Chapter Seventeen
Jessie’s mom had taken Danny for some last-minute Christmas madness known as shopping. At first, Jessie liked the idea of a little solitude so she could think about what she was going to say to Jack when the man showed back up in her life. He would, she knew he would. According to her boss, he’d called her work asking about her schedule. Not to mention the messages he’d left on her cell phone, all of which Jessie had deleted without listening to. Now that the house was empty and there wasn’t a single thing to occupy her mind other than Jack, Jessie regretted not leaving with her son and mother.
Gravel kicked up by the wheels of a car sounded outside before Jessie recognized the squeal of brakes. She tossed the magazine in her hands aside and opened the curtains.
Her heart gave a hard kick in her chest when she recognized Jack’s truck in the drive.
He sat in the driver’s seat with both hands on the steering wheel, staring at her car parked in front of his. Jack moved and Jessie shot back, letting the drapes fall into place.
“Oh God.” Now what?
Heavy boots climbed the few steps to her mother’s porch, and finally Jack knocked on the door.
For a fleeting moment, she thought she could hold still and he would walk away.
“I know you’re in there, Jessie. I saw you in the window.”
So much for that plan.
“I’m not leaving until you let me explain,” he pleaded from the other side of the door.
Jessie moved to the opposite side of the room and sat in a chair. She closed her eyes and gripped the edge of the chair. She’d just as soon get this over with so the healing could begin. As sure as Christmas would come, Jack wouldn’t leave until he spoke with her…if only to make himself feel better. “The door’s open,” she finally said.
The knob on the door made a loud click as Jack twisted it. He breached the door quickly and then hesitated before opening it up enough to see her.
His haggard clothing and the growth of stubble on his chin were evidence that he might have had a sleepless night or two. Good, she thought. He didn’t deserve to sleep after the pain he’d caused her.
Shutting the door slowly, Jack took his time to walk into the room. His eyes drifted around the small mobile home before coming to rest on her. What did he see? Jessie looked around the space and saw memories of her childhood. Some pleasant, others well worth forgetting. For better or for worse, this was home. This was the place she ran to when faced with difficult decisions.
Jack was better and worse and a difficult decision all wrapped up in one package. The dress shirt and slacks she’d seen him in at the hotel were replaced with jeans and a flannel shirt. She couldn’t help but wonder if he wore his “Jack Moore” clothes in an effort to look the part. What did he prefer? Business attire or Levi’s?
Jessie shook her head, dispelling the questions as fast as she could.
I don’t care what you wear. Say your piece and leave so I can get on with my life.
Sounded simple, but she knew getting over Jack was going to take more than words.
“Can I sit down?” he asked, shifting uncomfortably from foot to foot.
“Sit. But don’t bother getting comfortable. You’re not staying.”
A streak of fear slashed over his face.
Jack perched himself on the edge of the sofa and leaned forward on his knees. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out.
“You’ve had two days to come up with more lies, Jack. What’s the matter? Losing your touch?” The harsh words helped stiffen her spine.
“I didn’t want to lie to you.” As the words left his mouth, Jack sucked in a breath.
“I didn’t see anyone with a gun to your head.”
His gaze slid to his hands and then back to her. “No.”
“Then you must have wanted to lie. Not one little lie, but over again so many times. You must have kept a chart to keep yourself straight. It’s quite a talent, when you think about it.” Thinking of his massive web of deceit angered her.
“Let me explain.”
“You’re sitting there, Jack. Weave the best lie ever, but get it over with. I don’t want Danny to walk in and have any hopes that his Uncle Jack is here to shower him with more attention and gifts.” Danny was the innocent one here.
Jack’s gaze leveled with hers. “The night we met, after the guys and I returned from Vegas, I walked into your diner and collided with the woman I wanted to share my future with.” His words were slow and backed with emotion. “I wasn’t expecting you, Jessie. But there you were. All sass and smiles. You blew me away.”
Don’t fall for it, Jessie, she warned herself.
“Mike, Dean, and Tom are friends I’ve had for years. True friends that don’t hang around because of what I can do for them, of where I can place them on the corporate ladder. Friends who have never and will never use me because of the financial mecca behind my name. I’ve been feeling like I was missing something for a while. After a weekend with them, I realized what I was missing in my life. I’ve dated a lot of women. My name has cast a shadow on every relationship I’ve had.”
