“Tell me this isn’t about money and insurance,” he insisted.
Patrice shrugged. “It certainly started out that way.”
Once more, Jack found himself doing a double take.
Patrice leaned back against the cushioned seat and crossed her legs at the knee. “Of course, Dutch didn’t want to get involved with me for that very reason, and I admit, I had a few reservations about becoming emotionally involved with anyone again myself.”
“So we decided to become just friends instead,” Dutch said. “And support each other that way.”
“Which was great, because there was no pressure to move things along and we found we had a lot in common,” Patrice enthused happily.
“The kind of simpatico that comes along all too infrequently in this life,” Dutch said quietly.
“But then, several things happened,” Patrice continued frankly. “Dutch’s insurance plan was about to hit its benefit limit. He couldn’t find another company that would underwrite the potentially enormous costs to contain or cure his illness. And he couldn’t sell his properties on South Padre Island to secure his future and pay for the very latest treatments that way. So, we decided to marry. And before you say anything, Jack—” Patrice held up a warning hand “—this is a real marriage. To do otherwise, and collect money from a company, would be fraud. So Dutch and I knew from the outset that if we were going to do this, it had to be a true union. Which is why we wanted a big wedding with all the pomp and circumstance. Because we knew we needed to make it real for ourselves in every way.”
“Only, a funny thing happened on the way to Ted’s Party Ranch,” Dutch teased.
“As we were going through the wedding preparations, we actually did fall in love,” Patrice said softly.
“Very much in love,” Dutch agreed, squeezing Patrice’s hand.
“But not to worry. We are keeping our prenuptial agreements intact. My money remains mine. Dutch’s remains his. And he won’t even need to use my health insurance if Dutch is accepted into the clinical trial, because then all his expenses will be paid by the researchers.”
Okay, from a business point of view, perhaps even a humane one, this all made a great deal of sense. That didn’t mean Jack was completely okay with it. “I still worry about how hard this will be on you if all doesn’t go as well as you and Dutch hope, with his quest for a return to good health,” Jack said.
Patrice stood and came over to give Jack a hug. She drew back and counseled gently, “Honey, I appreciate the fact you’re trying to protect me. But it just isn’t possible. None of us know what tomorrow is going to bring. The only thing we can count on is the happiness we feel today.”
ONE HUNDRED FEET AWAY, Sela Ramirez nodded at the luxury motor home, then asked Caroline, “What do you think is happening in there?”
“Exactly what you think is happening.” Caroline was almost afraid to imagine the confrontation. She turned to face her sage assistant and predicted sadly, “Jack is revealing all and doing his level best to get his mother and Dutch to call off their wedding.”
Sela did not share Caroline’s heartbreak over the situation. “Jack may not have been duty bound to investigate Dutch—”
Caroline snorted. “You think?”
“But once he did, he had to tell his mother what he found out about her fiancé.”
Caroline paced back and forth anxiously as the prelude music to the wedding continued in the distance. She shook her head in mute disapproval. “I am sure Patrice already knew.” And more, was completely okay with it!
“Well, then—” Sela motioned for the guitars to keep playing, regardless of how long it took to get the actual ceremony under way “—what difference does it make?”
Caroline looked over at the three hundred wedding guests assembled on the lawn, alternately chatting among themselves and looking for the first signs of the wedding party. Caroline frowned. “Have you not noticed how restless the guests are getting?” She couldn’t help but note that the reporter and photographer from Fort Worth magazine were looking at the motor homes, too. And probably, Caroline worried, speculating about the reason behind the delay. None of this was good! “The ceremony should have started fifteen minutes ago!” Caroline fumed.
Looking as pulled together as always in a vibrant red-and-gold dress that fit perfectly with the Cinco de Mayo theme, Sela pronounced seriously, “I think the guests will live, despite the delay.”
