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

by Thacker, Cathy Gillen

  Jake shot Alex a look, hoping to get out of it, only to find she agreed with Jenna. “Daddy, my animals have feelings, too,” Alex reminded Jake solemnly.

  “Okay,” Jake conceded somewhat reluctantly, sliding his lower lip out again in a childish pout. He sighed dramatically, slumped his shoulders comically and stuck his hands in the pockets of his pants. “I guess I can be polite.”

  “That’s the spirit!” Jenna said. With Alex’s help, Jenna demonstrated how to get through an introduction. Once again, Jake goofed up at every turn, but with Jenna and Alex’s tutoring he finally got it right, meeting all her animals one by one.

  Alex and Jenna clapped energetically when he was finished. “Now we can eat,” Jenna said.

  “But you gotta use your napkin, Daddy, and say please and thank you,” Alex warned as Jake held out her chair and she slid into it. “This is a tea party, after all, so we gotta use all our table manners.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” Jake tapped two fingers against the brim of his top hat in a dutiful salute. He helped Jenna sit, too, before joining them at the child-sized table. “I sure am glad I’ve got you two ladies to help make a gentleman out of me,” Jake confided seriously.

  Alex studied Jake, just as solemnly. “That’s okay, Daddy, you learn quick.”

  If only, Jenna thought, all their problems were so easily fixed.

  THEY HAD JUST carried the tea-party dishes downstairs to the kitchen when the phone rang. Still glowing from the success of their tea-party etiquette lesson, Jake picked up the phone. “Hi, Meg. How are you?” He listened intently. “I don’t know. I’ll ask.” He pressed the receiver against his shoulder and turned to Alex. “Jeremy’s mom said Jeremy can have a sleepover tonight and he wants you to come. Have supper. Go see the new Disney movie with the two of them. And then spend the night. What do you think? You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

  Alex grinned at Jake as if he were being ridiculous and said quickly, “I want to.”

  Jake hunkered down so he and Alex were at eye level. “You’re sure? You’ve never done this before. Spent the night elsewhere. I mean, except for Grandma and Grandpa’s, and that’s really not the same because—”

  “Daddy, I’ll be fine,” Alex interrupted, rolling her eyes. She tugged on his sleeve. “Tell Jeremy’s mom that I can come, ’kay?”

  “You sure this won’t make you too tired? You still have to go to the party at Grandma and Grandpa’s ranch tomorrow night.”

  “I’ll be fine!”

  Reluctantly, Jake put the receiver back against his ear. “Meg, Alex wants to come. What time do you need her there? Does she need to bring a sleeping bag? See you soon.” He hung up. “Jeremy has twin beds in his room.”

  Alex beamed her excitement. “I know, and they’re both shaped like race cars. They’re really neat. Don’t worry, Daddy. It’s going to be fun. Jeremy’s really nice and so is his mom.”

  They’d certainly won Alex’s heart, Jake thought. “I’ll help you pack a bag.”

  Half an hour later, after numerous emotional goodbyes to Buster and Miss Kitty, Alex was ready to go. Jenna and Jake drove her into town and over to Meg’s. “If you change your mind and want to come home, you can call me at any time,” Jake said as he knelt to kiss Alex goodbye.

  “Okay, Daddy, but I won’t want to.” Alex gave Jake one last hug, then ran off with Jeremy to the toy car and truck village he had already set up in the living room.

  “First time for an overnight?” Meg asked, sizing up Jake.

  Jake ran the flat of his hand along his jaw, said ruefully, “I guess it shows?”

  “A little,” Meg grinned, commiserating, one single parent to another. “You can call her here anytime and see how she’s doing if it will make you feel any better.”

  “Thanks.” Jake smiled, relieved. “I just might take you up on that.”

  Meg walked them to the door. “The two of you can also come over for Saturday-morning brunch tomorrow, with the kids. Say around ten? Dani and Beau and Kelsey are supposed to be here, too.”

  “Sounds good,” Jake nodded. If he was going to be close to Jenna, he needed to be close to her family, too.

  “For me, too.” Jenna smiled.

