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

  The pout that formed on Alexandra’s pretty face was immediate—and potent. “You’ve been doing business all day,” she grumbled as the frog leapt from her hand and hopped across the floor of the shop. “I want to go to the ranch house now,” she repeated stubbornly. Racing after her frog, she called over her shoulder, “It’s brand-new. Daddy built it just for us, so I’d have somewhere I could play outside, and have horsies and dogs and cats and stuff. Only I don’t have none yet.”

  Jenna looked at Jake, too surprised by his revelations to be concerned with the amphibian escapee. “I didn’t think your family was summering here anymore.” They had stopped at the time of Jake and Jenna’s failed elopement.

  “My folks don’t, although they keep the ranch for an investment and loan out the house to friends from time to time.”

  “Then why would you build a place here, if you no longer have family vacationing in the area?”

  Jake shrugged. “I loved coming to Laramie when I was a kid.” He shot a glance at Alex, who had throw off her monkey backpack and pink sunglasses and was hopping around after her frog, well out of earshot. “I figured Alex would love it, too.”

  Jenna smiled, unable to resist a dig after the way his family’s snobbish attitudes had hurt her. “Are you sure that’s wise? Laramie is a great place. Friendly. Warm. Caring. Intimate. But on the social register—well, we really can’t compare with your native Dallas now, can we?” She looked at him steadily, daring him to claim otherwise.

  Jake stared back, regarding her with the same steady intensity. “I never thought you’d be a snob.”

  “Me?”

  “Okay, reverse snob,” Jake amended.

  Before they could continue their discussion, Alex’s chauffeur stepped into the shop. Jake turned to the older woman, affection etched on his face. It was, Jenna noted curiously, a feeling that was returned. “Jenna,” Jake said warmly, “this is Clara, our housekeeper, the lady who keeps us all sane. Clara, I’d like you to meet Jenna Lockhart, the lady I’ve been telling you and Alex about.”

  “I heard you two knew each other as kids,” Clara said.

  Jenna nodded. “We used to see each other every summer. But that ended a long time ago. We haven’t seen each other since.”

  Jake gave Jenna a look that said: “And it’s a loss to us both.”

  Jenna gave Jake a look that said: “Speak for yourself.”

  Alex popped up from behind the sales counter. She waved the bullfrog in the air. “Hey, everybody, I got him!”

  “Well, nice meeting you all, but as you can see I’m closing my shop for the day.”

  “Goody! Did you hear that, Mr. Froggie? We get to go to the ranch!” With a wave at Jenna, Alex darted back out the door.

  “Nice meetin’ you!” Clara said, waving as she headed out the door after Alex.

  Jake frowned at his daughter, who was already climbing back in the truck. “This probably isn’t a good time for us to talk,” he conceded with a frown.

  Jenna breathed a sigh of relief. “I’m glad you finally realize that.”

  “We need to go to dinner together,” Jake said firmly.

  Jenna’s eyes widened. Determined not to put herself in an emotionally vulnerable position with him again, she scoffed derisively. “In your dreams!”

  Jake’s eyes darkened with legendary confidence. “I’ll be by to get you around eight o’clock,” he promised as she stalked away from him.

  Jenna concentrated on putting the Closed sign on the front door. Then opened it and held it wide for him. “Don’t hold your breath,” she muttered sweetly as she waved him toward the exit.

  But clearly, Jake was counting on getting his way. As always. “Wear something casual,” Jake advised as he sauntered toward the door. “I want you to be comfortable.” He gave her a smile that reached his eyes. “We have a lot to talk about.”

  “THE NERVE of that man!” Meg Lockhart fumed short minutes later at the emergency meeting of all four Lockhart sisters. Having come straight from work, she was still in her nurse’s uniform.

  “I’ll say!” Kelsey agreed with a snort of disgust as they all gathered around the dining table in Jenna’s apartment above her Main Street boutique. Kelsey put down the stack of catalogs of ranch gear she’d brought in with her, pushed back her cowgirl hat and pulled up a chair.

