“Your feelings are valid.” He watched as she took a bite of ice cream. Good sign. “And believe me, I want you to feel good about me seeing Dara.”
Leslie scowled. “How can I even go to work now?”
“It’s your job and you’re going to be responsible about it.” Jack held his daughter’s gaze. “You’ve got to learn that in this world, and that includes the fact that we’re not always happy with the people we work with or the situation we’re in when it comes to a job,” he said quietly, but forcefully. “You know Dara’s a good person and good to work for. Just because I’m seeing her doesn’t change that.”
His daughter stared at her ice cream and didn’t reply, just took another bite.
He ate a spoonful of butter pecan as he waited for her to respond. Max had just about downed his whole pint.
Leslie finally raised her eyes and looked at Jack. “I don’t like it, Dad. I don’t want you seeing anyone.”
“I understand that, gumdrop.” He purposefully hadn’t used his nickname for her when she had been full-throttle angry. “You’ve always liked Dara, and you’ve known her your whole life. She’s your Aunt Bailey’s best friend.”
“That was before you went out with her,” Leslie whispered.
“I like Dara a lot,” Jack said. “I want you to like her as you always have. She’s the same Dara you’ve always known. I’m just going to be dating her now. Okay?”
Leslie’s throat worked as she swallowed. “I don’t have to like it.”
“That’s true,” he said. “But think about all I’ve said.”
Instead of answering, she ate another spoonful.
She looked so dejected and sad that it tore at Jack’s heart. He didn’t want to hurt his little girl, but he knew that he couldn’t let his children rule his life. They would just have to work this out.
“We’re the McBride team and we always stick together, right?” Jack said.
Max nodded. “Yup.”
Leslie sighed. “Yeah.”
Jack stood and went to his daughter’s chair and waited for her to stand. When she was up, he wrapped her in his arms and gave her a bear hug. “I love you, gumdrop,” he said quietly.
“I love you, too, Dad.” Leslie buried her face against his shirt. He rubbed his daughter’s back until she raised her head and took a small step back. “Can I do my homework now?”
“Put away your ice cream and then you can go,” he said.
Leslie pushed the lid back on and put the pint into the freezer. She grabbed her backpack and headed for her room.
Max had been watching the whole exchange with interest. “Girls,” he finally said when Leslie was out of the room.
Jack smiled. “Just wait until you have more in your life. A girlfriend, then a wife, maybe even a daughter.”
Max grinned. “And a stepmom.”
Jack hadn’t thought that far ahead. Dara being a stepmom to his kids?
He liked that idea. Liked it a hell of a lot.
Mrs. Elsie Hammerschmidt showed up early Sunday morning like clockwork. She knocked on the glass Arcadia door, the rear entrance to the house.
The elderly woman shared the backyard fence with Dara, and she liked to stroll across Dara’s yard when she visited.
Dara opened the sliding glass door. “Hi, Mrs. Hammerschmidt. Coffee is percolating now.”
“Smells wonderful.” The older woman spoke in a heavy German accent. “Love looks good on you, dear.”
Dara had to process the comment as she took the woman’s arm and helped her over the threshold. “I’m not—where did you get that idea?”
Mrs. Hammerschmidt shrugged her frail shawl-covered shoulders. “I saw that McBride boy with you yesterday. How could I not have known?”
Dara thought about telling her friend that she wasn’t in love with Jack McBride, but would that be the truth?
She also wondered what Jack would think about being called that McBride boy. He’d probably laugh.
“When did you see Jack?” Dara asked.
“I went for a walk.” The woman patted Dara’s hand. “Do you forget my daily walks?”
“I didn’t see you.” Dara scrunched her brows. “I didn’t know you walk so late at night.”
“Sometimes, when I have a lot on my mind,” Mrs. Hammerschmidt replied. “It is interesting what one will see after dark.”
“Is it safe for you to be out alone at night?” Dara frowned. “You could fall or something and no one would see you.”
