The Cowboy Lassos a Bride (Cowboys of Chance Creek) (25 page)

“Don’t get too excited before you see it,” Evan cautioned. “We’ve been here too many times before,” he told Jake and Hannah.

“Jake, can I have a word with you?” Hannah asked.

“Why don’t we start loading your things,” Evan said. He and Cab got to it while Hannah led the way back upstairs. Once in the guest room, she shut the door and faced Jake.

“I’m not going to Carl’s.”

“Hannah.” He took her hand. “I know how it looks. Believe me, I know exactly how it looks, but while my Dad might have influenced my wedding date, he did not influence the woman I chose to marry. Not one bit.”

“He influenced the decisions you made,” she pointed out. “You never would have agreed to my going to school if you hadn’t had to. You knew you couldn’t find someone else in the time you had left, so you gave in to me.”

“I gave in to you because it was the right thing to do,” Jake said. “I’ll admit, when you were the only one going to school, I hated the idea. I was selfish. I didn’t want to be apart from you. Once I started thinking about going myself, that changed. Four years isn’t long at all. Four years is a tiny part of our lives. Do I wish I could spend every night with you? Hell, yes. Will I probably spend a mint flying back and forth to see you in Colorado? Double hell yes. I love you. I. Love. You. I’m a jealous, possessive, horny man who wants his wife by his side, but I’ll do whatever it takes to make you happy. Don’t you know that yet? I’m sorry it took me this long to figure it all out. I should have seen it clearly sooner. I didn’t and you ended up getting hurt.” He touched her face. “Can you forgive me?”

“How can you give up the Double-Bar-K?”

“The Double-Bar-K means nothing to me. Not compared to being with you.” He leaned down and kissed her and after a moment she gave up fighting him. Her anger was for Holt, not for Jake. She knew Jake loved her. Every touch of his hand and mouth told her so. Jake pulled back and looked at her, love shining in his eyes. “Now, we could stand up here kissing until they’ve got all our stuff loaded,” he said softly, “but that’s not fair to our guests. Let’s get down there and go see Carl’s house.”

“Too bad we can’t just buy it. That would solve everything,” Hannah said.

Jake just smiled.

A half-hour later,
Jake helped Hannah unload their belongings while Cab took Bella and Evan on a tour of Carl’s house and property.

“Pretty swank,” Jake said as they carried their suitcases into the suite Cab had pointed them to. He’d never been farther into the Carl’s house than the large foyer. The house was different than he’d expected. Western in terms of structure and furnishings, but more like a museum when it came to decorative elements. There were statues and vases and works of art on the wall that obviously cost Carl a bundle. He’d never seen anything like this in Chance Creek.

“This room is bigger than your cabin,” Hannah agreed.

“Not quite. But pretty damn close.” With a bedroom, combination kitchen and living room and its own full bathroom, the suite was self-contained with its own separate entrance. He looked out the window and saw Cab showing the other couple the remains of the garden his brother Rob had built just months ago. Poor Carl; at that point he’d still thought he’d bring a bride home to the house soon. Jake wondered how the man was faring in California.

Pretty well, he supposed, if he was ready to get rid of his ranch. Would Bella and Evan take the bait? Would they allow Hannah and him to keep renting this part of the mansion? He sure hoped they would. He also hoped that sooner or later he and Hannah could buy into the ranch on a partnership basis, but that was down the road.

When they met up a half-hour later in Carl’s enormous living room, he could tell the deal had already been struck.

“We’re taking it,” Bella confirmed. “It’s perfect. There’s plenty of room for us to live and Evan to run his business. We’ll build a clinic twice the size of the one I have in town and a bigger animal shelter, too. When you’re a veterinarian you can join my practice.” She beamed at Hannah. “And…” She looked to Evan.

“And we hope the two of you will consider this your home, too. I know it’s not the same as having your own place, but while you’re away at school we can keep an eye on the place, and when you’re home maybe sometimes we can take off on a vacation or two.” Evan squeezed Bella. “With the rest of my family and business headquartered back in California, I should travel there frequently. Having someone else on site, even part of the time, would be a huge relief.”

Jake felt a smile spread across his face. Exactly what he’d hoped for. “It’s a deal.” He shook hands with Evan. Bella squealed and hugged Hannah. “We’ll be like sisters! I’ve never had a sister!”

“Neither have I.” To Jake’s relief, Hannah smiled.

He’d lost one family tonight but it looked like he’d gained another one. It didn’t matter if they weren’t related by blood. Friendship would have to do.

He had a feeling it would do just fine.

‡
Chapter Twenty-Three

“I
guess we can
change our wedding date now,” Hannah said when Bella, Evan and Cab went home. Since they hadn’t managed to eat at his parents’ place, they planned to drive into town and hit the Burger Shack. Hannah thought of Lisa’s enormous dinner sadly. She hoped someone managed to enjoy it.

She hoped Lisa was all right, as well. It must be tough to be the matriarch of a family that was comprised of five strong-willed men. She knew that Lisa must want them all to get along, but surely she knew by now that wouldn’t always happen.

Hannah assumed that one day she and Jake would patch things up with his folks. For a while things would be uncomfortable but time would pass and hurt feelings would smooth over.

She wasn’t sure about the wedding, though. Without Jake’s family there it would be a sad affair.

“I don’t want to change our wedding date. Do you?” Jake led the way out to his truck and opened the door for her.

