The Bride Said, Finally! (The Lockharts of Texas)

by Thacker, Cathy Gillen

  “That’s just it,” Jenna warned, meeting his eyes. “I’m not. But that’s all right,” she told him, pleased he was so concerned about her well-being. “I can live with less the first year or two. What’s important to me is that we take the time to build up our operation slowly, so we can ensure quality and originality. I want my first mass-marketed line to be something I can proudly put my name on. Besides, if we’re successful, the profits will come. If not, I’ll know it’s not for me, and I can always go back to working only out of my shop, on custom-made wedding and evening dresses and the occasional business suit or lounging outfit.”

  “And if we’re as wildly successful as I think we’re going to be, then what?” Jake asked, his gray eyes looking more pewter than silver in the afternoon sunlight. “Will you consider expanding even further?” He searched her face. “To a line of ready-made wear for men?”

  “Maybe.” Jenna sat back in her chair and took a sip of her iced tea. “But first, we’ve got to get the initial venture off the ground. With all we have to do, I figure it will be at least a year before we get the factory up and running, and a line of clothing ready to market to the department stores in Dallas.”

  Jake looked her straight in the eye. “Again, that timetable is a little slower than I had in mind.”

  Given how much he was investing in the expansion of her business, Jenna didn’t blame him for wanting a quick return on his money. “Trust me,” Jenna returned just as decisively, wanting as much time as necessary to develop her new designs. “You’ll be glad you didn’t rush things.”

  Jake frowned. Seemingly unable to take his eyes from her face, he allowed, “When it comes to business, Jenna, I don’t usually compromise my vision.”

  Jenna smiled and guessed, “But in my case you’ll make an exception.”

  Jake nodded. He reached over and clasped her hands in his. “I realize there’s only so much change you’ll be comfortable with and I want you to be comfortable.”

  Jenna stared down at their linked hands. “I’m glad you feel that way,” she said softly. Deciding this meeting had taken a far too intimate turn, Jenna extricated her hands from his, pushed back her chair and stood. As she stepped away from the table, she looked Jake squarely in the eye. “Because I’m very territorial when it comes to my business.”

  Jake smiled and stood as well. “And I’m very territorial about you.” The next thing she knew he’d clamped both his hands around her waist, brought her close and lowered his lips to hers, deliberately robbing her of breath. Jenna moaned, confusion sweeping through her. Again, he brushed his lips softly, insistently, against hers. Feelings swept through her, followed by a need that was soul-deep. Jake threaded a hand though her hair and using the arm anchored at her waist, pulled her closer still. Her breath caught in her chest as he kissed her, long and hard. No one had ever asked her to give so much, so fast, and a few more kisses robbed her of the ability to think at all.

  Jenna kissed Jake back, drowning in the pleasurable sensations sweeping through her. She couldn’t believe they had found each other again after all this time, couldn’t believe the dreams she’d held for years were actually coming true. She wanted him to want her; he did. She wanted him to need her. Judging by the pressure at the front of his jeans, that was true, too. But wanting and needing did not necessarily translate into a future together. And it was a future—and a lasting relationship with a man who loved her as much as she loved him—that Jenna desired most of all. Not sure Jake could—or would—ever give her that, Jenna pulled away. Heart pounding, body yearning for more, Jenna stared up at him. They were very close to making love, she realized, shaken. Had they been alone, who knew what would have happened? But they weren’t alone. Alexandra, Buster and Miss Kitty were all sleeping nearby. Clara was still upstairs.

  Jenna released a shuddering breath, aware Jake looked very much like he wanted to kiss her again. And then again. She held up a hand to stop him. Stepped back. “Jake—”

  He let her go. Though it was clear from the reluctant look on his face and the desire still gleaming in his dark gray eyes that this was not what he wanted, either.

  “We can’t—” Jenna started.

  Jake looked at her as if to say: Wanna bet? Out loud, he said gently, “It was just a kiss, Jenna.” One he obviously did not regret for a moment.

