Loving Jake

by Madeline Baker

  “What?”

  “I’m going to move to California after Jake and I get married and, well, I can’t think of anyone better to take over the shop.”

  “I don’t know whether to laugh or cry,” Anita said. “I mean, I’d love to take over the business, but I can’t imagine running it without you…”

  “You’ll do fine. You know as much about it as I do.” Ginny smiled. “Maybe I’ll open a shop in California. We’ll be a regular chain.”

  “So, when’s the big day?”

  “I don’t know, we haven’t set a date, but I think it’ll be soon. You’ll be my maid of honor, won’t you?”

  “I’d love to, but don’t you think you should ask one of your sisters?”

  “They can all be bridesmaids, that way I don’t have to choose one over the others.

  Besides, you’re my best friend.”

  The rest of the day passed quickly. Ginny sent Anita home when Lori Beth arrived. She closed the shop and then they drove into Atlanta to look at wedding dresses.

  “You might as well look, too,” Lori Beth said, “as long as we’re here.”

  “Good idea.”

  They spent forty minutes looking through racks of wedding dresses and bridesmaid’s dresses, then, carrying the ones they liked, they went into a large dressing room.

  Ginny couldn’t remember when she’d had so much fun. Lori Beth had a gentle sense of humor and they laughed good-naturedly as she tried on one dress after another.

  She finally decided on a simple blush pink gown with an empire waist that disguised her pregnancy, and a matching hat.

  Ginny fell in love with the first dress she tried on. Made of satin and lace, it had a square neck, long fitted sleeves, and a full skirt that swished when she walked. She choose a shoulder-length veil to go with the gown. Looking at herself in the mirror, she felt like a princess in a fairy tale. For her bridesmaid’s dress, she and Lori Beth agreed on a tea-length mauve that Ginny would be able to wear to parties or dances.

  The next stop was the shoe store. They shopped quickly, both anxious to get to Carter’s house and the men waiting for them.

  “Carter’s mother was very nice today. I know she’s not happy that I’m marrying her son, but she seems to be trying to make the best of it, even though I know she’d rather have you for a daughter-in-law. I’m hoping, in time, Suzanne and I might become friends. I don’t know about Mr. Hastings…he’s very uptight and proper.” She rolled her eyes. “Look who I’m telling.”

  “I know Suzanne will come around,” Ginny said. “She’s not bad, really.”

  “Carter’s been very generous. He gave me the money for my dress and shoes, told me to buy whatever I wanted. I can’t believe you two didn’t…” She bit down on her lower lip.

  “It was never going to work between me and Carter,” Ginny said. “We only dated each other because our folks kept pushing us together. He’s a terrific guy, but there was just never any spark between us.” Ginny squeezed Lori Beth’s hand. “I’m happy for you, Both of you.”

  “Thank you. I hope we can be friends.”

  “I’ve got news for you. We’re already friends.”

  “I’m glad Jake found you. You’ve been good for him.”

  “And he’s been good for me,” Ginny said, and hoped her parents would come around when they saw how happy she was with Jake.

  * * * *

  She was wishing it again the next afternoon. Her parents called in the morning and invited her to lunch, asking that she come alone. She had a feeling they wanted to talk about Jake, and Ginny decided they might as well get it over with. She just hoped they would accept her decision to marry Jake with good grace.

  Jake called just as Ginny was getting ready to go out the door.

  “Hey, pretty lady, how’s it going?”

  “We’ve been busy this morning,” Ginny said, smiling at the sound of his voice.

  “Too busy for lunch?”

  She breathed an audible sigh. “I’m supposed to meet my mom and dad.”

  Jake grunted softly. “Do you want me to come along?”

  “I wish you could, but they asked me to come alone. You know what that means?”

  “Yeah, they’re gonna tell you what a big mistake you’re making.”

  “They can try,” Ginny said, “but it ain’t gonna happen. I’ll call you when I get back to the shop, okay?”

