by Lisa Alder
Maybe he wasn’t as through with his past as he claimed.
TEN
Lilah and Jake were late for church.
Christ. Jake wanted to be anywhere but here.
He still wasn’t sure how she had talked him into it. One minute, he’d been planning to go out for a paper. The next, he’d been trussed up, she’d been in another awful dress, this time in white with big puffy cornflower blue flowers buttoned from her neck to her calves, and they were on their way to church.
As they reached the wide-open doors with stained glass, a plump black woman, her face full of life and laughter lines, stepped in front of Lilah. She gave her a giant bear hug that would have crushed the bones of a small child.
Jake stepped back to give them privacy.
“Lilah. I tried to call you last night. How ya doing?”
Before Lilah could answer the woman shoved Lilah’s face against her neck and squeezed her again.
“Rita.” Her voice was muffled. Jake just hoped Lilah could get air, as the woman rocked her back and forth.
“You’ll be okay. It will be okay.”
“Rita.” Lilah managed to escape the woman’s arms, and she was clearly uncomfortable.
“Anytime you need to talk, you just call me, sugar.”
“Thanks. I will.” Lilah laid a hand on Jake’s arm. “Jake, I’d like you to meet my boss, Rita.”
The warning in her eyes was clear. Behave. Like he would do anything else?
“Jake?” Rita narrowed her eyes, the lines in her face nearly swallowed her mistrustful eyes.
Lilah cleared her throat. “Uh, yes. Jake Forrest. His dad used to be the town doctor.”
“Humph.” Rita shoved out her hand and crunched his fingers in a painful grip.
“Rita has been mentoring me. She’s been a huge help.”
“You got good instincts, shug.”
“Thank you.” Lilah beamed with pride at the quick words of praise as if she didn’t receive too much approval. Had she never received any from her family? Jake couldn’t imagine why not. Of course, he hadn’t either.
Rita let go of his hand and Jake resisted the urge to check for broken bones.
“Time will heal the pain.”
Lilah cleared her throat. “Actually, I’ve taken a big step toward that already.”
“Good for you, sugar. I’m sure you’ll be able to use this to help our girls. And someone new will come along, don’ you worry.”
“Rita.” Lilah bit her lip, as if holding in something she didn’t want to come out. “I guess you haven’t seen the paper.”
“What paper?”
“I….”
“Spit it out, sugar. I hear the choir shuffling in.”
At this rate, they’d be here all day. “What Lilah is trying to say, is she found someone new.” Jake threaded his fingers through hers.
Rita stared at them with narrowed eyes.
“We got married on Friday.” Jake hoped the woman bought his smiling act.
All of the sudden she wheezed out a quick laugh. “Oh my Lordy. That was a good one.”
Lilah trembled but smiled tremulously. “He’s not kidding. Jake and I are married.”
“What?” Rita nearly shouted. “You got married?”
Lilah nodded nervously.
Rita’s lips thinned as she stared at their entwined hands. “I hear the organ getting ready to start, we’ll talk later.”
She strode through the doors like a soldier going off to war.
“That went—”
“Yeah. It went,” she said glumly. “I hadn’t had time to work on what I was going to say.”
“The worst part is over.”
She just looked at him. “No, it isn’t.”
“Lilah, how much trouble could this woman cause?”
“She’s the head of the department. She’s very protective of ‘her’ girls, I’m on standard probationary employment for my first year and Rita’s boss is extremely judgmental.”
“Okay. We’ll work it out. Don’t worry.”
The din from inside the sanctuary reached their ears.
“Oh my gosh. It’s loud.” Lilah fell back a step.
Jake could guess what they were talking about. The cardboard notice on the marquee announcing the cancellation of Lilah and Tom’s wedding stuck out. Vividly. “We can go home.”
For an instant, Lilah looked tempted. Then her gaze turned resolute, she squared her shoulders and thrust her breasts forward. “No. We go in.”
She sounded like a general giving orders for a death march. And for her, maybe it was. But he couldn’t let her go in with such a defeated look on her face.
