"Weddings are romantic," Chelsea insisted. "And romance is contagious."
Carter frowned at her. "Yeah, well, if that's true, I'm making sure I don't drink too much and I keep my pants zipped."
"That's always a good idea," Chelsea agreed, hiding her laughter. "Especially when the Wynettes are around."
* * *
"This is the strangest wedding party I've ever seen," Emily declared. "We look like an advertisement for fertility drugs."
"I'm glad you're both here." Lorna glanced into the full-length mirror on the back of her closet door. Her ivory linen maternity dress didn't conceal her advanced state of pregnancy, but it did make her look elegant. She'd fixed her hair in a loose topknot and attached three ivory silk rosebuds into the curls.
Elizabeth wore a fashionably loose butterscotch dress that hinted at her pregnancy, but to her disappointment she wasn't close to wearing maternity clothes yet. And Emily, in a sage green suit, looked more than almost five months along.
"It's my fourth," she'd explained to an envious Elizabeth. "My body automatically pops into position. Lorna, you look beautiful."
"For a whale." No matter how dressed up she was, she couldn't hide her giant abdomen. "Brides are supposed to look radiant," she said, turning to see her profile, which was even more depressing. "I look pale."
"You're radiant," Elizabeth assured her.
"I've been getting more rest now that I'm not working anymore."
"It's more than that, Lorna," her new friend insisted. "Anyone can see that you and Jess are crazy about each other."
"He's only marrying me because of the baby," she said. "We all know that."
"But you're in love with him," Emily pointed out. "That has to count for something."
"I thought it would at first, but I think now that it makes it all so much harder," she admitted. "Maybe he still loves his ex-wife."
"I doubt it." Elizabeth frowned. "Not from what Jake has said."
"I'd like to believe that," Lorna said, but in her heart she knew that Jess had a long way to go before he thought of their marriage as anything but his duty.
"Hey," Emily said. "What are you worried about? You'll have him wrapped around your little finger in no time. You'll be his wife, the woman having his baby and sharing his bed."
"But how do you seduce a husband?" She looked down at her belly and then at her friends. "Especially in this condition. Do you have any advice?"
"You say, 'Come to bed now, honey.' It's that simple." Emily picked up the nosegay from the bed and handed it to Lorna.
Elizabeth chuckled. "Once again, Emily is right."
* * *
He'd known he would get married. He'd planned to stand up in front of the judge and make his vows. He'd give Lorna and the child his name. He pictured the three of them living in Lorna's comfortable little house for a while, and then on the ranch.
But Jess hadn't let himself think about the wedding night.
And now, twenty minutes before the wedding, the wedding night was all he could think about.
"Jess."
"Yeah?" He stood in the waiting room of the courthouse, which, thankfully, was empty except for one curious clerk. Jake clapped him on the shoulder.
"You okay?"
"I'm not sure." He felt short of oxygen, like the time when he'd seen the ultrasound at Dr. Bradford's office. "Thanks for being here."
"No problem." Jake looked at his watch. "George will be here with the women soon. Do you have the license?"
"Yeah." He patted his jacket pocket. "All set."
"And the ring?"
"Yes." Now that had been another problem. Lorna – who had a stubborn streak he hadn't known about – had finally agreed to the purchase of a simple gold band, sized to fit her finger. "If you see a woman who looks like a, uh, mature Shania Twain wandering around, that's my sister. She's coming from Austin."
"I'll keep an eye out for her. What's her name?"
"Ricky. I couldn't contact my folks. I think they're hiking in the Grand Canyon, but as soon as they hear they're going to be grandparents they'll be back in Texas soon enough." Would they remember Lorna, the girl down the street? He hoped so. It would make it easier for them to accept their son marrying his pregnant girlfriend if they knew there'd been a past connection.
An older man, with a shock of gray hair and startling blue eyes, strolled into the waiting room. He wore a blue Western-cut suit, a turquoise bolero and a white Stetson. He stopped near Jess and Jake and asked, "Which one of you is marrying my daughter?"