  “I’ll be here.”

  “I love you, Jake.”

  “I love you, too, pretty lady. See you soon.”

  “All right. Bye.”

  Her folks were waiting for her in the front room when she arrived at the house. Her mother wore a black skirt and sweater, her father wore black trousers and a black sports coat. She was tempted to ask if they were in mourning.

  When Bernice announced that luncheon was ready, Ginny followed her mother and father into the dining room. Another bad sign, Ginny thought. Her father had always disciplined Ginny and her siblings in this room.

  As soon as Bernice finished serving, her father got right to the heart of the matter.

  “How serious are you about this mechanic?”

  Ginny took a deep breath. “Very. We’re getting married soon.”

  “Ginny, you’ve only known the man a few weeks.”

  “I’ve known him long enough to know he’s wonderful and I love him.”

  “It’s out of the question,” her father said adamantly. “I know you’re upset about Carter…”

  “I am not upset about Carter. I was never going to marry him.”

  “Ginny, dear,” her mother said placatingly, “at least wait a while, say a year…”

  “No, mom, I’m not waiting. I’m not some starry-eyed teenager. I’m not on the rebound. I’m old enough to know what I want, and I want Jake. If you two would just give him a chance, I know you’d like him.”

  “At least wait long enough for us to get to know him better,” her father urged. “Six months should do it. Surely, if what you feel for him is real, it will last six months.”

  “I don’t want to wait. And there’s no time for you to get to know him better. Jake has to get back to work. He’s leaving tomorrow morning. He has a business to run. He can’t keep flying back and forth across the country.” She took another deep breath. Might as well get everything said at once. “After we’re married, I’m going to move to California.”

  Her parents exchanged looks that said they didn’t like anything at all about the current situation. Her mother’s lips thinned in a line of disapproval. A muscle throbbed in her father’s jaw.

  “I know you don’t approve, but I’d like your blessing,” Ginny said.

  Her parents exchanged dour looks again.

  Ginny held her breath, feeling much the way she had when she was younger and she had done something wrong. She clasped her hands in her lap, waiting for her father’s decision.

  “I’m afraid your mother and I can’t give you our blessing,” her father said. “We both feel you’re rushing into this marriage, and that no good will come of it. Love isn’t something you fall into in a couple of weeks, Genevieve.”

  “I can understand your attraction for him,” her mother said. “He’s nice looking in a rugged sort of way, and he’s different from any of the other men you’ve dated. Opposites may attract, dear, but happiness only comes when like marries like.”

  Ginny stared at her parents, wondering how she had ever thought they would understand.

  “You’ve never even met the man’s family,” her mother said. “For all you know, they could be…”

  Ginny held up her hand. “That’s enough!” Tears burned her eyes and she blinked them back. “If you can’t welcome Jake into the family, then I’ll leave with him tomorrow and we’ll get married in California.”

  Her parents stared at her as if she had suddenly grown two heads. In all her life, she had never defied them, and she didn’t like doing it now.

  “There’s something else,” her fath
er said. “I was hoping I wouldn’t have to bring this up, but I did a little checking into Running Horse’s background this morning. Did you know he spent time in jail?”

  Ginny stared at her father. “I don’t believe you.”

  “He was arrested in New York City for assault and battery. Like I said, Genevieve, you don’t even know the man. If he didn’t tell you about this, what else is he hiding?”

  “No.” She shook her head. “I don’t believe it!”

  “It’s the truth.”

  “That’s not what I meant! I can’t believe you checked up on him!”

  Unable to face her parents any longer, she turned and ran out of the room and out of the house.

  She was crying when she got into her car. Blinded by her tears, she drove down the long winding driveway, then pulled off the road. Folding her arms over the top of the steering wheel, she rested her forehead on her arms and let the tears flow. She had told Jake it didn’t matter if her parents approved or not, but she had been kidding herself. She had yearned for and worked for their approval her whole life. Being the youngest, she had been spoiled and pampered and yet she had always known she had a lot to live up to. Everyone in her family was rich and successful. Her sisters had all made matches that her parents had approved of. Right or wrong, she felt as though she had let them down. And, niggling in the back of her mind, were her father’s words: If he didn’t tell you about this, what else is he hiding?

