Wanted: One Mommy

by Cathy Gillen Thacker

  “It’s okay.” Caroline lifted a palm before Patrice could correct her granddaughter. “I can’t think of any two ‘ladies’ I’d rather have as my flower girls,” Caroline said warmly. Then she added for good measure, “If and when I ever marry. Right now I don’t even have a boyfriend.”

  “My daddy doesn’t have a girlfriend. So maybe you could be his girlfriend and he could be your boyfriend and that way you’d both have one!”

  Caroline chuckled, appreciating the precocious little girl’s logic. “What did you say you want to be when you grow up?” She winked. “A matchmaker, per chance?”

  “A bride and a princess and a cowgirl!” Maddie shouted, then skipped off, spewing flowers, doggie in tow.

  “Sorry about that,” Patrice apologized.

  “I think she’s adorable,” Caroline said, watching the little girl race out into the backyard to play in the gorgeous spring weather. “Jack and you and Dutch are lucky to have her in your lives. And her dog is precious, too.” Caroline didn’t think she had ever seen a pet so utterly devoted to her little mistress.

  Patrice followed the direction of Caroline’s glance, then focused on her expression. “You really want children, don’t you?”

  Unable to suppress her wistfulness, Caroline nodded. “My dream is to one day have a little girl of my own, whether I marry or not. I miss having a mom, having a family, having that special mother-daughter bond…and even if I never marry, I know I can still have that.”

  Patrice nodded, understanding the tick of the biological clock and the fierce yearning to be a mother. “It’s even better,” Patrice said, “when that mother-daughter bond is three-generational.”

  “I can imagine.” Caroline relaxed. “Although I was never lucky enough to have it. My own grandmother was gone by the time I was old enough to have remembered her.”

  Patrice reached over and patted Caroline’s hand with maternal kindness. “That’s a shame. I am sure she would have delighted in you,” Patrice said.

  The older woman’s approval not only meant a lot to Caroline, it radiated in the region of her heart. Maybe because Caroline sensed that Patrice wasn’t one to hand out compliments like that idly.

  The back door opened and Maddie dashed back in. She plopped down on the carpet and began gathering up the silk petals she had left lying in her wake. While she put them back in her wicker flower girl basket, she asked Caroline, “Do you like weddings?”

  “I certainly do. That’s why I plan them.”

  Maddie paused to pet her dog’s golden mane. “My daddy doesn’t like them.”

  Patrice countered gently but firmly, “Your daddy is going to like this one, when he gets used to the idea.”

  So, Caroline thought, Jack’s mother knows the extent of her son’s disapproval…and was carrying on with her own wishes anyway. Good for her.

  Patrice reached over and gently touched Caroline’s arm. She winked, woman to woman, and said so only Caroline could hear, “Don’t worry. He’ll come around.”

  Caroline hoped so. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be the happy day it should be for the Gaines family.

  Before anything else could be said, Jack and Dutch walked in. Jack seemed to know immediately he’d been the topic of conversation. Jack looked from Caroline to Patrice and back again. “What’s going on?” he asked casually.

  “I want you and Caroline to get married!” Maddie declared.

  For a moment, everyone was shocked to the point of speechlessness. “I think what she means is she thinks we each should be married,” Caroline said, deliberately misinterpreting the little girl’s remarks. Her face heating self-consciously, Caroline told Maddie gently, “And before I can be a bride, I have to find someone I could be compatible with, someone who would provide the kind of companionship I’m looking for.”

  “Maybe my daddy can help you find all that!”

  Jack choked in mid-breath. “Maddie!”

  Maddie turned back to her daddy. “That way everyone would be happy.”

  Jack’s face was set in stone. “I don’t have to be married to be happy, Maddie.”

  “But I don’t have a mommy, and if Gram leaves to go on her honeymoon and her trips with Dutch…who’s going to brush my hair and help me put my barrettes in?”

  Caroline could see the talk Jack and Patrice had obviously given Maddie on the subject had not gone well. “We’ll hire a nanny to help us out temporarily, whenever Gram is gone,” Jack said.

