Once Upon a Groom

by Karen Rose Smith

  As quietly as possible, as slowly as possible, she shut the gate.

  Zack asked, “Are you going into the barn?”

  She knew he wanted her to, but that wasn’t going to happen. “No, I’ll just climb to the other side of the fence. Are you sure you want to do this? As soon as you let go, he might become even wilder.”

  “It’s okay, Dusty. No one’s going to hurt you.” Zack’s voice was almost hypnotic. In the same tone he assured her, “I’ll be fine. I’ll see what he does when I unhook the lead.”

  Scaling the fence to the outside of the corral, Jenny watched as Zack continued to talk to Dusty in the same low tones, as he tried to keep the horse’s attention focused on him, as he tried to start building trust.

  He reached toward the fastener slowly, unhooked it and stood perfectly still. For a second or two, Dusty didn’t seem to know what to do. But then he snorted, pawed and kicked up his back legs again.

  Jenny was afraid he might simply gallop into Zack. But Zack just stood there, speaking softly, not moving a muscle, until finally Dusty wheeled in the other direction and ran like the devil was chasing him to the other end of the corral. Zack took that opportunity to cross quickly to the fence, climb up and settle on the top rung.

  Dusty ran across the corral, aimed straight for him, then at the last moment veered away, running again.

  Looking up at Zack, she murmured, “You took a chance.”

  “Better me than you,” he muttered.

  “Don’t turn protective on me, Zack. You’ve no right.”

  He climbed down off the fence to stand before her and look her straight in the eye. “Yes, I do. My father depends on you. I’ll do what I have to do to keep you safe.”

  Maybe he’d keep her physically safe, but he couldn’t keep her heart safe.

  “Come on,” he said. “Let’s watch him from the barn. You don’t even have your jacket on.”

  She was about to protest she was wearing an insulated vest, but knew that would do no good. She was cold, now that the adrenaline had stopped rushing.

  They hurried to the side door and Zack let her precede him into the barn. Her arm brushed against his sheepskin jacket, but she didn’t look up at him. She didn’t want to remember that moment last night when they’d stood so near, their breathing synchronized—

  Taking her phone from her pocket, she speed-dialed Noah. “Thanks. Do you want to come up to the house for lunch? Martha probably has it ready.”

  “No, thanks, Jenny. I have to get back to my office to handle paperwork.”

  “You spend your life there.”

  He laughed. “It’s my job. I don’t tell you that you spend too many hours working, do I?”

  “That’s because you know it wouldn’t do any good.”

  “Right.”

  “I’ll accept your refusal this time,” she conceded. “But let’s just say I owe you lunch. Thanks again.” After Noah said goodbye, she closed her phone and stuck it back in her pocket.

  Zack said, “You and Noah are friends,” as if he were confirming something in his mind.

  “Yes, we are.”

  “He’s very different now than he was in high school,” Zack decided. “He’s confident, not rebellious and defiant.”

  “I never would have thought he would have gone into law enforcement, but he had his reasons,” Jenny responded. “Training and working in the Phoenix police department changed his outlook on a lot of things.”

  “I can imagine,” Zack said, as if he could.

  She didn’t know why she’d thought Zack had no empathy left anymore. Maybe because he’d put up a barrier between himself and his dad that was so high neither of them could breach it. Yet, she was seeing now that barrier didn’t necessarily define Zack’s character any more than it defined Silas’s.

  Crossing to the feed bins, Zack picked up two wreaths of golden bells that were lying there. “I haven’t seen these for years.”

  “You remember them?”

  “How can I not? My mother loved bells, especially at Christmas—sleigh bells, garlands with bells, wreaths with bells.”

  There was such fondness and affection in Zack’s voice, Jenny was drawn toward him. “And red velvet ribbon,” she added. “She tied big red bows on anything to do with Christmas.”

  “What are you going to do with these?” he asked, a bit roughly.

  “I hang them on the barn doors, just like she did. Then we hear the jingle of bells up at the house. It’s a nice sound when the wind is howling or when the snow is falling.”