  Jake thanked Meg for her hospitality, they chatted a little more, then Jake and Jenna walked out to the car, a little stunned to find themselves free to just be with each other for the second night in a row.

  “You still look a little shell-shocked,” Jenna teased.

  And with good reason, Jake thought, turning to Jenna as he climbed into the driver’s seat of his truck. “It’s the first time in years I’ve been absolutely free of parental responsibilities for the whole night,” Jake said, amazed. “Even when I traveled, I either took Alex and Clara with me, or made sure I was back in time to tuck her in that night. If she spent the night with my folks, I was there, too.”

  Jenna shot Jake an ironical glance. “Don’t know what to do with yourself, hmm?” she teased.

  Grinning, Jake turned to Jenna. He loved the sound of her voice, so soft and low and sexy. In a sleeveless sky-blue blouse and long matching skirt that brought out the blue of her eyes, with the evening sun turning her hair to shimmering fire, she had never looked more beautiful than she did at that very moment. Or more self-possessed. He wanted her more than any business deal, any personal achievement, he’d ever had. Not just in his bed, but in his life. “Oh, I’ve got a few ideas,” he said.

  Chapter Seven

  “Such as?” Jenna asked as her heart took on a slow, heavy beat.

  Jake smiled at Jenna and looked into her eyes. “We’ve been so busy with my problems we haven’t had much chance to talk about the expansion of your business. With Alex otherwise occupied, it’s the perfect time.”

  Jenna did her best to hide her disappointment. She ought to be happy Jake was looking out for her best interests instead of disappointed that he hadn’t suggested an evening of pure romance. Instead she just felt crushed. But not wanting him to know it, Jenna glanced over at the house next door to Meg’s, which was now sporting a Sold sign on the front lawn. She wondered who had bought it. She supposed they would all find out soon enough. “There’s not much we can do until I actually develop a line of clothes,” Jenna pointed out as he backed out of the drive.

  “I disagree.” Jake turned his car onto the street and continued defending his position like the consummate businessman he was. “Now is the perfect time to pinpoint which department stores you’d like to pitch your clothing line to. I’ve got the figures back at the ranch. If you want to go back there with me, we could go over them tonight.”

  Jenna felt herself flush with an inner warmth and a private disappointment she could not contain. She had told Jake she had reservations about the two of them getting back together again—so very quickly. Of course, she hadn’t really wanted him to stop chasing her. But, having apparently taken her pleas to slow down to heart, he was backing off.

  “Sure,” Jenna forced a smile, telling herself Jake was only giving her what she’d said she wanted. “If you don’t mind talking while I sew,” she continued. “I need to finish the alphabet dress for Alex. Given her hatred of all things frilly and feminine, the alphabet dress may be the only jumper we can get her into tomorrow night. Fortunately, everything I need to finish it is already back at the ranch.”

  “Tell you what,” Jake suggested as they drove through the peaceful city streets of Laramie. “I’ll cook dinner while you sew.”

  Jenna tore her eyes from the neatly kept houses and turned her attention back to Jake. “You can cook more than just scrambled eggs, the single man’s staple?” she asked in surprise, her gaze dropping to the strong column of his throat and the crisp curling hair visible in the open collar of his shirt. When she’d known him he’d been lucky to know how to open a box of cereal.

  Jake paused at a four-way stop and turned to give her a slow, thoughtful once-over. “You’d be surprised the things I know how to do now. I’m a prett
y handy guy.”

  Trying hard not to be affected by the sudden intimacy of the situation, Jenna surveyed Jake. With his sport coat off, the first two buttons on his shirt undone, he radiated all the power and casual sexiness of a legendary hero. Unbidden, all sorts of romantic thoughts and fantasies came to mind. With effort, Jenna pushed them away. “Handy as in good with your hands, or handy as in you can actually fix things?” she teased.

  He reached over to stroke her cheekbone with his thumb. “Har de har har.” He favored her with a slow, sensual smile. “Steak, salad and baked potato sound good to you?”