Sela came closer, studying the expression on Caroline’s face. “Seriously, why is this so upsetting to you? And don’t tell me it’s the potential damage to your professional reputation, because I don’t buy that for one second. At no time have you ever put your own needs above those of the client. So why are you taking this so personally? Why do you feel that Jack has let you down—when he’s only doing what he feels he has to do?”
Usually Caroline appreciated Sela’s concern, but today it was only aggravating. “He went behind his mother’s back to investigate Dutch!” Just as Caroline’s ex-fiancé had meddled behind hers! Caroline continued miserably. “He’s been trying to manage Patrice’s life for her, without her knowledge or consent.”
“He was trying to protect her. For all Jack knew, in the end he’d have nothing to tell Patrice. I’m sure that was what he was hoping would happen, anyway.”
Caroline couldn’t deny that.
“And frankly,” Sela asserted, “if it were my children, and they thought I wasn’t seeing something clearly and was about to make a huge life-altering mistake, I’d want them to intervene on my behalf, too.”
“Even if they turned out to be wrong in the end?” Caroline asked, rubbing at the tense muscles in the back of her neck. She didn’t know when she had ever felt so depressed and dejected.
“Yes.” Sela leaned toward Caroline, determined to make her point. “And you know why? Because their actions, however misguided, would show me that they love me and that they were willing to follow their convictions, even at the risk I would be angry with them. And they would dare that because they know I love them and would forgive them any frailty.”
Guilt mixed with the resentment deep inside her. “It’s not that easy, not anymore,” Caroline mumbled.
Jack had never come right out and said he loved her, but he had certainly made her feel as if he did! And that had given her the confidence to wish for all the things that she wanted. A good man to love, who would love her back. A little girl to mother. A mom to replace the one she’d lost, the father figure she’d never had. She’d even had an adorable trouble-prone golden retriever to liven up her life! Being part of Jack’s life was the closest she had ever gotten to living the American Dream.
The only problem was, her joy had been based on an expectation that could not last.
Slowly, Caroline released the breath she had been holding and revealed what was in her heart. “It was all so easy, Sela. Falling for Jack, getting to know and love his family, becoming part of his world.” The ache in Caroline’s throat matched the pain in her heart as she reluctantly confessed, “I thought my dreams had finally been realized, that Jack and I had the perfect relationship, the kind that would endure any difficulty that could possibly come our way. Instead, the first real crisis that came along tore us apart and forced me to acknowledge that while the pursuit of happiness is everything to me, it is nothing to Jack. His heart is so guarded, his faith of achieving any kind of ongoing personal fulfillment so low, he’s never going to let me in his life and his heart, not the way I need. It’s going to be his way or nothing at all. And he just expects me to stay silent and understand.”
Sela frowned. “I’m not sure that’s true.”
“He knew how important it was to me to give his mother and Dutch the blissfully happy wedding day they deserve,” Caroline declared. Especially given the fact that Dutch was ill! She pointed to the luxury motor home where Jack, Dutch and Patrice were still sequestered. “And he’s in there right now trying to derail it anyway.”
“
On the strength of his convictions, which in this case do not match yours,” Sela countered with sensitivity and understanding. “Look at it this way. You and I work very hard to create the weddings of people’s dreams. But no matter how hard we try, there is always some glitch. Sometimes it’s big—like that tornado that touched down just west of here on Friday. Other times it’s a little thing, like a box of silverware that went astray. But you and I accept that as part of the job, part of life. The same thing goes for our humanity. Jack is not without flaws. And neither are you. The dream man you are searching for does not exist and you need to think about that before you give up on Jack entirely.”
Caroline pushed aside the suspicion that she was being way too unrealistic in her goals, as a way of protecting her own heart. “What are you saying?” she asked uneasily.
Sela looked her in the eye. “Simply that maybe in this case it’s not Jack you should be looking to change.”
CAROLINE THOUGHT ABOUT what Sela said during the moments before Dutch and Patrice emerged from the motor home, while Jack escorted his mother down the aisle, and as the happy couple said their vows.
