Jenna’s lips curved against his skin. She snuggled even closer, for the first time in their lives holding absolutely nothing back. “That I’ve never been able to resist you.” She sighed wistfully, shook her head. “I couldn’t then. I can’t now.”
“That goes two ways, you know,” he said, looking deep into her eyes. “I’ve never been able to stop loving you, either.” He pressed a kiss in her hair, on her temple, her cheek, her lips. “You’re the woman for me, Jenna,” he said seriously, holding her tight. “The only woman for me.” He paused, shook his head. “Which makes us sneaking around this way, stealing time to be together, all the more ridiculous. Marry me,” he whispered urgently, “just as soon as we get this whole mess with Alex and Melinda straightened out. Marry me so we can spend our whole lives together.”
Joy filled Jenna as she saw all the love and tenderness in Jake’s face. She loved him, too, so much. “Yes, Jake, yes.”
Chapter Eight
“Well. Don’t you two look like the cats that caught the canary,” Dani Lockhart said when Jenna and Jake walked into the kitchen of Meg’s home the next morning, where all the adults were gathered while the kids played on Jeremy’s swing set in the backyard.
“As well as lacking in a little sleep, wouldn’t you say?” Dani’s husband Beau remarked. He waggled his eyebrows at them. “Late night? Out painting the town?”
Dani shot Jenna a look of sisterly concern even as she elbowed Beau. “Behave yourself.” Dani stood on tiptoe and kissed Beau’s cheek. “Just because we’re still on our honeymoon doesn’t mean everyone else is.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” her husband drawled, giving Jenna and Jake a knowing wink. “There are more ways to honeymoon than you can list and…I think they look pretty head-over-heels in love.” Beau opened his satchel and took out Old Faithful, the perfectly seasoned black cast-iron skillet that had traveled the world with him. He set his pan on the stove. “You forget, I knew Jenna before Jake came back into her life. She might have been doing well in her business life, but she wasn’t nearly this happy before.” Beau began laying thick slices of bacon in the bottom of the skillet as he added, “And I’d wager, neither was he.
“Of course, since for now I’m the official man of the family, I have to look after all these women.” Beau looked at Jake. “It’s my job to kick butt should anyone get out of line with any of them.”
Jenna sucked in a breath at the warning in Beau’s low tone. But to her relief, Jake didn’t take offense. Instead, he wrapped his arms around her and tugged Jenna close. “You don’t have to worry about me,” Jake told her family. “I love this woman with all my heart and soul, and if I have my way,” Jake paused to press a kiss into her hair, “we’ll be married soon, too.”
“Jake!” Jenna chastened. They had specifically agreed they wouldn’t tell anyone about his proposal to her last night, until things had calmed down on his home front, and they could go about it in a more official manner. And yet here he was, declaring his intentions to one and all, as if their union was pretty much already a done deal! But then that was Jake for you—if he wanted something, he pretty much felt it was his for the claiming. Right now, that was her.
Kelsey studied them, with a taunting grin that seemed to say: Not so fast there, cowboy—you haven’t dealt with me. Shooting Jake a sly, assessing glance, Kelsey continued making coffee and tea for everyone. “Well, maybe she’s only seeing you again to get revenge for the way you treated her before.”
Shock reverberated throughout the room. Jake turned to Jenna, letting his eyes trail over her from head to toe. “That so?”
Jenna raked a hand through her hair and flushed self-consciously. Nothing like running the gauntlet of the Lockhart sisters’ love and protection. Especially when they were determined, it seemed, to smoke out any false or selfish note in Jake’s attitude to her. Pronto.
“Did you really make that declaration?” Jake continued mildly.
“Uh. Well.” Jenna’s chin shot up a notch. “Actually. Yes. I did.”
“Good move.” Jake nodded at Jenna approvingly. “I would have been disappointed in you had you done anything less.”
Jenna’s jaw dropped in shock, as did everyone else’s.
“’Cause loving someone is always the best revenge.” Confident and at ease, Jake turned to the rest of the family. “Jenna can deny it all she wants, but our feelings for each other are still there, and they’re hotter than ever. The past couple days have proved that.”