Jack stood and started to pace. “When you smirked and made that comment about my wallet and my ego, I was both amused and, I’ll admit, enchanted.”
The memory of that night floated in and out of her head. Her attraction to Jack had been just as instant, although she’d done her best to ignore her feelings.
Jack stood before her mother’s fake Christmas tree and ran his finger over an ornament either she or her sister had made when they were about Danny’s age. “So I lied to you. Omission of truth, really. I won’t deny the overall lie.”
A tug in Jessie’s neck brought her attention to the fact that she was clenching her jaw. “What else?”
“Excuse me?” He dropped his hand from the ornament and pivoted to face her.
“What else did you lie to me about?”
Jack tilted his head back, as if the answers were written on the ceiling. “There isn’t a grand lost and found at the hotel. I bought the dress, shoes…”
“Earrings?”
“I told you I bought those.”
That’s right. She couldn’t fault him for the earrings. Costume jewelry was relatively cheap. “Oh God. The earrings…they’re not real. Right?”
Jack’s brows lifted and he shrugged one shoulder.
“Holy cow, Jack. What were you thinking? You don’t give a woman diamonds and pass them off as cubic zirconium. I could have tossed them on my dresser and lost them.” She hadn’t, but she could have easily misplaced them like so many pairs of cheap dime-store trinkets.
“I was on duty the night of the Christmas party at the hotel,” he continued where he’d left off.
“What?” Jessie was still reeling from the earrings.
“You want me to come clean. I’m telling you that I was serving the guests at the hotel the night of the party. We had a management and waitstaff reversal for the night. Sam, he was the man who was having trouble balancing the tray.”
She remembered him and the comments they’d made to each other. None of which clued her in to Jack being anything other than a waiter. “I remember.”
“He is the manager of the Ontario Morrison.”
“Did you bring me to the party to help me find a date, or was that a complete lie, too?” Even as the question came from her lips, Jessie knew the answer. Jack’s half-assed attempts to show her other men in the room had been lame at best.
Jack sat on the arm of the couch and ran a hand through his dark hair. “I’d be lying to myself if I said I wanted you to meet someone who knocked the wind out of you.”
He had already done that, she thought.
“I wanted to spend more time with you, get to know you. I wanted to show you that money doesn’t buy happiness. All those men at that party might have had money, but none of them would have made you happy. I’ve had money all my life, but I’ve never been as happy as I am with you.”
“Jack, stop—”
“No, Jessie, I mean what I’m saying. I wanted to come clean with you. The first night we made love, I went to your room to tell you everything. Tell you about me, the hotel, my lack of a job waiting tables.”
“Why didn’t you?”
He was staring at her now, not letting her eyes waver from his.
“Because you kicked the words out of my mouth when you took off that ridiculous nightshirt and made love with me. Then the next morning I ran away with myself and proposed.”
“A proposal you knew I wouldn’t accept.” It was then Jessie remembered the woman hanging on Jack in the picture snapped by the media photographer. “Besides, wouldn’t the other woman at the hotel find fault with a second woman in your life?”
Jack’s mouth widened. “What are you talking about? There is no other woman.”
“I saw the picture on the news, Jack, heard the headlines about your rumored impending marriage.” The photo had cut deep.
Jack started shaking his head. “The only woman in my life is you.”
“You forgot the blonde at the hotel already?”
His eyes widened. “Katie? You’re talking about my sister. Blonde, wears her skirts too short?”
Jessie seemed to remember seeing a lot of leg and not much of the woman’s face. “That was your sister?”
“Yes,” he blew out with a half smile. “The rumors about a marriage were all about you.”
“I turned you down.”
Jack’s lips pulled into a full smile. “Do you really think I would have given up after one proposal?”
No, she realized. Jack wasn’t the kind of man to give up so easily.
Unfolding from his perch, Jack walked over to her and knelt down. The closer he came her way, the harder it was to detach her heart from the conversation.
He placed one hand on her knee.
Jessie flinched but didn’t pull away.