  Maddie’s lower lip slid out. “I don’t want a nanny.”

  Jack promptly reassured, “Then we’ll ask a friend.”

  Maddie’s face lit up. “Like Caroline?” she asked eagerly.

  Talk about one-track minds, Caroline thought, all the more embarrassed as the adults in the room stifled bemused laughter.

  “We’ll find someone you like,” Jack promised.

  Maddie crossed her arms in front of her and glared. “I think I’d rather have Caroline.”

  “SORRY ABOUT THAT,” Jack said after his mother and Dutch had taken Maddie into the backyard.

  Caroline looked at Jack sympathetically. There were times, she knew, when being a single parent could be tough. “I gather Maddie didn’t take the news of her grandmother’s impending travels well?”

  Jack went to the fridge and got out two bottles of chilled spring water. “Mom and I talked to her last night. Maddie said she understood what we were telling her but she really didn’t like it.” He exhaled. “I guess she’s worried—about all those things important to little girls, like getting her hair brushed and the placement of her barrettes.”

  Their hands brushed briefly as he handed her the drink. Aware that every time she got near Jack her heartbeat sped up and her senses got sharper, Caroline shrugged and said, “Both are simple things to learn, even for a guy.”

  “You don’t think I need a woman to do that for me?”

  Deciding she had looked into Jack’s eyes far too long, Caroline turned her glance away. “Obviously, you’ll need a regular sitter to watch Maddie after school or during those times when you have to work and she’s not otherwise occupied, when your mom is off exploring the world with Dutch.”

  Promising herself she was not going to fall prey to the attraction simmering between them, she looked into the rugged contours of his handsome face. Calling on her own experience as the child of a single mom, she advised, “But I think it’s better for Maddie if the two of you figure out how to be a team and cope on your own.” They’d be all the stronger for it. “Besides, it’s possible your mother and Dutch won’t stay away all that long.”

  Jack’s mouth flattened into a grim line. “She seems determined.”

  To make a point with you, Caroline thought. That you need a fuller, happier life, too.

  The patio door opened and closed. Dutch and Patrice walked into the kitchen. “Maddie okay?” Jack asked.

  They nodded. “Her friend from next door came over to play,” Patrice said.

  Jack looked at his mother. “I wish you would delay any extensive traveling until Maddie has more time to get used to the idea.”

  Dutch gave Patrice a look that seemed to tell his fiancée to proceed with caution.

  Caroline lauded the older gentleman’s sensitivity to the situation.

  Patrice frowned, then turned back to Jack and continued gently but firmly. “Darling, I know you don’t want to think about it, but none of us are getting any younger, and Dutch and I want to enjoy whatever time we have left to the absolute fullest.”

  Jack was right, Caroline noted. His mother was determined not just to marry, but to expand her horizons again in a positive, healthy way.

  “I’m not trying to deny you a full life,” Jack countered. His brows furrowed in consternation. “But why does it have to be such a big change, so quickly? Why can’t you just take a honeymoon and then plan a couple of short trips, maybe to South Padre Island where Dutch owns all those properties?”

  Jack had a point, too, Caroline thought. T
here was something to be said for not taking on too much change at once. Just getting married was a pretty big step. To change one’s entire lifestyle, too, and be separated from one’s family, could bring on a lot of stress.

  Patrice waived off the suggestion with an airy hand. “Dutch is in the process of selling those.”

  “Why would you want to do that?” Jack asked in surprise.

  With a beleaguered frown, Dutch admitted, “South Padre Island is not the quiet oasis it was when I first began to invest there years ago. These days, the area is overrun with college students looking to party.”

  “Is that the only reason?” Jack asked.

  Clearly irked by the nosy query, Patrice gave Jack a reprimanding glance.

  Dutch, however, seemed to welcome the chance to be more straightforward with his future stepson. “There were other considerations as well, prompting me to make this move.”

  “The hurricane that hit that particular area of the Gulf two years ago,” Jack guessed.

  Dutch nodded. “The losses were catastrophic, even with insurance.”

