Cathy Thacker - The Bride Said, 'Finally!'

Deciding it was high time she got in her nightclothes, too, Jenna vaulted to her feet and headed for her bedroom, Kelsey right behind her. Jenna was still flushing self-consciously as she took off her earrings and dropped them onto her vanity. “I was young then. Impressionable.” She lifted her hands to her neck and began struggling with the clasp of her necklace.

Kelsey gave her a knowing look as she stepped behind her to lend a hand. “And now you’re old enough to do all the things you used to only dream about,” she teased, releasing the clasp.

It was Jenna’s turn to roll her eyes. She dropped her necklace beside her earrings and turned. There was really no way to tell how experienced Kelsey was—she acted like she had done everything there was to be done and then some—but Jenna had a feeling that was all an act, meant to intimidate the guys and keep them at bay. Jenna shook her head. “You’re incorrigible.”

Kelsey acknowledged this with a mischievous grin. Then her smile faded as abruptly as it had appeared. She looked at Jenna steadily, her eyes brimming with concern, then said softly, “And you’re dreaming if you think a man like Jake is just going to go away.”

Jenna steeled herself against the hurt she was sure would come if she didn’t shield her heart. Jake had devastated her before. It had taken her years to recover. She didn’t care what he said, she was not going to let him do it again. She folded her arms in front of her stubbornly as she slipped out of her dress. “I don’t care what he wants! He’s not going to get it this time.” Jenna stomped over to her closet and hung up her dress. “I’ll do business with him. I’ll outfit his daughter, but that’s it.”

JENNA WAS HALF HOPING Jake would send his daughter over to her shop with someone else to order a few dresses, but of course that didn’t happen. The next morning, his charcoal-gray truck pulled up in front of her shop and parked at the curb, followed by the red sport utility vehicle with Clara at the wheel. Jake and Alexandra stepped out of the truck, Clara stepped out of the S.U.V. Clara waved and headed off down the sidewalk on some other errand. A few seconds later, Jake held the door for his daughter and Alexandra Remington stomped in with all the petulance an almost-six-year-old could muster. While Jake put his briefcase down next to the sales counter and took off his black Stetson, Alex planted her hands on her hips and glared at Jenna as if she were the enemy. “I figure I might as well tell ya straight out,” she said, in a cute imitation of her take-charge daddy. Her scowl deepened, as did the fire in her blue-gray eyes. “I don’t want ta be here.” Her lower lip shot out stubbornly. “I’d rather be home looking for a new frog—Daddy made me let Mr. Frog go last night, so if I want to play with one I’m gonna hafta find another one, and maybe a snake, too, this time.”

Jenna’s eyes widened with distaste at the mention of reptiles, as Jake frowned and looked down at his daughter. “Alex. No snakes,” he said firmly. “I mean it. Snakes can be poisonous. And so can some frogs, for that matter.”

Alex sighed loudly. Tilting her head to one side, she sized up her daddy and decided, against all odds, to try again. She put her hands out to her sides and balanced herself on one foot. “You could always buy me one that’s not poisonous,” she suggested hopefully.

“No.” Jake’s mouth was set, his attention only on his daughter.

“Why not?” Alex challenged, her chin shooting out pugnaciously once again.

“Because I don’t like snakes,” Jake explained.

Neither did Jenna. In fact, she shuddered just thinking about them.

“You might if you had one,” Alex countered optimistically.

Jake’s expression remained firm and unyielding. “Well, we’ll never know, because we’re never getting one. And I explained to you why we had to let Mr. Frog go—he is a wild frog and wild frogs belong in nature. Mr. Frog would have died if we had kept him in captivity too long.”

“What other kind of pets do you have?” Jenna asked, guiding Alex over to her long, cozy sofa.

Alex sighed and looked all the more dejected and disappointed. “I don’t got any.”

Jenna shot Jake a look. Given Alex’s obvious love of animals, this was a surprise. “We just moved from a high-rise in Dallas,” Jake explained. “The building did not allow pets. I’ve been hoping to rectify that, now that we’ve moved to the ranch. I just haven’t had time.”

“Ah.” Jenna got out her sketch pad and seated herself on the sofa next to Alex. That sounded better. To her, not necessarily to Alex. Jenna began to sketch a simple, princess-style dress with a pinafore. Ignoring Jake entirely, she smiled down at Alex. “What kind of pet would you like to have, if you had your choice?”

Alex pushed the brim of her cowgirl hat out of her eyes and rested her chin on her hand. She crossed her blue-jeans-covered legs. “Maybe a zebra or a bear cub.”

“I think kittens and puppies make better pets,” Jenna said.

“How come?” Alex asked.

Jenna smiled. “Because they’re soft and fluffy and fun to cuddle and they’re meant to be indoors.”

“Maybe I’ll get a kitten then,” Alex said after a thoughtful pause. “Or a puppy. Maybe both.” Her eyes lit up enthusiastically as she drew a yo-yo from one pocket and a cap gun from the other.

“That might be possible, if you cooperate and start wearing dresses again, when I ask you to wear a dress,” Jake said.

Alex slid off the sofa and fired her cap gun at the ceiling. Loud pops and acrid smoke permeated the air. “Maybe you should get me a kitty and a puppy first and then I’ll see if I feel like wearing a dress,” Alex countered.

Jake confiscated the cap gun and shook his head. “Behave first.”

Alex shook her head. The stare down between parent and child continued. “I don’t hafta wear dresses at school,” Alex said finally, when she realized her daddy wasn’t any more likely to give in than she was.

“No, you don’t,” Jake said calmly. “But you could wear a dress if you wanted to wear one. And what’s more you’d look very pretty if you did.” He gave her a gentle, coaxing smile.

Alex made a face and with a loud sigh flounced back over to sit beside Jenna. “I don’t want to look pretty.” She leaned over to see how Jenna’s sketch was progressing.

“How do you want to look?” Jenna asked as her pencil flew across the page.

“So right now.”

“You can look ‘so right now’ in a dress,” Jake said enthusiastically.

Alex glared at Jake.

“Can’t you, Jenna?” Jake said, looking to Jenna for moral support.

Jenna shrugged and refused to take sides. “Depends on the dress,” she said. Pausing, she looked at Alex, who had gone back to playing with her yo-yo. “What’s your favorite color crayon?” Jenna asked.

That, Alex had to think about. “Red,” she said.

“What else?” Jenna prodded, making a few notes to herself on the side of her page.

“Blue.”

“Dark blue or light blue?”

“Both.”

“What about green?”

“It’s okay,” Alex replied seriously, “but I like blue and red better.”

“Okay. What grade are you going to be in next year?”

“First. I went to kindergarten last year.”

“Did you learn about letters and numbers?”

Alex nodded vigorously. “I can sing the alphabet song.” She paused to demonstrate. “And I can count to twenty!” She demonstrated again.

“All right! Way to go!” Jenna enthused, and won a shy smile from Alex that made her smile in turn. “Did you draw pictures?”

“Mmm-hmm.”

Jenna finished the sketch and then filled it in with Alex’s favorite colors. “What was your favorite thing to draw?” she asked.