Wild Fire (The Fairy Tale Match Series) (14 page)

He indicated the scar with his free
hand. “You can see the result right here. The worst thing is that he didn’t
seem to be bothered about it at the time. It wasn’t until the next day that he
tried to see me to apologise. By that time, I wanted nothing to do with him
ever again.”

Laura couldn’t stop the tears from
flooding down her face. It was so horribly sad. “Surely he wasn’t in his right
mind Jake. He doesn’t seem the kind of person to do something like that.”

“I guess he was drunk, but then I’ve
known Dan drunk and he’s never acted so callous before. My only conclusion is
that all the resentment he must have been feeling towards me for being with
Victoria bubbled up and broke loose. I just don’t think I can forgive him for
it.”

Laura hardly knew what to say. She
couldn’t imagine how painful that night must have been for him. He’d lost not
just the woman he loved but a brother too. Her heart broke for him. “I’m so
sorry Jake,” she whispered. “No wonder you’ve been so angry. Thank you for
telling me. I know it wasn’t easy.”

Jake turned to look into her
beautiful green eyes. “Actually, telling you was easier than I thought it would
be.” He smiled a bitter sweet smile, his gaze dropping to her lips. “It’s
funny, but since I met you, things haven’t seemed so painful anymore.”

Her heart did a funny little dance in
her chest at his words and hope flared. She watched in slow motion as his head
lowered to hers. Before their lips could meet, they heard the sound of the barn
door being opened. Springing apart, they looked to see Bill coming in.

“You two are still in here then,” he
said as he walked over. “We’ve been looking all over for you. What you holed up
in here for? Don’t you want anything to eat?”

“The door got stuck.” Jake told him.
“We didn’t have a phone to call for help so we had to wait for someone to come
looking for us and let us out.”

“Sure. If that’s the story you want
to go with.” Bill winked at them with a cheeky grin.

“It’s not a story Bill. The door was
stuck,” Laura backed Jake up.

“Well, didn’t seem to be anything
wrong with it when I got here.”

Laura and Jake gazed at each other in
astonishment. They both walked over to the door to examine it. Finally, after
being unable to find out what had caused it to stick like that, they gave up.

“I guess it is one of those weird
life mysteries we’ll just never know the answer to,” Laura concluded finally.

“You really serious that the door
stuck,” Bill still couldn’t get his head around their claim.

“Forget it!” Jake said impatiently. “Let’s
go get something to eat.”

They strode out of the barn, heading
for the ranch house. Laura couldn’t help but be glad that the door had stuck,
however it had happened.  She’d never felt so close to Jake. Hope surged
through her. Maybe Walter was wrong. Jake might just be open to a relationship
after all. Their time together certainly seemed to point in that direction.

The only problem she could still see
was how to help Kerry. She could see why Jake refused to forgive Dan, but that
posed a problem for his sister. Laura decided she ought to get the other side
of this tragic story, if she was ever going to find a way to give a chance to
Kerry too.

*****

“Okay, so it worked.” Lotta admitted
grudgingly. She was getting really fed up with Flo’s celebration dances in the
air. Her singing was getting worse too. “But you did leave them wondering how
that door got stuck. That’s against the rules!”

“It blended in well enough,” Flo
declared airily, doing a little loop around the barn. “They’ve forgotten about
it now and look what progress we’ve made. I think we’ve all but dissolved that
little slugs input.” She still hadn’t forgiven Walter one bit. Lotta had to
keep an extra watch on her in case she decided to take it upon herself to try
and change his species again.

“I wouldn’t celebrate on that score
just yet,” Lotta cautioned. “I somehow don’t think that we’ve seen the last of
him.”

“Just let him try,” Flo shrieked
fiercely, her wand shooting out sizzling sparkles that looked a lot like
fireworks that mortals love so much.

“Do be careful Flo!” Lotta cried in
alarm as several sparks hit her square on the face. “Those burn!”

She hated to admit it, but Flo’s
latest plan had certainly produced results. Unlike her idea to get Walter
involved in the first place! She wished heartily now that she’d left well
enough alone. The man was becoming a thorn in their plans.