"I am, sir," Jess said. He shook the man's hand. "I'm Jess Sheridan." He introduced his best man. "And this is a good friend of mine, Jake Johnson."
"Hank Walters," Lorna's father said. "Call me Hank. Nice to meet you," he said to Jake before studying his future son-in-law. "I wouldn't have recognized you, Sheridan. You've grown."
"Yes, I—"
"Are you going to make my little girl happy?"
"Yes, sir. I'm certainly going to try."
"That's all that matters. That, and taking good care of my grandchild." He beamed. "I expect to visit often, Sheridan."
"You're always welcome." Jess wondered if his son would have to learn to square dance. Probably, unless he was as uncoordinated as his father.
"They're here," Jake announced, and Jess turned around to see Lorna ushered into the waiting room with Elizabeth and the Bennetts. She looked more beautiful than ever, he realized. And he was the luckiest son of a bitch in Texas. All he had to do was say the words he was expected to say and then show some restraint when he kissed her. Jess started toward her, but her father beat him to it and greeted her with a big hug.
"How are you doing, Sheriff?" Emily patted his arm. "Doesn't Lorna look beautiful?"
"She takes my breath away." He didn't dare take his gaze from her for fear she'd change her mind and leave town before she said "I do."
The judge opened the door to his inner office and invited them inside. Jess forgot that he was scared to death and strode over to his bride's side. He took her hand in his and, without realizing what he was doing, brought her hand to his lips.
"You look beautiful," he told her. She smiled up at him with such dazzling happiness, he was nearly blinded. It stunned him to see such happiness on a woman's – his woman's – face. As quickly as he'd seen it, the expression was gone, replaced by something more restrained and polite.
"Thank you. Are you sure about this?"
"Yes." He kept careful hold of her left hand as the judge motioned them closer, but he looked down at his bride once again. "Very sure."
The rest was a blur he looked back on later and tried to remember. The ceremony was brief, the judge austere, and the father of the bride wiped away tears as he stood next to Emily, who gave him a tissue from her purse. Jess continued to hold Lorna's hand until it was time to exchange rings. He'd insisted on his own wedding band, something simple that matched the one she'd selected. The platinum and diamonds would have to wait, but Jess was disappointed that Lorna wouldn't wear them on her wedding day. He wanted the mother of his child to have them.
He wiped the tears from her cheeks before he kissed her. He'd intended to keep the kiss brief, a mere formality, but her tears unsettled him. And when she reached up to touch his arms he kissed her longer than he'd planned. A man should be able to kiss his wife, after all.
Jess shook hands with the men, kissed Elizabeth's cheek and returned Emily's affectionate hug. There. It was over. Now he and Lorna could get on with having a baby.
The young clerk opened the door for them. "Would you exit through the back, please? We've already locked the front doors."
He thought later that he should have suspected something, but Jess was still a little dazed. He took Lorna's hand once again and kept her beside him as they walked down the hall to the back exit that fronted the park. They were to have dinner at the Johnsons' house, an intimate gathering suited to the occasion, but when Jess stepped outside he heard his sister singing "Here Comes the
Bride," her raucous band accompanying her at the foot of the cement steps.
A crowd of well-wishers threw rice and cheered. Ricky, dressed in white leather and rhinestones, blew him a kiss. Chelsea hurried over with a tray filled with glasses of champagne. "We had to have a celebration," she said. "Don't be mad. It's not a wedding without champagne and cake."
Jess looked at Lorna, who didn't seem at all disturbed by the noise, the crowd, the rice, or the singing sister-in-law. In fact, his bride looked absolutely delighted with the idea of a party.
"Come on," Chelsea said to the wedding party gathered behind the bride and groom. "Take a glass of champagne and come over to the Grange. You have to cut the cake."
He guessed the wedding night would have to wait.
* * *
Chapter 10
«^»
"Well," Jess said, loosening his tie as he stood in her living room. "That was unexpected."