  But he wanted so much more from her. She could see it in his eyes. She could feel it in her heart. The question was, Jenna wondered nervously, what did she really want from him?

  JAKE HAD TO hand it to Jenna later that afternoon as she, Alex and he all got off the hospital elevator and walked out onto the maternity ward. Not only was Jenna pretty, talented, kind and loving, she was also nurturing, attentive and supportive to the nth degree. Alex had received a grandparent’s love from both Clara and his folks. She was now receiving the closest thing she had ever had to a mother’s love from Jenna. And Alex wasn’t the only one who was benefiting from the relationship. Jenna looked happier than he had ever seen her, walking along beside him, Alex’s hand tucked into hers. At that moment, the three of them felt like the loving, contented family he had always wanted. Not just for himself but for Alex. And for Jenna, too, he realized. It did his heart good to see both of them looking so joyful and content.

  “Do you like babies?” Alexandra asked Jenna.

  “Yes.” Jenna smiled over at Alex. “I love babies very much,” Jenna said.

  Alex’s brow furrowed as if she were contemplating a particularly thorny problem. “How come you don’t have one, then?”

  Jake winced at that question, but Jenna didn’t seem to mind as she answered, “I guess I just haven’t gotten around to it yet. I’ve been too busy sewing pretty dresses and running my shop. What about you? How come you don’t have a baby?”

  “Because I’m too little, silly. You have to be a grown-up to have a baby.”

  “Ah,” Jenna said, nodding solemnly.

  “He’s awfully small,” Alexandra said, as she peered through the Laramie Community Hospital nursery window. “And red, too.”

  “That’s the way newborn babies look,” Jake said gently.

  “Even me, when I was borned?” Alex asked. Her lower lip pushed out as she considered the infant, swaddled warmly in a pale blue blanket.

  Jake nodded. “You didn’t have dark curly hair, though. Yours was light brown and very fine and straight. And the nurses taped a little ribbon in it, right here.” Jake pointed to the crown of Alex’s head.

  Alex giggled. “I must have looked funny.”

  “You looked precious.” So precious he’d known all the grief he’d gone through, being married to Melinda, had been worth it.

  Nathan James yawned and blinked at them and promptly fell back to sleep.

  “He’s as cute as Buster and Miss Kitty,” Alex said, after a moment. She looked up at Jake, in that instant every bit as decisive and determined as her daddy. “I think I want one.”

  Jake arched his brow inquiringly, hoping he misunderstood. “One what?”

  “A baby brother or sister.”

  As he thought about what would be required to make that happen—Jenna, a bed, and the time and opportunity to pick up where they had left off years ago—warmth shot through Jake, pooling at the front of his jeans. He shifted his stance slightly. Now was no time to be thinking about making passionate love to the woman of his dreams, he reminded himself firmly. Aware Alex and Jenna were both still waiting for an answer, Jake looked down at his daughter. He cleared his throat. “It’s not that simple, honey.”

  Alex continued to regard him patiently, as she demanded with perfect child logic, “Why not?”

  Because, though Jenna still loved him—he could see it every time he looked into her eyes—she wasn’t sure she trusted him not to leave her again. Yet. She would, and soon, if he had his way, because Jenna was, and had always been, the only woman for him. With as much equanimity as he could muster, Jake explained, “Because you need a mommy and a daddy for tha
t. Your mommy and I aren’t married anymore,” Jake said, as much for Jenna’s sake as Alex’s. He wanted Jenna to know no matter what Melinda did, he was not being sucked back into the self-centered maelstrom of her life.

  Alex thought about that for a long moment before her next idea struck. Apparently, she didn’t much want Jake and Melinda to have another baby together, either. “You and Jenna could have a baby, then,” Alex told Jake enthusiastically.

  My wish exactly, Jake thought, knowing he’d like nothing better than to have a baby with the woman he had loved from the first day he met her. But unfortunately that was something that was going to have to wait, too, Jake thought reluctantly. Casting an apologetic glance at Jenna—who looked just as aware of him as he was of her—Jake turned back to Alex. “Jenna and I aren’t married, either, honey,” he explained. Yet, Jake thought for the second time, studying the warm flush of awareness spreading across Jenna’s face, if he had his way, they soon would be.

