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  “If you find someone you can love, you’ll tell me, yes?” she asked worriedly.

  “Okay. And if you find someone...”

  “Oh, no, it won’t be me,” she interrupted. “I’ve had my fill of men.” She stopped dead and ground her teeth. “Not you,” she added. “You’re not like any man I’ve ever had in my life.” She hesitated, flushed. “I mean...” she began.

  He drew her to him very gently and put his arms around her, as a friend might do when offering comfort. “I know what you mean,” he said at her temple. He liked the feel of her in his arms. She was soft and warm, and she smelled vaguely of flowers. He smiled. “We’re going to get along fine,” he said, his deep voice like velvet. “When you have problems with your hip, I’ll take care of you.”

  She sighed, smiling against his warm chest. She could hear his deep, steady heartbeat under her ear. “And if you get sick, I’ll take care of you,” she replied.

  His heart jumped. He’d never had a woman make that offer, not even Mina when he thought he had a chance with her. But then, Mina had wanted Cort, not him. He felt the rejection wound him, all over again. It was the first time in his life that a woman he wanted hadn’t returned his interest.

  She smoothed her hand over his breastbone. Under the warmth, she could feel thick, cushy hair. Under that was firm muscle. She knew that he worked on the ranch. That would account for the muscles she felt, because he wasn’t the sort of man to sit at his desk and just enjoy his wealth. His hand stilled hers as it moved toward where his heart would be, but she was too content to think anything of it.

  “Don’t you want anybody at the wedding?” he asked suddenly.

  She drew in a breath. They’d already discussed this, and she knew Cindy, her only real friend, couldn’t afford a fancy dress and was too proud to take one from Ida. “I don’t have family anymore,” she replied. “I’d like Maude to come, though. And my two part-time cowboys. And Dr. Menzer and his wife.”

  “Okay. I’d like Rogan Michaels to come, and Cort and Mina, I suppose,” he said, and Ida felt her whole body tauten. “But Rogan’s still in Australia, dealing with the aftermath of the fires, so he couldn’t come. And Cort and Mina took the baby to Jacobsville, Texas, to visit two of Cort’s brothers.” He didn’t notice that she suddenly relaxed. “I don’t have family, either.” He looked down at her and grimaced. “I was going to fly you to Manhattan. Suppose we go to Los Angeles instead?” he asked abruptly. “I have to meet a businessman there about a potential investment.”

  “Los Angeles will be fine,” she said, not minding at all. In fact, she’d dreaded the long flight to New York, even though Jake’s baby jet was very comfortable.

  “Anybody else you want to come?” he asked.

  She looked up. “I thought about asking my attorneys, but it would be like tying the past to the present. There are too many connections with Bailey,” she explained.

  His fingers burrowed into her short black hair. It felt like silk against his skin. “You can tell them later that it was a rushed-up wedding.”

  She laughed. “They’ll think I got pregnant and you had to marry me very quickly,” she teased. “Catelow is so small that it still has people with those attitudes about the thing.”

  His heart had jumped wildly when she said that, because he immediately thought of how she might look, carrying his child under her heart. “I haven’t thought about children since...” He broke off, because he knew she’d sense what he meant. He’d wanted a child with Mina, who didn’t want him.

  “Sorry,” she said, having felt him stiffen. “I shouldn’t have said that.”

  His hand tightened in her hair. “Why not?”

  “If I offend you, you’ll let me go,” she said simply, and with an honesty that surprised him. “I haven’t been hugged very often. Not since my first husband,” she added.

  That dragged a soft laugh from the man holding her. His arms slid all the way around her and held her close. “I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable,” he said. “You’re still afraid of men, Ida. Even me.”

  She ground her teeth together. How had he known that? “I’m trying,” she said after a minute.

  He drew back and tilted her face up to his. Her blue, blue eyes were full of consternation, turmoil. “Don’t worry about it,” he said quietly. “You don’t really know me. But you’ll have all the time in the world. You don’t see people as they really are until you live together. You’ll find out that I’m messy, ill-tempered from time to time, unreasonable and bullheaded and impatient.”