  “To come around after all these years, acting as if nothing much at all had happened!” The happily married Dani shook her head in a reproach too deep for words. A movie critic by profession, she liked drama and excitement as much as anyone, but this was too much—even for her!

  Dani leaned toward Jenna urgently. “I mean, I know how much you loved him once, Jenna. But for him to think—after all this time, no less!—that you would still be carrying a torch for him…How foolish is that?”

  Pretty foolish, Jenna thought, aware it was uncomfortably close to the truth. As much as she hated to admit it, no man had ever come close, before or since, to engendering the passionate emotions in her that Jake Remington, captain of J&R Industries, did.

  All four sisters sipped iced tea with lemon, their heads bent together thoughtfully.

  “Actually, I think the smartest thing would be for you to go on that date,” Meg decided after a moment as she took the pins out of her long auburn hair and shook it out.

  Everyone turned to Meg—the oldest and most responsible of them all—in shock. Meg regarded them determinedly but saved her advice, which came straight from the heart, for Jenna. “You need to prove to him once and for all that you are so over him it isn’t funny,” Meg told Jenna sternly. “Let him wine and dine you and even pull out all the stops if that’s what he wants to do. Just play along with nary a word of protest and let him go for it. And then—” Meg paused and raised a cautioning hand “—when he’s expended his full bag of rich-boy tricks, let him know straight out there’s no going back to the way things were when you were teenagers. Let him know it’s over, once and for all.”

  More discussion followed. By the time her sisters left to take care of their own dinnertime commitments, consensus had been reached. Meg’s plan was the one Jenna was going to follow. So Jenna dressed in the prettiest, sexiest sundress she owned, for the express purpose of making Jake Remington eat his heart out and realize what he gave up when he dropped her like a stone after their failed elopement.

  PROMPTLY AT NINE o’clock, Jake bounded from his truck and took the exterior steps leading up to Jenna’s apartment above the shop two at a time. He rang the bell, wondering all the while if she was even going to be in. Part of him wouldn’t blame her if she did stand him up this time.

  A second later the door swung open. He took her in and immediately had the exact same thought he’d had earlier in the day. Damned if she wasn’t the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. And damned if she wasn’t the only woman who could make his heart turn cartwheels in his chest. Especially in that body-hugging off-the-shoulder white sundress that made the most of her high perfect breasts, slender waist and trim but oh-so-curvaceous hips. High-heeled white sandals and a hem considerably shorter than the one she’d had on earlier made the most of her sexy showgirl legs.

  And her wish to drive him mad with desire had not ended there.

  She’d taken down her thick red-gold hair and let it fall around her shoulders in tousled sexy layers that teased her shoulders and framed her delicate, oval face. She’d scented her soft ivory skin with perfume, the same kind she had worn when they were young and in love. Her clear blue eyes were bright with challenge and an I-dare-you-to-try-anything-cowboy sass. Jake had always been the kind of guy who loved a challenge. And nothing more than the challenge Jenna Lockhart presented. He just regretted it had taken him so long to get back to her. But since he had, and since she was still so clearly ticked off, maybe it was best he slow down a tad, take it nice and easy. And to that end, he waggled his eyebrows at her and teased, “You going out with me or someone else?”

  Jenna propped her hands on her sl
ender hips. She still looked like she’d like nothing more than to take a swing at him. “What do you think?” She plucked her purse and keys off the entryway table and, her head held high, strode past him.

  Jake held the door for her, followed her out and waited while she locked up. “I think if anyone else shows up, intending to squire you around, he’s going to have to do battle with me first.”

  Jenna pinned him with a debilitating glare. “I figured we should just get this over with,” she said dryly.

  Jake grinned at her fiesty tone, liking the warm flush of color that had come into her high, elegant cheeks. “Such enthusiasm,” he drawled.

  “What did you expect?” Jenna watched her step as she headed down the stairs. “Me to jump up and do a cheer the moment you waltz back into my life?”

  Jake grinned at the thought of Jenna in the short pleated skirt and sleeveless sailor top that had comprised the Laramie High School cheerleading uniform when Jenna was in school. “You used to be pretty great at that,” he said, recalling how good she had looked in burnt orange and white. “In fact, I loved seeing you cheer at the few games I was able to get to.” Jake opened the door, and gave Jenna an unasked-for hand up into his truck.