  “I didn’t know you’d kept up some of her traditions.”

  “If you would have come home—”

  The look he gave her made her cut off her words. “I loved your mom, Zack, and I want to keep remembering her. We put up a Christmas tree and I use the ornaments she collected over the years. She had favorite recipes for the holidays and I made sure Martha makes those. Your father wants to remember, too.”

  An almost angry look shone in Zack’s eyes. “Don’t tell me he loved her. He couldn’t have loved her and treated her the way he did.”

  Instead of heading into the eye of that storm, Jenny asked, “Do you know how your parents met?”

  He thought about it. “Her father was buying her a cutting horse as a birthday present.”

  “Your grandfather had recently died and your dad was trying to keep the Rocky D afloat,” she said, filling him in.

  “I remember Mom talking about those years,” Zack responded, a far-away look in his eyes.

  “From what I understand, your grandfather had let it go south,” Jenny explained. “Your dad took over, had a couple of bad years but managed to turn it around by expanding the breeding facilities and the training opportunities. That’s when everything took off for him. But at the beginning…”

  “At the beginning, what?” Zack seemed genuinely curious.

  “Picture this, Zack. This beautiful, raven-haired woman with more poise than any model comes to the Rocky D with her very rich father. Your mom had received her college education back East and was going to teach at Northern Arizona University. Your father, to his way of thinking, had gotten through high school the best way he could, with no real love for books. He was scrimping to pay the bills. Yet the two of them, as different as they were, were drawn to each other.”

  “What are you trying to tell me, Jenny? That my father felt inferior to my mother?”

  “I think he did…in a lot of ways.”

  “That doesn’t excuse the gambling and the affairs. Was he trying to prove he could become richer easily? Was he trying to prove he was deserving of her somehow, because other women wanted him, too? That doesn’t make any sense.”

  “It might not make sense to us. But to a man in his position back then, maybe it did. It’s not an excuse. But it might be a reason. When a man doesn’t feel worthy, his world is pretty lopsided.”

  “What was my mother supposed to do? Disown her family? Pretend she wasn’t educated?”

  “I’m not saying there was a solution, Zack. But maybe if they’d understood each other better, talked more, realized each other’s fears, your dad wouldn’t have been so obsessed with becoming a giant in the community any way he could.”

  “My mother should have left him. She wouldn’t be dead if she’d walked away.”

  “And what would she have done about you?” Jenny protested. “Would she have taken you with her? Would she have left you with your father? If she took you, would she be denying you your birthright? Denying you the Rocky D and everything it represented? There’s no easy decision for a mother in that position.”

  He was looking at her as if he was trying to figure her out. “You sound like you know.”

  She shook her head but couldn’t take her gaze from his.

  He was leaning toward her slightly, one hand over the back of the stall, the other free to do whatever it wanted. She suddenly wanted his arms around her. She suddenly wanted a lot more than that.

&n
bsp; As if he was reading the message in her eyes, he did put his arm around her—and he bent his head to hers.

  The first touch of Zack’s lips wasn’t anything like Jenny expected. She’d expected hard, possessive and arrogant. His lips were firm as if he knew what he wanted. But they were coaxing, too…encouraging her to respond. If she had thought further than that, she might have saved them both a lot of trouble. But she didn’t, because all of her concentration was on the feel of his mouth, the touch of his tongue against hers, the strength of his arms as he pulled her closer, enveloping her fully in his embrace.

  She couldn’t fall in love with Zack again. She couldn’t let her future be affected like that again. She wouldn’t.

  Wrenching away, she looked up at him and shook her head. “No. You’re not going to make me want you and then turn around and leave again. It won’t happen, Zack. I won’t let it. I deserve more than that.”

  Without waiting for a response from him, she returned outside to watch Dusty. If Zack built any sense of trust with this horse, it would be broken when he left.

  Neither of them needed Zack Decker, and she’d better not forget that.

