Natural Born Daddy (16 page)

“Jordan, the wedding is in three days,” Mary complained. “You can't possibly wait another moment before deciding.”

“We're waiting, Mother. I'll be in touch.”

Kelly thought the screen door slammed rather emphatically behind her. She was resting her head on top of her folded arms when Jordan returned to the kitchen and pressed a kiss to the back of her neck.

“Don't get fainthearted now,” he murmured.

She looked up at him and tried to blink back tears. The most incredible day of her life was going to turn into a nightmare. It was on a fast track to calamity and she could see no way to stop it.

“Jordan, I do not want to get married at White Pines,” she said emphatically. “I do not want to wear a dress your mother has picked out. I do not want a swarm of caterers and strangers around us.”

He sat down opposite her and took her hand in his. “What do you want? Just tell me and I'll take care of it.”

Something in his voice told her she could trust him to do exactly that. “I want a small wedding. Just family. I want to wear my mother's wedding gown.”

At his startled look, she added, “I didn't wear it when I married Paul. I saved it all these years so I could wear it if you and I ever got married.” She sniffed and wiped at the tears tracking down her cheeks.

“Consider it done,” he promised.

“Just like that?”

“Just like that.”

Suddenly she was uncertain. “Is that selfish? Is your mother right about this being important to you for business reasons?”

He laughed. “Sweetheart, my mother thinks every occasion is an opportunity to solidify business relationships. Don't give that a second thought.”

“But she's already invited the governor.”

“And I'm equally certain the governor has enough events to attend that he won't mind if I call up and tell him we've decided to elope.”

“Elope? I didn't say…”

“In a manner of speaking,” he added hastily. “I think perhaps we should plan the ceremony for Friday, tell the family they're simply coming here for a rehearsal dinner and let `em know after it's over that it was the real thing.”

Kelly chuckled as she considered how that news would go over with Mary Adams. “Your mother will kill us.”

“The most important thing is you and me getting married, right?”

No doubt about that, Kelly thought. She'd been waiting a lifetime for it to happen. “Right.”

He stood and dropped a kiss on her forehead. “Then leave the rest to me. Six o'clock, Friday evening, you and I are getting married.”

Kelly flew off of her chair and wrapped her arms around him. “Jordan, I do love you.”

As soon as the impulsive words were out of her mouth, she regretted them. She hadn't intended to let him see so soon that her heart was on the line. It would have been far better to let him go on thinking that he was making a business acquisition of sorts.

He folded her into his arms and rested his chin on her head. She thought his heart was beating a little faster than usual, thought she detected a faint shudder sweeping through his body. Small signs, but they gave her hope. In time, surely Jordan would be able to say those words. In time…

T
he wedding was going to be as unconventional as the reasons behind it. An hour before the scheduled ceremony Jordan glanced around Kelly's living room and surveyed the hastily accomplished preparations with a sense of amazement. Admittedly he was no judge of such things, but it looked perfect. Informal, romantic and unique, just like the woman he was marrying.

Dear heaven, he was getting married tonight! He had actually won the battle to claim Kelly's heart. He was marrying a woman who'd been a part of his life for so long that he couldn't remember a time when she hadn't been important to him.

His proposal might have been impulsive, but he sensed without a doubt that he'd made the right decision. He and Kelly were a good match. Marriage wasn't nearly so intimidating or confusing when it was approached in a logical manner. Obviously she'd seen that, as well.

“Nervous?” Luke asked, amusement in his dark eyes as he watched Jordan pace amid the bouquets of wildflowers set on every available surface.

“About marrying Kelly? Not in the least,” he said candidly. “About Mother's reaction when she finds out this is the real thing, you bet. She's going to pitch a fit. But if this will make Kelly happy, it will all be worth it. Frankly, I'm glad to be getting it over with. I keep thinking Kelly's going to change her mind.”

Luke patted him consolingly on the shoulder. “Don't worry about Kelly. She's been in love with you ever since I can remember. As for Mother, she won't stay mad, not for long, anyway. Daddy will be so pleased by all of this, he'll see to it she handles this with her usual aplomb. And as long as he's happy, she won't bat an eye.”

