. “Brooks, I will help you with your dad. That’s the point of all this, isn’t it?”
“Yes, it is.”
She had the feeling that when he said the words, he was reminding them both of the reason for their marriage. He didn’t want either of them to forget it.
* * *
In the barn the following morning, Brooks made sure he concentrated on the chores and not on Jazzy. That was hard, though. Her soft voice got under his skin as she talked to the horses. It was tough not to watch her jeans pull across her backside as she carried feed to the stalls. While he replaced water buckets, he remembered the meal she’d cooked last night, the way the house had smelled so good, the fresh-baked biscuits that had fallen apart when he’d broken them. He found himself easily imagining coming home to her every night.
“Are you going to play gin rummy all day today with Dad?” he asked from across the stall.
“Not all day. If you need me to work on anything for the office, I can do it here. Just let me know. I want to cook and freeze dinners so your dad can just pull them out when he needs them.”
“There are frozen dinners.”
&
nbsp; “There are. But they have preservatives, and maybe not as tight a watch on calories, fat, all that. I found some good recipes online.”
“You’re going above and beyond the call of duty.”
“If I sit with your dad and talk with him, it’s hard to deflect some of his questions. He watches the two of us like a hawk. At least if I’m busy, he can’t ask me about...us.”
Brooks knew staying here was hard for Jazzy, too, and he shouldn’t take his frustration out on her. “Tonight, instead of talking and playing gin, we’ll make out the guest list. You can bet he’ll have opinions on that. We should also decide on food. The women in the church’s social club can provide a down-home meal with fried chicken if we’d like that. After all, your family is traveling all the way from Thunder Canyon. A hot meal would be good.”
“That would be nice,” she agreed. She studied him for a few moments, then commented, “You were awful quiet this morning while we were doing chores. Are you worried about the wedding?”
He wasn’t worried about the wedding. He was concerned about what came after and the attraction he was beginning to feel toward Jazzy that he didn’t understand and couldn’t deflect.
“The wedding should pretty much plan itself. When are you going to get a dress?”
“I found one online. It should be here soon.”
“Won’t your mom and sisters be disappointed you chose a dress without them?”
“I don’t want to spend too much time around them right now, Brooks, for the same reason I don’t want to sit and talk with your dad. They’ll understand I have to do this on short notice.”
But he saw the look in Jazzy’s eyes and knew she wasn’t convinced of that. Were they making a mess of their lives? He knew this was right to do for him, but Jazzy? She was the kind of girl who still had stars in her eyes, who dreamed of bridal veils and babies. He’d bet on it.
For that reason, he thought about another errand he should run. He really should buy Jazzy a wedding present, just something small to tell her he appreciated what she was doing. He didn’t know if Crawford’s General Store would have anything, but they might. Nina ordered some unique gifts simply because Rust Creek Falls inhabitants didn’t always want to travel to Kalispell to find what they needed. He’d stop in there sometime today because things were only going to get more hectic before the wedding.
Marrying Dr. Maverick Page 10
