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

by Thacker, Cathy Gillen

  “Whoa!” Kelsey said beneath her breath to Jenna. “Is that woman a real operator or what?”

  “She’s something, all right,” Jake pushed the words through his teeth. He had a smile on his face that did not reach his eyes.

  Jenna knew Jake did not want a scene. She couldn’t blame him. She didn’t, either.

  “If you’ll excuse us, we’re going to dance,” Jake said politely.

  Ignoring the stiff resistance of her body, Jake took Jenna’s wrist and led her through the crowd onto the dance floor. “Shouldn’t you be running off to meet your ex?” Jenna asked with a bantering smile meant to disguise how she felt.

  Anchoring his arm around her waist, Jake tugged Jenna closer and pressed his cheek to her temple. His gray eyes darkened ardently as he looked down at her. “I want to dance with you first.”

  Jenna warmed to the possessive feel of Jake’s arms around her, even as everything in her screamed a warning to be careful. Trying not to notice how much she liked the woodsy fragrance of his aftershave, she shrugged and avoided Jake’s eyes. “What will dancing with me prove?” she murmured around the tightness in her throat, trying not to care how good it felt to be in his arms again, or have his hand splayed so proprietorially across her bare back. Especially when my heart is about to be broken all over again? Only this time it’ll be worse, because I’ll know what a wonderful, tender, insatiable lover you are.

  Jake leaned closer, pressed a light kiss to her flushed cheek and whispered in her ear, “I’ll tell you why we’re dancing like this. Because when everyone sees us like this they are going to know—” Jake drew back to look into Jenna’s eyes “—how very much I love you.”

  Jenna couldn’t deny that everyone was looking at them. Which wasn’t surprising considering how close he was holding her. New-love close. Wishing their steps didn’t fit together quite so well, Jenna said, “Sometimes love isn’t enough.”

  “It’s always enough,” Jake countered meaningfully. “It’s when you stop loving someone, or try to, that the trouble starts.”

  Jenna angled her chin at him and insisted stubbornly, “Melinda is not going to let us be together.” In fact, Jenna bet that Melinda was going to be just as much of a burr under their saddles as his parents had been, years ago.

  Jake pressed his lips together firmly. He looked more annoyed than guilty now. “Melinda doesn’t have anything to say about it.”

  “Maybe not,” Jenna responded, wishing she could just leave the party now, before the situation between her, Jake and Melinda got any messier. “But as her mother, Melinda does have plenty to say about Alex, even if she doesn’t have custody at the moment, and that makes her a powerful opponent in this little domestic drama.”

  Jake paused as the song ended and people burst into appplause for the band. “Is that how you see this, as a domestic drama?”

  “I see it as a…mess.”

  “A mess that can definitely be cleaned up,” Jake vowed as the next song began.

  Heat started in Jenna’s chest and welled up through her neck, into her face. “How?”

  Jake shrugged as he deftly kept time to the Tim McGraw tune. “By giving my ex exactly what she wants, that’s how.”

  “And how do you plan to do that?” she asked, feeling more frustrated than ever.

  Abruptly, Jake took Jenna’s hand and led her off the dance floor to a deserted spot next to his mother’s rose garden. “Look, Melinda says she wants us to be a family again. But I know her and that’s not what she wants at all.” Jake’s eyes were hard and accusing. “She is using Alex and me to get what she wants.”

  “Which is?” Jenna asked as all the breath left her lungs in one sudden whoosh.

  “I don’t know. But I’m tired of waiting for her to show her hand.” Jake stared at Jenna in mute frustration, then seemed to come to some decision. “It’s time I called her bluff.”

  Jenna’s heart took on a slow, thudding beat. She knew that dangerous look in Jake’s eyes. It always meant trouble with a capital T. “And how are you going to do that?”

  Jake’s eyes darkened contemplatively. “By offering to give Melinda exactly what she says she wants,” Jake told Jenna honestly and without apology. “And demanding she run off and elope with me. Tonight.”

  Chapter Ten

  Unable to believe what Jake had just suggested, it was all Jenna could do not to slap his face. “Is that your solution to all your woman troubles?” she asked wryly. “Just ask the woman in question to elope!”