Jordan had his doubts, not about his father's powers of persuasion, but about his mother's flexibility. “I hope you're right. I don't want her and Kelly getting off on the wrong foot.”

“Standing up to her is the only way to get off on the right foot,” Luke said. “Jessie figured that out early on, while she was still married to Erik. She really had to take a stand once the baby was born or Mother would have taken over Angela's upbringing. Mother finds Jessie a challenge, but she doesn't dislike her. Besides, have you had any indication after all these years that Mother has anything at all against Kelly? It's not as if you're marrying some stranger.”

Jordan wondered about that. Kelly had seemed more perplexing to him lately than she had in all the previous years he'd known her. “If you say so,” he said, glancing anxiously toward the stairs. “I wish they'd hurry up.”

“You don't want them down here before Mother and Daddy arrive, do you? Once Mother sees Kelly in her wedding dress and you in your tuxedo, she's going to know something's up. In fact, it might be a good idea for you to hide out in the kitchen for a while with Consuela,” he suggested, referring to his housekeeper. Consuela had been more mother than hired help to Jordan and all of his brothers. When Luke had elected to build his own ranch, rather than remaining at White Pines, Consuela had gone with him after assuring herself that she was leaving Harlan and Mary in the capable hands of her cousin Maritza. She had always loved Kelly, who'd been in and out of the Adams kitchen as a child. The minute she'd heard about the change in wedding plans, she'd insisted on coming along not just as a beloved guest, but to fix the wedding dinner and bake the cake. Unfortunately, she'd lost patience with his hovering hours ago.

“She's already thrown me out of the kitchen once,” Jordan admitted. “She said I was in her way.” He sighed and looked at his older brother. “I wish we could have talked Cody into coming back for this.”

“I know,” Luke said. “I tried. I think Daddy did, too. Cody is still hurt and angry and his pride's at stake. To top it off, he's the most stubborn of all of us and he's dead set against ever setting foot in Texas again as long as Melissa Horton is here. At least we can be grateful he found another job in ranching. He's not just bumming around, hell-raising and licking his wounds.”

Jordan didn't find much comfort in that. “But Wyoming is a long way from home,” he noted.

“He'll be back one of these days,” Luke said with the certainty of an older brother who'd had time to
observe the behavior patterns of his siblings. “Cody is as tied to this family as any of the rest of us, maybe even more so. He's the one who took the most interest in our ancestors, the one who cared the most about being an exalted Adams. He got Mother's powerful sense of family and Daddy's muleheadedness. Sooner or later his anger at Melissa will fade and he'll recognize that this is where he really belongs.”

Jordan wished he were as sure. He'd seen Cody the night he'd discovered Melissa with his best friend. Luke hadn't. “I hope so. I think Daddy's missing him a lot. As much as Daddy grumbled about being displaced on his own ranch, I think he was really looking forward to having more time to travel with Mother.”

“Maybe, but he's too damned young to retire,” Luke commented. “He hasn't taken a real vacation in all these years because his heart's been in running White Pines. How much traveling do you think he really would have done before he'd gone nuts?”

“One trip,” Jordan agreed with a chuckle. “Maybe two, especially when he figured out how much money Mother could spend in Paris in a week. His willingness to indulge her might have suffered a major setback after that.”

They were interrupted by the sound of a car driving up the lane. Jordan peered anxiously through the screen door.

“Mother and Daddy?” Luke asked.

“The minister, thank goodness. At least we'll all be in our places when they show up. Maybe we can even get through the ‘I do's' before they guess what's going on.”

“Optimist,” Luke taunted. His expression suddenly sobered. “I'm happy for you, little brother. Kelly's one in a million, after Jessie, of course. And I can vouch for the joy of starting off with a ready-made family. It's not nearly as intimidating as I imagined.”

“I'm relieved to hear it,” Jordan said, hugging his brother. “Thanks for helping me pull this off. No one could have ever had a better best man.”

