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 for the room. And there’s a vending machine on the—”
“Don’t get her started on vending machines,” Jake interrupted. “She should come with me. I’ve got lots of room in my pickup.”
She thought he looked a little startled at his invitation, as though he hadn’t planned it before he offered. She wanted to tell him that he didn’t need to worry about them, but pride was a luxury she couldn’t afford any longer. “Lara and I would be happy to go with you.”
Max pushed his chair back from the table. “Well, as sorry as I am not to have you both staying here with me, that’s the perfect solution. I’m going to get some matches so we can light the candles on the cake.”
Fortunately, Jake didn’t ask any more questions. She half expected him to withdraw his suggestion, but he didn’t.
Thank You, Lord. Cat almost said the words aloud, she was so relieved. There would be time for Jake to get to know their daughter. Please, help him love her like I do.
Chapter Three
Something wasn’t right, Jake told himself for the second time that day as he drove his pickup under the overhang in front of the hotel and pulled it to a stop. An hour had passed since he left. He watched the rain drip off the side of the awning as he struggled to figure out what was wrong. The same sense of unease had been niggling away at him all the way to the airport and back, but he didn’t know what was causing it.
Everything seemed to be in order, he finally told himself as he turned off his windshield wipers and then the ignition. The sky was still overcast and the air felt damp inside his cab. Nothing seemed out of place.
He’d gotten the claim tickets from Cat to retrieve her luggage so he knew he had the right suitcases. He’d even stopped at the dealership where he’d bought his pickup several months ago and they had given him a special child’s safety seat for the back of his extended cab. They’d strapped it in and he had picked out a green frog-shaped lollipop from the ones they offered and left it for Lara on the seat. He hoped it was close enough to a toad to make her giggle.
Then he’d filled his vehicle with gas. His duffel bag was tucked behind the passenger’s seat. His suit was in a garment bag, hanging on the hook by the rear window. He had a wad of cash in his pocket and a credit card in his wallet.
He thought a minute longer. Check and doublecheck. Everything was ready. Nothing was out of place or forgotten. He opened the door on the driver’s side of the pickup and stepped down to the slick pavement. At that moment, Cat pushed open the hotel door and stepped outside. Strands of her brown hair trailed across her face and she looked tired as she took a step toward him.
Jake turned so he could open the rear door to his pickup. Then he stepped toward her. “Have you been sleeping okay lately?” he asked.
She nodded, her teeth chattering. She was wearing the same green sweater she’d had on earlier and it didn’t look thick enough to keep anyone warm. He was surprised she hadn’t planned better for the trip. A quick check on any of the weather sites would have told her rain and cold were forecast for this area. He didn’t think she had even a heavy coat with her.
He suddenly realized what was troubling him. Nothing had been planned about all of this. His intuition was right. A man should never count on random luck. There was always a reason for everything. And Cat coming to him now had no reason that he could see. She hadn’t even written to tell him they’d had a baby four years ago. What had changed in all that time? Why had she come now?
Jake looked at her. “Anything I need to know?”
She stood there, her face damp from stray raindrops and her hair limp.
Even as worn out as she looked, she was beautiful. He didn’t want to wonder why she was here. He’d love to believe his charm had brought her back after all of these years. Her eyes were not looking at him, though, and that meant something was wrong.
“I haven’t been sending you enough money,” he finally said, making a guess as he reached for the bills he’d just put in his pocket for the trip. She was too proud to ask, but she must need something. He pulled out a wad of fifties. “I can stop at my bank again on the way out of town for more. Just let me know how much.”
“I’m fine,” Cat said with no emotion in her voice. “You’ve already sent me more money over the years than I could have expected—so, thank you.”
Then she looked up at him and smiled.
“Still, you must need more,” he insisted, watching her. She was too pale. “I refuse to let you live on those noodle cups. They wouldn’t keep a bird alive.”
After she’d run away from her first foster-care home, she had lived on the streets of Fargo. Sometimes she had jimmied vending machines in the bus station and stolen the noodle packets if she was really hungry. Then she’d gotten hot water from the coffee machine and had dinner. She only permitted herself to steal the noodles if she hadn’t eaten for a few days and then she went back as soon as she could and left the payment in the suggestion box at the station, saying it was for the vending-machine guys. He wondered how long she’d gone this time without eating.
“You do remember those noodle packets?” he prodded further, because she hadn’t answered.
The Cat he remembered would tell him to mind his own business about now. But she just kept smiling. She was trying too hard to show him that everything was all right. If he didn’t know her so well, he would believe