“So what now?” asked Flo settling
herself on the barn floor. She stuck her tiny feet out in front of her,
fluffing her impressive skirts around her in an artfully arranged semi-circle.

 “Now we watch and wait,” Lotta
declared.

“Again!” wailed Flo. “But it’s so
boring!”

“Is there any sign of him?” Laura
asked Martha for the hundredth time that morning.

“No honey. I told you I’d call if he
comes in.” Martha’s voice had a hint of laughter in it. She gave Laura a sharp
look. “He’s not interested in you, is he honey? Romantically I mean.”

“Good heavens no!” Laura exclaimed.
“We’re just friends that’s all. I’m just trying to help with an awkward situation.”

“Well thank heaven for that. We don’t
need a repeat of the Victoria incident.” She rolled her eyes dramatically. “I
guess you’re trying to help Kerry?”

“What do you mean?” Laura squeaked.

“I’m not stupid honey. I’ve already
seen that something is going on between you and Jake, which I couldn’t be
happier about. That boy needs some love and happiness in his life after
everything he’s been through. I also know how Kerry feels about Dan. You’d have
to be blind or Jake not to notice.”

“Or Dan,” Laura added somehow not
surprised the astute Martha had sized up the situation. It would explain her
trying to shove Kerry and Laura at Dan the first day they’d come in the diner.
And Dan’s food tasting contribution the next day. Laura was beginning to
realise Martha generally knew everything that was going on in town and she
often tried to help people where she could.

“Yep, he’s sure never picked that one
up too well, has he?” she laughed. “Men! They can be so dumb. You should have
seen Alfie’s father. He was taking so long to ask me out, I had to do it for
him. And the marriage proposal. You make sure you grab hold of Jake and don’t
let go. Kerry needs to get her act together too and snare that man herself
before he gets away.”

“I wish it was that easy.” Laura hadn’t
known herself how complicated it really was to try and set things right until
the day before. Now she wasn’t sure how to go about things.

“I know it’s not easy. But I do
believe where there’s love there is a way.” Martha patted Laura on the arm
affectionately. “You’ve made a big difference here already.”

“I don’t know about that.”

“I do. I saw Jake this morning. It’s
the first time I’ve seen him smile like that since all this mess happened. I
don’t know what you’re doing honey, but keep on doing it!”

Laura went back into the kitchen,
pondering on Martha’s words. Had she really made such a difference to Jake? She
hoped so. More than ever she wanted to see if there was a future for them. He’d
been different at breakfast. He’d smiled more easily with her and seemed more
attentive. She’d blushed at the knowing looks Kerry and Bill had passed each
other. Things had definitely begun to look up. She wasn’t sure what he’d say,
however, if he caught her talking to Dan again. But she had no choice. She
couldn’t simply grab her own happiness, without trying to secure a future for
Kerry too.

The morning passed into lunch and
still no sign of Dan. Finally, Laura had finished at the diner and headed out
to pick up her dress from the cleaners. They’d called earlier that morning to
tell her it was ready and she couldn’t wait to see it.

As she turned a corner, she spied Dan
coming out of a shop. She called out to him and he raised his hand in greeting.
She quickly indicated that she wanted to speak with him before he could head
off. Nodding his head, he walked swiftly over to her.

“Hey Laura. It’s so good to see you.
How are you?” he greeted warmly.

“I’m okay. But I do really need to
talk with you as soon as possible.” She looked around, spying a bench free in
the nearby park. “If you have time now, could we talk?” She pointed to the
bench.

“I guess. What’s this all about?” Dan
asked as they walked over to the bench and sat down.

Laura hesitated. She wasn’t sure how
to bring up the subject. He’d been so touchy about it before. She really didn’t
want him to think she’d taken sides and was judging him.

Dan looked at her expression.
“Someone’s told you, haven’t they?” He looked down at his shoes. “I guess you’d
hear sooner or later. Who told you?”

“Jake.” She turned to face him, sitting
with her legs to the side.