Jake tugged on her hand, and held her back. There was only one way to get her fighting mad. Luckily, it held a lot of appeal.
He brought his other hand up to cup her jaw and bent his head quickly. He jammed a hard kiss on her lips. Lilah pulled away almost instantly. “What are you doing?”
He thought he was going to get that slap he’d tried for yesterday.
“We are in a public place. It’s, it’s indecent.”
“Taking our clothes off in public is indecent, not a quick kiss.”
“We’re in front of a church.” Lilah looked totally scandalized.
He looked around pretending amazement. “So we are.”
Lilah snatched her hand away from his and marched into the church with indignation. Unfortunately for him, indignation took the form of a very sexy sway. But, Jake had anticipated her reaction. With two quick strides he reached her side and smoothly inserted his hand through the crook in her elbow.
“You’re so easy.” He whispered in her ear, then laughed.
She was so annoyed that she didn’t slow her stride as they cruised down the aisle. Jake smiled easily at the guy who handed him a program, ignoring the way his jaw dropped.
“Where do you usually sit?”
“Left side.”
Jake turned, looped his arm around her shoulders, and steered her toward a pew in the front. He waited for her to bite his head off, but when she turned toward him a radiant smile lit her face.
“I just figured out what you did,” she whispered. “Thank you.”
As they walked down the aisle, the crowd quickly hushed. By the time they sat down, the entire sanctuary was silent.
Jake had the craziest urge to kiss her. To touch his lips to hers softly, reverently. But he didn’t. He’d be in big trouble if he did that. Instead, he brushed a stray curl from her cheek. “You’re welcome.”
As if Jake’s gesture released the crowd from their expectant hush, the organ started playing a slow dirge.
Her eyes softened. “You’re a nice guy.”
Jake winced. “Don’t call me nice. It’s bad for my image.”
“Yes. And I remember what happened the last time I used the word nice.” Her eyes were hot.
Jake shifted uncomfortably. “Don’t bring that up right now.”
Her gaze tracked down to the front of his black pants.
“Lilah,” he whispered in warning.
She smiled wickedly and turned toward the front of the church. Jake had accomplished his mission. She’d forgotten all about being self-conscious in front of the gossiping congregation.
With sudden discomfort, Jake realized he’d helped himself too. This was the first time he’d been back in church in fourteen years. He hadn’t come home for his father’s funeral. Most thought he didn’t care, but the truth was, he hadn’t known. He’d been on vacation. His mother hadn’t called him and Tom hadn’t been able to reach him in time.
“Good morning.” Tom stepped up to the pulpit. “Before we get started, I’d like to make a quick apology to everyone for the canceled wedding yesterday.”
A murmur rose from the crowd. Lilah’s shoulders tightened with tension. If looks were daggers, Jake would be lying on the floor bleeding right now. The biggest one came from Peggy sitting a few pews behind them.
Tom looked down a
nd smiled benevolently. Easy for him to do since no one wanted to gut him. Tom spoke again. “There’s been some confusion which I’d like to clear up.”
The murmur rose even louder. Tom held his hands up, asking silently for quiet.
“My ex-fiancée Lilah was gracious enough to say that it was a mutual decision, but the truth is, I changed my mind.”
The room burst into noise. Lilah’s face turned beet red.
Jake bent down to murmur in her ear. “You okay?”
She nodded, a quick, sharp movement, but her hands gripped her ugly purse with white fingers.
“I let Lilah down.”
The congregation’s murmurs got even louder.
Tom held up his hands again. “Even a man of God can have a crisis of faith in himself. So for today’s sermon we will explore learning to trust in what God is telling you. But before we do, I have one joyous announcement to make.”
Jake couldn’t believe Tom would tell this crowd about Marion. They were probably ready to forgive him, he was a minister, after all. But she was a relative newcomer and the congregation would be on her like wolves on a carcass.
“As it turns out,” Tom smiled at the sanctuary. “Lilah—”
Oh crap. Don’t do this buddy. Lilah will hate it.
