need a stamp for this now.”
“Thanks.” Jake took the envelope and threw it into the passenger seat as Cat opened the door. He looked up at the older man and saw him smile before he stepped away from the cab window.
“What’s this?” Cat said as she slid it over so she could climb in and sit on the seat.
“It’s yours,” Jake replied.
Cat didn’t pick up the envelope, but she did move it so it didn’t fall off the seat.
Jake settled himself behind the wheel. He figured she knew what was in the envelope since her name was on it.
By then, Max had stepped back to the lobby door and had turned to wave at them as Jake started the pickup.
“It’ll be dark by the time we get to Salt Lake,” Jake said to Cat as he started driving. He turned onto the street in front of the Starling. “We should make good time, though.”
The leather on the seats was softer than Cat had thought when she’d touched it earlier. The warmth of the blankets made her drowsy. She’d been so tired lately. First it was all the doctors and then flying here with Lara. Being with Jake made her feel as though she could let go of some of the burden and, before she knew it, her eyes drifted closed. The next time she opened them it was dark outside. She saw the red taillights of a string of cars ahead of them.
“Where are we?” She was groggy but tried to sit up straight.
“We passed Salt Lake City a half hour ago. It’s about seven in the evening.”
Cat had only meant to close her eyes for a moment. She turned to glance in the backseat and saw that Lara was soundly sleeping in her car seat.
“She’s fine,” Jake said. “I asked her to be quiet so you could get some rest.”
“You didn’t need to do that,” Cat protested, still facing the back. She studied her daughter’s peaceful face. “Lara’s my responsibility.”
“Not completely. Not anymore.”
Cat turned around and sagged against the seat at his words. Relief flooded over her. She hadn’t even had to ask. He was accepting their daughter.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
“You don’t need to thank me.”
The lights from a passing car shone in the cab for a second. Shadows lifted from Jake’s face and she felt the urge to reach over and touch his cheek. His expression was so solemn, though, that she didn’t dare.
“I still appreciate it,” she said quietly, wondering if he would remember this conversation later.
“It’s my duty,” he added, and she felt her heart squeeze. “Just let me know how much you need.”
“You mean money?”
“Of course.”
Money would never be enough. She could not leave Lara with him unless he came to love her. Duty wasn’t enough. Not when her daughter had just started to believe in happy endings. As she faced her possible death, only one thing was important. She wanted her daughter to live with hope and love in her life. She wanted her to have something as close to a fairy-tale life as possible.
“I’ve been thinking about it.” Jake turned to her and smiled. “Like Max mentioned, my mother and brother are both living on the family ranch now. How do you want me to introduce you to them?”
“What?”
“An old classmate? Someone from the home?”
“Do we need to say?”
“My brother will pester you to death if he thinks there’s any chance you would marry me,” Jake continued with a grin. “I’m not sure I would wish that on anyone. He has this fantasy about me getting married and settling down on the ranch. He’s even got a hill picked out with a place to build my house.”
A shot of pure longing went through Cat. “Would that be such a bad life? To live in Dry Creek?”
Jake was silent for a moment, the darkness hiding any expression on his face.
“Years ago I would have said it would be a fine life.” His voice was strained. “But after all that happened to my family there, I’m not sure I could live in the community.”
“You’re not responsible for your mother killing your father.”
“Oh, but she didn’t.” Jake turned to look over at her. “I forgot you didn’t know. She thought my older brother, Wade, had done it and, when the prosecution wanted to call him to the stand, she confessed to stop them. She didn’t want him going to prison if she could help it.”
“Oh, my.” Cat let that sink into her mind. She could understand how a mother would do that. “You always said you didn’t think she had killed him.”
Jake nodded. “No one listened to me.”
Another minute went by before he continued. “Those people sent my mother to prison and she hadn’t even committed any crime except trying to look out for her son. They heard the Stone name and just assumed she had done it.”
“But she told them she had. And Wade—did he?”
“No, he didn’t do it, either,” Jake said curtly. “That’s why it’s so upsetting. Those people couldn’t see past their prejudices. If they had worked harder on looking at the evidence—or the lack of it—our family would have stayed together and everything would be different now.”
The cab was completely dark. There were no lights from cars pulling up behind them. But Cat reached out anyway and ran her fingers softly down Jake’s cheek. “I’m so sorry.”
He reached a hand up to capture hers and turned it so he could kiss the inside of her palm. Then he curled her fingers around the place where his lips had pressed. “You’re a good friend to me, Cat Barker.”
He released her hand and she brought it back to her lap.
“That’s what I’m going to tell Wade,” Jake announced suddenly. “You’re my best friend and he’ll just have to let go of his curiosity.”
Cat nodded and blinked. She had no right to tears. She didn’t even want him to say she was his girlfriend. She had nothing to offer Jake except Lara, anyway. It had to all be about their daughter.
“My mother is going to love Lara,” Jake continued, as though he could read her mind. “She won’t need to think she’s related to make a fuss over her …” Jake stopped. “It could have all been different. I should have never let you run away from that home. I should have made you marry me.”
“And what would we have done then?” Cat asked. She had been through all that in her mind over the years. “Neither one of us had a job. Or any reason to think we could get one. We hadn’t even graduated from high school. All you had was that old pickup and it didn’t run half of the time. We didn’t have a way to make a life together. Besides, you didn’t want to get married.”
She thought she had buried the anguish of those days, but it still vibrated inside her. She had never been as scared in all of her life as she had been when she realized she was pregnant.
“At least I could have taken care of you better,” Jake replied, his tone tense. “I could have found some kind of a job. I have a strong back. I could have dug post-holes or something. Even if we didn’t stay together, we should have made it legal. What did you do alone?”
“Mrs. Jenna—you remember the nurse at the home—she sent me to another home for unwed mothers. I had a doctor’s care. And learned how to take care of a baby. It was the best thing.”
“And did the home suggest you not tell me about the baby?”
Cat nodded her head in the dark. “I’m sorry if