“I am fine, young lady.” Mrs. Hammerschmidt said it in a way that meant there would be no arguing about it.
Dara could see it wouldn’t do any good to continue pressing her point right now. She’d just have to work on her friend later.
“I have Mandelhörnchen today.” Dara walked beside Mrs. Hammerschmidt. “I bought the almond horns at Sweet Things Bakery first thing this morning.”
The lady leaned on her cane with every small step she took. “You know how to make my day.”
Dara smiled and nodded in the direction of the kitchen table. “Your favorite seat has been waiting for you all morning.”
The woman’s body trembled as she slowly lowered herself into her chair.
Dara poured two cups of German coffee. She’d started buying it after her friend began coming over for coffee every Sunday. After two years, Dara was officially addicted to the roast.
She set a plate of four almond horns on the table before she served the coffee, along with cream and sugar. Mrs. Hammerschmidt enjoyed copious helpings of both. Not to mention a little something extra.
From beneath her shawl, she produced a small flask. “Would you like rum today?”
Dara shook her head and smiled, and replied the same way she did every Sunday morning. “No thank you, Mrs. Hammerschmidt. Too early for me.”
The elderly lady poured a liberal amount of rum into her coffee, stirred it with a spoon, and brought it to her nose. She audibly inhaled. “Ahhh,” she said. “Nothing like the smell of coffee.” She took a sip before putting an almond horn on her plate. “And a good Mandelhörnchen to go with it.”
As always, Dara enjoyed the hour with Mrs. Hammerschmidt. She was fun to be around, a lady with a sharp wit.
She also had a bit of a sharp tongue when talking about the neighborhood boys on her street. They made far too much noise with their loud cars and louder voices.
Lately, she had also not been pleased by the amount of noise her next-door neighbors were making. They worked on remodeling their home early in the morning and late at night, during the hours when they weren’t working their day jobs.
“People should be allowed to sleep in every morning and have quiet evenings,” she said with a deep frown.
After two almond horns and two cups of coffee loaded with sugar, cream, and rum, Mrs. Hammerschmidt tucked her flask away. “Thank you for the coffee and company, young lady.”
“The hour you visit me always goes by too quickly.” Dara walked with elderly woman to the back entrance and opened the sliding glass doors for her. “See you next Sunday.”
Dara smiled as she watched her friend totter across the grass to the gate between their yards. After the elderly woman had started visiting, Dara had replaced the once rusty latch and the hinges so the gate worked easily.
The thought of her friend walking out late at night caused Dara to frown. Mrs. Hammerschmidt was an elderly woman and if she was out walking, it should be during the daylight hours so that she could be seen if she fell.
They lived in a nice area, so Dara wasn’t too worried about that. Although what if danger came from outside of their quiet neighborhood?
Dara locked the Arcadia doors and returned to the kitchen to clean and put away the dishes.
The interlude had helped keep Dara’s mind off of Jack. Not completely, but at least he wasn’t all she was thinking about.
However, Dara had a hard time focusing now that Mrs. Hammerschmidt had left, so she cleaned her house. Not her favor
ite task, but one that needed to be done. She’d been glad it had looked decent when Jack was here, but she would have preferred it to be spotless.
Not all this dust.
She started out listening to an audiobook as she cleaned, but couldn’t concentrate on the plot or the action thanks to her mind constantly returning to Jack.
What an amazing night she’d had with him. She wondered what he and his kids were doing right now.
Had Jack told them?
Would he call her later today?
She scrubbed the bathrooms, cleaned the kitchen, then mopped the tile in the kitchen and bathrooms.
It was now eleven, and after she ate a quick lunch she would tackle the curios in the living room.
She plopped down in a leather recliner, then knew it had been a mistake. Her tired muscles didn’t want to move again. She looked at the dust everywhere and knew she couldn’t stop yet. The curio cabinets especially needed to be wiped down thanks to a too-heavy layer of dust.
The treasures in her curios came from just about every place she’d traveled. She’d added a small carved wooden pineapple from her vacation to Hawaii with her two best friends a little over a year ago.