“I don’t want to, but I also don’t want a lot of empty seats at the ceremony. Besides, it’s supposed to be at your parents’ house.”

“We can do it at the Cruz ranch.” But his voice told her he wasn’t happy with that, either.

“Maybe we should put it off until spring. By then they’ll come around, don’t you think?”

He waited until they’d both climbed in to answer. “I don’t want them just to come around. I want them to accept me how I am and to accept you, too. I don’t want to play these games. I do want to get married from home, but the Double-Bar-K isn’t my home anymore. You think Evan and Bella would mind if we used the mansion?”

“We could always ask. You’ll still invite your family though, won’t you?”

Jake frowned. “I’ll invite them.”

“Even Ned?”

He laughed humorlessly. “Especially Ned.”

She turned to him in surprise. “Why especially?”

“For all I’ve been a prisoner of Dad’s games, it’s been worse for Ned. Always second in line. Always hoping for a chance at first. Now that I’m out of there and have something else to look forward to—something even better,” he reached over and squeezed her hand, “I say let him have his chance. He deserves it.”

“Really?”

“Really.” He glanced her way. “I should have gotten out of there a lot sooner. None of this would have happened. My Dad wouldn’t have had the chance to hurt you.”

“And you and I might never have gotten together. No, as much as I despise his methods, I can’t complain about the results of your father’s evil plan.”

Jake laughed. “Glad to hear it. My home is with you now, you know. They can’t touch us anymore.”

“No. They definitely can’t touch us now. I know we’ll make a good life together.”

“I know that, too.”

Jake remembered his
bold words when they ran into Ned at the Burger Shack fifteen minutes later.

“How’d you track me down?” Ned said when he caught sight of them in line behind him.

“I was about to ask you the same thing.” Jake sensed Hannah’s discomfort. “Why don’t you grab us a table, honey,” he told her. “I’ll grab the grub.”

“Okay.” She left quickly enough that he knew his instincts were right.

“I won’t change my mind,” Ned said. “It’s only fair I get a chance to manage the ranch.”

“I agree. I’m not coming back.”

Ned searched his face, suspicious. “Where will you go?”

“Carl’s place. The Mortimers are buying it. We’ll rent from them for now. Evan and I have plans.”

“Huh.” Ned shoved his hands in his pockets. He didn’t look like a man who was celebrating a victory. Was Ned disappointed?

“The Double-Bar-K is all yours.”

“Yeah. Well, good,” Ned said grudgingly.

“Want to join us?” Jake gestured to the table across the room where Hannah sat gazing back at them worriedly.

“Nah. I’ll head back home.” Ned hesitated before turning back to the counter where his turn had come to order. “Thanks. For backing off.”

“No problem.”

Ned hurried away as soon as he got his order and Jake brought his tray of food to the table Hannah had secured.

“That looked like it went okay,” she said.

“Better than I expected. I told him the Double-Bar-K was his. He said thank you.”

“Almost civilized.”

“Almost,” Jake agreed. “You think my Dad will leave it at that?”

“Are you kidding? He’s got two more sons to marry off. Batten down the hatches and hide your women.”

‡
Chapter Twenty-Four

T
he next week
passed in a blur for Hannah. She spent Sunday revising her wedding plans to take into account the new location. Morgan came over and together they devised ways to use the house’s present décor to stand in for wedding decorations. With the ceremony slated for four in the afternoon, with a sit down dinner to follow, the biggest problem would be to find enough tables and chairs for all the guests. Party rental companies were overbooked, so she spent the next few nights calling everyone she knew to beg and borrow as many of them as possible. Table cloths and place settings were easier to locate and the celebration quickly took shape. Autumn had volunteered to handle the catering, with the help of several other women. Hannah accepted the offer with pleasure and knew the food would be great.

She rushed out invitations on Monday morning, and spent a hilarious evening at Ellie’s Bridals with Mia, Fila, Autumn, Rose, Morgan, Bella and Claire. The elderly proprietress regaled them with stories of wedding disasters while Hannah tried on dress after dress until Ellie pulled out
just the thing
.

Just the thing turned out to be an off-the-shoulder gown with a slim fitted bodice and a flowing skirt. Delicate stitchery on the bodice turned the plain dress into something spectacular, and Hannah felt like a princess in the gown. A collective sigh from her friends told her this was indeed the one, and the transaction was wrapped up quickly. It required a minimum of alteration and she received it several days before the twenty-first rolled around.

More snow fell in the meantime, making the view out the windows of Carl’s home sparkle in the lowering sun. The ceremony would be held in its enormous living room at the back of the house, where large windows would let in the last of the light. Afterward they’d set up tables and shift the rows of chairs to circle them. An awkward arrangement, but one Hannah knew wouldn’t put out her country guests one bit.

They hired a local band to play after the supper and she suspected the party would last longer than most, since she and Jake had no honeymoon to leave for. That was all right. Any night in bed with Jake was a honeymoon, she mused.

If only Jake would patch things up with his father, everything would be all right.

The night before
the wedding, all of Jake’s regrets overwhelmed him. Hannah was putting up a brave front and he knew she was genuinely happy to marry him, but the rift between him and his parents was leaching all the joy out of the occasion. No matter how many times he assured her he was fine, and no matter that his parents had duly sent their reply card with the number of guests filled in with a
two
, she couldn’t get past the idea that she had broken up his family and he knew it would forever mar her memory of her special day.