  Jenna shifted backward ever so slightly. Heat centered in her chest and then began to move outward in radiating waves. “Sounds great.” They could make this a casual evening. They could spend time together alone and work on business. And on their friendship. Just the way she wanted, and nothing more. All she had to do was forget the overwhelming sexiness of his kiss and touch—the fact that the side of her that still longed to be held was still very much there for Jake—and concentrate on building a rock-solid foundation of mutual interests, friendship and caring that would support their relationship for a long time to come, even if their romance faded. It could be done, Jenna told herself firmly. By golly, it would be done. Jake was fast becoming too important a part of her life to lose again.

  They stopped by the grocery store on the way out of town, picked up a couple of steaks and the makings for a salad, as well as two nice plump baking potatoes and all the fixings, then headed back to the ranch. Because Jake wanted company while he cooked, Jenna brought her sewing machine down to the kitchen, set it up on the desk built into the wall, and got down to work while Jake scrubbed the potatoes and put them in the oven to bake. He had the steaks marinating and was halfway through with the salad when he began to mutter beneath his breath.

  Catching the tense note of annoyance in his voice, Jenna looked up from the seam she was stitching. “What’s the matter?”

  Frowning, Jake pushed the kitchen faucet handle up, right, and left. To no avail. He was one hundred percent frustrated male. “There’s no water.”

  Jenna’s brows knit together in surprise. “Not any?”

  Jake demonstrated again, more aggressively. The faucet rumbled and spurted and made all sorts of hideous noises. Nothing came out. “Maybe you lost all water to the house,” Jenna suggested.

  “One way to see.” Jake strode off. He returned a second later. “We’ve got plenty of water in the guest bathroom. The problem is obviously in the faucet here.”

  Jenna felt for him—she hated it when she had problems of this nature at either her apartment or her shop. They were just so darn inconvenient and annoying. “You could call a plumber,” Jenna suggested.

  Jake glanced at his watch, noting it was already well after six. “It’s Friday night. I’ll just fix it myself.”

  Alarm bells sounded in Jenna’s head. Jake excelled at many things. As far as she knew, plumbing was not one of them. “Jake—” She’d hate to have their evening—and their dinner—ruined by some domestic disaster.

  “How hard can it be?” Jake asked, already opening up the cabinet beneath the sink and taking things out. He shot a look over his shoulder, caught the expression on Jenna’s face. “Will you have a little faith?” he chided, already heading out to the garage.

  Unable to shake her feeling of impending disaster, Jenna wrinkled her nose comically and muttered beneath her breath, “There’s a difference between faith and common sense.”

  Jake trotted back, toolbox in hand. “I heard that!”

  Jenna shot a skeptical glance at the wrench and pair of pliers he was taking out of the case. Mercy. This looked like a disaster waiting to happen. And Jake was too foolish—or self-confident—to see it. Taking a break from sewing for the moment, Jenna rested her chin on her upraised hand. Sighed. “I was hoping you’d take a hint.”

  “Nope,” Jake said cheerfully. “But I will take a helping hand.”

  Jenna edged closer, trying hard not to let on what his low, sexy voice did to her. Her insides did not turn to mush just listening to him! If she was feeling a little funny, it was not because she was now standing so close to him, it was because she was almost afraid to see what was going to happen next. She wrung her hands anxiously. “You’re really not going to try and take that apart, are you?”

  Jake moved the salad fixings and steaks out of the way and, using both wrench and pliers, went to work on the end of the spigot. “I’m just going to take off the little thingamajig here on the end. There’s a filter screen in there. Maybe it just needs to be cleaned.”

  “I don’t think filters get clogged up that fast, Jake. A clogged filter is a gradual thing.”

  “Unless there’s a big hunk of sediment in there, totally blocking it.” Catching her incredulous look, he insisted, “It could happen.”

  “Uh-huh.” Jenna wished she could think about something else besides kissing Jake when they were this close. “Maybe you should turn the water off under the sink first.”

  “Then how would I know if the water was getting through?” Jake struggled some more, to no avail. “This darn thing is stuck. Give me a hand here, would you?”