At the thought of Charlee and Bailey, a warm flush stole over Dara. She’d have to tell them that she was seeing Jack. Yesterday morning she hadn’t wanted to talk to them about it because Jack was Bailey’s big brother, and Dara hadn’t known if they were headed into a relationship. It had been too soon.
Funny how things changed in a flash.
Dara’s phone rang in her pocket. Can it be Jack?
Her heart beat faster as she slipped the cell out and looked at the screen.
Charlee.
The moment of truth had arrived faster than Dara had wanted it to.
Dara answered. “Hi, Charlee.”
“Good morning.” Charlee sounded bright and cheerful. “We need to start an exercise program. I was thinking about walks around one of the parks three or four times a week for starters.”
“That’s a good idea.” Dara plopped on her sofa and curled her legs under her. “What’s the plan?”
Charlee spoke with a smile in her voice. “We’ll walk early mornings or late afternoons. Your call.”
Dara couldn’t help but smile at her friend’s enthusiasm. “I think early mornings would be the best, before I go to the ranch. Six-thirty work for you?”
“Perfect,” Charlee said. “How about a walk this afternoon to start things off, and then we’ll switch to early mornings on Monday? I guess that’s tomorrow.”
“I have a few more Sunday chores, so pick me up at two,” Dara said. “We’ll hike that one-mile loop trail at Acker Park. We can work our way up to longer trails at the other parks.”
“Deal,” Charlee said.
Dara grinned. “A pastry at Sweet Things after.”
A girl could not have too many pastries at their favorite bakery.
“Awesome.” Charlee laughed. “We’ll work off the calories before we indulge. I’ll get to your house by two.”
“See you then.” Dara disconnected the call and shoved the phone into her front pocket.
Dara smiled at the thought of getting together with her friend today—although her body might protest after her cleaning spree.
She looked forward to spending time with Charlee, but on the other side of the coin, she didn’t know what to expect when she told her friend about dating Jack.
Dara sighed. She’d find out soon enough. The hardest part of the whole telling-friends-everything was that she’d have to tell Bailey she was dating her older brother.
She had a couple of hours to clean the house and eat a sandwich before Charlee picked her up.
Chapter Six
After she’d finished cleaning and had taken a shower, Dara threw on a pair of forest green sweatpants and an orange T-Shirt. She pulled on her athletic shoes and laced them up before she brought her hair back into a ponytail and grabbed her gray zip-up hoodie.
She looked out the front window and saw Charlee driving up in her red Mustang convertible, the top down. Dara shoved her keys in one of her sweatpants pockets, and a small wallet with her ID, credit card, and a twenty, in her other pocket.
Dara locked the door behind her and jogged down the stairs, her long ponytail swinging. Her sore muscles protested from all the cleaning, but she looked forward to the walk.
It might not be easy to start off with, but it would be good to talk about Jack with Charlee.
“Hi, girl.” Dara opened the door and climbed into the Mustang.
“It feels like forever since we’ve been together,” Charlee said.
“Yeah.” Dara nodded with her most serious expression. “Goodness, I think it’s been a whole week.”
Charlee laughed. “Buckle up.”
Inevitably, Dara found herself hanging on to whatever was closest to her when Charlee drove. The girl was a speed demon. It was a wonder she didn’t have a glove box full of speeding tickets and a warrant out for her arrest.
In no time, they arrived at Acker Park on Virginia Street, near downtown Prescott. The park was a good eighty acres of natural parkland.
After parking, they headed to the entrance of the one-mile Loop Trail.
“Smells so good out here.” Charlee took a deep, audible breath. She smiled at Dara. “Thanks for walking with me.”
“What are best friends for?” Dara asked. “Unfortunately, now that Bailey’s moved to Montana, we can’t rope her into it, too.”
“That girl is so physically fit, a hard walk for us would be a causal stroll for her.”
