Cathy Thacker - The Bride Said, 'Finally!'

Alex furrowed her brow. “Kitties and puppies. And one time I drawed a kite and a big tree with lotsa leaves.”

Jenna nodded. Clearly, she and Alex were on the same page now. “I want to show you something in the storeroom.” Indicating Alex and Jake should follow, Jenna rose and went to the back of the store, where there were bolts of fabric. She pulled down three different shades of blue. “Which of these do you like best?” she asked Alex. “The dark blue, the medium blue or the light blue?”

Alex touched each of the three bolts of fabric. “I like the one that looks like blue jeans.”

“Ah yes, indigo. Okay. Now…what about these reds? Scarlet, fire-engine or rose?”

“Fire-engine.”

“Good choice.” Jenna went back out to the showroom. She sat down, picked up her sketch pad and colored pencils and added the hues Alex had just selected. “Well, what do you think?”

Alex looked down at the short blue-denim jumper and fire-engine-red blouse. The jumper was adorned with kittens and puppies and letters of the alphabet, and paired with red cowgirl boots and a saucy blue cowgirl hat. “Now, granted, this is a dress, but it’s not your average dress,” Jenna said. “’Cause the jumper—the blue part here—is going to be made out of blue denim and looks more like overalls, except of course it’s not. And I’ve got you wearing boots instead of black patentleather shoes. Do you think you could wear something like this?”

For a second, Jenna thought Alex was going to shout a resounding yes or a Texas-sized Yee-ha! But her delight faded as soon as it appeared, replaced by a pout as big as the Lone Star State. “No. No dresses. Not even ones with kitties and puppies on ’em. Daddy, I want to go now.”

Jake knelt down in front of his daughter. He shot Jenna a brief grateful glance then turned back to Alexandra. “Alex, we talked about this. You have to have a few dresses now, like it or not.”

“No.” Alex dug in even more stubbornly. She folded her arms in front of her. “I don’t. I want to go home now. And I know you got to go to work. Can you please have Clara take me back to the ranch?”

“Honey—” Jake looked both exasperated and desperate. The clock was ticking. Before they knew it, Melinda would be here, and Alex wasn’t anywhere near even picking out a dress, never mind putting one on.

Jake shot an anxious look at Jenna.

“I think we’ve done enough for now,” Jenna said, knowing there were just some things that couldn’t be rushed, like it or not. “Clearly, Alex has other things she’d rather be doing. And I for one think she ought to have that opportunity.” Jenna looked at Alex. “Are you busy this afternoon?”

“Why?” Alex glared at Jenna suspiciously, clearly not about to be tricked into wearing any dress.

Jenna shrugged in a way that let Alex know she at least wasn’t going to force her to do anything she didn’t want to. Aware Jake was watching her every move, she knelt down so she and Alex were at eye level with each other. “I thought I might come over to play, say around one o’clock, if it’s okay.”

Alex blinked in a combination of surprise and delight. “You want to play with me?”

Jenna nodded. This was one little girl in need of some tender loving care if she’d ever seen one. “If your daddy say it’s okay.”

Alex looked up at Jake.

Clearly at a loss as to what Jenna was up to now, Jake shrugged. “It’s okay with me if it’s okay with you, pumpkin.”

“Okay, I’ll see you then. Bye, Daddy.” Alex kissed Jake goodbye, then skipped out the door to the curb, where Clara was leaning against her vehicle and talking to Wade and Shane McCabe.

Jake waited until they’d driven off, before he turned back to Jenna. “You were supposed to back me up on this dress issue.”

Jenna gathered up her sketch pad and pencils and carried them back to the storeroom, Jake right on her heels. “Oh, relax, would you?” she said, wishing he weren’t so close, and that he didn’t smell so good, like soap and man and woodsy, masculine cologne.

Jake’s silver-gray eyes darkened sexily. “You do remember what kind of time schedule we’re on here, don’t you?”

Jenna rolled her eyes and tried not to notice how very close he had shaved that morning. “Rather hard to forget with you breathing down my neck like that.”

Hands braced on his waist, pushing the edges of his sport coat back, Jake said, “You were supposed to convince her to at least order one dress.”

Ignoring the way he was towering over her, Jenna held her ground. “I did. Didn’t you see her face? Alex loved the alphabet dress I designed just for her. Granted, it’s a little casual,” Jenna shrugged, “but we have to start somewhere.”

Jake’s frown deepened all the more. “So she loved it for a second, before she dug in her heels,” he countered, exasperated. “She is still not going to wear it.”

“Yes,” Jenna retorted patiently, “she will. But only when she wants to.”

“Which is where you were supposed to come in,” Jake added.

Jenna made a face at him, designed to show him how ridiculously panicky he was being. “Which is where I am still going to come in if you will just take a chill pill and let me do my thing.” She turned on her heel and headed back out into the showroom.

Jake followed. “You have a plan?” he asked, the hope in his low voice as annoying to Jenna as his scolding had been.

“Of course I have a plan. I always have a plan,” Jenna snapped back irritably, wondering when Jake would give her some credit. She paused, aware her emotions were starting to get out of control again—something that happened frequently when Jake was around. She drew in a bolstering breath. “I’ll work on it this afternoon, when I go over to play with her,” Jenna finished calmly as she walked over to the sales counter and checked her schedule—she had been rescheduling appointments with customers right and left to make room for Jake.

“Oh.” The wind temporarily knocked out of his sails, Jake paused and raked a hand through his hair. He blew out an uneasy breath, looked at her seriously. “Good. ’Cause you know what is riding on this.”

“Absolutely.” Jenna smiled tightly, reminding herself to keep this strictly unemotional and aboveboard. She wanted this discussion with Jake finished within the next ten minutes, which would leave her plenty of time to prepare for her next appointment. “The expansion of my business.”

Briefly, disappointment flickered in Jake’s eyes. “And Alex’s custody,” Jake added, as he sauntered around to join her behind the sales counter.

“And Alex’s custody,” Jenna agreed, then paused as her next thought hit. She tilted her face up to Jake’s, so she could see into his eyes. “Does Alex know what’s going on between you and her mother—that Melinda is threatening to sue you for custody because Alex is such a tomboy?” Jenna asked curiously.

“No.” Jake rested his shoulders against the wall. “And I don’t want her to know. Bad enough we’re divorced and Melinda has shown practically zero interest in her since day one.”

“Did you expect this to happen?”

“No, but I probably should have. My attorney warned me at the time of the divorce that custody arrangements are often challenged after several years have passed. Sometimes for money. Sometimes because one parent doesn’t approve of the way the other parent is rearing the child. She was particularly worried in my case because Melinda so easily gave up all rights to Alexandra. She thought Melinda might eventually realize she’d made a mistake and want to become more a part of Alex’s life.”

“Surely Melinda couldn’t win,” Jenna said, concerned.