“Found her own path. Please help me celebrate the marriage of Lilah and Jake. I now introduce, Mr. and Mrs. Jake Forrest.”
Tom started clapping. All by himself. One lone pair of hands, until Marion—gee there’s a surprise—joined in. And then slowly the rest of the crowd began to clap.
Jake curved his arm protectively around her shoulder. His arm held her up, supporting her weight as she sagged a bit. He bent and whispered in her ear, “Buck up. Gossipers are like vultures circling for meat. If you want to protect your job, you’ve got to look like you’re deliriously happy.”
“Thanks, again.” She planted a totally fake smile on her face, waved to the crowd, and leaned into him a little more.
He tried not to notice how her full breasts brushed against the side of his chest. He really did. They were in church, after all. But it was hard. And so was he.
Jake shifted uncomfortably. Down boy.
She’d had to go to church. When in Jake’s opinion, if ever there was a time to avoid church, today would have been it.
He had been right.
***
Lilah trudged up the brick walkway to Jake’s childhood home. Church was over. Thank goodness. People had come up to congratulate them, but the calculated speculation in their eyes made her feel like the fraud she was.
Perhaps it would have been better to stay home. Oh well, it was too late now. And the charade definitely needed to be carried out a little longer to appease Rita.
What was even worse was the fact that she was really starting to like Jake. He wasn’t wild and he had done the nicest things for her since they’d met.
Although some of the thoughts that ran through her head during church were definitely not proper. Church brought her thoughts right back around to Tom.
“What was he thinking?”
Jake seemed to understand instantly. “He was trying to show his support for you.”
“By embarrassing me?” Lilah sighed. “You’re right. I just wish he could have shown his support a few days later.”
“Wouldn’t have been as effective. Face it, Lilah, he did you a favor.”
“I guess.” Intent on her own problems, Lilah ran smack into the back of Jake when he stopped suddenly.
“Brandi?”
“No, thank you,” Lilah replied. “I don’t really care for it, besides it’s much too early in the day for spirits.”
“Jake.”
Who was that? Lilah peered around Jake’s arm. A woman stood in front of the porch swing, her stance slightly combative.
“What are you doing here?”
Oh my gosh. Lilah didn’t need the animosity in Jake’s voice to tell her he wasn’t happy. The stiff set of his shoulders did that all on their own.
“I used the ticket you gave me.”
Lilah peered around Jake’s shoulder again. Brandi looked like her name sounded. Brown hair, cut in a pageboy, but highlighted with overtones of gold around her face. A skin-tight, cap sleeve shirt hugged her body in a most scandalous way, and left a gap of tanned skin open at her hips before the capri jeans covered her down to her calves.
“Use the other half and go home.”
Brandi flinched.
“Look, sorry.” Jake rubbed a hand through his hair. “It’s been a long morning. Why the hell are you here?”
“It’s about work, and other things.”
Jake stood there, immovable. Lilah couldn’t help but wonder at the wounded look in her eyes. It looked a whole lot more personal than work-related.
“Jake. Let’s go inside and offer your friend some lemonade.”
Jake started at Lilah’s hand on his forearm. He’d forgotten she was there. She could tell by the way his muscles stiffened.
“Sure. Excellent idea. Come on in. We’ll have a party.”
Brandi looked from Lilah to Jake. “Maybe this is a bad time.”
“No. We just arrived from church.” Lilah shouldered her way past Jake and introduced herself to Brandi.
“You went to church?” Brandi’s eyes widened and darted to Jake.
“Yeah. And now I’m h…back.” Jake shoved the key in the lock.
Lilah pushed open the door and chattered to cover the uneasy silence between Jake and Brandi. “You’ll have to excuse the mess. We just opened up the house yesterday and things are still in a bit of disarray.”
Lilah charged ahead into the kitchen, and pulled out a pitcher of fresh squeezed lemonade, courtesy of Mrs. Conroy. “Wait until you taste this. It’s the best lemonade in the county. Why, Mrs. Conroy has won a blue ribbon ten years running.”
