Wanted: One Mommy (15 page)

Patrice and Dutch squared off with Jack in the luxury motor home that up to now had been serving as a dressing room for the bride. Now, it had been cleared of everyone except the three of them.

To Jack’s consternation, Patrice refused to acknowledge the seriousness of the situation. She elbowed Dutch in the side, as if eliciting a laugh. “It’s a good thing you and I aren’t the superstitious type,” she joked. “Otherwise, our wedding would be doomed.”

Dutch bent down to kiss his bride lightly on the lips. “In my opinion, it can only be good luck for us to see each other before the ceremony.”

Patrice turned to Dutch, wrapped her arms around his neck and brought his head down to hers. The two kissed with a lot more passion and verve than Jack had ever expected. In fact, had it not been his mother in the clinch, he would have said, “Get a room!”

Aware he really did not need to see this, he closed his eyes and ran a hand over his face. Cleared his throat. Loudly. Then heard the chuckling, the rustle of clothing as Dutch and Patrice moved apart.

Jack opened his eyes and studied his mother and the man who would soon be his stepfather, if all went their way. He wanted to think the two of them weren’t head over
heels in lust and in love. Three weeks ago, he was fairly certain that hadn’t been the case. Now…all he knew for sure was that this kind of passion was hard to fake, and even harder to obtain. He could vouch for this because he’d discovered that kind of intense emotion with Caroline. Until today, anyway, when Caroline had resolutely given him the old heave-ho….

Dutch and Patrice looked at him. “We’re waiting,” his mother prodded impatiently.

Not sure where to begin, Jack simply handed over the P.I. report regarding the apartment and the visiting registered nurse who had been calling on Dutch three times a week.

Patrice scanned both documents, then sighed. Her expression unflappable, she sat down on the sofa against the window and patted the place beside her for Dutch. He sat down next to her, and still serious, took her hand in his. Patrice shook her head in dismay, even as she looked deeply into Dutch’s eyes. “I told you Jack would find out your health is not as good as we’d like.”

Jack paused, not sure what to think. “So you knew?” he asked, incredulous.

““That Dutch is on the kidney transplant waiting list?” Patrice scoffed and waved a hand. “Of course. Although if this new clinical trial accepts him as a patient, surgery may not be necessary after all. We’re still waiting to hear from his Houston nephrologist on that. But either way, it doesn’t matter. I told Dutch from the outset, I am in this for the long haul. Whether this new drug rejuvenates his failing kidneys, or he stays on at-home dialysis or opts for a transplant, Dutch is going to need someone by his side and I’m going to be there, Jack, whether you like it or not.”

Jack studied them. He couldn’t say he was totally surprised about his mother’s generosity. She had always
possessed an enormous heart. As well as a very good health insurance plan that—thanks to her lucrative deal with Couture Perfume—would continue for life, for herself and any dependents.

“Tell me this isn’t about money and insurance,” he insisted.

Patrice shrugged. “It certainly started out that way.”

Once more, Jack found himself doing a double take.

Patrice leaned back against the cushioned seat and crossed her legs at the knee. “Of course, Dutch didn’t want to get involved with me for that very reason, and I admit, I had a few reservations about becoming emotionally involved with anyone again myself.”

“So we decided to become just friends instead,” Dutch said. “And support each other that way.”

“Which was great, because there was no pressure to move things along and we found we had a lot in common,” Patrice enthused happily.

“The kind of simpatico that comes along all too infrequently in this life,” Dutch said quietly.

“But then, several things happened,” Patrice continued frankly. “Dutch’s insurance plan was about to hit its benefit limit. He couldn’t find another company that would underwrite the potentially enormous costs to contain or cure his illness. And he couldn’t sell his properties on South Padre Island to secure his future and pay for the very latest treatments that way. So, we decided to marry. And before you say anything, Jack—” Patrice held up a warning hand “—this is a real marriage. To do otherwise, and collect money from a company, would be fraud. So Dutch and I knew from the outset that if we were going to do this, it had to be a true union. Which is why we wanted a big wedding with all the pomp and circumstance. Because
we knew we needed to make it real for ourselves in every way.”