By the time the buffet dinner was served, she knew what she had to do. The only problem was, there were still many wedding festivities left to oversee. So Caroline did her job. She kept the buffet tables filled with all sorts of Tex-Mex specialties. Reassured Jericho nothing untoward was going to happen to the cake. And maintained a vigil over Bounder, who was happily off leash and laying next to Maddie’s chair at the kid table.
To her disappointment, Jack didn’t make any attempt to speak to her. Nor was there any indication of whether or not he planned to forgive her. He simply seemed…pensive, too.
Caroline tried not to think what that might mean.
Or worry about the warm spring breeze that seemed to get a little stronger and a little gustier with every minute that passed.
Late afternoon, the skies were still clear.
Which meant the dancing could commence unobstructed on the outdoor dance floor as soon as the toasts were over.
The microphones were turned on and the best man went first, followed by the maid of honor. Several other friends and members of the wedding party jumped in to have their say. Finally, Jack raised his glass and stood. The sudden emotion on his face as he looked to the crowd and then the happy couple brought a lump to Caroline’s throat.
“Courage comes in all forms. Daring to fall in love—” Jack paused to lift his glass to Dutch and Patrice “—is certainly at the top of the list.” His mother smiled as she met his eyes. “Taking on the planning of a huge wedding and making it a dream come true, in just three weeks—” this time Jack paused and held Caroline’s gaze in a way that set her heart pounding “—is certainly another. And then,” Jack continued, grinning mischievously, “there’s agreeing to include a mostly well-behaved family pet in the nuptials.”
Everyone laughed. Bounder had been a total ham as she trotted down the aisle, tail up, flowers spilling out of the cloth basket strapped to her back, a beaming, prancing Maddie tossing blossoms at her side.
“And then there’s a truly remarkable form of courage,” Jack said, his voice sounding a little hoarse. “The type that only the most selfless of us can claim. It’s the kind of courage that has us putting the needs of others ahead of our own. The recognition that life can change in an instant. Sometimes in ways we expect. Other times in a way that is a total surprise. What I’m trying to say…is that love is the only thing that really matters in this world. When you find it, I advise you to hold on to it with all you’ve got.” Jack stopped again and looked straight at Caroline, before turning once again to the happy couple at the bride and groom’s table. “The way Dutch and my mom have. I advise you to follow their example and focus on living every moment to the very fullest. Because all any of us really have for certain, is today. And today—” Jack’s voice caught “—Dutch and Patrice are together. They are here as man and wife, bravely showing us what it is to risk all for the love of another.” Caroline couldn’t be sure, but she thought she saw tears glistening in Jack’s eyes as he finished, more emotionally than ever. “So let’s raise our glasses in toast, and wish the happy couple the love and happiness they have earned.”
“YOU CAN STOP beaming now,” Sela whispered in Caroline’s ear.
“I can’t help it,” Caroline whispered back, feeling a little overcome with emotion herself. She was about to burst into happy tears as a gust of wind blew through the tent, ruffling the hems of tablecloths, threatening for one tense moment to upset the cake. Luckily, Jericho was right there to steady the table it was standing on. And the near-catastrophe was enough of a momentary distraction to allow Caroline to pull herself together. Caroline swallowed and continued in a low, even voice. “Jack did himself proud just now.”
“And you, from the looks of it, given the way you obviously helped get through to him,” Sela teased.
Caroline grinned as another gust of wind swept over the flat, Texas plains, billowing through the tent and whipping up the hems of the tablecloths. Glasses rattled, a few were tossed onto their sides. Champagne spilled, and behind the bride and groom the wedding piñata swung back and forth in a way all too reminiscent of the “leaping deer” it was purported to be. And yet Caroline remained wildly optimistic about the way the rest of the evening would go.
If Jack could change his mind about Dutch and Patrice’s marriage, surely he could find it in his heart to forgive her? At least, Caroline thought, as she quickly moved to secure the wildly swaying piñata, she hoped that was the case.