"It was really nice of everyone to go to so much trouble." The Grange ladies had supplied a potluck supper; Elizabeth had known all along there was to be no dinner at her ranch and instead brought huge cuts of roasted beef. One of the tables held a three-tier cake special-ordered from Marysville by Charlie. White and silver balloons and baskets of wildflowers decorated the long tables at the Grange. The paper plates and napkins had been decorated with silver wedding bells and there had even been a table full of wedding gifts. Jess had brought them in and piled them in the middle of the living room.
Lorna eased herself onto the couch and kicked off her shoes. "Your sister can really sing."
Jess grinned and tossed his tie on the back of a chair. The jacket followed. "She's pretty wild, but your father didn't seem to mind."
"Did you see them dancing together?" The band had set up their instruments in one corner of the hall and proceeded to play any song the guests requested. It had been a big night for Patsy Cline songs after the crowd realized Ricky Sheridan could yodel. "My dad had a wonderful time."
"I did, too," Jess admitted. "So Chelsea's job is safe."
"That was sweet of her to go to all that trouble. I saw her dancing with your deputy. What's his name?"
"Jim Carter."
"She likes him."
"Yeah. And he doesn't have a clue." Jess unbuttoned the top two buttons of his shirt and rolled up his sleeves. "Can I get you anything?"
You could take me to bed and make love to me, she wanted to say. You could pretend I was desirable, even with my basketball belly. "No. I wish I could have had a glass of champagne."
"I'll bring you some after the baby's born," he promised.
"Will you be there?"
"Do you want me there?"
"I don't want to be alone." She had thought of asking her father, but if anything went wrong he would be too upset to be of any help to her. And Emily, before she knew about Jess, had offered to be her birthing coach.
"Do you want me there?" he asked again.
"Yes," she said. "I do."
"Then that's where I'll be." He sat down in the chair opposite her and let out a sigh. "This is a strange honeymoon."
Lorna knew she was being overly sensitive, but she couldn't seem to stop from tearing up. "I'm sorry I'm not exactly the perfect woman for a wedding night. I want to be, but it's—"
"Lorna?" Jess left the chair and came to sit beside her on the couch. "I wasn't talking about you. I was thinking that I should have taken you somewhere special so you could have had a honeymoon."
"I'm being ridiculous," she said, but her voice quavered. "I wanted a wedding night and here I am swollen up like an old bullfrog." He put his arm around her and she leaned against his shoulder.
"You're a beautiful bullfrog," he said, and kissed the top of her head. "I like the way you did your hair with the flowers like that."
"Really?"
"And you don't look swollen. You look...ripe. And very beautiful."
If she could only say the words: Honey, come to bed. Emily had made it sound so simple. Lorna hadn't thought much about a honeymoon. It wasn't as if they were in love with each other and dying to be alone.
At least one of them wasn't. She couldn't speak for Jess, but he didn't act like a man who was in love. He acted like a man who was doing his duty and getting it over with.
Oh, he'd been polite, and respectful. And he went through the motions so that no one would ever believe that he wasn't getting married out of love.
Even the kiss at the end of the wedding ceremony must have looked authentic. For a moment even Lorna had forgotten it wasn't. Had even forgotten she'd entered her seventh month of pregnancy.
Lorna took his free hand and placed it on her belly. "Here," she said. "Feel your baby kick."
"You're kidding." His touch was light, as if he was afraid he would hurt her, and he jumped when the baby moved against his palm. "My God. Does he do that a lot?"
"Yes." She loved that he kept his hand on her abdomen, his fingers spread across the fabric of her dress. That was something, even if it didn't exactly qualify as wedding night foreplay. "Especially in the middle of the night."
"Is it hard to sleep?"
"Sometimes." She put her hand over his when he started to withdraw. "Don't," she said. "You might as well start getting to know each other."
"I'm scared to death," Jess muttered.
"Of the baby?"
"Of lots of things." His lips touched her temple, tickled her ear, kissed a path to her mouth when she turned her face to his. Then he pulled back slightly to say, "This wedding night business is pretty damn scary."