“Only, a funny thing happened on the way to Ted’s Party Ranch,” Dutch teased.

“As we were going through the wedding preparations, we actually did fall in love,” Patrice said softly.

“Very much in love,” Dutch agreed, squeezing Patrice’s hand.

“But not to worry. We are keeping our prenuptial agreements intact. My money remains mine. Dutch’s remains his. And he won’t even need to use my health insurance if Dutch is accepted into the clinical trial, because then all his expenses will be paid by the researchers.”

Okay, from a business point of view, perhaps even a humane one, this all made a great deal of sense. That didn’t mean Jack was completely okay with it. “I still worry about how hard this will be on you if all doesn’t go as well as you and Dutch hope, with his quest for a return to good health,” Jack said.

Patrice stood and came over to give Jack a hug. She drew back and counseled gently, “Honey, I appreciate the fact you’re trying to protect me. But it just isn’t possible. None of us know what tomorrow is going to bring. The only thing we can count on is the happiness we feel today.”

O
NE HUNDRED FEET AWAY
, Sela Ramirez nodded at the luxury motor home, then asked Caroline, “What do you think is happening in there?”

“Exactly what you think is happening.” Caroline was almost afraid to imagine the confrontation. She turned to face her sage assistant and predicted sadly, “Jack is revealing all and doing his level best to get his mother and Dutch to call off their wedding.”

Sela did not share Caroline’s heartbreak over the sit
uation. “Jack may not have been duty bound to investigate Dutch—”

Caroline snorted. “You think?”

“But once he did, he had to tell his mother what he found out about her fiancé.”

Caroline paced back and forth anxiously as the prelude music to the wedding continued in the distance. She shook her head in mute disapproval. “I am sure Patrice already knew.” And more, was completely okay with it!

“Well, then—” Sela motioned for the guitars to keep playing, regardless of how long it took to get the actual ceremony under way “—what difference does it make?”

Caroline looked over at the three hundred wedding guests assembled on the lawn, alternately chatting among themselves and looking for the first signs of the wedding party. Caroline frowned. “Have you not noticed how restless the guests are getting?” She couldn’t help but note that the reporter and photographer from
Fort Worth
magazine were looking at the motor homes, too. And probably, Caroline worried, speculating about the reason behind the delay. None of this was good! “The ceremony should have started fifteen minutes ago!” Caroline fumed.

Looking as pulled together as always in a vibrant red-and-gold dress that fit perfectly with the Cinco de Mayo theme, Sela pronounced seriously, “I think the guests will live, despite the delay.”

Sela came closer, studying the expression on Caroline’s face. “Seriously, why is this so upsetting to you? And don’t tell me it’s the potential damage to your professional reputation, because I don’t buy that for one second. At no time have you ever put your own needs above those of the client. So why are you taking this so personally? Why do you feel that Jack has let
you
down—when he’s only doing what he feels he has to do?”

Usually Caroline appreciated Sela’s concern, but today it was only aggravating. “He went behind his mother’s back to investigate Dutch!” Just as Caroline’s ex-fiancé had meddled behind hers! Caroline continued miserably. “He’s been trying to manage Patrice’s life for her, without her knowledge or consent.”

“He was trying to protect her. For all Jack knew, in the end he’d have nothing to tell Patrice. I’m sure that was what he was hoping would happen, anyway.”

Caroline couldn’t deny that.

“And frankly,” Sela asserted, “if it were my children, and they thought I wasn’t seeing something clearly and was about to make a huge life-altering mistake, I’d want them to intervene on my behalf, too.”

“Even if they turned out to be wrong in the end?” Caroline asked, rubbing at the tense muscles in the back of her neck. She didn’t know when she had ever felt so depressed and dejected.

“Yes.” Sela leaned toward Caroline, determined to make her point. “And you know why? Because their actions, however misguided, would show me that they love me and that they were willing to follow their convictions, even at the risk I would be angry with them. And they would dare that because they know I love them and would forgive them any frailty.”

Guilt mixed with the resentment deep inside her. “It’s not that easy, not anymore,” Caroline mumbled.