  Alex’s exasperation with Jake grew. She looked at him as if he were the densest daddy around. “You don’t have to be married, silly. Remember Tommy Parker, back in Dallas? His parents are divorced, too, and his daddy had a new baby with a friend.” Alex paused, looking hopefully from Jake to Jenna and back again. “Jenna is your friend, isn’t she?”

  The flush in Jenna’s cheeks deepened, as did the pressure at the front of Jake’s jeans. To heck with everything that was still holding them back. He wanted nothing more, at that very moment, than to take Jenna to bed and make her wholly and completely his. The way Jenna was looking at him made him think she wanted that, too.

  Reluctantly, Jake tore his gaze from Jenna and looked back at Alex, who was still waiting somberly for his answer. “Yes,” Jake told Alex in a low, serious voice, “Jenna is very much my friend. But that still doesn’t mean we’re going to have a baby.”

  “How come?” Alex frowned her disappointment.

  Because I’ve got to get her to agree to marry me first, Jake thought. Given how their elopement had failed, that would be no easy task. “Because a baby is a big responsibility and right now we have our hands full with you and Buster and Miss Kitty.”

  “What about when Buster and Miss Kitty and me all grow up? Then will you have a baby together so I can have a brother or sister?” Alex asked.

  “We’ll see,” Jake said, deciding they had talked about this way too much. If he had been fantasizing about making love to Jenna before, it was nothing to the way he was dreaming about it now. “In the meantime, though, there is a way you could enjoy being around a baby. ’Cause you know what? I bet Clara is going to be baby-sitting for little Nathan James from time to time. And he’ll be coming over to visit us at the ranch. So I bet Clara will let you help look after him.”

  “Really?”

  Jake nodded.

  Meg Lockhart walked up, in her nurse’s uniform, the supervisor badge pinned against her chest. Although she smiled at Jake cordially, concern radiated from her eyes. Clearly, she wasn’t all that thrilled to see him with Jenna. Which, given what had happened years ago, was no surprise. Jake should have known better than to encourage the nearly eighteen-year-old Jenna to elope with him, no matter how much he loved her and wanted to help her or how fiercely she was grieving the loss of her parents and the family ranch. He should have realized his actions could have been considered to be “contributing to the delinquency of a minor,” and not left Jenna facing possible charges for trying to run off and marry him without first obtaining her guardian’s permission. If he hadn’t been so wrapped up in the romance of it all and made that misstep, well, who knew how things might have worked out between them? Would he and Jenna be married now? Would the rest of the Lockhart sisters be welcoming him with open arms instead of discreetly pushing him away?

  “Jake.” Meg nodded at him cooly, then paused to hug Jenna warmly and protectively before drawing back to look into her younger sister’s eyes. “What are you doing here?” Meg asked.

  Briefly, Jenna explained about Nathan James’s birth, then Jake introduced his daughter. Meg smiled and shook Alexandra’s hand. She might have reservations about Jake, but she clearly had none about the nearly six-year-old Alex. “I have a son about your age, you know. His name is Jeremy, and we’ve just moved here, too. He had a lot of friends where we lived before this, but not so many here yet. But we’re working on it. In fact, we’re having a pizza and video party tonight for some of the kids he’s met so far. Would you like to come?” Meg looked up at Jake. “It’s from five to eight, at our house. You remember Annie Pierce and Travis McCabe?”

  Jake nodded. “I heard they got married not too long ago.”

  “Right. Annie and Travis, as well as Annie’s triplets—Teddy, Trevor and Tyler—are going to be there, as well as several little girls from their summer preschool class. It’d be a good chance for Alex to meet some other kids. If you don’t have other plans.”

  Jake turned to his daughter, leaving the decision up to her. “What do you think, Alex? Would you like to go play with some other kids your own age?”

  Alex nodded enthusiastically. Now all they had to do was replan the evening ahead of them, Jake thought. He and Jenna had been given some rare time alone. He didn’t want to squander it.