"Should it be?"
"Honey, I've never made love to a pregnant woman before." He smiled down at her before kissing her lips again briefly. "And I don't intend to, so relax, okay? Just because it's our wedding night doesn't mean I'm going to jump your bones."
"Even if I wanted you to?"
"That could change things," he admitted. "I was prepared to show some restraint." Jess kissed a trail along the corner of her mouth to her ear. "Unlike last summer."
"Restraint is overrated." Although, if either one of them had shown any seven months ago, she wouldn't be in this situation right now.
Jess pulled away and looked at her as if he couldn't figure out if she was serious or not. "Honey, are you trying to tell me something?"
She nodded. "Come to bed?"
"I figured I'd sleep on the couch."
"Forever?"
"Well," he hesitated, "I guess I haven't thought that far ahead."
"My mother used to say, 'Begin as you intend to finish.' Or something like that."
"You make your bed, you lie in it?"
"That works, too." She didn't want to admit she'd looked forward to the company in the middle of the night in case something happened. She'd had a few nightmares where she'd dreamed she'd given birth to a Longhorn calf. "I'd like you close by me at night, in case anything happens. In case I need you."
"Sure," he said, as casually as if she'd asked for a drink of water. "Whatever you want."
What she wanted was a husband. A lover. A father for her child. Lorna sighed and Jess left the couch. Maybe she should be content with two out of three.
* * *
How could he admit he was scared to death? Jess stayed far away from that bedroom while Lorna was getting ready for bed. He'd called the office, half hoping that Carter needed him to break up a brawl, fight a fire or catch a serial killer. Anything would be preferable to lusting after an overtired pregnant woman who trusted him to care for her.
He unpacked the car – the motel had seen the last of him – and took Words of Wisdom for Expectant Fathers into the kitchen and read the section on sexual intercourse and "comfortable positions for pregnant lovers" again. Sex at this stage of pregnancy was possible, but not probable. How could a woman want to make love when she had so many other things going on – like another person kicking her while she carried him around twenty-four hours a day?
The book said empathy was very important.
Well, hell, he could be empathetic, and helpful, too. He didn't have to behave like a rutting bull pawing the ground just because Lorna cuddled up to him on the couch. His brand-new wife was trying to be considerate, hinting about a real wedding night, but Jess was too smart to fall for that. He liked Lorna; he wouldn't knowingly do anything to make her think he was only thinking of himself.
He would be strong, Jess vowed. He would take a cold shower and wait for her to fall asleep. And then this damn wedding night would be over.
* * *
Lorna intended to seduce her husband if it took all night to do it. She heard the shower water running for what seemed like a long time, heard him thumping about in the bathroom and then in the living room where he'd put his suitcases.
After what seemed like a very long time, Lorna heard him patter softly toward the bed. The night-light from the bathroom gave a faint glow, enough so that Lorna could see Jess climb into bed. She'd left the left side for him, and when he slipped under the sheet in a very careful and quiet manner, she knew he thought she was asleep. He settled himself on his back and folded his arms under his head as if he planned to stare at the ceiling for a while.
Then, careful to keep her abdomen from touching him, she turned toward him. "Jess?"
"Sorry," he said. "I tried not to wake you."
"You didn't."
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. It's hard to go to sleep, though. I keep thinking about the wedding. I wish my father hadn't driven back to Marysville tonight."
"He didn't. Ricky drove him and the band followed in the bus."
"Really?" She moved closer, resting her cheek on his chest. He wore a cotton T-shirt, which was disappointing. But he put his arm around her shoulders, which made up for it.
"I think they were going to party for a while longer."
"He'll wear them out," Lorna said. "The Walters are known for their stamina."
"Like you."
"Like me," she agreed, running her hand across his chest. "Jess?"
"Hmm?" His eyes were closed.
"Will you hold me?"
Silence. For a long moment Lorna held her breath and waited for him to say something. Her hand lay still on his chest.
BLAME IT ON BABIES Page 11