  Patrice frowned. “Don’t get me started on insurance companies. I thought it was difficult getting them to pay out when your father was ill, Jack, but it’s nothing compared to now.” She shook her head, incensed. “These days, the jackals will deny you coverage at the drop of a hat. They only want to insure the people who demonstrate no risk of causing them to pay out on anything.” Patrice threw up her hands and continued to vent her frustration emotionally. “It doesn’t matter if you want to live at the beach, or you’re sick, or you have one too many fender benders. The companies will deny you coverage. Or if they do deign to cover you, they will charge you such an outrageous amount it’s ridiculous!”

  Caroline knew that was true. Rates for older people increased phenomenally, for health, auto and life, at a time when most saw their incomes diminishing. She knew the business reasons why companies did this. Morally, though, it seemed wrong to take advantage of the older population that way. No wonder Patrice was upset.

  Dutch reached over and took Patrice’s hand in his, simultaneously soothing and silencing his fiancée. Once again, something passed between the two seniors. Perhaps a life experience, Caroline thought, that they did not wish to share. Maybe just the hardship of getting older.

  “In any case,” Dutch went on, “I prefer to sell and get out of the home rental business now so it’s not something I have to worry about later.”

  Jack nodded. “As a businessman, I can understand that. Just as I’m sure you can understand why I want to see you and my mother sign a prenuptial agreement.”

  “We agree,” Patrice said to Jack’s obvious relief.

  “We don’t want any mingling of our individual assets,” Dutch said.

  Patrice nodded. “So we’ve already hired lawyers, one for each of us.”

  “Naturally, if it’ll make you feel better, I’d like you to review all documents prior to signing,” Dutch offered sincerely.

  “I will,” Jack said. “Thank you.”

  Once again, Caroline felt as if she were witnessing a family drama she’d rather not.

  Patrice looked at Caroline. “I meant to tell you. The bakery called to schedule the cake tasting and I set it up for this evening.”

  “Wonderful!” Caroline smiled, happy to be back on track once again. “We can’t get these details wrapped up too soon.”

  “It’s at six-thirty and we’d like you to go,” Patrice continued.

  Caroline smiled. “That’s my job.”

  “And Jack, too,” Patrice added, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

  Not to Jack, however. “Whoa!”

  Patrice exercised her maternal imperative. “Darling, you have to. Dutch and I can’t handle all that rich food at once. Without a proper tasting of all the choices, how else will we know that we’ve selected the right confections for our special day?”

  Caroline pushed aside the sensual image of tasting cake with Jack. This job was beginning to feel far too familiar for comfort. It was up to her to make sure that the boundaries were still in place. “If it would be more comfortable for you, we can go to the bakery at different times and compare notes later,” she told Jack.

  “Sounds like a lot of extra work for all concerned to me,” Patrice commented.

  To Jack, too. He exhaled, the reluctant warrior doing what he had to do, once again. “Of course I’ll go with Caroline,” he said.

  He just did not look happy about it.

  Chapter Five

  “You can stop scowling now,” Caroline said as she and Jack got out of their cars and met on the sidewalk in front of the row of stores on Sundance Square.

  The frown lines on either side of Jack’s lips deepened. He looked like most grooms overwhelmed by wedding details. Only problem was, he wasn’t the groom. Just the person getting stuck with all the decisions, by default.

  Jack shoved his hands in his pockets and strolled down the street of the historic shopping district in downtown Fort Worth. “She’s just doing this to get my goat,” he muttered.

  Caroline had the impression there might be a little payback, too. She fell into step beside him and they headed toward the bakery. “Well, it seems to be working,” she drawled, slanting her head at Jack. Jack was taking part in the planning of his mother’s wedding, whether he wanted to or not. And that had to make Patrice happy.

  Jack’s lips tightened in frustration. “She’s just annoyed because I brought up the need for a prenuptial agreement.”

  “You ought to feel happy about that since they’ve already agreed to get one and let you see it.”

  Jack looked even more disgruntled. “Not necessarily.”