  “I’m messy, too, and I have a quick temper, but it’s mostly flash fire. I get mad and I’m over it.” She paused. “I can be unreasonable and bad-tempered, too. But I’ll try not to be.”

  He chuckled. “We’ll both try not to be.” He looked down at her with faint affection. “We like the same things. We have a lot in common. Marriages have succeeded on far less. And infatuation is no reason to marry, because it quickly becomes disinterest.”

  “I guess so,” she replied, and she thought of Mina, whom he loved. That had been no infatuation, and months after Mina had married the Texas cattle baron, Jake was still hung up on her. She would have to be patient. Mina was a sweet woman. Ida wished she knew how to dim Jake’s memory of her. She wondered belatedly if they’d even have a proper marriage, with her third husband in love with another woman. It hurt her pride, she told herself. She wasn’t jealous. She sighed. Yes, she was.

  “Don’t worry,” he said softly. “It will be all right.”

  She drew in a long breath. “Okay, Jake.”

  The sound of his name on her lips made ripples in his emotions. He ignored that and smiled. “Okay.”

  * * *

  THEY WENT TOGETHER to see the minister, so that Ida knew who was going to marry them. Tolbert Drake was pastor of an interdenominational church in the middle of Catelow. He was tall and blond and had a live-wire personality. When Jake had asked him about marrying them, he’d responded positively at once.

  “We have a very mixed congregation,” he told them. “Every race and gender and political affiliation known to man.” He leaned down. “And a former Mafia don, too,” he added with a chuckle.

  “Goodness!” Ida exclaimed.

  “So marrying you two is no problem for me. I think God is a great deal more forgiving than most people realize.” He glanced at Ida as he said it and she flushed.

  Which made Jake feel oddly protective. “Her second husband abused her physically,” he told Tolbert. “Broke her hip and her spirit and now he’s making threats, because she’s rich and he has gambling debts he wants her to pay.”

  Tolbert frowned. He hadn’t heard about that.

  “I gave myself a red-hot reputation to keep men at bay,” Ida said in a subdued tone. “My first husband was a wonderful man. He was gay, and I didn’t know.” She smiled. “We were still close and loved each other, but he died. My second husband caught me at a weak moment. He seemed to be everything a man should be. And he was, until we were behind locked doors.” Her blue eyes were wide with painful memory as she stared up at the minister. “So you see, I have no judgment about men. I thought the best way to keep them away from me was to pretend I was so, well, educated intimately that I’d ridicule any man brave enough to ask me out.”

  “You were dating the man Mina Michaels married,” Tolbert recalled.

  She smiled. “Yes. He was like me, rich and worried about being just a walking wallet. We played chess together. Nothing else. I...” She swallowed, hard, and averted her eyes. “I don’t think I’m capable of being with a man ever again.” She stopped, horrified, as she met Jake’s eyes with apology in her own.

  “I’ll explain,” Jake said gently and smiled. He addressed the minister. “It’s to be a marriage of friends,” he said. “We like the same things. We like each other. We have common interests. That will outlast any
infatuation either of us might have felt in the past for other people.”

  Tolbert saw more than they realized. He smiled at Ida. “Even ministers listen to gossip,” he said. “I’m sorry. I should know better than to take anybody at face value. We show a face to the world that we don’t show in private.” There was something dark in his eyes as he made the remark, quickly erased. “I think your reasons for marrying are sound,” he added, “and I’ll be very happy to officiate at your wedding. You mentioned next Saturday?”

  Jake and Ida stared at each other blankly. The actual date was something they hadn’t really discussed.

  “Do you have a marriage license?” the minister added.

  They both stared at him.

  “I’ll get one today,” Jake said, mentally flogging himself for having forgotten. He’d been involved in a long-distance, very tricky business deal, and the wedding had gone right out of his mind. He wasn’t telling Ida that, of course.

