Lilac Wedding in Dry Creek

“I won’t be a real father, of course.” Jake felt obliged to tell the older man.

“Why not?” Max demanded.

Jake shook his head. “We’ll talk about it when I get back.”

He looked at the frown on his friend’s face. Maybe he needed to say more.

“I’d be a terrible father,” he added, his voice low so that no one but Max would hear. “And, you know, Lara thinks her father is a prince somewhere who rides on a dragon taking gifts to poor people. Even a mortal with a normal childhood would have a hard time competing with that. So, it’s best this way.”

“I don’t think—” Max started and then stopped when Jake raised a hand in caution.

By that time, Cat had finished adjusting all the straps on the car seat so Lara was both safe and comfortable. Cat closed the door on the backseat and started walking around the pickup to the passenger seat.

“We’ll be back in no time at all,” Jake said, trying to keep the tone of his voice even.

“You should have good roads to Salt Lake, at least,” Max said as Jake opened the driver’s door. Then the older man put his hand in his back pocket and pulled out an envelope. “I almost forgot. You won’t need a stamp for this now.”

“Thanks.” Jake took the envelope and threw it into the passenger seat as Cat opened the door. He looked up at the older man and saw him smile before he stepped away from the cab window.

“What’s this?” Cat said as she slid it over so she could climb in and sit on the seat.

“It’s yours,” Jake replied.

Cat didn’t pick up the envelope, but she did move it so it didn’t fall off the seat.

Jake settled himself behind the wheel. He figured she knew what was in the envelope since her name was on it.

By then, Max had stepped back to the lobby door and had turned to wave at them as Jake started the pickup.

“It’ll be dark by the time we get to Salt Lake,” Jake said to Cat as he started driving. He turned onto the street in front of the Starling. “We should make good time, though.”

The leather on the seats was softer than Cat had thought when she’d touched it earlier. The warmth of the blankets made her drowsy. She’d been so tired lately. First it was all the doctors and then flying here with Lara. Being with Jake made her feel as though she could let go of some of the burden and, before she knew it, her eyes drifted closed. The next time she opened them it was dark outside. She saw the red taillights of a string of cars ahead of them.

“Where are we?” She was groggy but tried to sit up straight.

“We passed Salt Lake City a half hour ago. It’s about seven in the evening.”

Cat had only meant to close her eyes for a moment. She turned to glance in the backseat and saw that Lara was soundly sleeping in her car seat.

“She’s fine,” Jake said. “I asked her to be quiet so you could get some rest.”

“You didn’t need to do that,” Cat protested, still facing the back. She studied her daughter’s peaceful face. “Lara’s my responsibility.”

“Not completely. Not anymore.”

Cat turned around and sagged against the seat at his words. Relief flooded over her. She hadn’t even had to ask. He was accepting their daughter.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

“You don’t need to thank me.”

The lights from a passing car shone in the cab for a second. Shadows lifted from Jake’s face and she felt the urge to reach over and touch his cheek. His expression was so solemn, though, that she didn’t dare.

“I still appreciate it,” she said quietly, wondering if he would remember this conversation later.

“It’s my duty,” he added, and she felt her heart squeeze. “Just let me know how much you need.”

“You mean money?”

“Of course.”

Money would never be enough. She could not leave Lara with him unless he came to love her. Duty wasn’t enough. Not when her daughter had just started to believe in happy endings. As she faced her possible death, only one thing was important. She wanted her daughter to live with hope and love in her life. She wanted her to have something as close to a fairy-tale life as possible.

“I’ve been thinking about it.” Jake turned to her and smiled. “Like Max mentioned, my mother and brother are both living on the family ranch now. How do you want me to introduce you to them?”

“What?”

“An old classmate? Someone from the home?”

“Do we need to say?”

“My brother will pester you to death if he thinks there’s any chance you would marry me,” Jake continued with a grin. “I’m not sure I would wish that on anyone. He has this fantasy about me getting married and settling down on the ranch. He’s even got a hill picked out with a place to build my house.”

A shot of pure longing went through Cat. “Would that be such a bad life? To live in Dry Creek?”

Jake was silent for a moment, the darkness hiding any expression on his face.

“Years ago I would have said it would be a fine life.” His voice was strained. “But after all that happened to my family there, I’m not sure I could live in the community.”

“You’re not responsible for your mother killing your father.”

“Oh, but she didn’t.” Jake turned to look over at her. “I forgot you didn’t know. She thought my older brother, Wade, had done it and, when the prosecution wanted to call him to the stand, she confessed to stop them. She didn’t want him going to prison if she could help it.”

“Oh, my.” Cat let that sink into her mind. She could understand how a mother would do that. “You always said you didn’t think she had killed him.”

Jake nodded. “No one listened to me.”

Another minute went by before he continued. “Those people sent my mother to prison and she hadn’t even committed any crime except trying to look out for her son. They heard the Stone name and just assumed she had done it.”

“But she told them she had. And Wade—did he?”

“No, he didn’t do it, either,” Jake said curtly. “That’s why it’s so upsetting. Those people couldn’t see past their prejudices. If they had worked harder on looking at the evidence—or the lack of it—our family would have stayed together and everything would be different now.”

The cab was completely dark. There were no lights from cars pulling up behind them. But Cat reached out anyway and ran her fingers softly down Jake’s cheek. “I’m so sorry.”

He reached a hand up to capture hers and turned it so he could kiss the inside of her palm. Then he curled her fingers around the place where his lips had pressed. “You’re a good friend to me, Cat Barker.”

He released her hand and she brought it back to her lap.