  Her delicate brow arched as he climbed behind the wheel and started the engine. “What do your parents think of you asking me to create a wardrobe for their granddaughter?”

  Jake frowned as he shifted into Drive, turned onto Main Street and headed out of town. He had known they would have to talk about all the things that had separated them before; he hadn’t expected to do so this soon. “I don’t have to ask my parents for permission anymore, Jenna,” he replied quietly, slanting her a glance.

  Jenna’s clear blue eyes radiated both hurt and unhappiness. “Meaning they don’t know,” she guessed, just as quietly.

  Jake’s shoulders tensed and he had the urge to rip off the tie he had put on just for her. “Meaning I don’t care if they do or don’t know. Meaning I am a man with my own life now. Just like you’re a woman with your own life.” He speared her with a look, wanting to be clear about that much.

  Jenna cut him off, her voice unexpectedly devoid of joy. “Speaking of your life, where’s Alex?”

  Jake relaxed as they passed the last of the traffic lights and headed out into the Texas countryside toward their destination. He smiled as he thought about his daughter, and Jenna’s interest in her. “Alex’s back at the ranch.” Jake turned down the air conditioner. “She’s supposed to be in bed. But I imagine she’s talked Clara into letting her stay up late and they’re playing potato-chip poker and chomping on cigars about now.”

  Jenna quirked a brow. Jake grinned. “Alex’s, of course, will be made of bubble gum.”

  “What about your wife?”

  Jake could tell by the way Jenna looked at him, the fact she was even here with him, that she—along with everyone in Laramie and half the people in the state of Texas—had heard about his divorce from Melinda Carrington the year after Alex was born. Melinda had wanted—and won—a large chunk of Jake’s trust fund from his parents. He had considered it a small price to pay for his freedom and custody of his beloved only daughter. “Melinda is in Europe, getting over the end of yet another romance, this one was with an Italian count. She’s upset because she really wants to get married again, to someone who can give her the kind of ultraglamorous life I never did. Apparently, the allure of single life has worn thin.” Jake understood that. He was tired of being alone, too. Tired of regretting the way his romance with Jenna had ended. The way both of them had been hurt.

  “I’ve seen her pictures on the society pages of the Dallas papers. She’s very beautiful.”

  “On the outside,” Jake confirmed.

  “And well-bred,” Jenna continued in a way that let him know she was determined to lay all their cards on the table. “Your parents must have approved of her.”

  And still did, unfortunately despite everything. But he didn’t want to get into that now, and certainly not with Jenna on what was supposed to be their night. Jake slowed the truck as he approached the turnoff, some fifteen miles outside of Laramie. The native limestone country inn was set back from the highway in a grove of live oaks. It was softly lit from within. The grounds were landscaped and very private. Glad to see the owners had followed his instructions to a T and cleared everyone else out, including the staff, before they arrived, Jake parked in front and cut the motor. “I hope you don’t mind. I selected the place.”

  “Obviously not in Laramie,” Jenna added, her accusatory look reminding him of all the times they had seen each other on the sly when they were teens. Too late, Jake realized how it seemed to Jenna. She was wrong if she thought he was ashamed to be seen with her. Quite the contrary. “I wanted something more private, so we could talk without interruption,” Jake explained. “So I rented the inn for the evening.”

  “You mean the dining room?” Jenna ascertained.

  Jake shook his head, “The entire inn.”

  Shock widened Jenna’s eyes, then turned them an icy blue. “You’re kidding.”

  “Nope.”

  Once again, to Jake’s dismay, Jenna obviously suspected his intentions were not at all chivalrous or forthright. “You really are pulling out all the stops,” she said, clearly displeased.

  Jake got out of the truck, his hopes of a lovely intimate dinner with the only woman he had ever loved fading fast. He knew he’d made mistakes in the past where Jenna was concerned. Whether she was ready to admit it or not, she had done the same by him. Nevertheless, he was getting tired of defending himself, and having her look at him as if all he were trying to do here was take her to bed. He circled around to open her door. “I have money. I’m not afraid to put it to good use. Getting you on my side—and Alex’s—is very good use.”