  “Of course not,” Jake retorted, annoyed Jenna could even suggest such a thing. “But it is the solution to this particular situation,” he continued, more sure of himself than ever.

  Jenna’s temper, on slow burn all evening, exploded. “Fine. Then by all means, go right ahead,” she muttered, throwing up her hands.

  “She’ll refuse, of course,” Jake continued.

  Jenna stared at Jake, her heart pounding. This felt like such a bad dream. And yet, Jenna counseled herself sternly, just because it felt the same as it had before—with the two of them seeing each other only in quiet, private settings—did not mean it was the same. After all, this time, there was nothing secret about their romance; his parents knew they were seeing each other. And this time, even though they still didn’t approve of her relationship with Jake, they had invited her to be here with Jake—and at a party to honor his ex-wife, no less. Yet even though Jenna was Jake’s date for the evening, it was Melinda who was commanding Jake’s attention. Melinda who Jake was going after now. Jenna swallowed hard and pushed her doubts away. Jake loved her, she loved him, that was all that mattered.

  “What happens if Melinda doesn’t refuse?” Jenna countered as calmly as she could. She couldn’t even bear to think about Jake marrying someone else again. That had hurt enough the first time.

  Jake continued to regard her with an intensity that was both casual and unnerving as he took both Jenna’s wrists in hand. “She will.”

  Jake was so sure of himself. So certain everything would work out exactly the way he wanted. Jenna did not share his optimism. Worse, the implacable expression on his face right now reminded her of the way he had looked at her on that fateful night so long ago, when she’d refused to duck his parents and run off and get married anyway. Thwarted in what he wanted, he had promised her it wasn’t over between them, he had promised her he would call her and come back for her. Jenna had looked into his eyes, and she had believed him with all her heart and soul. Only to find out the hard way that he wasn’t going to call her again or come after her, that he wasn’t going to marry her the way he had promised.

  And now, here they were again. Their renewed relationship just publicly revealed, with Jake’s parents—and now Melinda, too—doing their best to get between them and break them up. Here they were again, with Jake telling her privately that he wanted nothing more than to be with her every day of his life and marry her as soon as possible. And yet, when push came to shove, here he was leaving her in the lurch and walking away from her. To do what? To propose to Melinda!

  “It sounds like you’ve made up your mind what you want to do,” Jenna said numbly.

  Jake looked at her pointedly. “I have.”

  “Why even tell me, then?” Jenna demanded angrily, as every uncertainty she’d ever had about the two of them came back to strike her with blinding force. Already, she felt like he’d made a fool of her. And once again, he’d done it right here in Laramie, in front of everyone she loved and cared about.

  Jake’s touch gentled and he continued to regard her earnestly. “Because I want your permission,” he said softly, persuasively.

  That, at least, had not happened before, but the fact it hadn’t was no comfort to Jenna, who’d spent more than six years living down her failed elopement to Jake. Anger flared within her. “Well, that’s new,” Jenna muttered sweetly, hating the jealous, insecure way she felt—the way only Jake and his family could make her feel. “Asking the current girlfriend to giv
e permission to elope with the ex-wife.”

  Jake sighed, dropped his hold on her, stepped back. He regarded her patiently, obviously irritated to have his integrity questioned. “I won’t do it unless you agree with the plan.”

  “And if I say that I don’t?” Jenna countered.

  Jake shrugged as if it no longer made a difference to him and predicted grimly, “Then we wait until Melinda shows her hand, which could mean days, even weeks, of being at her mercy. Not just for us, but for Alex, too.”

  As much as Jenna hated to admit it, that sounded ten times worse than what they were already enduring. With a beleaguered sigh, Jenna tilted her face up to Jake’s. She folded her arms in front of her and for a moment stayed where she was. “You really think if you put Melinda to the test she’ll reveal what she is really up to?”

  Jake nodded gravely and continued to hold Jenna’s eyes with his. “I’d stake my life on it,” he said bluntly.

  Jenna shoved her hands through her hair and released a quavering breath. “All right.”