  She cried until she had no tears left, all her dreams of a big wedding surrounded by her family crushed beneath the harsh, unforgiving wheels of reality.

  Chapter 18

  Instead of going back to work, Ginny drove home. In the house, she went into her bedroom and threw herself face down on the bed. She felt numb. In all her life, her parents had never refused her anything, but then, she had never asked for anything she knew they wouldn’t approve of.

  Jake. She glanced at the phone on her bedside table. She was supposed to call Jake, but she couldn’t talk to him, not now. Her feelings were too raw, her emotions too close to the surface.

  Unbidden, she replayed her parents objections in her mind. Was she rushing into things? It was true, she hadn’t met Jake’s family. She didn’t even know if he had any family besides his mother. Would it hurt to wait a few months? But what good would that do? With her here and Jake in California, they could never get to know each other better, the way her folks wanted. Like a hamster on a wheel, her thoughts went round and round, getting nowhere.

  Emotionally drained, she closed her eyes. If only she could talk to Aunt Gen, but her aunt was recovering from a serious illness and Ginny didn’t want to burden her with her problems, not now.

  If only she knew what to do…

  She woke to the sound of the phone ringing. Feeling groggy, she reached for the receiver. “Hello?”

  “Ginny? I thought you were going to call me.”

  “What time is it?”

  “Almost three.”

  “I’m sorry, Jake, I came home and, well, I fell asleep.”

  “It didn’t go well with your folks, did it?”

  “No.”

  “Sit tight,” he said, “I’m coming over.”

  He hung up before she could reply.

  Rising, she went into the bathroom to wash her face. She must have been crying in her sleep, she thought. Her eyes were red and swollen.

  She had barely made herself presentable when Jake knocked at the door.

  “So,” he said, crossing the threshold, “what did they say?”

  Ginny dropped down on the sofa. “Nothing good. They said we should wait, that I don’t know you well enough to get married, that we’d never be happy together because we’re so different…”

  A muscle throbbed in Jake’s jaw. “What did you say?”

  “I told them if they wouldn’t accept you that I was leaving with you in the morning.”

  “Is that what you want?”

  “No. I want to get married here. I want my parents to be there. I just want us all to get along.”

  “Yeah, well, it ain’t gonna happen, sweetheart.” He studied her face a moment.

  “There’s something else, isn’t there? Ginny?”

  She ran a hand through her hair, still not meeting his eyes. “My father said…he said that…”

  “Go on, what did he say?”

  “He said you’d been in jail.”

  Jake muttered an oath. “How’d he find that out?”

  “He’s a judge. He has connections.” She looked up at last, meeting his gaze. “Is it true?”

  “Yeah. It happened years ago. You remember I told you I was a bouncer for a while? Some guy I threw out of the bar was waiting for me after work one night. We got into a brawl. I beat the crap out of him. Turned out he came from a wealthy family, kind of like yours. They pulled a few strings and I went to jail.”

  “Why didn’t you ever tell me?”

  “I didn’t think it was that big a deal,” he said, shrugging, “but I can see now that it is.”

  “I just wish you’d told me.” Her gaze sliding away from his as she recalled how awful she’d felt when her father sprang the news on her, the ‘I told you so’ expression in his eyes. “Is there anything else I should know?”

  A muscle ticked in Jake’s jaw. He didn’t need this, he thought. Ginny had talked a good game until her parents got her alone. She had a face that was easy to read. He could see the doubts in her eyes, knew she was wondering, even now, if her parents were right about him.