  Caroline furrowed her brow in irritation. Would Jack never give it a rest? “What do you mean?” she asked.

  Jack stopped and leaned against the plate glass window in front of a golf equipment store with Spring Sale banners plastered across the front. He folded his arms across the hard muscles of his chest. “I had a prenup with Vanessa, too. It was her idea.” He paused and looked deep into Caroline’s eyes. “It didn’t guarantee us a happy marriage.”

  “Nothing can do that,” Caroline returned gently. When people got married, they had to hold on to their dreams and jump in with both feet and hope everything turned out all right. Making a lifetime commitment to someone carried with it an enormous risk. A lot of couples took the danger in stride. Others got nervous about failing and called the whole thing off at the last minute. Caroline did not think Dutch and Patrice were part of the latter group. Which meant nothing Jack could do or say would change their minds. Obviously, his inability to protect his mother from potential harm was very frustrating for him. Caroline couldn’t fault Jack for that. She didn’t want to see anyone she cared about hurt, either.

  “So you think Dutch is out to swindle your mother out of her fortune?”

  “He’s selling all his beachfront property. Property,” Jack emphasized, “that he’s held on to for thirty-some years, regardless of how many hurricanes and tropical storms rolled through the area.”

  Caroline admitted that might be worrisome had Dutch not been in the process of retiring from his life’s work. “Dutch intimated it’s become too much to manage at this point in his life.”

  Jack remained suspicious. “You can hire people to do that for you. Dutch knows that.” Jack paused and gave Caroline a steady assessing look that had her pulse jumping. “No, there’s more to it than what Dutch and my mom are saying. I’m not sure how much she knows of what is going on, but one way or another, I am going to find out why Dutch is so intent on rushing my mother into marriage.” Jack resumed walking.

  Caroline raced to catch up and fell in beside him. “They’ve told you. They’re not getting any younger and they want to enjoy whatever time they have left—however many years that turns out to be—together.”

  “There’s more to the story than that.” Undeterred, Jack stopped in front of th
e bakery and held the door for her.

  Acutely aware of him, Caroline swept inside.

  Jericho, the master baker, was waiting for them. He was dressed in his usual white chef’s coat, jeans and boots. A red bandana tied around his head covered all but the ends of his dreadlocks.

  “Hey, sweetie,” Jericho called out to Caroline in his lilting Jamaican-accented voice. “Good to see you.”

  Caroline went forward and gave the six-foot man a big hug. The two of them had started their businesses about the same time. Both operations were taking off. Smiling, Caroline introduced Jack to Jericho.

  “So—” Jericho gestured for the two of them to take a seat at the retro silver-edged counter “—I hear the wedding has a Cinco de Mayo theme.”

  Jack looked pained by yet another of his mother’s decisions. “I know it’s unusual.”

  Jericho had the opposite view. “Sounds fun,” he said. “As well as challenging.”

  Caroline told the baker the preliminary guest list was now topping out at three hundred, the majority of whom were expected to attend. “What would you suggest we do?”

  Jericho brought out a portfolio of his designs and a tray of cake bites to sample. “Depends on how fun you want to go.”

  “Knowing my mother? As fun as possible,” Jack said.

  “That’s the spirit!” Jericho said, choosing to mistake Jack’s grudging participation for enthusiasm. He offered both of them two square-shaped bites of cake. “So…I was thinking…how about a chapel-shaped dulce de leche wedding cake and a sombrero- and serape-shaped devil’s food cake for the groom?”

  “I’m not sure about the flavors, but I think they’ll love the designs,” Caroline said.

  Jack studied the rough sketches Jericho had produced. “They’d be great for a party, but I’m not certain either is appropriate for a wedding.”

  Jack was a linear guy. Caroline supposed she should have expected him to take that view. Still, this wasn’t his wedding, and Dutch and Patrice wanted everything to be fun.

  Caroline opened her mouth to argue the subject with Jack. His cell phone chimed. He looked at the caller ID screen and frowned. “Excuse me. I have to take this.” He walked a little distance away. “Hey, Mom. What’s up?”