“My father heard about you from my sister. Katie isn’t great about butting out of someone else’s business.”
She sounds like Monica.
“Where my dad goes, so does the media.”
Jack grasped one of her hands in both of his. His gray eyes bored into hers, making it difficult for her to remember how angry she was at him for all his deceit. “You are the only woman in my life, Jessie. You are the one I want to introduce to the world as my wife. I lied to you about my wealth for selfish reasons.” He took a deep breath and continued. “I needed to know if you could love me for me. Your hang-up about finding a rich husband made me wonder if you could ever separate your feelings for me from my money. If you knew from the beginning I was loaded, how could I truly know if you loved me?”
Her chest started to ache, again. “How do I know if I love Jack Morrison? I don’t even know who that man is.”
“Yes, you do, Jessie.” He stood and pulled her to her feet. Jack let her hands drop and spread his own as wide as his shoulders. “This is me, jeans and boots. I wear suits at the office, but not all the time. On the ranch, you’d have a hard time pointing me out with all the hands that take care of the place.”
“The ranch?”
“My father’s ranch. I’m comfortable in the boardroom and the barn. Outside of when I’m desperately trying to convince the woman I love that I’m perfect for her, I’m as honest as they get.”
Jessie bit her lip and felt some of the ice around her heart drip. “You love me?”
He gasped. “Jesus, Jessie, aren’t you listening to me? I love you more than roaches love sticky buns.”
She burst out laughing. So much for the poet who’d walked in the door half an hour earlier.
“Not the best way to put that, was it?” he asked with that cocky grin surrounded by dimples.
“It’s unique. I doubt I’ll ever forget that you compared our love to a cockroach.”
Jack placed both hands on her shoulders. “Give me a chance, Jessie. Give us a chance.”
Suddenly her mouth went dry and her lip started to tremble. “Trust is important to a relationship, Jack. How can I trust that you’re telling the truth?”
“Ask me anything. I’ll never keep another thing from you.”
Now was her time to put every question to the test. “Monica thinks you bought the car for me.”
“She’s right. I did. I knew you wouldn’t accept it if I gave it to you, so I made up the story about a fire.”
Little chance she would have accepted a new car from a man who waited tables. Or the rich one in front of her, for that matter.
“Did you sabotage my other car?” The thought had passed through during a dark moment.
“No. I’d never jeopardize you or Danny.”
It was silly to think he would do something so low, she realized.
“Clarify rich.”
With a dimpled grin, he ran his hands down her arms and up again. “Stupid crazy kinds of money. We have over two hundred hotels under the Morrison name. My father insisted on splitting half the estate when Katie and I came of age. He gave each of us one-quarter of that half. Believe me when I tell you that women with high dreams and fancy needs will do anything to get at what I have.”
Jessie lifted a hand to his arm and felt the rest of the ice around her heart melt away. “I get it, Jack. I don’t like that you lied to me, but I understand why you did.”
“I’ll never do it again.” He stepped closer, until the heat of his skin met hers. “I love you, Jessie. The last couple days were sheer hell thinking I’d lost you.”
A smile breached her lips and a single tear fell from her eye. “You better not ever lie to me again.”
Jack scooped her into his arms before bringing his lips to hers. It was a brief kiss, one laced with excitement. “Never again.” He leaned in and kissed her again. This time he angled his head for a much more enjoyable meeting of lips. With insides that were jumping high one minute and low the next, it didn’t take long for Jessie to feel lightheaded. Then again, Jack’s arms were crushing the air out of her lungs.
A small laugh vibrated from her lips to his.
“What?” he asked when he pulled away.
“Can’t. Breathe,” she managed.
Jack loosened his grip. “Sorry.”
“I’m not.”
“I’m not either.”
Lost in his eyes, Jessie felt his love for her in ways she couldn’t describe. Perhaps his test to determine if she loved him would work out for the best in the end. So long as the testing was over.
“I love you,” he told her.
“I love you, too. You make me crazy, but I do love you.”
Jack pulled away suddenly and glanced around the room. Seeing what he wanted, he led her to a chair.
“What are you doing?”
He smiled. “What I should have done in the first place.”
Jack bent down on one knee.
Jessie’s heart leapt up into her neck.