  JAKE CUT the connection on his cell phone and put it back in the pocket of his sport coat, relieved to be cleared of all familial responsibilities for a few hours, and free to concentrate on himself—a rare thing these days. He turned to Jenna to fill her in. “Clara said she’ll feed Buster and Miss Kitty, and make sure they are all situated before she leaves the ranch so they’ll be okay until we get back around eight-thirty. That gives us three hours here in town,” Jake noted happily. He and Jenna waved one last time to Alex and Jeremy and the other kids playing at Meg’s. He started his truck and pulled away from the curb. “What do you want to do?”

  Tensing, Jenna turned and offered him a prim smile. “I’ve got to go over to my shop and check on things there, make a few stencils, and so on.” Her tone of voice made it clear she was expecting to do her errands alone.

  Not one to be put off when he wanted something, Jake ignored the hint. “I’ll go with you,” he offered genially, wondering what had gotten into Jenna. Was it the idea of spending time alone with him that had Jenna abruptly acting so cool and proper toward him? Or the fact she’d run into Meg, and been reminded of all the reasons why the Lockhart sisters thought Jenna should be holding Jake at arm’s length, if she held him at all.

  “I’d appreciate the ride over, but as for the rest of the three hours, you don’t have to stay.” Jenna looked at him levelly as color swept into her cheeks. “I’m sure you have other things to do.”

  Nothing more important than spending time alone with you, Jake thought. But not wanting to argue with her, he merely turned his vehicle toward her boutique and dropped her off at the curb in front of her shop.

  When he returned thirty minutes later, with a bouquet of flowers, a pepperoni pizza and two take-out garden salads, the Closed sign was hanging on the front door and Jenna was still going through a huge stack of messages with her assistant, Raelynn.

  “And last but not least,” Raelynn was saying as Jake let himself in the back way, “Mrs. Patricia Remington called, from Dallas. She wants a private fitting with you tomorrow morning at nine. I told her I didn’t know if you’d be available, because you had rescheduled all your appointments this week in order to take care of some personal business. But she insisted she’ll be here in any case, and will wait all day for you if necessary. Apparently there’s some big do that she’s giving for her daughter-in-law, Melinda Carrington, day after next, out at their summer ranch, that she needs a dress for, pronto. And she’s willing to pay through the nose for it, too.”

  Raelynn, an attractive young woman and newcomer to Laramie who had only worked for Jenna for a year, obviously hadn’t made the connection between Jake and his mother. Jenna had. She wasn’t pleased about it. Nor was Jake. He had purposely not
told his parents he was seeing Jenna again, or that he was going to back her financially in a business deal, for just this reason. He didn’t want his parents interfering in his life.

  Oblivious to both Jake and Jenna’s discomfort, Raelynn continued going through Jenna’s messages. “Kelsey wants you to know she left this morning and is going to be out of town for a few days. She and Brady Anderson are off looking for horses and cattle for the ranch they just bought. She said to tell you thanks for letting her bunk at your place and she’ll call you when she gets back. Kate Marten called. She wants a knockout dress for the major’s homecoming next month. And a wedding dress for some time later this fall.”

  “Kate and Craig Farrell are finally going to tie the knot?” Jenna—as well as many other Laramie residents—had begun to wonder if the two former high school sweethearts, having dated off and on for the past ten years, and engaged for the last three, would ever make it official. Of course, Jenna conceded quickly, they hadn’t had too many opportunities to even see each other, as Craig was an F-16 pilot for the U.S. Air Force, and often deployed overseas.

  Raelynn nodded. “The major’s coming home to set the date, book a church and decide where to hold their reception.”

  “I didn’t realize Kate Marten still lived here,” Jake interrupted, obviously remembering that Kate had been one of Jenna’s best friends.

  “She’s a grief and trauma counselor at Laramie Community Hospital,” Jenna said.

  Raelynn continued, “Kate said she’ll stop by to talk to you tomorrow. I suggested eight-thirty before the shop opens. Is that a good time?”