“Goodbye, Jake.” Melinda patted his cheek, then stepped outside. She signaled the driver to the front porch, where all her luggage was already stacked and waiting.
Wordlessly, Jake watched her tuck herself into the car.
He was still standing there as Alex and Jenna came down the stairs and Melinda’s limousine disappeared down the drive. “Where’s Mommy?” Alex asked apprehensively.
Jake gave his daughter the most cheerful smile he could manage. “Mommy had to go to Dallas. She said she will try to be back in a few days.”
“She didn’t say goodbye to me.” Alex’s face fell. Her bluegray eyes radiated hurt. And Jake’s heart broke for Alex all over again.
Jake wrapped his arm around his daughter’s shoulders, putting all the love he had into the hug. “Mommy asked me to say it for her.” Or Melinda would have, he added silently, if she had a heart. Jake stroked Alex’s shoulder with gentle comforting strokes as she wrapped both her arms around his middle and leaned against him. “Are you hungry, honey? We haven’t had breakfast.” Jake met Jenna’s eyes, saw she was concerned, too. For Alex and for him.
“I know I’m starved,” Jenna said cheerfully.
“Me, too,” Jake agreed, glad for Jenna’s help in distracting Alex from this latest slight, in a very long string of them.
The sound of a vehicle in the driveway had them turning to the windows once again. As curious as ever, Alex broke free of Jake and rushed over to the window just in time to see the red truck park in front of the house. “Clara’s back!” Alexandra announced happily.
Seconds later, Clara strode in, beaming. “I’m a grandma!” she announced to one and all, hugging all of them ecstatically in turn. “The little rascal’s name is Nathan James, and he weighs eight pounds and six ounces! And he’s as healthy as can be. You ought to hear him! That child has a fiesty personality and set of lungs on him that would make any momma and daddy proud.”
“I can see his grandma certainly is,” Jake said with a wink. He hugged Clara again. “Congratulations.” As they drew apart, he patted the older woman on the shoulder. “You must be exhausted.”
Clara nodded as she shot Jake a glance. “That I am.”
“How about hungry?” Jake continued fussing over her like an old mother hen. “I bet you could use something to eat, too.”
Clara started to head for the kitchen. “I’ll get it.”
“Oh no you won’t.” Jake cut his housekeeper off at the pass. “You sit right there.” With a gentle hand on her shoulder, he guided her to a comfortable-looking club chair. “Alex and I will wait on you this morning. Won’t we, Alex?”
Alex nodded. She thrust herself back into Clara’s arms. “I missed you,” she murmured, hugging Clara fiercely.
Clara’s eyes welled as she looked from Jake to Jenna and back again. She obviously suspected that something had gone on in her absence, to have Alex, Miss Independence herself, acting so clingy. “I missed you, too, honey,” she said thickly.
Alex reared back to look at Clara. “Can I go see your new grandbaby?”
Clara smiled. “That’s up to your daddy, but I don’t see why not.”
“We can go later this afternoon, after Nathan James and his mama have had a chance to rest,” Jake said, grateful for the distraction. The trip to see the baby would help get Alex’s mind off Melinda’s slight. “Meanwhile,” Jake said as he took Alex’s hand and tugged her to her feet, “we’ve gotta rustle up some grub for Clara that’s fit to eat. And some breakfast for us.”
“I can help.” Jenna, who’d sat down along with Clara, started to get up.
“No.” Jake motioned Jenna to stay where she was. “You keep Clara company and we’ll call you when it’s ready. Alex and I will handle this.” He looked at Clara. “You just take it easy now.”
Clara nodded wearily and swept her hands through her curly salt-and-pepper hair. “Thanks. To tell the truth, I’m so tired I don’t think I could fix anything edible right now anyway.”
“Then you’re lucky you have us, aren’t you?” Jake teased. He and Alex departed, hand in hand.
Clara leaned forward and tugged off her cowgirl boots. “That man is something, isn’t he? I don’t know what I would have done without him the past seven years.”
“How’d the two of you meet?” Jenna went to get an ottoman so Clara could put her feet up.