Out of his pocket, Jack removed a small black velvety box.
New tears sprang out of both Jessie’s eyes, and Jack’s face started to blur in front of her.
“Jessica Mann,” he started. “Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?” Jack’s eyes didn’t waver. He stared hard and held his breath.
Her head started to bob before she could whisper the words. “Yes. I’ll marry you, Jack.”
Jack grasped the back of her head and sealed his proposal with a soul-shattering kiss. Lips, tongue, and a little bit of teeth, and both of them were laughing as they pulled away.
Jack fiddled with the box and lifted her left hand in his.
He slid a band around her ring finger and sat back staring at her.
Jessie dropped her gaze to her hand. “Shut. Up.”
“You like it?”
The air in Jessie’s lungs left and the dizzy feeling she had kissing Jack returned, only this time she literally saw stars. Itty-bitty gasps filled her lungs as she started to hyperventilate.
Knowing little about carats and color, Jessie couldn’t fathom what the rock on her hand had cost.
A stunning solitaire slightly smaller than her thumbnail sat in a round cluster of diamonds that tapered down both sides, circled her finger. It sat in what Jessie assumed was platinum. It was stunning. “It’s gorgeous,” she said with a hoarse whisper.
“There’s a band that goes with it,” he announced.
More? There’s more to it?
“I don’t know what to say.” She lifted her hand and felt the weight of the ring.
“Just say I do, and we’re good.”
Jessie placed her hand to the side of Jack’s face. The stubble on his jaw scratched her hand and she loved the feel of it. “I do. But…”
“But?” Jack grew serious.
A lifetime of teasing him, what could be better than that?
Someone pinch me.
“There is one more person you need to ask.” She leaned back.
A bemused expression crossed Jack’s face. Then he smiled. “Danny.”
“Right.”
Jack stood and helped her to her feet. “I have the perfect plan for him.”
Bright lights and the sound of Christmas carols playing added to the overall joy in Jessie’s heart.
Jack sat on the floor next to Danny in front of the huge Christmas tree. The day had started in Jessie’s apartment, where they’d showered Danny with gifts. Now, in Jack’s penthouse suite at The Morrison, Jessie and Jack were about to explain some of the changes that were going to take place in Danny’s life.
“What’s in this box?” Danny lifted the gift-wrapped package and began the obligatory shaking of the box.
Smiling, Jack glanced between Jessie and Danny before saying, “Well, that’s a gift for you, your mom, and me.”
“You bought yourself a gift, Uncle Jack?”
“Kind of.”
“Open it, Danny,” Jessie said before moving to sit with the two of them on the floor.
Finding the edge of the paper, Danny ripped through the foil wrap without finesse. Inside a shirt box was a magazine with the title of Texas on the cover. Jessie peered closer to see what the publication was about.
“Homes and Ranches?” Jessie cocked her head to the side to glance into Jack’s eyes.
He winked at her but focused his attention on Danny.
“What is this for?” Danny handed the magazine to Jessie. The magazine featured homes and ranches for sale in the state of Texas.
“Oh, Jack?”
Jack circled his arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer. “I love my father’s ranch. He’d be more than happy to share it with us, but I thought this would be better.”
“What would be better?” Danny still had no idea what Jack was getting at.
“Our own place,” Jack told him. “I want us to pick out our new home together.”
Danny’s jaw went slack. “You mean a real house with a yard?”
“With a yard big enough for a barn and horses.”
“And a puppy? Can I get a puppy?” Danny started to bounce on his behind, grinning ear to ear.
Jack ruffled Danny’s hair. “Any animal you can think of.”
“Whoohoo!” Danny jumped to his feet and climbed into Jack’s lap, nearly knocking him over. “Thanks, Uncle Jack.”
A house of our own. Jessie had a hard time picturing it. In the space of one holiday season, her life had completely changed. Grown.
“Danny, about the Uncle Jack…”
Danny stopped hugging Jack long enough to look at him. “Yeah?”
“When your mom and I get married, I can’t be your uncle Jack anymore.”
Danny’s smile fell. A cold chill fell on all of them.
“That’s because Jack will be your dad,” Jessie said quickly.
“My dad?” His little lip started to shake. A confused set of eyes peered up at them.