Meg studied Jake as she began mixing up the blueberry pancake batter. “Passion’s great but it takes a lot more than that to sustain a marriage—or even a relationship—over the long haul,” she said.
“You’re right. It takes commitment. Loyalty. A determination to weather the storms, no matter how bleak things look. Or how much you have to overcome. I’ve pledged my devotion to your sister.” Jake looked at Dani, Meg, and Kelsey in turn. “Jenna knows I won’t abandon her again. All she has to do is stick with me through thick and thin, too.”
Dani frowned worriedly as she began cutting up fresh strawberries and dropping them in a bowl. “Unfortunately, that’s not what your parents are saying. They’re dropping hints all over town that a reconciliation with Melinda is afoot.”
“That’s odd,” Jake remarked, “since I’m dating Jenna.”
“Word around town is they’ve got an explanation for that, too,” Kelsey said, as she began setting the table. She looked at Jake steadily. “They’re telling everyone that this fling you are having with Jenna now is really just ‘unfinished business’ between the two of you, and that it’ll soon dissipate once reality sets in and you realize your backgrounds and very different outlooks on life can’t easily be overcome. They’re also saying that you already have doubts about the relationship. Otherwise, why would you be taking such pains to hide it?”
“I haven’t hidden anything!” Jake fumed.
Refusing to back down now that she had Jake on the spot, Kelsey lifted a brow. “Did you or did you not rent out an entire inn?”
“So we could talk privately, without all of Laramie gossiping and looking on!”
Dani turned to Jenna. “Has Jake taken you anywhere public?”
“You mean besides here—today?” Jenna asked, flushing. Too late, she realized how it had looked. “No. We’ve just seen each other at my place or his ranch. But that wasn’t by design.” Or had it been, she wondered nervously, hating to think Jake still might be too ashamed of his relationship with her, and his friend’s and familys’ reaction to it, to make it public.
Jake scowled, not liking the implication any more than Jenna did. “If it will make you all feel better, I’ll take Jenna to lunch at the Wagon Wheel restaurant, and then hit every establishment in town, introducing her as my woman. We could even take out an ad in the paper, announcing our plans to get engaged as soon as possible.”
“Don’t be silly,” Jenna murmured, beginning to feel a little like they had been ambushed, too. She took two dozen eggs out of the refrigerator and began breaking them into a mixing bowl.
“That’s really not the point,” Meg agreed.
“Then what is?” Jake demanded, reaching over to give Jenna a hand.
Meg paused in the act of stirring blueberries into the pancake batter. “We’re just all wondering if we should be as concerned about Jenna getting hurt by you again. You know your parents, Jake. They’ve never really been ones to confide in the townspeople. They’ve always sort of drawn the line between us and them and just used their ranch as a tax write-off and a place to send you when you were a kid and have parties in the summer. But for the past few days, your mother has been running around town, talking nonstop to everyone who’ll listen.” Meg paused, looking as if it hurt her just to repeat it. “She’s saying you’re using Jenna to fan the flames of Melinda’s jealousy and that the only thing standing between you and Melinda and Alexandra being a family again is Jenna.”
Jake looked as stunned by that rev
elation as Jenna felt, but—in the end—not at all surprised. “My parents have always been scared I’d end up at the mercy of some fortune hunter,” he explained as he addressed the group. “They wanted me to marry someone with means, so I wouldn’t have to worry about that. But they forgot the most important part of any equation between a man and a woman is love.”
“Our parents certainly knew that,” Kelsey said softly. All the rest of the Lockhart women nodded.
Dani looked at Jake quizzically. “I’d think your parents would too. After all, they’ve been married a long time.”
“That’s true,” Jake said as he watched Beau transfer sizzling strips of bacon from the skillet to paper towels to drain, “but since my folks both came from families of inherited wealth, theirs was essentially an arranged marriage. They were fortunate it’s worked out. I love them a lot, and I know they love me and Alex and each other, but I don’t think they’ve ever known passion. Not the kind I share with Jenna, anyway. The passion in their lives has been for things and activities, not necessarily each other.”