  Reluctantly, Jenna allowed Jake to escort her up the front steps and across the porch. “Speaking of Alex, you really should be home with her this evening.”

  “Funny.” Jake held the door and guided her through the wide front hall to the beautiful dining room to their left. The long table for sixteen had been pushed against the wall. It was covered with a linen tablecloth and a variety of silver chafing dishes. A smaller table had been placed in front of the huge stone hearth, and was beautifully set for two. In deference to the summer heat outside, and the air-conditioning inside, there was no fire. Instead, a dozen lit candles were artistically arranged in the grate. Vases of freesia and baby’s breath—Jenna’s favorite—abounded. Soft music from their youth filled the room.

  “And yet,” Jenna continued, looking at Jake as if he were anything but a good guy to have around, “you’re here with me.”

  Jake uncovered their salads and poured the wine. “In order to get you to help out Alex and me.”

  Jenna accepted the wine with a nod. “Texas is full of designers.” She kept her eyes on his as Jake sat down opposite her.

  “But only one of you,” Jake countered, trying to imagine what it would be like to have Jenna back in his life again, not as the grief-stricken teen she had been when they parted, but the strong, self-assured woman she had become.

  “Why me?” Jenna whispered, suddenly looking as torturously unhappy as he had felt all these years without her. “Why now?”

  Jake wasn’t about to apologize for doing what should have been done years ago. “Because I haven’t been able to stop thinking of you.” Because all this time I thought I had hurt you enough and I was doing you a favor by staying away. And then I saw you on TV and realized I would never love anyone the way I loved you.

  For a moment, Jake thought Jenna felt the same way, but the feeling faded, and the sweetly nostalgic look in her clear blue eyes faded and turned to ice once again. “That’s a shame,” Jenna said crisply. “There’s nothing worse than wasting energy or time. Which is exactly what this is.” She started to rise.

  Jake caught her wrist and pulled her back down into her seat. He wanted nothing more at that moment than to
haul her into his lap and kiss her soundly. But—for Alex’s sake, for the sake of them—he kept his mind strictly on the business at hand. The business that would have Jenna and him spending time together and getting to know each other again. “You haven’t heard my proposition,” he pointed out calmly, releasing her only when he was sure she wouldn’t try to flee.

  Not looking at him, Jenna speared a piece of lettuce with her fork, lifted it to her lips. “I don’t want to hear your proposition.”

  “Sure now?” Jake taunted as he too dug into his crisp, delicious salad. “It could do wonders for your design business.”

  Jenna paused. So it was true, Jake noted, with equal parts satisfaction and disapproval. Her design business did mean everything to her.

  “I’m listening,” she said eventually.

  Jake reached into the inside pocket of his blazer and pulled out a neatly drawn-up business agreement. “I’m offering to provide the financial backing via J&R Industries to make and distribute a clothing line bearing your name.”

  Jenna put down her fork and studied the paperwork for an extraordinarily long time. “And the catch is…?” Jenna said eventually.

  Jake polished off his salad and took a sip of wine. “Alexandra needs a wardrobe.”

  Jenna narrowed her eyes at him and observed with a faint note of disapproval in her voice, “Why, when she seems to have one she is perfectly happy with?”

  Jake shook his head, cutting Jenna off. “She needs to look like a little lady,” he said firmly. “The sooner, the better.”

  Jenna arched a delicate brow and went back to eating her salad. “Says who and why?”

  Famished, Jake broke open a roll and lavishly spread it with butter. Reluctantly, he imparted, “Melinda is concerned about Alex’s tomboyish phase. She thinks it proves I’m not capable of rearing Alex on my own.”

  Jenna paused, her fork halfway to her lips. “But you have custody, don’t you?”

  Jake took another sip of wine. “Sole custody since she was two, yes.”

  Jenna’s brow furrowed. Finished with her salad, she also reached for the bread. “Isn’t that unusual?”