  Jenna elbowed in, even closer. She’d thought—hoped—the two of them could be just friends. At least for a while. But she was beginning to see that was going to be much harder than she thought. Every time she was around him like this, she was reminded how good it had been between them, how happy he had made her when they were together. And then she would start wanting, and needing him, all over again. And she knew what a trap that was! Because if she let herself need Jake, and then things didn’t work out—again—she would be devastated.

  Aware Jake was still waiting for her to help him out, she said, “What do you want me to do?”

  “Just hold the pliers steady while I—” He grimaced and put his weight into turning the wrench. All he succeeded in doing was scraping the chrome coating off the end of the faucet, revealing bare brass underneath.

  Jake muttered something she was just as glad not to be able to decipher, then stood back with a frown. Bracing both hands on his waist, he stared at the faucet in total frustration. “I don’t know why this thing is not coming off.”

  Reminded of her father behaving pretty much the same way when confronted with something manly he knew nothing about, Jenna shrugged. “Maybe it’s not supposed to come off.”

  Jake scowled. “The end always comes off. You can see the seam between the two parts right here.” Jake traced it with his fingertip, showing her what he meant.

  Turning her attention from the gentle stroking of his fingertip, Jenna shrugged her shoulders helplessly. “Then maybe we’re turning it the wrong way.”

  “Right.” Jake gave her a sardonic look.

  “At least try it the other way,” Jenna persisted.

  Jake sighed as if he had never heard such a lamebrained suggestion. Nevertheless, to humor her, he readjusted the wrench while she continued to hold the pliers steady. “See?” he said. “It’s not—wait a minute—it is loosening. You were right. We were turning it the wrong way.”

  Remembering how her mother had handled such situations, Jenna suppressed the desire to roll her eyes and said, “Anyone could have gotten confused.”

  He looked at her.

  “It was a simple mistake,” Jenna continued.

  When that attempt at diffusing the situation failed, Jenna fell silent.

  Jake finished unscrewing the end. It came off in two pieces in his palm. One was a screen, the other an end cap with a hole in it for the water to stream out. There was nothing at all blocking either piece. “So much for that theory,” Jenna said.

  Jake merely scowled, put his head underneath the faucet, and looked up at the inside. “Anything blocking that?” Jenna asked, by now almost hoping something was blocking it, so he could fix it, feel victorious, and go back to preparing dinner.

  “Nope. Not that I can see.” Jake tried the fauc
et again. To their mutual dismay, not so much as a drip of water came out.

  “We should call the plumber,” Jenna said.

  Jake turned the faucet on-off, on-off, on-off. Still nothing. “I don’t understand this.” He glared at the faucet, determined to emerge the victor. “It was working just a minute ago.”

  “Let’s just put the filter and screen back together and put the thingamajig back on,” Jenna said. Gingerly, working around and beneath his outstretched arm, she tried to put the end of the faucet back together before something really bad happened.

  Ignoring her swift and timely declaration of defeat, Jake kept turning the faucet on and off. “Maybe there’s something stuck in the pipe,” he said as the pipes behind the sink wall continued to make funny gurgling sounds. “Maybe if I do this enough the water pressure in there will force out whatever’s clogging it.”

  “And maybe,” Jenna said, as Jake kept up his on-off approach and the water pipes gurgled and hissed all the louder, “all we’ll really end up doing is making the problem worse.”

  “How can it be worse?” Jake countered. “We don’t have any water in here now.”

  Prophetic words. And as it happened, so untrue, as the water rushed through the pipes with all the force of a breaking dam, spurting out the sides of the loose thingamajig and right up into their chests and faces. Jenna screamed and put up a hand to shield her face even as she tried to hold on to the end-cap of the faucet, lest it be washed down the sink and into the disposal. “Turn it off!” she yelled.

  “I’m trying!” Jake shouted back. Frantically he moved the handle of the faucet up and down. To their mutual dismay, his actions had no effect whatsoever. He dropped to his knees and yanked open the cabinet doors. It took several more minutes of muttering and fumbling, but finally he located the shut-off valve. Seconds later, the water stopped. Jake popped back up. He took one look at Jenna’s drenched face, hair and clothes and began to laugh. “I told you there was water in there,” he said.