“For what it’s worth,” Nick called after him, “the more I think about it, the better I like the idea.”
Jack paused to glance back at Nick, who was smiling. “That’s good.”
“It’s the sort of thing Dad would have done,” Nick said, “giving that filly a chance to be useful again instead of shutting her away. The man hated waste.”
“I hope Sarah thinks so, too. I’ll let you know.” Then he turned and went into the cool interior of the house.
The kitchen wasn’t cool, though. Pam from the Bunk and Grub had pitched in to help Mary Lou with the food for the reception. The event would be held in the meadow, where a company from Jackson had erected a large wooden platform covered by a canopy. The food Mary Lou, Pam, and Sarah fixed this morning would be trucked out to the platform by some of the hands once the wedding party rode back in.
The three women bustled from counter to counter, stacking trays of food and carrying them to the walk-in cold storage that Sarah had insisted on having when the kitchen was remodeled. Jack hated to interrupt, but the whole day would be nuts, so better now than later.
“Sarah?”
She turned, a spoon in one hand. “Hi, Jack. Are you hungry? There are some—”
“No, I’m fine, thanks. But could I talk to you for a minute?”
She gave him a puzzled glance and put the spoon back in the bowl of chicken salad she’d been mixing. “Sure.”
Jack realized he didn’t often ask to speak privately with her. Not hardly at all. And lately, never. Nick and Gabe both talked with her, but not him. No wonder she’d looked at him funny.
“Let’s go out on the back porch.” Sarah dried her hands on a towel and led the way out the back door of the kitchen to a little porch with two rattan chairs on it. Mary Lou liked to sit there in nice weather when she took a break, and sometimes she and Sarah would have morning coffee out there.
Mary Lou kept a small kitchen garden out here, along with a little flower bed the bees loved. In summer the back porch always smelled terrific between the flowers and the food cooking.
But it had been fall, and too cold to enjoy the porch, the last time Jack had been out here. Only a couple of weeks after his dad had been killed, he’d been looking for Sarah to ask her about some detail in the ranch ledgers. He’d found her out here, crying.
And he’d done a piss-poor job of comforting her, too. He should have crouched down and wrapped her in his arms, but instead he’d stood by her chair and patted her shoulder. She stopped crying pretty quickly, and now he wondered if she’d done that for his sake, knowing he was uncomfortable with her tears.
“Have a seat.” His stepmother took the far chair and gestured to the one nearest the door. “Mm, it’s nice to sit down for a minute. Thanks for the excuse.”
“Maybe we should have hired a caterer.”
“Nah.” She smiled. “Pam was dying to get in here and help with the food. Gives her an excuse to hang around the ranch and bump into Emmett. Plus I think Mary Lou would have been highly insulted if we’d brought someone else into her kitchen.” She gazed at him. “So what’s up?”
“I’ve checked with Nick and Gabe about this, and they seem to think it’s okay, but the final decision is up to you.”
“Jack, you are not pulling any pranks on Gabe and Morgan. I don’t want you painting stuff on his truck or tying things to the bumper, and that’s final.”
Jack had been so preoccupied with Josie that he’d forgotten that weddings were prime time for all kinds of pranks. “Okay, no painting and no stuff tied to the bumper.” He wondered what else he could reasonably expect to get away with.
“I mean it, Jack.” She tried to look stern, but her blue eyes sparkled with laughter. “If that’s what you came to ask about, the answer is no.”
“That isn’t what I wanted to ask you. I wondered if you would have a problem with me riding Bertha Mae in the ceremony today.”
The sparkle faded from her eyes and they grew soft, then watery. A single tear escaped, but Sarah whisked it away at once. “Sure. Why not?” She sniffed.
Jack was dismayed. “I’m sorry. Forget it. I’m a complete bonehead. I should have realized that you—”
“No, no. I want you to. I think it’s a great idea.” She dug in her apron pocket and pulled out a tissue. “Don’t mind me.” She blew her nose.
“It’s not a great idea if it upsets you. This is supposed to be a happy day for you, and I don’t want to cause you pain.” Josie’s words ran through his mind. Josie thought he was causing Sarah pain every time he used her first name instead of calling her Mom. Was he?
She looked at him, her expression resolute. “It is a great idea, exactly the way your father would have handled the situation. Make a grand gesture, lance that wound and move on. I’ve… I’ve gone down to see her quite a bit, you know.”
“Bertha Mae?” Jack was astounded. “You never said anything. I never saw you.”
“Oh, I made sure nobody ever saw me. Sometimes I’d go before dawn, or late at night. I’ve told her how hard it is for me, knowing that she’s alive and Jonathan is dead. She’s… she’s a good listener.” Sarah smiled weakly.
“Maybe so, but she’s not going to be in the ceremony. It’s too much.”
Sarah shook her head. “It’s exactly right. I’ve been wishing we could have some symbol of your father at the wedding. I thought Nick riding your dad’s horse Gold Rush would do the trick, but if you show up on Bertha Mae, that’s even better…” She drew a shaky breath. “And besides, I think it would do you a world of good.”
His chest tightened. “This isn’t about me.”
“Oh, it is. It’s about you, me, Gabe, and Nick.” She reached over and put her hand on his arm. “Do this, Jack. I’d be grateful.”
He took her hand and closed both of his around it. “I don’t want to make you cry.”
“Crying isn’t always a bad thing. Besides, all mothers cry at weddings. Nobody will think anything of it.”
Chapter Sixteen
“You may kiss the bride.”
Easier said than done. Josie sat astride Destiny holding Morgan’s bouquet while Gabe whisked off his Stetson and tried to maneuver around Morgan’s veiled hat and her voluminous ivory skirts. They’d practiced this yesterday, but not in full regalia.
Josie decided if she ever got married, which wasn’t tops on her agenda right now, she wouldn’t tie the knot on horseback. Or if she got married on horseback, she would specify that all the women could wear jeans and not dresses, which required ruffled pantaloons under them to prevent anybody flashed the wedding party mounting or dismounting. Josie felt like an extra in Gone with the Wind.
The men had it much easier. Gabe’s ruffled shirt, string tie, black Stetson, and cutaway coat didn’t hamper him nearly as much as Morgan’s dress. Josie had been trying not to notice how sexy Jack looked tricked out in a manner similar to Gabe. He wore ruffles surprisingly well for such a manly man.
He was mounted on a brown and white horse instead of Bandit, which surprised her. But Jack on horseback was an arousing sight, whether he rode his black and white Paint or not. The horse fidgeted a bit, which caused Jack’s thigh muscles to flex and his capable hands to tighten on the reins. Not that Josie was paying attention. Not much.