“I’m new at being a dad, Danny. Do you think you can teach me the ropes?” Jessie grasped Jack’s hand as he spoke.
The uncertainty on Danny’s face worried her.
“My real dad didn’t want me,” he said with surprising fear in his voice. “He left us.”
Jessie’s heart shattered with her little boy’s words.
Jack pulled her son close. “I’m never going to leave you, Danny. I love you and your mom more than anything in this whole world.”
“Really?”
“Really!”
“Jack wants to adopt you, and then both of us will have a new last name,” Jessie told her son. “Would you like that?”
Danny bobbed his head.
The three of them hugged and Jack wiped away Danny’s tears.
“Do I get to call you Daddy?”
Jack’s smile lit up the room. “I’d love it if you called me Daddy.”
“OK.” Danny sniffled a couple of times before bouncing out of Jack’s lap. He picked up the magazine and thumbed through its pages.
“I think that went well,” Jessie told Jack once Danny had moved away from them.
“He had me worried there for a minute,” Jack confessed. “He looked so scared when I told him I’d be his dad.”
Jessie agreed. “He seldom asked about his real dad. I didn’t realize how much it bothered him.”
“That’s all over with from today on.”
Jessie’s chest felt full again. “I love you, Jack.”
Jack folded her into his arms and kissed her soundly. It seemed he couldn’t keep from touching her. Outside of sleeping, Jack was either kissing her, holding her hand, or touching her knee. It was wonderful.
The sound of knocking pounded from the penthouse door.
“Do you want me to answer the door, Daddy?”
Unexpected tears sprang to Jessie’s eyes.
“That would be great, Danny.” Jessie noticed Jack’s eyes well up.
“Who’s here?” Jessie asked Jack as he swiped one fallen tear from her cheek.
Jack pulled her to her feet with another cryptic smile. “It’s time you meet the members of your new family.”
Danny opened the door and ran his gaze up the length of Jack’s father’s frame. The man was even more massive than Jessie remembered him. Of course, he was sitting in a chair the last time they’d met. In Gaylord’s hand was a cowboy hat similar to the one he had on his head…only smaller.
“Well, hello there, little partner. You must be Danny.” Gaylord Morrison extended his free hand.
Glancing at it, Danny went ahead and put his tiny palm in the much bigger one.
“You must be my new grandpa?”
Gaylord’s jaw dropped. Then his eyes widened. Jessie knew then where Jack had inherited his dimples.
“I think you’re right.”
“Is that for me?” Danny pointed to the hat.
“Only if it fits.”
Danny stepped closer to the big man and ducked his head so Gaylord could secure the Stetson.
Once properly crowned, Danny rolled his eyes up, trying to see the hat. “Does it fit, Grandpa?”
“Now you look like a Morrison,” Gaylord boasted before he swept Danny into his arms and tossed him in the air.
Danny giggled as Gaylord sat him back down, then lifted his arms. “Again.”
They all laughed.
The elevator outside the suite chimed.
Jessie glanced beyond Gaylord’s shoulder to see who was talking in the hall.
Monica filed into the room with a beautiful blonde at her side. The two of them had their heads together, and Monica was laughing about something. Jessie’s mom stood beside an older woman Jessie didn’t recognize.
Jack pulled her hand and led her to the party of people filing into the suite.
“Jessie, this is my father.”
Gaylord set Danny down and pulled Jessie into a bear hug. “You don’t know how happy it makes me to see you again.”
Overwhelmed by the man’s embrace, Jessie remembered her curt words to Jack’s father and felt remorseful. “I’m sorry for how we met,” Jessie apologized when Gaylord ended the hug and took a moment to stare at her.
“I’m not,” Gaylord said. “Jack needs a woman like you to keep him straight.”
Jack scowled at his father and continued his introductions. “This is Katie, my sister.”
Katie smiled in greeting. “You’re just like your sister described.”
“My sister? You guys know each other?” Jessie asked Monica.
“Kind of.” There was a story buried in Monica’s cryptic answer.
“What exactly do you mean, kind of?”
Monica sucked in her bottom lip. Bad sign. Jessie knew something was off.
“I called Monica after she searched out Jack here at the hotel,” Katie offered.