  Chapter Five

  At midnight, Zack stood on the back veranda of the east wing overlooking the rose garden. A frosting of snow coated the bare branches of the bushes that slept during the winter. This had been his mother’s favorite spot. Her rosebushes had been her pride and joy. He wondered if Jenny collected blooms, in colors from yellow and coral to light pink and magenta, for each of the downstairs rooms as his mother had.

  No matter how much he wanted to forget it, he could taste Jenny’s kiss on his lips. He’d been reckless and impulsive in the barn, two qualities that hadn’t been part of his life as an adult. But Jenny had always turned him inside out. Most of all, she made him feel. As a kid, he’d turned off his feelings as his parents fought. He’d turned off his feelings when Jenny had decided not to go with him to L.A. He’d turned off his feelings in anything that approached business. In all these years, he’d only let them free when he was behind the lens.

  When he heard the French doors open and close, he almost exhaled a frustrated breath. He knew the sound of that heavy tread. “You shouldn’t be out here, Dad. It’s too cold. You don’t want to overtax—”

  “Stow it,” his father mumbled. “I needed some fresh air.”

  “At midnight?”

  His father came to stand beside him, looking out at the garden. “I’m feeling claustrophobic. A man’s not made to be cooped up in the house.”

  “It’s not for long. As soon as you’re feeling stronger you can walk wherever you want. Just don’t push it.”

  Instead of reacting to Zack’s words, Silas gestured to the fountain in the middle of the rose garden. “Jenny put in one of those solar fountains. She prunes the rosebushes herself. She won’t let anyone else near them.”

  “I don’t see how she has time for that with everything else she takes care of.”

  “That girl has energy. Always has.”

  “She’s not a girl anymore.”

  After a few moments of quiet, Silas asked, “Do you ever regret what you left behind?”

  Zack wasn’t sure how to answer that one. Certainly his father didn’t want to get into an argument about anything that had happened. He kept his answer simple.

  “I don’t have regrets about leaving. I had to find out who I was without the Decker name and wealth. You never understood that.”

  “Maybe I understood more than you thought. Maybe I hated that camera of yours because I knew it would take you away from here.”

  Which, of course, it had.

  “And what about Jenny?” his father asked gruffly. “Do you wish you had taken her along?”

  Zack felt more than saw his father turn toward him and study him in the shadows. He wasn’t about to start confiding in a man who might use those confidences against him.

  At Zack’s silence, Silas grunted. “She hasn’t told you everything yet, has she?”

  Nothing else could have gotten his attention as that did. “What are you talking about?”

  “You need to ask Jenny that yourself. Did she happen to mention she’s going with Brody Hazlett to the dance at the fire hall Friday night?”

  Zack didn’t want to admit he knew nothing about the dance or about Jenny and Brody Hazlett. Except that they’d been dancing together at the reunion when he’d cut in. “No.”

  “Apparently, a lot of your old classmates will be there. Jenny’s friends for sure. You can buy a ticket at the door…if you’re interested.”

  Was he interested? If not in the dance, in finding out if anything was going on between Jenny and Brody?

  Zack let his pride slip a little and asked, “Has she been dating him?”

  “Nope. He’s asked but she always says no. I don’t know what happened to change her mind.” Silas coughed, then coughed again. “I guess I’ve had enough of this air. I’ll see you in the morning.”

  Zack almost caught his dad’s arm…almost asked, What hasn’t Jenny told me?…almost felt something more than the bitterness and resentment toward his father that he’d nurtured all these years.

  But he didn’t ask. He just said, “Good night, Dad.”

  He heard the French doors close behind his father. Zack was an outsider here and he’d never felt more like one than he did tonight.

  A harvest theme prevailed in the fire hall Friday evening. Stacked bales of hay were supposed to give the room a barnlike ambience. A section of rustic fencing had even been set up along one side of what was supposed to be the dance floor. A fiddle was playing now, a man on a mike called out square dancing moves. Zack hadn’t been square dancing since high school, and he doubted that he even remembered how.