“That’s sad,” Kelsey said, as everyone contemplated what a different kind of life that would be.
Jake shrugged. He had given up trying to explain how he felt about Jenna to his parents a long time ago. “It’s how they were brought up.”
“Then what happened to you?” Dani teased.
Jake grinned. “I imagine my folks are asking themselves that question at this very minute. ‘Where did we go wrong? Why doesn’t Jake value a Louis XV chair more than the woman he loves?”’ With a wry grin, he continued, “The truth is, I understand them. I know why they think the way they do. I just don’t share their beliefs. For instance, I’d never go off and leave Alex for an entire summer, the way they did me. I build companies up. My father tears them down. Our differences are many and far-reaching. I have no doubt they think they are helping me and Alex by championing a renewed relationship between me and Melinda. I just hope Melinda doesn’t end up hurting them and or Alex in the process. Because, bottom line, even though they’ve made mistakes—we all have—they’re still my family, and I don’t want to see them hurt, either.” Jake sighed tiredly. “Given the way things are going, I just may not be able to prevent it.”
“What about this party your parents are throwing tonight?” Kelsey asked curiously. “We’ve all been invited. So have all the McCabes, everyone else important in town, plus dozens and dozens of your parents’ socially prominent friends from around the state.”
Jake paused. “Officially, they’re throwing it to welcome Melinda back to Texas.”
What about unofficially? Jenna wondered. And why had they invited her sisters? So they’d be sure and have Dani’s movie-star husband Beau in attendance, too? Or so she’d have someone to leave the party with other than Jake?
Meg frowned as she began ladling pancake batter onto the griddle. “I hate to say this, Jake. I know they’re your parents. But I wouldn’t put it past them to try and use this gala affair to push the two of you apart forever.”
“Exactly why we’re going to attend,” Jake said confidently, wrapping his arm around Jenna’s waist. “To show them, once and for all, that they can’t intimidate Jenna or push us apart. We’re together whether they like it or not, and we want everyone to know it. Because the sooner they do, the sooner we can get on with our lives without any more familial interference.”
Jenna pivoted toward him, to better see his eyes. “I don’t know, Jake. That’s sort of an in-your-face way to go about things, isn’t it?” Jenna remarked. Wasn’t there an easier, less confrontational way to bring her into his family?
Jake tightened his arms around her possessively. “I’m not running anymore, Jenna,” he vowed passionately. “I’m not hiding or sneaking around or covering up our relationship from my folks and anyone who might clue them in as to what was going on, the way we did when we were teens. And neither should you. We have nothing to be ashamed about and everything to be happy and proud about. It’s not every day a love as special and wonderful as ours comes along.”
“Jake’s right,” Dani said, beginning to relax again now that Jake was passing the cross-examination with flying colors. She set the bowl of sliced strawberries on the center of the table. “Mom and Dad always loved him. They always thought you two would end up together. I know this is what they would want, too. You’re just going to have to weather the storm. And we’ll be right there with you, helping,” she promised emotionally. Beau, Kelsey and Meg—finally convinced of what Jenna had known all along, that Jake was not out to hurt her—also offered promises to help.
“Thanks.” Jake said gruffly, relieved. He turned to her, for a moment looking overcome by the unconditional acceptance he and Jenna were receiving from her family, now that all their questions had been answered satisfactorily. “That means the world to us, doesn’t it, Jenna?”
Jenna nodded, abruptly feeling a little choked up herself. She lifted her glass of juice. “To a quick resolution of all our problems,” she toasted.
“Here, here,” everyone said in unison and then drank to that.
“Okay, now I’ve got a question,” Kelsey said as the emotional moment passed, and the earlier, easygoing mood returned. Everyone groaned. Kelsey was such a wild card. There was just no telling what she was going to say. Kelsey marched up to Jake and slapped her hands on her blue-jeans-clad hips. “Who is this guy Rick and why is he asking so many questions about you?”
“Rick who?” Jake asked. He hoped he was wrong, but his gut was telling him this was trouble. Otherwise, Kelsey wouldn’t be asking.