  Tolbert smiled. “Then if you get the license tomorrow, I could marry you both on this coming Saturday morning. If you like,” he added. “And you won’t have to wait a week.”

  “Well?” Jake asked Ida.

  She had doubts. She had concerns. She didn’t really know Jake that well. What if he was like Bailey when they were really alone?

  He touched her cheek with the tips of his fingers. “I would never hurt you,” he said softly, and the truth of it was in the silver eyes staring so intensely into her own.

  She relaxed. She did trust him. “Saturday morning would be fine,” she said after a minute.

  He smiled. “Okay.” He wasn’t sure why he wanted to marry her. He was only sure that he did.

  * * *

  “I FORGOT SOMEONE. I want to invite Pam Simpson and her husband,” Ida said as they sat drinking coffee at the kitchen table, while Maude pottered around cooking things for their dinner much later in the day. “And, Maude, you have to come, too,” she added.

  Maude was surprised. She liked Ida very much, but she felt her place in the household. She had to be browbeaten into even eating with them in the dining room. “Me?”

  “Yes, of course, you,” Ida replied. “You’ve been so kind to me. Kinder than anyone in recent years,” she added softly. “You can be my matron of honor, and if you need a fancy dress, Jake and I will take you out and get you one.”

  Maude felt lighter than air. She smiled from ear to ear. “You’d do that, for me?” she asked with visible excitement. She flushed a little. “You see, we don’t have much money for extras, although Mr. McGuire pays me a lot more than I’m worth. My husband has a disability check. His back was broken years ago, breaking horses, so I’m the only one working.”

  “Of course we’ll get you anything you need,” Jake said, beaming. “And I do mean anything. You might have noticed that we’re both a little better off than most people.”

  “I think the Mercedes and the Jaguar emphasize that,” Maude said, tongue-in-cheek.

  They both laughed.

  * * *

  AND THEY DID take Maude shopping, all the way to Los Angeles to one of the most expensive boutiques in town.

  Maude was like a little girl in a candy shop. She went from garment to garment, looking as if she’d won the lottery, while an affectionately amused couple watched her.

  “She’s such a sweet woman,” Ida murmured to Jake when Maude took two dresses into the fitting room, either suitable for a fancy wedding.

  “She is,” Jake replied. “We might consider giving her a raise. She’s worth rubies.”

  She grinned. “She is. I’d like that, too.”

  He slid a careful arm around her shoulders, just a sign of affection, but it sent a thrill through his tall, fit body. He hoped she didn’t feel it and become afraid of him.

  She did. She was feeling the same thing. Like a jolt of lightning, she told herself, but a sensual one. She was shocked that it pleased her so much, being close to him. Unconsciously, she moved closer to him, and the arm tightened, just a little. It was a shock to both of them. They looked at each other with faint surprise on their faces.

  They didn’t speak or move until Maude came out wearing one of the dresses, the color of faded antique pink roses. It made her plain face glow.

  “That one,” Jake said before Ida could. She just nodded and smiled.

  Maude came up to them, smiling at the saleslady. She leaned toward Jake. “Sir, do you have any idea what this dress will cost?”

  “I don’t care,” he said.

  Ida grinned. “Me, neither,” she teased. “We want you to be the most well-dressed woman there. Well, except for me,” she added with a gamine smile. “But I’ll be in white. You look very nice, Maude. The color truly suits you.”

  “Thank you,” Maude said. “And for the dress. I’ve never had anything so pretty.” Her eyes were very bright. She turned away and went back to the saleslady.

  Ida shifted so that she could put her cheek against Jake’s broad chest. “You really are a kind man,” she said gently.

  His big, lean hand smoothed over her back. “Maude’s a treasure. I’m sorry I didn’t think about this sooner. I know what it is to be poor. So do you. There were never any extras in our household. I went to school with holes in my pants that weren’t made deliberately as a fashion statement, and boots that often had holes in the soles.”