  So what the hell was he doing here?

  That was a no-brainer. He spotted Jenny easily in a red checked blouse and denim skirt, do-si-do-ing with Brody. He’d thought about his father’s words all last night and all today. She hasn’t told you everything yet, has she? What exactly did Jenny have to tell him? Or was his father just causing trouble?

  Zack had spent a good part of the day with Dusty, just talking to him, letting the horse get used to the sound of his voice. When Jenny had come around at lunchtime to tell him she’d take over, he’d let her, without any conversation. He wasn’t sure what he wanted to say to her, and she was just as awkward with him. Awkward or not, he wanted to kiss her again. But she wasn’t coming too close and he knew that was for the best. Had she come to the dance tonight to put another wall between them? Or was she really interested in Brody?

  What did he care when he wouldn’t be staying?

  He knew already he couldn’t spend the evening watching her. Clay and Celeste, who were seated at one of the long, red cloth-covered tables, waved and motioned to him. Zack smiled as he studied the couple. They were newlyweds and anyone could tell. Seated close together, shoulders touching, their hands entwined on the table.

  A few of the townsfolk recognized him, smiled and nodded as he crossed to his classmates. One called out, “I hope your dad’s back on his feet soon,” and another said, “Good to see you’re back.” There were no gawkers here as he might have encountered in L.A. if anyone had recognized him. That was one benefit to being in Miners Bluff. He felt ordinary again. To his surprise, he actually enjoyed that feeling.

  The fiddling was loud and Zack knew conversation would be tough. He went to the Sullivans’ side of the table and stood between them. “You two look happy.”

  “Life is good,” Clay said with a satisfied smile. “How’s your dad?”

  “As ornery as ever. Liam O’Rourke came over to visit with him tonight. Martha was still there, too, so I know he’s being watched over.” He tapped his phone in the pocket of his shirt. “He has my number on speed dial, but he’d probably call Jenny if there was an emergency.”

  The three of them glanced over to where she was still dancing with Brody, her blond ponytail swinging
with the music, her skirt flaring out around her when she moved.

  After Celeste and Clay exchanged a look, Celeste said, “You’ll have to stop over when you get a chance. I could make dinner. I’m sure my cooking isn’t what you’re used to, but we’d love to have you.”

  “I do a lot of take-out,” Zack responded with a wry grin. “I’ll give you a call when Dad’s feeling better. I’m not going to stay very long tonight.”

  Mikala Conti suddenly appeared at Zack’s side. “It’s good to see you here.”

  “Hi, Mik. How’s your aunt?”

  “She’s good. She’d be here tonight but she has a cold she’s trying to beat.”

  Zack had always liked Mikala. With her wavy black hair and tobacco-brown eyes, she had quiet beauty and listening skills that made her easy to talk to. He wondered if she knew more about Jenny and Brody.

  As the fiddling stopped, the announcer let everyone know they were slowing things down with an old Patsy Cline standard. Zack suddenly asked Mikala, “Would you like to dance?”

  She was totally surprised for a few seconds, and then smiled. “Sure.”

  “Talk to you later,” he said to Clay and Celeste, as he led Mikala to the dance floor. Mikala waved to Riley O’Rourke and Noah who were standing by the snack table talking to Katie Paladin, another of their classmates.

  “Almost like the reunion,” Mikala said with a smile, as Zack put his arm around her and took her hand in the standard ballroom position. Mikala was a beautiful woman, but Zack didn’t feel the attraction he’d felt with Jenny when he held her in his arms. Lust that had started as a teenager shouldn’t still be alive fifteen years later! But it was, and he couldn’t help glancing toward Jenny again. She and Brody were dancing close, and Zack’s gut clenched.

  “Earth to Zack,” Mikala called softly.

  Feeling embarrassment for the first time in a long time, Zack brought his attention back to his dance partner. “Sorry. What did I miss?”

  Mikala laughed softly and shook her head. “I asked if you heard from Dawson lately? At the reunion, he told me the two of you kept in touch.”