“You look lovely, Jessie.” He glanced down into the carrier, his expression faintly nervous as if he weren’t too sure what to do with a baby. He seemed worried she might be breakable. “Everyone’s anxious to see the newest addition to the family.”
Jessie hesitated. “By everyone, I assume you mean that this isn’t just a family celebration tonight.”
Jordan’s mouth quirked in a grin that reminded her so much of Luke, she felt her heart stop.
“Nope. The usual cast of thousands,” he said. He leaned down and whispered, “Stick close to me and I’ll protect you from the multitudes.”
“And what about your own date?” she whispered right back. “I know perfectly well you must have one here. I’ve never seen you without a beautiful woman on your arm.”
A flicker of something that might have been sadness darkened his eyes for just an instant, before his ready smile settled firmly back in place.
“I decided even I deserved a night off,” he replied.
“Tired of small talk?” Jessie asked.
“Tired of all of it,” he admitted. When Jessie would have questioned him further about whether this indicated an end to his days as Houston’s most available playboy, he prevented it by taking her arm and propelling her into a room already crowded with guests.
“Behold the heir apparent,” he announced, holding the baby carrier aloft as everyone applauded. That said, he seemed only too anxious to turn the baby over to the first person who asked to hold her. He wandered off without a second glance, his duty done.
For the second time since her arrival at White Pines, Jessie was gently shunted aside by people anxious to get a glimpse of the newborn. She heard the story of her being stranded at Luke’s ranch told over and over. She heard her own bravery magnified time and again.
What she never heard, though, was any mention of Luke’s incredible role in any of it. Just when she was prepared to climb halfway up the stairs and demand that everyone listen to her version of the events, Harlan folded a strong arm around her shoulders and called for silence.
“A toast,” he announced. “Everybody have some champagne?”
Glasses were lifted into the air all around them.
“To Jessie and Angela,” he said. “Welcome home.”
The toast echoed around the room, as heartfelt from strangers as it was from the family. Even so, the welcome left Jessie feeling oddly empty. White Pines no longer felt like home. What saddened her more was that she wasn’t sure whether it was the loss of Erik or the absence of Luke that made her feel that way.
When the cheers had died down, Harlan announced that the buffet supper was ready. The guests moved swiftly into the huge dining room to claim their plates and a sampling of the food that Jessie knew Maritza and the rest of the staff had been preparing for weeks now. She recalled from past years how bountiful and diverse the spread would be, but her own appetite failed her.
She surveyed the room until she finally spotted Cody holding her daughter and went to join them.
“I’ll take her,” she offered. “Go on and have your dinner.”
Cody grinned. “I don’t mind. I’m practicing my technique. I figure if I can charm ’em when they’re this little, I’ll have no problems with the grown-up ladies.”
“Well, Angela’s certainly fascinated,” Jessie agreed as she observed her daughter’s fist tangled in Cody’s moustache. The baby tugged enthusiastically and Cody winced, but he didn’t give her up. He simply disengaged her fingers as he chattered utter nonsense to her. Like Luke, he seemed totally natural and unselfconscious with the infant in his arms.
“You might have to work on your conversational skills,” Jessie teased, after listening to him.
“You’re not the first woman to tell me that,” he admitted with a wicked grin that probably silenced most women on the spot, anyway. Jessie was immune to it, but she found herself amused by his inability to curb the tendency to flirt with any female in sight.
“I guess it’s what comes from spending most of my days with a herd of cows,” he added. “They’re not too demanding.”
“And what about Melissa?” she inquired, referring to the young woman who’d been head over heels in love with Cody practically since the cradle. “Is she too demanding?”
Cody’s eyes lit up at the mention of the woman everyone assumed he would one day marry, if he ever managed to settle down at all. “Melissa hangs on my every word,” he said confidently.
The touch of arrogance might have annoyed some people, but Jessie knew that Cody’s ego wasn’t his problem. The young man was simply a textbook case of a man who was commitment phobic. Melissa had contributed to the problem by wearing her heart on her sleeve for so long. Cody tended to take her for granted, certain she would be waiting whenever he got around to asking her to marry him.
One day, though, either Melissa or some other woman was going to turn Cody inside out. Jessie smiled as she envisioned the havoc that would stir.
“What are you grinning about?” Cody asked.
“Just imagining how hard your fall is going to be when it comes. Yours and Jordan’s.”
“Won’t be any worse than Erik’s,” he teased. “Or Luke’s,” he added, shooting her a sly look.
Jessie swallowed hard. “Luke’s?” she said, feigning confusion.
“I’m not blind, Jessie. Neither is anyone else around here, for that matter. Why do you think they were so appalled when they realized where you were when you had the baby? Luke never did have much of a poker face.”
She was stunned. “What are you saying?”
“That my big brother is crazy in love with you. Always