“It was just after my husband died of an aneurysm. Financially, I was okay. I didn’t have to work. But with all four of my kids out of the nest and on their own, and no husband to take care of anymore, I was pretty lost. I wanted to work, but the only thing I was really qualified to do—the only thing I wanted to do—was keep a home and take care of children. The problem was, I didn’t have any experience at all as a domestic.
“But Jake hired me anyway. From day one, he treated me like family and let me be me. He didn’t make me wear a uniform or try to micromanage the way I kept house for him or what I cooked. Course—” Clara paused and rolled her eyes “—his wife at the time didn’t feel that way.”
“Melinda.”
Clara nodded. “Sweet as pie when they were out in public or with his family, but mean as a rattler when she was at home with him. I felt so sorry for him. I mean, it was obvious why he married her…a baby on the way…He’s always been such a decent man, even back then, when he was barely an adult himself.”
Jenna knew she shouldn’t put too much stock in what anyone else said about Jake, good or bad. What counted here was how he treated her, past and present. But it warmed her heart just the same to realize a woman as no-nonsense, as plainspoken and goodhearted as Clara, who had worked for him for so long, thought the world of him. Clara’s respect and affection was not something that could have been bought; it was something Jake would have had to earn.
“I love that boy like he was one of my own kids,” Clara continued as the tantalizing smells of bacon and coffee wafted out to the living room. “And I love Alex like she was one of my own grandkids. Of course, her problems now are mostly my fault.” Clara shook her head ruefully as she fingered the red bandanna knotted around her neck. “I grew up on a ranch myself and I never did get very citified despite all those years I spent in the Dallas suburbs as a P.T.A. mom. Jake lets me wear jeans most every day of the week. I let Alex wear jeans and pants most every day of the week, too.” Clara sighed. “So now she’s turned into a tomboy, and it’s a problem for Jake I sure as heck never intended he have.”
Jenna patted Clara’s hand. “Don’t you worry. We’ll get Alexandra into a dress yet.”
“How?” Clara persisted, looking skeptical.
That, Jenna hadn’t figured out yet.
“If my laxness causes trouble for Jake and Alex I’ll never forgive myself,” Clara whispered. “I know he comes on strong sometimes, but you could search every inch of the Lone Star State and not find anyone better.”
Jenna felt that, too, sometimes. Other times she was afraid to get deeply involved with him again, for fear she’d end up getting dumped again. Heaven knew they had enough working against them: the past, his parents, Melinda. And now, a potential custody suit for Alex.
Jenna knew Jake.
If it came right down to it, if there was no other way, he would sacrifice his own happiness, and Jenna’s, too, for that of his daughter. And when it came right down to it, Jenna reluctantly admitted to herself that she would not hesitate to do the same. Jenna wanted to be happy. She wanted—if anything and everything were possible—to be with Jake. But she’d be damned if she’d do it by stepping on the heart of a little girl who had already suffered quite enough.
Alex dashed back in. “Come on everybody! Breakfast is ready!”
Platters of fluffy scrambled eggs, crisp brown bacon, buttermilk biscuits and a medley of fresh fruit were piled on the center of the table, along with pitchers of milk and juice and a carafe of coffee.
“I set the table!” Alex said, as Jake poured coffee. “And took the biscuits out of the can a
nd put them on the baking sheet for Daddy!”
“I see that,” Jenna said, smiling. She gave Alex a congratulatory hug.
“You did a wonderful job.” Clara hugged Alex, too.
“So did you hear all about Nathan James’s birth?” Jake asked Jenna as he pulled butter and jam from the refrigerator and carried them to the table.
Jenna sat down and spread her napkin across her lap. “Uh, actually, we didn’t get around to that.”
Jake’s brow rose in a way that let them know he didn’t necessarily consider that a good sign. “What did you talk about?” He looked from Jenna to Clara and back again.
“You,” Clara announced blithely, as Jenna ladled food on Alexandra’s plate. “I was telling Jenna what a good man you are.”
Jake’s broad shoulders relaxed as he sank into a chair opposite Jenna. “Don’t pay any attention to her,” Jake teased with a playful wink. “She doesn’t know what she’s talking about.”
“It’s true!” Alex said enthusiastically, working hard to tuck a pat of butter down the split in the center of her biscuit with her spoon. “Daddy’s one of the good guys. Clara says so all the time, and she’s right.”