“Jake? Wow! I didn’t think it would
be him. I never expected him to talk about it ever!” His gaze narrowed on her
face. “You must mean something really special to him to get him to open up and
talk with you. Especially about that.”

Laura blushed, her heart skipping a
beat at his words. How she hoped he was right. “That isn’t what I wanted to
talk to you about. I’ve heard what Jake had to say, now I want to hear from you
what happened. I can’t believe that you would scar him like that on purpose or
that you could sleep with his fiancé with no thought for him. Please tell me
that it wasn’t the way Jake told me because if it was, I don’t see a way forward.”

“I don’t remember much of the night
it happened,” Dan confessed, looking away from her and gazing out to the park,
his eyes not really seeing the scenery. “I was drinking at the time. I don’t
normally drink like that, but the occasion seemed to call for it.”

“Because it was Jake and Victoria’s
wedding the next day?” Laura stated it more than asked. He nodded, his face
grey with strain.

“I really thought I’d fallen for her
too.” He closed his eyes in agony. “Do you have any idea how awful it is to love
someone the way I love Jake and to fall for the person he wants to marry?”

Laura could only imagine how painful
that must have been. She didn’t really know what to say but Dan didn’t seem to
need an answer.

“It tore me apart every day. Seeing
them together was torture. She was a beautiful woman. It was hard not to notice
her.” The expression Laura had come to expect flitted across his face.
“Victoria didn’t seem to notice my feelings at first. But then she started to
have feelings for me too. Or so it seemed. She’d touch me fleetingly every
chance she got. She’d look at me with longing over Jake’s shoulder. She would
say things to me about being confused. She didn’t know what she wanted. I got
sucked in to her act. I dreamt about her nearly every night, desperately
yearning for her in a way I knew wasn’t right.”

He shook his head regretfully. “I
didn’t act on it. Not once. She pushed and pushed, but I didn’t.” He said it so
vehemently, Laura couldn’t imagine he was lying. “Then she came to me the night
before her wedding. Crying prettily, she claimed she couldn’t live without me.
Begging me to tell her what to do. To be honest, I can’t remember how it
happened but somehow we were……..well you know what we ended up doing.”

He hung his head in shame. “I don’t even
recall how Jake got in. I can barely remember the fight we had. I felt so angry
at the time, that’s all I can remember. When I woke up the next day; well all I
can say is I’ve never had a hangover like it! When I found out what I’d done, I
was horrified. I tried to apologise to Jake, but he wouldn’t see me. I can’t
imagine how I could have turned on him that way.”

He looked Laura deep in the eyes,
trying to show her how he felt. “I’ve not drunk a single drop since that
night,” he told her earnestly. “I vowed never to drink again and I haven’t.”

“Thank you for telling me.” Laura
could barely get her voice out from her tight throat. She tried to clear it.
“Where does that leave you now? If you don’t mind me asking, but you do have
feelings for Kerry, don’t you?”

Dan gave a small shout of strangled
laughter. “Boy, you don’t hang back do you?”

“Are you going to deny it?” Laura
challenged.

Dan hesitated.

“I won’t tell her if you ask me not
to,” Laura finally conceded, wondering how they both expected to have a
relationship if they wouldn’t admit their feelings for each other.

“Yes, I have feelings,” Dan finally
admitted. “How ironic that I should realise too late that what I felt for
Victoria wasn’t real love, more blind lust and infatuation. The person I really
wanted was under my nose the whole time. If I’d only seen it sooner, this would
never have happened.”

“Hind sight is a great thing,” Laura
agreed. “The point is we can’t change what happened. What we need to do now is
figure out how to make things better, if you’re ever going to have a chance
with Kerry.”

“Do I have a chance?” Dan asked.
“Does she have feelings for me?”

“You’ll have to ask her,” Laura said
firmly. “You can’t expect me to say nothing to her about what you’ve told me if
you want me to tell you anything she may have said to me.”

“True,” he conceded. “You don’t hate
me do you?” He asked, turning to look into her face, his expression haunted.
“After all you’ve heard.”