  Jake paused. “You’re sure?”

  His hot gray gaze raked her up and down.

  Jenna nodded, doing her best to hide her hurt. Determined to get this over with as soon as possible, she said, “She’s waiting for you. You better go. You don’t want to be late.”

  “Jenna—” Jake caught her arm as she turned away from him.

  As gently as possible, Jenna pried his fingers from her arm and pushed him away. “Just go. We’ll talk later.” Jenna made her way blindly to the bar. She helped herself to a glass of champagne and when she turned around, ran smack-dab into John and Lilah McCabe. Since their retirement from Laramie Community Hospital and the renewal of their marriage vows, the couple had never looked better. Trim and fit, they practically glowed with good health and familial concern.

  Lilah was the first to reach her. Admiring Jenna’s off-the-shoulder gown, she kissed her cheek. “Jenna, darling, you look lovely tonight.”

  Jenna smiled, glad to see a friendly face. “Thanks. So do you.”

  John looked at Jenna fondly. “We’d heard you were seeing Jake again.”

  Lilah splayed a hand across her chest. Leaning forward, she confided emotionally, “It did our hearts good. The two of you should have been married years ago.”

  Suddenly, Jenna was not so sure. Especially since every time they turned around something or someone was coming between her and Jake. Jenna took a small sip of champagne and tried to concentrate on the lively country-and-western music emanating from the band instead of her own melancholy feelings. “We were awfully young.”

  “But so in love!” Lilah reminded her happily. “Trust us, that’s something that doesn’t change.”

  “Not that it will be easy for you two to build a life together,” John warned with paternal concern. “Jake’s parents are very protective of their son.”

  Not to mention, Jenna thought wearily, their money and family name.

  “But it can done,” John continued confidently.

  “Don’t forget, now that we know you’re the next of the Lockhart sisters to get married, we expect to be invited to the wedding,” Lilah added.

  Jenna flushed, feeling they were a long way from that ever happening. “That’s a little premature,” Jenna protested, embarrassed by the enthusiasm the McCabes were showing for her and Jake. “We’re a long way from setting a date. We haven’t even talked marriage, at least not in any official terms.” A proposal in the heat of passion, meant to take effect only after all their current problems were solved, really didn’t count. How well Jenna knew that. But to Jenna’s chagrin, John and Lilah felt differently.

  “Trust us. We saw the way he was looking at you when you came in tonight. He will propose, and soon.” The McCabes moved off, and Dani and Beau moved in. Jenna greeted her sister and brother-in-law, noticing he looked movie-star handsome in his evening wear. The three of them walked over to the tent where the buffet tables were set up.

  “Let me guess,” Dani drawled, taking in the distress Jenna was doing her best—and failing mightily—to hide. “John and Lilah have you in their matchmaking sights.”

  Pretending to be absorbed in deciding what to eat, Jenna picked up a plate and cruised the table that was groaning with delicious appetizers. “They approve of me and Jake as a couple,” Jenna admitted, as she added spinach dip and some crispy tortilla chips to her plate.

  “So does everyone else in town,” Dani said cheerfully, as she helped herself to some chicken-and-cheese quesadillas. “It’s all people are talking about tonight.” Dani added sour cream and guacamole to her plate. “Everyone knows you two were meant to be.”

  Then why, Jenna thought, did she feel as if everything were falling apart? Why did she suddenly feel so left in the lurch, unsure if Jake was actually coming back or not?

  Jenna watched as Beau filled his plate with Gulf Coast shrimp and spicy jalapeno-pepper barbecue sauce. “‘Meant to be’ and actually being are two different things,” Jenna said, and right then, with Jake off somewhere conferring with his ex-wife, she felt alone, bereft, excluded. All the things she had promised herself she would never feel again.

  Their plates piled high, the three of them threaded their way through the well-dressed crowd and moved to a quiet spot, beneath the trees. As intuitive as ever, Dani seemed to look beneath Jenna’s surface composure and guess something was indeed wrong. “Trouble between you and Jake?” she asked bluntly, while her husband looked on, concerned.

  “Trouble between Jake and his ex,” Jenna explained.