Jake flushed and didn’t meet Jenna’s eyes. And Jenna even thought she knew why. This kind of easygoing camaraderie and unconditional familial devotion was new to Jake. Growing up, his relationship with his folks had been much more formal and instructional. His parents had made sure he had every material thing he ever needed, but they hadn’t understood him. They had taught him how to behave, but they hadn’t spent much time having heart-to-heart talks with him, or even asking him what he wanted. Jenna had a hunch, given Jake’s reaction to Alex and Clara’s unchecked adoration, that things were still the same with Patricia and Danforth Remington. They loved Jake very much. That had always been clear. But at the same time, they were more concerned that he behave in a blue-blooded manner, be financially successful in order to keep the family fortune intact, and marry his own kind—rather than try to find someone to love, have a family of his own, live a good, productive life and be happy. It was sad, Jenna thought, when family members couldn’t seem to accept their differences and express their love for each other. On the other hand, as long as Jake’s parents were still alive—unlike her own—there was still time to remedy that.
“So tell us all about Nathan James’s birth,” Jake said.
Beaming, Clara did. “Well, I have to tell you, witnessing a baby’s birth is about the best thing in the whole world. I mean there is nothing—nothing—that can make a person happier than bringing a new life into this world.”
“YOU GO ON to bed and rest. Don’t even worry about us,” Jake told Clara as soon as they had finished breakfast. “I’ve already called my secretary in Dallas and cleared my schedule until further notice. I’ll see to Alex until Lisa and Randall are home again and all settled in with the new baby.”
Clara hesitated. “I’ve been meaning to talk to you about that. I sort of promised my daughter and son-in-law I’d be available to help them, for at least a few days.”
“No problem,” Jake said cheerfully as he got up to help clear the table. He shot an affectionate look at his daughter. “Alex doesn’t mind hanging out with us, do you, Alex?” Alex gleefully shook her head.
Jake looked at Jenna. “You don’t mind if Alex comes with us this morning when we go look at the old carpet warehouse, do you?”
“Not at all.” In fact, Jenna thought, there was safety in numbers. As close as she was beginning to feel toward Jake, it was best they not be alone if she could help it.
“What about Buster and Miss Kitty?” Alex asked as Jake put the butter and jam back in the refrigerator.
Jenna began loading the dishwasher. “We’ll let Buster out before we go, and then crate him while we’re gone. He’ll be fine,” Jenna reassured Alex warmly. “But just to make sure she feels all nice and safe, why don’t you go to the laundry room and play with Miss Kitty for a while before we leave?”
“Okay.” Alex skipped off, chattering all the while. Clara followed her.
Jenna smiled as she heard Alex say to Clara, “It’s my turn to tuck you in.”
HALF AN HOUR later, the pets all set, the kitchen cleaned up, Clara already asleep, they were on the road to the warehouse. The agent met them there and walked them through it, then, sensing they needed time to talk, stepped outside to make a few calls on her cell phone. “What do you think?” Jake asked, looking around at the spacious interior of the large building with its cement floor.
“It’s certainly big enough for what I had in mind,” Jenna mused. Indeed, it was the size of a football field, with enough height to provide either a loft of offices and showrooms or a second floor. “But we’re going to need a lot more light and I don’t like the fact it’s all one big area.”
“How would you like to see it set up?” Jake tipped his hat back with one poke of his index finger.
“I’d like to paint the outside white, and have a showroom at the front, where my designs could be modeled. The sewing bays would need to be comfortable, and a lot more intimate. No more than three or four people to an area, with plenty of room for tables to lay out fabric.”
He sauntered toward her with easy, sensual grace. He was wearing a gray sport coat and a tan Stetson. The first two buttons of his light blue oxford-cloth shirt were undone. His jeans were fashionably faded a medium blue. They hugged his legs like a second skin. His boots were equally comfortable and broken in. “I take it you don’t want to do this assembly-line fashion.”
“No.” Jenna’s decision about that was firm. She met Jake’s eyes seriously. “The quality suffers when you do that, and I want everything that’s made out here to be top quality.”
“What are you going to make out here?” Alex asked curiously as she walked across the floor.