“I don’t know.” Kelsey shrugged and filched a piece of bacon from the serving tray before Beau could swat her hand away. “He wouldn’t give me his last name. I saw him in town a few minutes ago at Isabel Buchanon’s bakery.”
Feeling both curious and baffled, Jake accepted the coffee Meg handed him. “What did he look like?”
“Tall, dark, handsome. Very well dressed. Not a Texan. At least I don’t think so, since he didn’t have any accent.”
“What did he want?” Jake lounged against the counter while Kelsey tried—unsuccessfully this time—to sneak more bacon.
“He asked me if I was from around here.” Kelsey settled for a strawberry instead. “I said yes. He wanted to know if I knew you. I said yes. He asked me what you were like.”
“And you said…?” Jake queried while everyone waited for Kelsey’s answer with bated breath.
“Exactly what you’d think,” Kelsey volleyed back. “That you were rich, successful. But known to cut and run from the women in your life.”
Jake winced at that reasonably accurate description—up until now, anyway. “Did he accept that?” Jake asked.
“He agreed with it, actually.” Kelsey paused to pour herself a cup of coffee. She lounged against the counter, sipping it. “He also wanted to know if it was true that you had never stopped loving Jenna Lockhart, even though you went on to marry someone else and have a child with her.”
Tension rebounded in Meg’s kitchen once again.
“And you said…?” Jake asked. He could hardly wait to hear Kelsey’s answer to this one!
“That it was my considered opinion that you were still carrying a torch for Jenna, and always had been, but that in any case you were currently chasing her again.”
For forever this time, Jake amended silently, giving Jenna a glance to testify to it. Reluctantly, Jake turned back to Kelsey. “How did Rick react to that?”
“He didn’t.” Kelsey sighed, disappointed. “He just…walked away from me, got behind the wheel of his sports car and drove off. Oh. Wait.” Kelsey snapped her fingers. “He asked me one more question.”
“What was it?” Once again, everyone waited with bated breath.
“He wanted to know if you were one of the good guys.”
“And you told him…?”
“I said I hoped so, I really hoped so.”
Silence fell. “What do you thin
k that’s all about?” Jenna turned to Jake, her clear blue eyes alight with curiosity.
Jake shrugged. “I haven’t a clue.”
“Do you know who it was?”
Again, Jake shook his head. “I know dozens of Ricks but none that would be prying into my private life like that.”
“Maybe he’s a private detective,” Beau theorized.
Jake turned and gave his brother-in-law-to-be a man-to-man glance. He could use Beau’s unemotional assessment of the situation. “Checking into me for what reason?” Jake asked.
Beau took the last of the bacon from the pan and set his skillet aside. “Your ex is threatening to challenge the current custody arrangement for your daughter. Maybe she hired this Rick guy to dig up dirt on you. Maybe Melinda and Rick are going to use the party—and all the locals in attendance—to loosen a few tongues, see what they can scout out.”
Jake frowned. “My parents wouldn’t be part of that,” he said firmly.
To Jake’s dismay, Jenna was not so sure. “It wouldn’t be the first time they’ve used blackmail to keep you away from me,” she said quietly. “Last time, they had my best interests and those of my sisters at heart. This time they have Alex’s, yours and Melinda’s.”
“That’s not it,” Jake said firmly. His parents would never help Melinda take Alex away from him.
“Then what’s this all about?” Jenna pressed, as she cooked the eggs.
“That’s just it,” Jake said, uncomfortably, wondering once again who the mysterious Rick was. “I don’t know.”
“Well,” Dani said eventually, “we’ll all be there tonight, so I guess we’ll find out then.”
“Except me.” Meg frowned, looking glad to change the subject, too, as she signaled to the kids—who were playing out back—that it was time to come in and wash up for brunch. “The new chief of family medicine is coming in tonight. As head of nursing, I’m supposed to show him around.”
“Who is it?” asked Kelsey, who was always looking for someone new to date.
Meg shrugged. “All I know is that John and Lilah McCabe handpicked the guy to take over, he used to live in Houston, Texas, a long time ago, and he’s really anxious to get started over at the hospital.”
The Bride Said, Finally! (The Lockharts of Texas) Page 18