Jack had never come right out and said he loved her, but he had certainly made her feel as if he did! And that had given her the confidence to wish for all the things that she wanted. A good man to love, who would love her back. A little girl to mother. A mom to replace the one she’d lost, the father figure she’d never had. She’d even had an adorable trouble-prone golden retriever to liven up her
life! Being part of Jack’s life was the closest she had ever gotten to living the American Dream.

The only problem was, her joy had been based on an expectation that could not last.

Slowly, Caroline released the breath she had been holding and revealed what was in her heart. “It was all so easy, Sela. Falling for Jack, getting to know and love his family, becoming part of his world.” The ache in Caroline’s throat matched the pain in her heart as she reluctantly confessed, “I thought my dreams had finally been realized, that Jack and I had the perfect relationship, the kind that would endure any difficulty that could possibly come our way. Instead, the first real crisis that came along tore us apart and forced me to acknowledge that while the pursuit of happiness is everything to me, it is nothing to Jack. His heart is so guarded, his faith of achieving any kind of ongoing personal fulfillment so low, he’s never going to let me in his life and his heart, not the way I need. It’s going to be his way or nothing at all. And he just expects me to stay silent and understand.”

Sela frowned. “I’m not sure that’s true.”

“He knew how important it was to me to give his mother and Dutch the blissfully happy wedding day they deserve,” Caroline declared. Especially given the fact that Dutch was ill! She pointed to the luxury motor home where Jack, Dutch and Patrice were still sequestered. “And he’s in there right now trying to derail it anyway.”

“On the strength of his convictions, which in this case do not match yours,” Sela countered with sensitivity and understanding. “Look at it this way. You and I work very hard to create the weddings of people’s dreams. But no matter how hard we try, there is always some glitch. Sometimes it’s big—like that tornado that touched down just west of here on Friday. Other times it’s a little thing, like
a box of silverware that went astray. But you and I accept that as part of the job, part of life. The same thing goes for our humanity. Jack is not without flaws. And neither are you. The dream man you are searching for does not exist and you need to think about that before you give up on Jack entirely.”

Caroline pushed aside the suspicion that she was being way too unrealistic in her goals, as a way of protecting her own heart. “What are you saying?” she asked uneasily.

Sela looked her in the eye. “Simply that maybe in this case it’s not Jack you should be looking to change.”

C
AROLINE THOUGHT ABOUT
what Sela said during the moments before Dutch and Patrice emerged from the motor home, while Jack escorted his mother down the aisle, and as the happy couple said their vows.

By the time the buffet dinner was served, she knew what she had to do. The only problem was, there were still many wedding festivities left to oversee. So Caroline did her job. She kept the buffet tables filled with all sorts of Tex-Mex specialties. Reassured Jericho nothing untoward was going to happen to the cake. And maintained a vigil over Bounder, who was happily off leash and laying next to Maddie’s chair at the kid table.

To her disappointment, Jack didn’t make any attempt to speak to her. Nor was there any indication of whether or not he planned to forgive her. He simply seemed…pensive, too.

Caroline tried not to think what that might mean.

Or worry about the warm spring breeze that seemed to get a little stronger and a little gustier with every minute that passed.

Late afternoon, the skies were still clear.

Which meant the dancing could commence unob
structed on the outdoor dance floor as soon as the toasts were over.

The microphones were turned on and the best man went first, followed by the maid of honor. Several other friends and members of the wedding party jumped in to have their say. Finally, Jack raised his glass and stood. The sudden emotion on his face as he looked to the crowd and then the happy couple brought a lump to Caroline’s throat.

“Courage comes in all forms. Daring to fall in love—” Jack paused to lift his glass to Dutch and Patrice “—is certainly at the top of the list.” His mother smiled as she met his eyes. “Taking on the planning of a huge wedding and making it a dream come true, in just three weeks—” this time Jack paused and held Caroline’s gaze in a way that set her heart pounding “—is certainly another. And then,” Jack continued, grinning mischievously, “there’s agreeing to include a mostly well-behaved family pet in the nuptials.”

Everyone laughed. Bounder had been a total ham as she trotted down the aisle, tail up, flowers spilling out of the cloth basket strapped to her back, a beaming, prancing Maddie tossing blossoms at her side.