Dara nodded her agreement. “Sooo true.” She looked at her friend who’s streaky-blonde hair shone beneath the afternoon sun, and her matching two-piece jogging suit that looked perfect on her slender figure. “You look really good, Charlee.”
“Thanks.” Charlee smiled.
Charlee had come a long way from the girl who had lived in her outgoing, popular, former model sister’s shadow. Charlee loved her big sister Jo to pieces, but she’d never really had a chance to shine on her own until the past few years.
Far worse than that, was the man who had used Charlee to try to get to her inheritance back when she was in her early twenties. The man had attempted to kill Charlee’s sister to keep her out of the way.
Over the past few years, Charlee had blossomed. She had come into her inheritance about four years ago, and now owned the salon she used to work at, plus one other. Her salons were successful thanks to Charlee’s business and people skills.
“What are you thinking about?” Charlee asked as they walked. “You’re being quiet, and you’re never quiet.”
“I was just thinking about how much you’ve blossomed over the past few years.” Dara smiled at her petite friend. “You’ve come a long way, baby.”
Charlee grinned. “I know there’s something else you’re not telling me.”
“You’re right.” Dara bit her lower lip as she tried to find the words to say. “I’m seeing Bailey’s brother, Jack,” she blurted out.
Charlee came to a complete stop, her eyes wide. “You’re screwing with me.”
Dara halted beside her. “Uh, no.”
Charlee’s brow creased like she was trying to absorb what Dara had just told her. “You’re. Seeing. Jack. McBride.”
“Yup.” Relief had settled on Dara’s shoulders by telling Charlee about her and Jack.
“When did this happen?” Charlee was shaking her head as if rattling the thoughts in her brain. “How could you not tell me and Bailey?”
“Come on.” Dara inclined her head to the trail. “Let’s walk while I tell you everything.”
“Okay.” Charlee put her hand on Dara’s arm. “Tell me the story and I’ll be appropriately excited for you after. Right now I’m trying to wrap my mind around it.”
Dara laughed as they fell into step together. “It happened pretty sudden and unexpectedly. Earlier this past week, Jack stopped to pick up Leslie f
rom Special Dreams Ranch. Jack and I talked for some time because Leslie was taking care of some tasks that had gone late. While we were chatting, Jack asked me out.”
“Just this week?” Charlee asked. “And you’re already dating?”
“Yes.” Dara shrugged. “We met for happy hour and had such a great time we watched a movie at my house.”
Charlee’s eyes grew even wider and she put her hand over her mouth.
“No.” Dara shook her head. “We didn’t do anything more than kiss. Not even heavy petting. Just amazing, wonderful kisses.”
Charlee looked like she didn’t know what to think. “You talked about seeing each other again.”
“We had a conversation that I’ve never had with a man before,” Dara said. “We put it all out on the table, that we’re interested in each other and want to take this relationship farther.”
She went on. “I know it happened really fast, but I’ve known Jack freaking forever and I know the kind of man he is. Honestly, I’ve never looked at him the way I am now, but I always trusted him and cared about him. He’s a man who’s honest, has integrity, and cares about those he loves and cares for.”
“Wow.” Charlee was grinning now. “This is freaking amazing and wonderful.” She stopped them on the trail again and grasped Dara’s forearm. Charlee threw her arms around Dara and hugged her. “I am so happy. So, so, so happy for you. You deserve a man like Jack, and he just might deserve you as well.”
Dara hugged Charlee in return. “Thank you. I wanted to tell you and Bailey, but Jack and I weren’t dating then. We were just going out to happy hour and I didn’t want to say anything until I knew whether or not it could turn out to be more than that.”
“I get it.” Charlee released Dara. “Oh. My. God, but Bailey’s gonna flip.”
Dara hesitated. “Do you think she’ll be okay with it?”
Charlee rolled her eyes. “Of course she will be. She’s going to be psyched to have you as a sister-in-law.”
“Whoa.” Dara put her hands up. “Slow down, sister. Jack and I are dating, not contemplating marriage.”
Wild for You Page 6