  “We had plenty to eat, because we lived on a ranch and we grew our own vegetables and beef and pork. But shoes were always a problem because my feet grew so fast.”

  He looked down and smiled. Her feet were encased in neat pink sneakers that matched the silk blouse under her long leather coat. “Cute little feet,” he remarked.

  She looked down and chuckled. “I’ll bet you have to wear the shoeboxes,” she whispered.

  “Big feet, big heart,” he retorted with mock haughtiness.

  She laughed.

  “While we’re here, you need to look at wedding gowns, Ida,” he added.

  She was hesitant. “Are you sure?” she asked, worried. “I’m not a young girl and it’s not a first wedding. Besides, it’s just going to be a small wedding...”

  “We’ve already had this discussion,” he reminded her. “Warm winter white. Something flattering. And with a veil.”

  She remembered that he’d insisted on that. Neither of her other two husbands had wanted anything resembling a proper ceremony. She looked up into Jake’s soft eyes and gave in. “Okay,” she said. “White it is. And a veil.”

  She left Jake sitting while Maude searched for other necessities to go with her bridesmaid’s gown, and she went to the couture wedding department, her eyes full of stars.

  She looked through what felt like oceans of white, until she was almost blinded by the choices. But one particular gown caught her eye. It had a keyhole neck, trimmed with antique lace, tight in the bosom and the waist, flaring out into a wide, ankle-length skirt, and with a train. It was satin with a lace overlay, puffy sleeves, and intricate embroidery on just the bottom of the skirt, around the hem, in pastel colors. Those were echoed in trim around the band of the sleeves, and the neckline. The veil was antique lace, and its hem had the same fine, pastel embroidery. It was like something out of a fairy tale, Ida thought as she studied herself in the three mirrors in the fitting room.

  She sighed, worrying that she was too old for a gown like this and should choose something simpler.

  But the saleslady came in and saw her in the dress and caught her breath. “Ma’am,” she said softly, “I’ve never seen a bride look so lovely in a gown. That’s by a new designer, too, and he has some of the prettiest gowns you’d ever want to wear.”

  Ida let out the breath she’d been holding. She laughed. “I was worried that I’m too old for it,” she said. “I’ve been married twice, you see...”

  “Nobody is too old for a beautiful wedd
ing gown like that,” she replied, and she smiled.

  Ida took one more look in the mirror and had to agree. She smiled from ear to ear. “I’ll take it,” she said.

  * * *

  MAUDE WAS LET out at her house, so that she could put up her dress after showing it and her other purchases to her husband.

  Jake and Ida, sitting in the back of the limousine, waited for her patiently, exchanging idle conversation while Fred, the driver, kept glancing in the rearview mirror, as if he was impatient to go.

  “Getting jumpy, Fred?” Jake teased. “We’re not robbing a bank, you know. Although, the way you drive sometimes, you remind me of a wheel guy,” he chuckled.

  Fred smiled, but in an odd way. “I guess those guys have to be pretty good at the wheel,” he said.

  “Very good, I should think,” Jake agreed, nodding. Then he turned back to Ida. “How about the symphony tomorrow night? Supper before.”

  “We don’t have a symphony in Catelow,” she said blankly.

  “Well, no, but there’s one in Manhattan, and I happen to know that they’re doing Debussy.”

  Her breath caught. “How did you know that’s my favorite?”

  “I didn’t,” he returned, surprised. “It’s my favorite.”

  She laughed. “Something else in common. What restaurant?”

  “The Plaza, of course,” he teased. “Unless you’d rather go to the Bull and Bear.” The latter was at the Waldorf Astoria.

  “There’s one I want to see very badly, in Manhattan, and I’ve only been there once. It’s the Algonquin Hotel...”

  “My God!” he exclaimed. “Dorothy Parker and the other literary lights of the day!”

  Her blue eyes widened and softened with delight. “Yes!”

  He just shook his head. “Ida, we’re going to be the greatest marital success story in the history of Catelow,” he mused softly.

  She grinned at him. “We just might be.”