“I'm just glad you finally woke up and asked the woman. Jessie was driving me nuts to give you a push, but we both knew you'd just rebel. You've already wasted too many years chasing after the Rexannes of the world.”

“Mother liked her,” Jordan acknowledged as he went to open the door for Reverend Garrison, who'd been officiating at family ceremonies as far back as Jordan could remember.

“That should have been your first warning,” Luke shot back dryly. He grinned at the minister. “How are you, Reverend?”

“Delighted to see another one of you lads tying the knot,” he said, shaking Jordan's hand. “Explain to me again about this being a surprise service. Have to say I've never performed a wedding quite like that before. Who's not in on the secret? Surely not the bride.”

“Oh, no,” Jordan reassured him. “She's most definitely in on it. It's Mother and Daddy. Things were getting a little out of hand with the planning, so Kelly and I decided to do this our own way. As fast as Mother invited people, we turned around and uninvited them. We promised them a huge reception at White Pines in a few months, assuming Mother's started speaking to us again by then. At least she'll be able to plan that exactly the way she wants to.”

The minister chuckled. “Seeing how your daddy likes to think he's the one running things in the family, I can't wait to see Harlan's and Mary's expressions when they find out.”

Luke and Jordan exchanged a look of complete understanding. “Us, either,” Jordan admitted with more than a little trepidation.

He peered out the door again and spotted dust flying at the far end of the lane. “Guess we'll know soon enough how it's going to go over. Luke, you want to warn the bride and get Consuela in here? I don't want to waste a second.”

It already seemed as if he'd wasted far too much of his life.

* * *

As Kelly gazed at herself in the mirror, Jessie stood back and admired the creamy lace and silk wedding dress that had been Kelly's mother's. “You look beautiful,” she told her. “You'll knock Jordan's socks off.”

Dani peeked around from behind her mother and stared at her reflection in the mirror. Her eyes widened. “Mommy, you look like a princess, just like the one in my book.”

The compliments were exactly what Kelly needed. They calmed the butterflies in her stomach.

“I feel like a princess,” she admitted, her cheeks flushed. She had never felt this way before, not even on the day she had married Paul.

She'd had half a dozen attendants then and a church filled with friends and family. They'd even had a string quartet playing as the guests arrived. It had been a fantasy, storybook wedding, but she'd
participated without this nervous sense of anticipation, without so much as a flutter of pure excitement. Now, just thinking of Jordan waiting downstairs, her pulse hammered.

“All set?” Jessie asked. “I saw Harlan and Mary drive up a second ago. Luke will be putting ‘The Wedding March' on the stereo any minute now.”

Kelly reached over and clasped her friend's hand. “Thank you for being here for me.”

Jessie smiled. “Where else would I be? I've been waiting for this day for a long time, too. You two were made for each other. Jordan's softer around you, less driven. Given a little time, I think it's entirely possible the man will get his priorities in order.”

Kelly wasn't quite so convinced the leopard could change his spots. “I hope you're right. I really don't want to spend any more time in Houston than I absolutely have to.”

“Then you'll just have to convince him that modern communications are such that he can run his business perfectly well from right here in west Texas. Give him a modem as a wedding present.”

“An interesting idea,” Kelly said slowly, giving it serious thought. “There really isn't any reason he couldn't operate the company from here, is there? I'm sure all those vice presidents and administrators he has running around over there would be glad to be out from under his thumb. Maybe I'll have a little chat with Ginger one of these days. She could probably tell me how tricky the logistics would be.”

“She's his right arm, isn't she?” Jessie asked. “If you could win her over, it seems to me that would be half the battle.”

“I've spoken to her several times when I called Jordan at the office. Her husband is from this part of the state,” Kelly said, beginning to see how it could all work out. “From what I gather he's been bugging her to live over this way during the off-season. Says he wants to get back into ranching before he retires from football. She's held out because she loves her job. She doesn't want to be stranded way out here with nothing to do.”