“You were looking for Jack?” Jessie asked her sister.
The sucking of Monica’s lip turned to chewing. “He disappeared. You were miserable.”
“I told the managers to call me if anyone came to the hotel asking for Jack Moore,” Katie chimed in.
“You did?” Jack glared at his sister with an expression that matched Jessie’s feelings.
“Geez, you two, don’t look so shocked. We were watching out for both of you.” Katie draped her arm around Monica as she spoke. “If you can’t depend on your family interfering in your personal life, what can you depend on?”
Jack reached for Jessie’s hand and folded it in his. “You have your work cut out for you, darlin’.”
“What do you mean?” Jessie asked.
“Planning a wedding with these two is bound to be like a burr buried in a horse’s saddle.”
Jessie had no idea what a burr in a horse’s saddle was like, but it didn’t sound good.
“Are you trying to say I’m a pain in the ass?” Katie shoved Jack’s shoulder.
“If the shoe fits.” They were both laughing.
“You watch that language, young lady,” the older woman beside Jessie’s mother scolded. “There’s a child in the room.”
Danny’s head was buried in a game he’d set up beside Gaylord and couldn’t have heard a thing.
“Yes, ma’am.” Katie tugged on Monica’s arm. “Come on, sis; let’s talk about bridesmaids’ gowns and what we absolutely have to veto.”
“Turquoise and mauve,” Monica said as they walked away.
Jack let Jessie’s hand go and embraced the woman who’d given Katie the retort. “You look beautiful as ever, Aunt Bea.”
“You’re absolutely glowing.” The woman patted his face when they pulled away. “Seems as if a family is exactly what you needed.”
Jack nodded toward Jessie. “Jessie, this is my aunt Bea.”
“It’s lovely to meet you.”
“A pleasure,” Bea said with a warm smile. The sweet southern accent matched her friendly face.
Jessie remembered the pie conversation and Jack’s praise. “Jack tells me you make the best pecan pie ever.”
Aunt Bea beamed. “It isn’t bad.”
Jack had met Jessie’s mom the day before when she’d returned with Danny. The two of them greeted each other with a friendly smile.
Jessie’s mom turned to Jack’s aunt. “I never was much of a cook,” Renee explained. “Jessie seems at home in the kitchen more than I ever was.”
Bea nodded toward Gaylord. “I’ve always loved the kitchen more than the boardroom. My brother manages the financial end of things. Least I can do is cook.”
Renee glanced over her shoulder at Gaylord. “Too bad I didn’t have a brother. It would have been nice to have someone figuring out my financial mess.”
“He makes it look easy,” Bea said as the two women walked deeper into the room, away from Jack and Jessie.
Everyone piled in and scattered around the suite. Gaylord and Danny were already rolling dice on the board game and laughing.
Jessie hung back with Jack for a private word.
“Thank you, Jack.”
“What are you thanking me for?”
“For not giving up on me.” She glanced at the happy faces in the room. “This is worth more to me than any ring or house. We can celebrate every holiday surrounded by people we love. I know it sounds sappy, but that’s the best gift ever.”
Jack slid his hands around her waist and stared into her eyes. “I’ve waited my whole life for you.”
His warm kiss spread chills down her neck and spine.
“You’re getting better with the poetry,” she teased, smiling. “No more roaches and sticky bun analogies?” she asked against his lips.
“How about…I’ll play Santa to your Mrs. Claus?” he queried with a wink.
Jessie grasped Jack’s hat from his head and popped it on hers. “How about you play cowboy to my cowgirl?”
He lifted his eyes suggestively. “I like the sound of that. We gotta go get you some boots, soon-to-be Mrs. Morrison.”
Jessie could get used to that title in a heartbeat. “Why? You’ll just want to take them off.”
“Exactly.”
Jack fiddled with his hat on her head and leaned back with a grin. “I love you.”
Jessie stood on her tiptoes and kissed him.
“Oh boy. Guess we’re going to need more mistletoe,” Monica announced from across the room.
Ignoring her, Jack swiped the hat from Jessie’s head and hid their kiss behind it.
Laughing under his lips, Jessie leaned closer, loving Jack with all her heart. A family.