Jake's Bride Read Free Page A

each other than the subject of his presentation.  He'd asked her out over the weekend.  And their courtship had begun.
    She remembered the kisses, the touches, that one special night...
    She'd matured and changed over the past four years.  Watching Jake hold a child in his arms led her to believe he'd changed, too.
    Her memories and emotions kept her immobilized.  Jake had to pass her to get to his desk chair.  When he did, she could have sworn they both held their breath.  The brief contact of his shoulder against hers as he bypassed the playpen acted like a jolt of electricity to her already overloaded nervous system.
    Not knowing where to start, she said, "Gillian said she was your partner."
    "Yes, she is."
    "She brings her baby to work?"
    Jake lodged one hip against the desk.  "Sometimes."
    "How old is...Matthew, isn't it?"
    "Fifteen months."  The lines along Jake's mouth that carved into his lean cheeks when he smiled now looked deeper than they had four years ago.
    Sara couldn't keep the burning question in her mind.  "Is Matthew yours?"
    Jake looked as though he might not answer, but then in a brisk tone explained, "Gillian is happily married to a friend of mine.  Matthew is theirs."
    "I was surprised to see you with a child."
    "I never said I didn't like kids.  I just didn't want to bring any into the world."
    When the silence stretched into an unbearable awkwardness, he asked, "Why are you here?"
    There was no welcome in his voice, none of the gentleness she knew he was capable of.  The wall he'd erected the last time they'd talked, the day he'd left her mother's house, was solid and sturdy.  All she could do was take one step at a time.
    "My mother passed away two weeks ago."  Sara's throat tightened and she had to fight back the tears that were all too ready to come to the surface these days.
    Jake's stony expression softened.  "I'm sorry.  I know how much she meant to you."
    Yes, he did.  In fact, he'd known everything about her because she'd held nothing back.  Not until she'd received the news of her pregnancy.  "I've been staying at Aunt El's."
    "How's your aunt taking this?" he asked, his tone bringing back memories of his arms around her, confidences shared, yellow roses.
    She shook off the images and the feelings that went with them to concentrate on his question.  Her Aunt Eloise and her mother had been close all their lives.  "It's difficult for her."
    Jake stuffed his hands into his pockets, a familiar gesture.  He always did it when he was uncomfortable.  "I am sorry about your mother, but you could have sent me a note.  Why did you come?"  He seemed genuinely perplexed.
    "Because Mom left me a letter.  She wants you to have something of my dad's."
    The seconds ticked by.  "Why?"
    "Because she liked you, Jake.  She...she just wanted you to have it."  Sara knew Jake's memories of his mother weren't all happy ones, that's why she'd hoped he could share her mother.  It was too late.  But it wasn't too late for him to have a relationship with his son.  "I wanted to invite you over to Mom's house to pick it up.  How about tomorrow sometime?"
    Jake looked torn.  Finally, he said, "All right.  Around one?"
    "That's fine.  I'll look forward to seeing you then."
    He pushed away from his desk.  "I'll walk you out."
    Jake felt almost numb and didn't try to make conversation as he walked Sara Standish to the door.  He'd never expected to see her again.  He'd told himself she was history.  But he couldn't look at a yellow rose, he couldn't close his eyes sometimes, he couldn't look at the tux still hanging in his closet without wondering what they could have had, without wondering why he still missed her, without wondering if she was now married to someone else, mothering the children she'd wanted.
    The sense of betrayal he'd experienced when she'd called off the wedding had never ebbed.  He'd fallen in love with her and he'd trusted her--with his heart and with his life.  But