“Look, Caroline, what’s the difference? Me being there or not being there? It’s not like they’re getting married tomorrow. Besides—”
“Besides, what?”
Stephen wanted to say his loyalty and sympathy lay with Elliott. If anyone deserved to be happy, it was him. But Stephen knew better. Caroline was upset enough. No sense making things worse. He chose his words carefully. “I just think we should reserve our judgment. Give your dad a break, you know?”
“A break! He’s obviously lost his mind! Anyway, I haven’t told you everything. She’s got a son. A son! And from what Dad said, he’s younger than Tyler.” Tyler was Caroline’s son. “I’m telling you, you’ve got to be here. You’re the one Dad listens to.” This last was said with an undertone of resentment.
Stephen stifled a sigh. He knew Caroline would give him no peace until he capitulated. And the truth was, he did think it might be a good idea to be there when Elliott and the woman and her son arrived, if only to act as a buffer between Caroline and the happy couple. Maybe he could seal the deal on the filly with Jake quickly and leave for home early in the morning. “All right,” he said with resignation, “I’ll do my best.”
But it took until noon the following day before the registration papers for the filly were ready and all the arrangements were made to ship the quarter horse out to the ranch the following week. Caroline hadn’t been happy when Stephen called to tell her it was impossible for him to get there before late afternoon.
But it couldn’t be helped. The filly was too promising—they planned to use her specifically for breeding stock—for Stephen to walk away. He had a job to do, and no matter what Caroline wanted, he had to finish it before he could even think about going home.
At least he would make it back before dark. Stephen was certified on instruments, but he preferred to fly in the daylight, when he could see. Thinking about the Cessna 152 two-seater he’d purchased the previous year, he couldn’t help smiling. Stephen had fallen in love with flying during his first year of law school at Harvard. He’d shared an apartment with a flying enthusiast from Connecticut and had quickly gotten hooked himself.
After renting planes for years, he’d finally decided to make the leap and buy his own. He’d been afraid Elliott would disapprove and try to talk him out of it, but his brother had encouraged him, even though Elliott was a white-knuckle flier himself who preferred to get around by walking, riding his beloved horses, or driving one of his two trucks.
Stephen frowned. Elliott meant more to him than anyone on the face of the earth. He would, literally, lie down and die for his brother. He sure hoped Caroline was wrong and that this woman Elliott planned to marry truly loved him. Yet he couldn’t help but worry.
Because even if the woman turned out to be wonderful, Stephen knew Caroline could make life miserable for her. Which would, in turn, make life miserable for Elliott.
And me….
Much of this and other problems would be lessened if Caroline had a place of her own. Even Elliott realized that, but he was too softhearted where his daughter was concerned to do anything about it. The trouble was, he’d encouraged her to move back to the ranch after her divorce four years ago, and now that Adele was gone nothing short of an earthquake would dislodge her. Even if she had been inclined to find a separate home for herself and her son, this new development would cause her to dig her heels even deeper.
Because if there was one thing you could count on, it was Caroline’s fierce possessiveness where her father was concerned. This obsession, this need to be number one in her father’s life, had begun when she was little, “the princess,” the spoiled only child of parents who had wanted more children but were unable to have them so lavished all their attention and love on their daughter. It was the source of all the friction between Stephen and Caroline, for she was intensely jealous of the relationship between the two brothers. It was a measure of how upset she was over Elliott’s engagement that she had called Stephen about it, for normally he would be the last person she’d turn to.
Stephen heaved a sigh.
He smelled big trouble ahead.
“Don’t worry, darling. Everything’s going to be fine, you’ll see.”
Jill Emerson smiled at her fiancé. Elliott was such a sweetheart. She had never believed she would ever find a man like him. Considerate, thoughtful, kind, loving…He was just all around terrific, and she was a lucky woman.
But despite Elliott’s assurance, she wasn’t sure everything would be fine. She’d seen the look on his face after he’d finished talking to his daughter and telling her about their coming marriage. He’d admitted afterward that Caroline was “a little upset” but had assured Jill that she’d get over it. “It’s just that she didn’t expect this,” he’d added. “I should have told her about you months ago.”
Caroline’s reaction was much stronger than he’d let on, Jill suspected. He just didn’t want Jill to worry. Truth was, Jill understood how Elliott’s daughter must feel. Elliott had told Jill that Caroline had been very close to her mother. She was bound to be upset that her father wanted to marry again so soon.
Plus there’s the age difference.
Elliott was fifty-seven, and Jill was thirty. To many people this would have been an insurmountable obstacle to the relationship, but the difference in their ages didn’t bother Jill at all.
But Caroline couldn’t know that. She probably imagined Jill was only interested in Elliott’s money. After all, how was she to know that Jill loved Elliott and would have agreed to marry him even if he wasn’t wealthy—something Jill hadn’t known when she’d first started seeing him.
Jill actually liked the fact Elliott was more mature. Older men were more responsible and committed, she’d found. Plus they had confidence and didn’t constantly need propping up. Not that Jill had had that much experience with men of any age. In the past ten years she’d been too busy finishing college, and caring for her terminally ill aunt, as well as raising Jordan and supporting both of them after her aunt’s death, to have much time for anything else.
As if he knew her thoughts had turned to him, Jordan removed his headphones and said, “Elliott, when are we going to be there?”
Jill and Elliott exchanged amused smiles. Although Elliott still didn’t know Jordan the way Jill did, he’d known him long enough to realize the ten-year-old was long on curiosity but short on patience.
“It’ll be another hour or so, son,” Elliott said.
Jordan heaved a noisy sigh. “Okay.”
“How about if we stop for some ice cream?” Elliott suggested. “There’s a store right up the road that sells the best homemade ice cream you’ve ever tasted.”
“Will ice cream make the time go faster?” Jill teased.
“As far as I’m concerned, good ice cream solves all the world’s problems,” Elliott said, winking at her.
The funny thing was, the ice cream did seem to make the remainder of the trip go faster—not that Jill was in any hurry to get there. But she knew Jordan was tired of being in the car and Elliott was anxious to get home.
“We’re almost there now,” Elliott said. “When we get to the top of that rise, you’ll be able to see the ranch.”
Jill smiled, even though inside she was a mass of nerves. I’ve made the right decision, she told herself yet again. I do love Elliott, and Jordan adores him. That’s what counts. If his family is suspicious, they have a right to be. I’ll just have to show them I’m not a threat. And I’ve got the entire summer to win them over.
She’d made it clear to Elliott that she wouldn’t marry him until September, even though he’d wanted the wedding to take place immediately. She simply had to be sure his family