Brandi followed slowly. She looked around the kitchen as Lilah poured tall glasses then garnished them with a sprig of fresh mint.
She handed a glass to Brandi. The other woman just stared at the glass for a few moments, then accepted it. She took a sip and then set down the glass with a snap and straightened her shoulders.
“Excuse me. I don’t remember Jake ever mentioning a Lilah. So I have to ask. Just who are you?”
Lilah opened her mouth and then realized she didn’t know what to say. I’m the bride who didn’t get married to Tom but who did get married to Jake. She had a feeling Brandi didn’t want to hear that.
What did Jake want her to say?
She looked over to him for help. He leaned against the door frame at the entrance to the kitchen, arms crossed over his chest with a lazy, amused expression on his face. He’d obviously gotten over his mad. “She’s my wife.”
“Wife!” Brandi’s gaze shot to him, and her face whitened. “You’re married?”
“As of about thirty-six hours ago. We’re newlyweds.”
“Married? To her?” Brandi waved toward Lilah and it wasn’t flattering.
The gesture pierced Lilah’s heart. A man like Jake could never want her. Although, this woman had no right to say so. Especially so incredulously. Lilah bit her bottom lip, to stop herself from saying something inappropriate.
Jake just leaned against the door jamb and smirked.
“You are married to her?” Brandi’s disbelief was clearly evident.
“Is that so impossible?” Lilah couldn’t eliminate the snap from her voice.
“Yes,” Brandi cried.
“Why?”
“Because he’s supposed to get married to me!” Brandi thumped her chest with the flat of her hand.
Oh great, the ex-fiancée.
ELEVEN
“You jerk.” Brandi leapt the two feet toward him and swung her palm at his face.
Jake figured he deserved it, so he braced for the slap.
Lilah snagged Brandi’s wrist, and stopped her hand from connecting with his cheek.
“Jake is not a jerk,” Lil
ah said quietly. “I believe that you were the one who called off your wedding.”
Brandi wrenched her wrist away from Lilah, but Lilah held tight.
“He was supposed to come after me,” Brandi wailed.
That was news to him. “You told me you wanted out.”
Lilah let go of Brandi’s wrist and backed toward the parlor. Jake caught the movement in his peripheral vision and gave a slight shake of his head, hoping she’d take the hint. He really didn’t want to be alone with Brandi.
Brandi slumped. “I was just trying to get you to love me.”
“So you leave?” he said sarcastically.
“I’m sorry.” Tears pooled in her eyes. She squeezed her eyes closed and tears tracked down her face.
Ah, hell. Not tears. Jake looked at Lilah. She mouthed, ‘Put your arms around her,’ complete with gestures.
Awkwardly, Jake put his arms around Brandi and patted her back. A few months ago, he’d be thrilled about this but now? He felt…nothing. Brandi slumped against his chest and began to sob.
Jake wondered about that nothing. He’d been ready to marry this woman. He’d thought he loved her. He looked down at her body and admitted she still looked damned good. Sexy as hell. Her clothes magnified her assets. And if she’d told him this stuff one month ago, hell even one week ago, he probably would have jumped. Yet, now he felt nothing. No desire. No attraction. Nothing.
He respected her business acumen, admired her social abilities, but he suddenly understood that he’d never loved her. He had given it his best but he hadn’t loved her. And she had known what was missing.
“How did you know I didn’t love you?”
Brandi flinched at his words. She stepped out of his arms and wiped at the tears on her face with a steady hand.
“I just knew.”
A flash of white at the doorway caught his eye as Lilah slipped from the room. Lilah. She’d made him feel more in two days than Brandi had in two years. And somehow, loose dresses, buttoned from calf to collarbone, turned him on way more than skin tight clothes.
Jake caught himself staring at the doorway, smiling.
“How’d she do it?” Brandi eyed him speculatively.
“What?” Jake focused back on Brandi. “Do what?”