“I don’t know what to think of the
whole thing,” Laura told him honestly. “But I don’t hate you. You’ve made a
very big mistake, but I do believe you’re sorry for it. I do feel you’ve
suffered enough too. You and everyone involved.”

“Thank you,” Dan said simply. “Where
do I go from here? With Kerry I mean.”

Laura sighed and patted his hand.
“I’m not sure. Leave it with me and let me think on it.”

 With nothing left to say, Laura
hurried to pick up her dress. All the details of Jake and Dan’s story floated
around in her head. She was sure an answer lay somewhere, but for the time being,
it alluded her. How sad that one woman could destroy so many lives. Laura
desperately hoped it could be fixed.

*****

She arrived back at the ranch and
took her dress up to her room to hang it safely in her closet. She was thrilled
beyond words with how well it had turned out. The dress was now clean and
mended. She couldn’t even see where the tears had been. She was excited to
dress up and look her best in front of Jake. Her heart skipped several beats as
she thought of spending the evening with him, her mind drifting off into a
happy daydream, in which she spun around in Jake’s arms as they danced and then
he’d sweep her off somewhere private, just the two of them where he’d declare
his love for her.

She laughed at herself. She was still
a sappy romantic at heart. She still believed people could find a happy ever
after. It was why she’d picked the Fairy Tale Match after all. She now hoped
she could find that happy ending for all involved.

Deciding to get a breath of air,
Laura went downstairs and out the kitchen door. She’d walked aimlessly for
several minutes when she heard her name being called. Turning round she spied
Walter heading her way. She waved at him in greeting.

“I’ve not seen you since our conversation
the other day,” he puffed out as he approached with a slow jog. “I’ve been
worried about you. You seemed so upset.”

“I’m fine Walter. Please don’t worry
about me.” Laura felt touched that he cared so much.

“I couldn’t help but be concerned. I’m
sorry if what I said caused you any pain. You must know how much I care for
you.” He took her hand in his. Laura felt uncomfortable. She simply didn’t feel
that way for him.

“I care for you too,” she said
carefully. “You’re a very good friend.”

“Is that all I am to you?” Walter
asked, his face dropping. Laura felt like she’d just kicked him in the guts,
but she couldn’t pretend something she didn’t feel.

“I’m sorry Walter, but yes. You are a
friend; that’s all.”

“I thought, well since you now
realise the situation with Jake, I thought you’d be more open to other
relationship possibilities.” Walter looked almost angry.

“Actually Walter, Jake and I had a
really good talk yesterday. I think he’s more open to the possibility of a
relationship than you thought. At least, I am very hopeful after everything we
talked about.” Laura didn’t want to hurt him, but she didn’t want to leave him
with false hope either.

“Laura, surely you realise you are
wasting your time? Jake Carter won’t change. Given the first opportunity, that
man will break your heart. Won’t you at least give us a chance?” he pleaded.

“I am sorry Walter, I just don’t feel
that way about you.” Laura tried to pull her hand from his, not happy with the
direction the conversation was going.

“How do you know? We’ve never been on
a date. We haven’t even kissed.” Walter tightened his grip on her hand and
began to pull her to him, lowering his face towards her. Laura moved her head
away, feeling his lips brushed against the side of her face. But her heart beat
didn’t increase. She felt no desire for him the way she did with Jake. She
liked Walter well enough, but not romantically. She wished he’d get the message
once and for all!

 “Please Walter. You’re not listening
to me!” she exclaimed. “I just want us to be friends. Nothing more. Won’t you
please heed my wishes?” He immediately dropped her hand and moved back from her,
his face contrite.

“I’m sorry Laura. Please forgive me?
I just lost my head for a moment.” He ran his hand through his thick hair,
making it stand up in messy spikes.

Laura wasn’t sure what to say. She
hesitated, confused by him. She’d been so sure he wasn’t serious in his pursuit
of her, that it was simply a fun game for him. He’d always seemed like the kind
of man who could never settle for one woman and yet, he seemed to be indicating
to her that he wanted more from her. He seemed to pick up on her confusion and
broke into a charming smile.