A Week Till the Wedding. Linda Winstead Jones

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ same as they’d been last time she was here. The ceilings were high, the furnishings antique, the pictures unexciting landscapes and old family portraits framed in gold. This place was a constant, never changing.

      She loved this old house, even though Taskers lived in it.

      Jim Tasker was in the parlor, enjoying a predinner drink. Jacob’s youngest brother Ben was there with his wife, Madison. And Eunice Tasker sat in the center of the room. She managed to look stately and dignified, even though she was seated in a wheelchair. Even though she did not look well.

      It broke Daisy’s heart a little to see the elderly woman so confined, and so obviously unwell. Her color was sallow, her hands unsteady. Her face was more deeply lined than it had been the last time Daisy had seen her. Like Susan, she could use a decent haircut.

      Eunice’s face lit up when she saw Daisy and Jacob. She smiled, the expression erasing years from her wrinkled face. A little color crept into her cheeks. “Oh, I’m so glad you’re finally here,” she said, her eyes on Daisy. “We have so much to discuss!”

      Daisy walked to Eunice, bent and kissed her on the cheek. The old woman smelled like baby powder and flowery perfume, and her skin was papery soft. Standing there, the last of her doubts about this ridiculous scheme fled. She’d do this, no matter how painful it might be. And she was not doing it for Jacob. “Miss Eunice, it’s been too long.”

      “Yes, it’s been several weeks, hasn’t it?” Eunice said, taking Daisy’s hands in her own. “That is far too long.”

      Daisy just smiled. It had been years, not weeks, but she wouldn’t distress the ill woman with inconvenient facts.

      Miss Eunice squeezed Daisy’s hand. “You look even more beautiful than I remember.” Her gaze—those eyes dark, like Jacob’s—flitted past Daisy to look upon her grandson. “Doesn’t your lovely bride-to-be get more beautiful every day?”

      “Yes, she does,” Jacob agreed solemnly.

      “She’s going to be stunning in my wedding gown.”

      The entire room went silent. Of course, everyone there but Eunice knew Daisy’s relationship with Jacob had been over for a very long time. How hard must this be for the family?

      Daisy couldn’t feel too bad for them. This ruse was harder on her than it could possibly be on anyone else. She had to pretend not to hate Jacob for moving on without her, for not giving up his dreams for her the way she had given up hers for her sisters. He’d chosen his precious career over her. His determination to succeed at anything he chose to do had been one of the things she’d always admired about him, but in the end that determination had taken him away from her.

      And then she looked around the room, taking in the pale faces, the thinned lips, the clasped hands. The Taskers were losing a beloved member of their family, not quickly and without warning, the way she’d lost her parents, but slowly. Painfully. And she had the power to make Miss Eunice’s final days happier. Not for them, she reminded herself, but for a woman who had been good to the Bell family for as long as Daisy could remember.

      She smiled, looking at Miss Eunice and ignoring the others. “I can’t wait to see the gown. I’m sure it’s lovely.”

      “Tonight, after dinner,” Miss Eunice said with barely contained glee. “You must try the gown on! We have to make sure it fits properly.”

      It was as if the old woman was trying to make this as difficult as possible. Everything was happening too fast as it was! “Oh, there’s no rush,” Daisy said, making a real effort to keep her voice calm. The idea of trying on a family wedding gown, when at one time she had been so sure that one day this would be her family, was enough to give her hives.

      Eunice leaned forward, gripping the armrests of her wheelchair. “No rush? What if alterations are necessary? And don’t forget, we must choose a new veil that will complement the gown and your face. So much to do, so very much to do. If the wedding is going to take place during the Tasker Reunion in less than three weeks, we haven’t a single day to waste.”

      “What?” She and Jacob responded in stereo.

      “Surprise!” Eunice said brightly.

      Jacob held his spine straight and kept his face impassive. In a few hours Grandma Eunice would forget that Daisy had been here. She’d definitely forget about a wedding she’d planned to be held during the reunion. In two and a half weeks. The delusion had come to life when she’d seen him, and it would go away just as suddenly, when something else grabbed her attention.

      Daisy looked like she’d seen a ghost, and in a way she had. For a couple of years she’d been a part of this family. For close to two years he and Daisy had been together. For almost a year of that time, they’d been damn near inseparable. Christmas and Thanksgiving, family reunions, weekends at home … she’d been here. They hadn’t discussed marriage, they had both been too young. But she’d fit in so well here, she’d become like a member of the family. Everyone had loved her. Including him.

      Maybe they hadn’t discussed marriage, but he couldn’t say it hadn’t been a part of his plans. He was certain it had been a part of her plans, too.

      And then her parents had been killed and everything had changed.

      Jacob had tried to be there for Daisy. He’d held her while she’d cried; he’d stayed with her through the funeral arrangements and—later—the legal details of the estate and guardianship. But eventually his new job had called him away, and he’d gone. He’d truly believed that they would be able to make a long distance relationship work until the time came when Daisy—and her sisters—joined him. The job offer he’d received had been too good to turn down, it had been exciting and he’d made enough money right off the bat to support himself, Daisy and her sisters. All he had to do was get settled and send for her.

      But it hadn’t worked that way. There hadn’t been any spectacular blowup, no emotional scene. They’d simply drifted apart. It had been easy to do, with him working night and day in San Francisco and Daisy caught up in raising her sisters and taking over the family businesses here in Bell Grove, Georgia. Her dad had trained the girls from the time they could walk to tune an engine. Beauty school had taken care of the rest. If she’d come to San Francisco or if he’d stayed here, maybe they’d still be together. But she hadn’t and he hadn’t. And they weren’t.

      So here they were, seven years later. They’d both changed. Everything had changed. Well, perhaps not everything. Jacob was annoyed to admit that he wanted Daisy. She wasn’t like any other woman. She could look at him, and he felt it to the bone.

      A long time ago he’d convinced himself he was over her, but as soon as he’d laid eyes on her he’d realized how wrong he’d been. If he was over her, the curve of her cheek and the sway of her hips when she walked wouldn’t drive him wild. If he was over her, he wouldn’t continually find himself edging closer so he could inhale her scent. Dammit, he wasn’t over her at all.

      The past was coming back to bite him in the ass, even though logically he knew they were no longer the same people. If he spent a significant amount of time with Daisy he’d soon realize that they had grown apart. He wasn’t the same; neither was she. Whatever he felt was annoyingly lingering chemistry. Nothing more.

      It was announced that dinner was on the table, thank goodness, ending the conversation about wedding gowns and family reunions and surprise ceremonies. Jacob took Daisy’s arm and escorted her СКАЧАТЬ