“Caroline!” Maddie stopped her en route.
Figuring the piñata could wait—this was definitely more important—Caroline knelt down to hug the little girl. Maddie hugged Caroline back just as warmly, then stated happily, “Bounder and I both want to dance with you tonight!”
That was an interesting prospect, Maddie thought, her spirits rising even more.
“Can we?” Maddie persisted.
Caroline envisioned first Maddie standing on her toes as they swayed to the music, then Bounder, or perhaps both of them at the same time, a dog on her right foot, a little girl on her left. Caroline laughed at the mental image, knowing one way or another they’d figure it out. “Sure.”
“Because you know, next time it will be your time to be the bride,” Maddie said. “And we’ve got to practice!”
Caroline flushed. Much as she might dream it, that was getting a little ahead of the game.
Before she could formulate a suitable comeback, however, a third gust of wind swept through the enormous white dinner tent, this one rattling the ceiling of the tent and the poles suspending it, too.
Caroline looked over to see the wedding piñata swinging wildly. She gasped in dismay. Maddie pointed. And Bounder, good dog that she was, leaped up to save the day.
IT WASN’T A RABBIT, JACK thought, but it may as well have been one, for all the havoc it caused.
Bounder jumped to her feet and to the shocked laughter of the guests, raced between the maze of round tables to the long rectangular one that housed the wedding party. Sizing up the situation and “the threat” of her quarry in a millisecond, Bounder reared back on two paws. She leaped with a prima ballerina’s grace, flying through the air and easily clearing the “hurdle” of bride and groom. Still suspended in midair, the golden retriever grabbed the swaying white piñata between her jaws and landed spryly on the ground once more. New gasps of dismay turned to gales of laughter as the dog took off through the opening in the dining tent, taking the candy-filled “deer” along with her.
Caroline was right after Bounder, in hot pursuit.
Waving for everyone else to stay back, Jack ran after Caroline.
His heart racing, he followed the two of them between the rows of chairs where the ceremony had taken place, through another field of brilliantly colored wildflowers, and then back again, to the flower-laced wedding arbor.
Only there, in the safety of
the covered haven, partially shielded from the blowing wind, did Bounder finally sink down, the piñata still in her jaws.
“Bounder, no!” Caroline cried, sinking down beside her.
Too late, Jack noted. The side of the piñata had been ripped open.
“It’s chocolate!” Caroline shouted as Jack reached them, too.
And Bounder could not have chocolate, Jack knew.
Jack reached down and put a hand over Bounder’s snout. “Bounder, no,” he told the golden retriever firmly. “That’s poisonous. Chocolate can kill a dog. You have to let go. Now, Bounder.”
But Bounder, it seemed, didn’t care what the master ordered. She wasn’t budging. She lay, the piñata trapped between her two front paws, and clenched firmly in her jaws.
But at least, Jack thought, sinking down to the grass, too, Bounder wasn’t ingesting any of the candy. And indeed, the golden seemed to have given up the idea of further tearing the deer apart, as long as she could lay there, triumphant in the victory of having saved the wedding party from the “danger” of the wildly swinging piñata.
Caroline looked over at Jack.
Still breathing hard, as out of breath as he, she looked…incredible.
Like all the guests there, Jack noted, Caroline had dressed in clothing appropriate for a “Fifth of May” festival of love, marriage and life.
In her case, that meant an off-the-shoulder white blouse that bared all of her shoulders and most of her arms, and a full rainbow-striped skirt that swung out from her hips in an increasingly wide swirl, ending just below the knee. Her feet were clad in stack-heeled espadrilles that were as sexy as they were practical. She wore no jewelry except for a heart-shaped pendant that swung against her breasts and a pair of hoop earrings. Her copper hair was deliciously tousled. Her cheeks pink from exertion. Her eyes were the same brilliant blue of the wildflowers in the fields all around them. She looked beautiful and vulnerable and strong, and he was more taken with her than ever.
Wanted: One Mommy Page 18