“Dresses,” Jenna smiled, “although I still haven’t decided what kind. I’m known most for my wedding and evening dresses—but I sort of like doing those one at a time, so I’ll have to think about it.”
“There’s always business wear,” Jake suggested helpfully, his admiring glance skimming over Jenna from head to toe, taking in her tailored sunshine-yellow sheath and matching blazer. “There’s a big market for that.”
Jenna nodded, and adjusted the sunglasses on top of her head. The only problem was, the idea of doing a lot of business suits didn’t set her on fire. And she needed to have tons of enthusiasm for whatever she did if her first mass-produced line of clothing was to be the roaring success both she and Jake wanted it to be. “I’m sure inspiration will strike once I’ve had a little time to think about it,” Jenna said, beginning to feel a little warm, given the intent way he was studying her. Her pulse racing at his closeness, Jenna edged away. “I just need to think about it a little bit first.”
“Well, I’m still not wearing any dresses,” Alexandra put in with a frown. “I don’t care how pretty they are.” Alex narrowed her eyes at Jenna. “Why are you smiling?”
Jenna ruffled Alex’s wildly curling strawberry-blond hair. “I was just thinking how different you and I are,” she replied affectionately. “When I was your age I would have given anything to be able to wear frilly little dresses. Instead—” Jenna made a face “—I had to wear jeans and boots and hats and go outside to help with the animals and the chores.”
Alex sighed wistfully. “That sounds like fun to me.”
“I think you’d look awfully pretty in a dress,” Jake said.
Alex’s jaw thrust out pugnaciously. “I’m still not wearing one,” Alex said. “And even if I did, I’d just spill something all over it.”
Jake’s eyes darkened at his daughter’s threat. His expression grew perplexed. Jenna thought she knew how he felt. Alex was definitely a strong-willed, feisty little girl with tons of energy and a mind of her own. But this continuing resistance seemed uncharacteristic of her sweet personality. Something had to be behind her continued rebellion. Something more than the
other kids having mothers or Jake and Clara’s willingness to let her be a tomboy, given Alex’s delight at playing dress-up. Jake had said Alex didn’t know how Melinda felt about Alex conducting herself in a more ladylike manner. Given Alex’s nonexistent relationship with her mother, Jenna felt Jake was right in protecting Alex that way. Alex had enough to deal with on that score already. But something was making her act out her unhappiness or worry this way. Jenna just wished they knew what it was. Right now, Jake clearly didn’t have a clue. And for the moment, neither did Jenna.
The real-estate agent was back.
“How are we doing? Do you think this will fit your needs?”
Jake looked at Jenna. One glance and they knew they were in agreement on this much—if they could make the business end of it work, they would look no farther for a factory. “We’re going to need to see some facts and figures first.” Jake smiled. “And the names of three first-rate contractors.”
THE REST of the morning passed swiftly. Excited about the prospect of a job that big in a town as small as Laramie, the three contractors the agent recommended drove over promptly to walk the warehouse and speak with Jake and Jenna. Several hours later, all three had faxed preliminary bids to Jake’s home in Laramie. Meantime, Jenna, Jake and Alex had stopped by Rylander’s Western Wear to purchase a baby gift for Nathan James. While Jenna gift-wrapped the present, Jake and Alex tended to Miss Kitty and Buster. A late lunch followed. Exhausted, Alex fell asleep on the cushioned sofa on the screened-in back porch, the puppy and kitten curled up beside her as the ceiling fan whirred lazily overhead. Wanting to be within earshot in case they were needed, yet far enough away not to disturb any of the sweetly slumbering trio, Jenna and Jake sat down at the kitchen table to discuss business.
Briefly Jake laid out what he was prepared to spend to expand Jenna’s business, then they went over the bids. “If we do everything you want to the inside of the warehouse, use only top-drawer fabrics, pay the kind of salaries you want to pay the seamstresses, emphasize the quality and limit the volume and price the line somewhat affordably, it’s not going to leave much in the way of either profits or salary for you. The profits I can live without,” Jake said seriously. “Your salary is something we can work on if you’re willing to make concessions in other areas.”
The Bride Said, Finally! (The Lockharts of Texas) Page 10
