The Husband Show

“That’s where we are,” she said, hurrying to keep up. “In a land that time forgot.”

“You’re mixing up your movies. I saw The Land That Time Forgot.” Women kept disappearing into that opened door, which meant that’s where the food was.

“No, Brigadoon is when two people end up in a town where it’s two or three hundred years—well, a long time—ago, only it’s not. It’s modern day, but they’re not, you know, modern.” She looked back at the barn. “Do you think they’ll square-dance?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You’ve never heard of square dancing?”

“I’ve heard of square dancing,” he said, taking a deep breath as they approached the open door. Two laughing older women carrying casseroles stepped out. Jake said a silent prayer for patience. He was nervous, he realized. And that realization sent another stab of nerves into his belly. Guilt, fear and excitement warred for space in his chest. Jake didn’t often feel nervous, and he sure as heck didn’t like the feeling.

His life had changed beyond recognition recently, and he wasn’t sure he liked it all that much.

His guilt flared up again. He should have known Merry was up to something when she’d insisted on an annulment, a quick one. She was off to Europe, she wouldn’t meet with him and she hired a lawyer to handle the situation so Jake wouldn’t have to bother.

He’d been on tour, having gotten a job playing rhythm guitar in a band opening for Faith and Tim. His big break. He’d felt nothing for Merry but relief when she was gone.

“Tomorrow,” his suddenly talkative daughter continued, “this place could be enveloped in a mysterious mist and we’ll all disappear. Maybe we should escape while we can.”

Jake thought he might prefer to talk about Downton Abbey. “Do you really think Lady Mary will marry again?”

Winter giggled. That was a first. Jake stopped walking in order to see it for himself. The child looked younger when she smiled. “You look so funny,” she said. “And you don’t know who Lady Mary is!”

“Oh, yes, I do,” he grumbled, just to keep her smiling. “You talked about her all the way from Seattle to Spokane. She’s the oldest sister and she was supposed to inherit Downton Abbey but— What?”

Winter pointed to the door. “There she is!”

“Who?”

“The lady from the bar. See?”

Oh, he saw, all right. She would be hard to miss, Jake thought. Once again he realized that she was easily one of the most beautiful women he’d ever seen, with the kind of beauty that should be on magazine covers, except she wasn’t a bone-thin model. The dress hugged her curvaceous body in all the right places, yet floated around her legs to give her room to dance. In his experience playing in about five thousand bars, the women wearing floaty skirts always intended to dance.

The yellow boots were sexy as all get out, too.

And then there was the hair, platinum waves that fell well past her shoulders. She’d pinned back the sides, exposing a face that would be considered angelic, except that Mayor Jerry had warned him that she was anything but.

And he’d experienced her brusque manner himself, though she’d been kind to Winter and protective of her friends’ privacy.

An interesting woman.

Not his type.

The interesting woman who was not his type saw Winter and smiled, then looked at Jake. Her smile collapsed as they approached.

“You found it,” she said, not sounding the least bit happy to see them.

“We did. I was told Sam might be over here.” He gestured toward the door.

“He’s inside.” She hesitated. “Be careful.”

“Of what?”

“People carrying food. We’re setting up dinner in the tent. The bride and groom are having their pictures taken in front of the house and by the barn. When they’re done, we’ll eat.”

“I won’t keep Sam long,” Jake promised.

“Meg said you’re welcome to stay and enjoy the party.” She turned to Winter. “And you, too, of course. Lucia and Sam are really looking forward to meeting you.”

“I’ve never had an uncle before,” Winter confided.

“You’ll have three cousins after he gets married,” Aurora pointed out.

“He’s getting married?” This was news to Jake. All Sam had said over the phone was I’ve met someone. Someone special.

She stared at him. “He didn’t tell you?”

“I didn’t know it was official,” he bluffed.

“Hmm.”

“Well,” he said, attempting to move past her and go into the kitchen. “We have a lot of catching up to do. If you’ll excuse me....”

“Three cousins,” Winter repeated. “How old? Boys or girls?”

“Boys,” Aurora replied. “Younger than you.”

“Oh.” She didn’t bother to hide her disappointment.

“They’re not all that bad,” Aurora assured her. “And you’ll like your future aunt. Come on, then. I’ll help you find them.”

With that, they were ushered inside a large room set up like a dining hall. One part of the room held worn tables and benches, while the other was a large old-fashioned kitchen.

“I told you,” Winter muttered. “It’s like a hundred years ago.”

“How would you know?” He was curious; after all, she’d spent her life in Europe and he wouldn’t expect her to know a lot of American history.

“I’ve seen Westerns,” she told her father. “This is where the cowboys eat.”

“You’re right,” Aurora said. “This is the summer kitchen.”

The summer kitchen was filled with very busy women organizing platters of food. But in the middle of all the activity was a tall, dark-haired man who hurried through the crowd toward him.

Sam.

Jake swallowed the sudden lump in his throat. His little brother looked good. They shook hands and stood there for a moment, not sure what to do. Then they embraced. It could have been awkward, but it wasn’t. It was reassuring. Sam seemed glad to see him.

“What’s it been,” Jake’s younger brother asked, “ten years?”