Lilac Wedding in Dry Creek. Janet Tronstad

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СКАЧАТЬ the table with a flourish. “That’s everything.”

      Jake reached in his pocket and pulled out a handful of bills. “Thanks, everyone.”

      The man shook his head. “No need to tip us. The boss has us covered.”

      Jake frowned at that, but the man motioned to his coworker and started walking toward the door. “Bon appétit.”

      “Mommy, let’s pray so we can eat,” Lara whispered as the men left.

      Cat realized that both Jake and Max were sitting at their places and hadn’t touched their silverware or napkins.

      “It’s only polite in other people’s houses to—” she began.

      Max interrupted. “Go ahead. We pray all the time.”

      She could tell the older man felt a little awkward and that it probably wasn’t completely true about the praying. She looked over at Jake.

      “Would you do the honors?” he asked.

      She looked at him carefully. Even with the smile he had managed, he sounded reluctant. Was he cynical, as well? She couldn’t tell. When they’d known each other as teenagers, neither one of them had given much thought to God. Finally, she just nodded and bowed her head. She waited so everyone had time to get used to the idea. The last one to bow their head was Jake, but he eventually did.

      Then she began. “Father, we are grateful for all of the good things You give to us. We ask Your blessing upon those wonderful men who prepared our food. And we ask …” She paused because she felt a sudden sharp pain in her side and needed to wait for it to pass.

      “And please bless my very own father, wherever he is.” Lara rushed to fill in the silence with the words that had become part of her bedtime prayers lately. She’d never said them at the table until now.

      Cat couldn’t get her breath back enough to stop her. Lara had been curious about her father ever since she realized most of the other children in her preschool had one of those as well as a mother in their families. She had told Lara she had a father, but that was all.

      “I figure he’s busy like You are, God,” Lara continued, with her eyes closed and her hands pressed tight together. “Ruling his kingdom and saving the lives of little children. But can You tell him I said hello and that I’m having a birthday party and it’s not even my birthday and if he wants to come, he can ride his dragon here real quick, and I won’t tell anyone I’m a princess because he’s my father and—”

      The pain finally passed enough for Cat to speak, so she quickly finished the prayer in a strained voice. “In Jesus’s name, we thank You for all Your bounty. Amen.”

      Cat sat there for a moment with her eyes still closed. A better mother would have taken Lara to a child’s psychiatrist by now. She should have found the money to pay somehow. It couldn’t be natural to believe so strongly in something like that. Especially not the tale she’d made up about her father.

      When Cat finally opened her eyes, she saw that Jake was looking straight at her, his eyes glowering.

      She looked over at Lara. Her daughter was absorbed in eating her macaroni.

      When she glanced back at Jake, he’d turned to stare at Lara, too.

      “Have you ever seen a picture of your father?” he asked the girl.

      She shook her head. “But I know what he looks like. He’s a handsome prince with clothes that shine in the dark and he has a beard and he rides a dragon when he takes toys to little kids who don’t have any. And I think he invented pizza because everybody loves pizza.”

      “He’s very busy,” Jake muttered.

      Cat thought he looked a little stunned.

      “That’s why he can’t come to my parties,” Lara said somberly. “I wish he would. Just once.”

      “I’m sure he would come to all of your birthday parties if he knew where you lived.” Jake’s voice was pinched and maybe a little angry.

      She couldn’t blame him, but she didn’t want him to go further so she shook her head at him. The effort cost her as a burst of tiny pains radiated from her neck.

      She noticed Jake’s eyes deepen again.

      “Problem?” he asked quietly, his eyes measuring her.

      “Nothing to worry about.”

      She hoped that was true. She looked down. Jake saw too much when he wanted to. He’d always known when she was hiding something. Except for those first two months when she was pregnant with Lara. She knew he hadn’t known anything about the baby they had created back then. They were too young to get married, and she knew he’d insist on that.

      She forced herself to focus on the food that had been placed on platters or in bowls. Everyone was silent for a good ten minutes while they ate.

      “Maybe your brother should spring for crab cakes at his wedding,” Max said with a sigh as he ate the last one on his plate. “That should fit in his budget, even if he and your mother are fixing up the ranch.”

      “I doubt anyone makes crab cakes in Dry Creek,” Jake said.

      “They might if they tasted these.” Cat lifted the last bite to her mouth. “They’re delicious.”

      “I don’t suppose there’s time to get any crab cakes made up before Saturday night, anyway,” Max said.

      Cat stopped with her fork halfway to her mouth. “The wedding’s this Saturday?”

      Her timing always had been bad. It was Wednesday. That must have been where Jake had been going when she stepped inside the lobby here.

      Jake nodded. “When you said you could stay through the weekend, I called my brother and told him that I can’t make it. He threatened to disown me, or at least have our mother call me back, but he knows he needs to get someone else to stand with him.”

      Cat had never considered that she would come all this way and Jake might not be here. She had thought about calling, but she didn’t have a phone number and figured she’d have a better chance of convincing him to spend some time with Lara if he could actually see her.

      “You have to still go,” Cat said, trying to keep the despair out of her voice. She didn’t want him to resent her and Lara. “You’re the best man.”

      “Thank you,” Jake said with a grin.

      He looked like a carefree rogue and her heart almost stopped. He was the Jake she remembered.

      She forced herself to focus. They weren’t teenagers anymore. “No, seriously. You have to go. Maybe I could get a room until you get back. I have the whole week off and I can ask for some more days if I need to—that is, if you’re coming back soon.”

      Dear Lord, I need help, she prayed in panic.

      “You’re welcome to stay here if you want,” Max offered immediately. “We don’t have a pool, but there’d be no charge СКАЧАТЬ