  He swore under his breath. Hadn’t he known all along that she was too good for him, that he could never measure up? Did he want to marry Ginny and spend the rest of his life knowing he had made her choose between him and her family? That he had deprived her of the wedding she had always dreamed of? Did he want to have in-laws who were ashamed of him, to know he would never be welcome in their home? And how would she feel in a few years? Would she regret giving up her shop, leaving her family, having to live on a mechanic’s salary when she was used to so much more?

  Damn. She’d said once that it was all happening too fast. Maybe she was right.

  Maybe it was time to step back and think things through a little more slowly.

  He stood before he could change his mind. “I think your old man is right,” he said, heading for the door.

  “What do you mean?”

  Pausing, he turned to face her. “I mean you need some time to think this over.”

  She was on her feet now. “I need time?” she said, her eyes narrowing, “or you do?”

  “Either way you want it, sweetheart. I’m a half-breed. I don’t know who my father is. I’ll never be able to provide for you the way Daddy can. I’ll never fit into your family. What’s more, I don’t want to.”

  “Where does that leave us?”

  “Wherever you want. When you know, call me.”

  Hurt and confused, she watched him walk out the door.

  Jake didn’t look back. He got in his rental car, drove to the nearest bar, and ordered a shot of whiskey, neat. He downed it in a single swallow and ordered another, and then another. He drank the third one more slowly, wondering if he had just walked out on the best thing that had ever happened to him.

  He was wondering the same thing when, slightly hung over, he boarded the plane for home the next morning.

  Chapter 19

  Ginny didn’t tell anyone about her conversation with Jake, or the fact that they had parted on less than cordial terms. She went to work on Friday and went out to dinner and a movie with Anita and Mary Ethelyn on Friday night. Every time the subject of Jake came up, Ginny just smiled and changed the subject.

  She spent Saturday with her Aunt Gen. As much as she wanted to confide in someone, she just couldn’t bring herself to talk about had happened with Jake, not now, when her heart was breaking. She thought constantly of what her father had said, and about what Jake had said. Doubts crowded her mind and as soon as she banished one, anoth
er sprang up to take its place. Her parents had always been right in the past. Maybe they were right about Jake, too. But then she thought of the days and nights she and Jake had spent together, of how right it had felt to be with him, the way he had always made her feel cherished, important.

  She went to church with her parents on Sunday and had brunch with the family.

  Deb and the boys had gone back to California, Bess lived in New Jersey, but her other sisters lived in Atlanta or in cities nearby. Anyone who was in town on Sunday always came to brunch at Mom and Dad’s.

  Ginny pretended everything was all right, but her parents knew better. She had to hand it to them, though, they didn’t gloat, nor did they ask what had happened. She supposed it was enough for them to know that Jake had left town and she was still here.

  Here, and more miserable than she had ever been in her life. She loved her house, she loved her design business, she loved her family, but, without Jake, she no longer found joy in any of them. Her house was empty, like her heart. Her business was thriving, but she took no pleasure in it. Her family loved her, but their love wasn’t enough. Her parents and her sisters couldn’t satisfy her longing for Jake. They couldn’t ease the ache in her heart, or fill the hole he had left in her life.

  Lori Beth’s wedding loomed on the horizon and suddenly it was upon them. Ginny was sorry now that she had agreed to be Lori Beth’s maid of honor. She wasn’t sure she could get through the ceremony without crying, wasn’t sure she could face Jake. She clung to the hope that he wouldn’t come.

  On Friday night, she attended the wedding rehearsal. Since it was considered bad luck for the bride to walk down the aisle before the actual wedding, Ginny stood in for Lori Beth. When the rehearsal was over, Lori Beth took Ginny aside.

  “I talked to Jake last night. He said he isn’t coming to the wedding. When I asked him why, he told me the two of you had had a falling out and he thought it would be best if he stayed home.” Lori Beth sighed. “I know it will be difficult for the two of you, but I talked Jake into coming. I had to,” she said, seeing the look of distress on Ginny’s face. “Jake is my best friend.”