  Dani and Beau exchanged looks that were even more concerned. “Is that where he ran off to?” Dani asked as she cut into a quesadilla.

  Jenna nodded. She cast a glance toward the house, and told herself that Jake knew what he was doing, and that everything would work out. Jenna swallowed, her mood turning grimmer and less optimistic with every second that passed. “I just hope he knows what he’s doing.”

  JAKE FOUND MELINDA just where she said she’d be, in the ranch-house library.

  Cheeks bright with color, she immediately closed the distance between them and curled an elegant hand around his biceps. “This isn’t a good place to talk. Someone might come in.”

  It was all Jake could do not to knock her hand from his arm and step away. “So?”

  “I want more privacy.” She took his hand, looked outside furtively, then headed up the stairs, in plain view of a dozen or so guests, as well as his parents. Figuring he would find out sooner what she was up to simply by playing along, Jake gritted his teeth and followed her up.

  Melinda sashayed down the hall as if she owned the place until they got to her bedroom. She led him inside, not bothering to close the door behind them.

  Jake had to admit he felt a little easier leaving Melinda’s bedroom door ajar.

  She moved in on him, her expensive perfume dominating the air around them. “It’s clear Alexandra is in need of a mother.”

  “I couldn’t agree with you more,” Jake said quietly. He just didn’t happen to think it was Melinda she needed—biology aside. Jenna was the woman Alex now turned to. It was Jenna who had shown Alexandra more love in one week than Melinda had in his daughter’s whole life. “That’s why,” he said, turning the tables on Melinda and taking charge, “I think we should get married again. Tonight.”

  Melinda blinked, clearly stunned. “I agree we ought to think about it, but—”

  “Why think at all?” Jake backed Melinda all the way to her antique four-poster bed. “Let’s just skip out of the party tonight—we can leave without being seen, go to J. P. Randall’s Bait and Tackle shop and get married within the hour. I hear they give free nonalcoholic champagne and your choice of either nacho chips or chocolates with every wedding.”

  Melinda put out a hand to steady herself, curling her fingers around a bedpost. “You’re joking.”

  “Nope.” Jake looked at his ex-wife like a prosecuting attorney facing a hostile witness. “It’s
obviously what you want, so let’s just do it.”

  “I want to be married again,” Melinda sputtered as red blotches moved across her white face. She tilted her head back, said in a low, throaty tone, “But not like that.”

  “Why not, if it’s best for Alex?” Jake prodded with a speculative smile. “You can move in and start cooking and taking care of Alex and me immediately. I gotta tell you, I really could use some help with those pets. They, along with Alex, are a handful.”

  Melinda swallowed and looked about to protest. Jake was sure she was going to cry uncle. The next thing he knew Melinda was in his arms, trailing wet, passionate kisses along his neck, then his jaw, toward his lips. Not about to let her kiss him on the mouth—no matter what she was up to now—he caught her by the arms, drew her back. And just as suddenly, felt a hand at his back, closing around the material of his tuxedo jacket.

  “That will be quite enough,” a man’s low voice growled fiercely in his ear.

  Melinda gasped. The lack of real surprise in her eyes told Jake this was exactly what his ex-wife had been wanting all along. She turned to the interloper, a hand splayed across her chest. “How dare you!”

  Jake turned, to see the man Kelsey had identified as the mysterious Rick.

  “You had your chance with her, cowboy,” Rick told Jake calmly but furiously. “You will not get another one.”

  Like the heroine in some B movie, Melinda placed herself in front of Jake. She spread her arms wide on either side of him, and squared off with the handsome stranger. “That, Riccardo, is not for you to say.”

  Riccardo took Melinda into his arms. “Isn’t it, darling?” he said in perfect English.

  “Who the hell are you?” Jake demanded, annoyed beyond belief. And what was this guy’s connection to Melinda? Why was he here at Jake’s parents’ summer ranch?

  Riccardo let go of the preening Melinda to introduce himself and shake Jake’s hand. “Forgive me. I am Count Riccardo della Gherardesca—”

  “From Italy,” Jake guessed, beginning finally to put it all together.