Cheyenne; the Safe House, Saturday Afternoon
Hawkins looked at his watch. "Where the hell are they?" It wasn't only that he didn't want them to miss the phone call. He found himself surprised that he was actually worried that something could have happened to them. He looked at his watch again and decided he'd give it another fifteen minutes. If they weren't here by then, he'd send Chavez out to find them while he dealt with the questions he knew would come if Jake and Heather weren't around when Jericho called.
"What's up with you? That's the third time you've asked that question in the last forty-five minutes."
Hawkins was spared from answering Chavez when the door opened and Heather walked in. "Hey guys! Sorry we're late, we were -"
"Delayed," Jake abruptly finished as he walked in behind her, glaring at both men, daring them to say anything.
Looking at the couple before him, taking in their damp hair, her spreading blush and Jake's hand at the small of her back, Hawkins smirked. He knew exactly what had delayed them.
Heather, reading the expression on Hawkins's face, suddenly became bashful. She decided she needed a minute to herself and took the bag that Jake held. "When Jake told me we were coming for dinner I decided to bring dessert. I'm going to get it started. I want to get the baking done so that the oven will be free when you guys start dinner. I think everyone will like dessert, it'll be a real treat in this day and age." Heather prattled before slowly retreating into the kitchen, a slight hitch to her step.
Chavez turned to Jake. "Is she okay?
"She's fine . . . just fine," Jake replied distractedly, his eyes on his fiancée. Words couldn't even begin to describe the elation he felt. Never in his wildest dreams had he thought that he would find the perfect person to share his life with - and that that person would feel the same about him. He loved Heather, and for the first time in a long time, he was looking forward to the future.
Hawkins took in the small smile that crept across Jake's face and the look in his eyes as they followed Heather into the kitchen. "I take it she said yes?
"Well, she doesn't look . . . wait a minute, said yes to what?" Chavez interrupted.
His smile now reaching his eyes, he turned his attention to Hawkins. "Yeah, she did."
"Congratulations," Hawkins said as he clapped Jake on the back.
"Said yes to what?" Chavez repeated, measuring his words, slightly annoyed at being left out of the loop.
At that moment, the phone sitting on the table rang and Hawkins said to Jake, "That's Dee. I told her to call at three that there may be some news that Jericho needs to know. Why don't you answer it?"
Jake gave Hawkins a small smile, nodded his thanks, picked up the phone and answered the call as he was walking into the kitchen to get Heather. "Hello."
"Jake, is that you?"
"Yeah. Hi Darcy, is my mom there?"
"Yes. Let me get her for you."
Jake took the opportunity to take Heather's hand and say, "I'm going to tell my mom, okay?" Her eyes sparkled, and smiling, she nodded her head in agreement. He turned his attention back to the phone when he heard his mom's voice calling his name.
"Hi, Mom."
"Jake, honey, is everything all right?"
"Things are fine. Great, in fact. Hold on a sec while Heather and I go in the other room. We'd like to talk to you alone, okay?"
"Okay, I'm heading to the living room now."
When the couple walked into the bedroom, Jake sat on the bed and motioned Heather to sit beside him. When she sat down, he put his arm around her and started rubbing small circles on her arm. She rested her hand on his knee as he took a deep breath and turned on the speakerphone.
"Hi, Gail."
"Hi, Heather. How are you and my son doing?"
"Oh . . . we're both doing great," she replied beaming at Jake.
"Mom, how have you been?"
"Today's been hard. You know your dad and I would have been married forty years today."
"Are you doing okay?" Jake asked concern evident in his voice.
"I'm okay Jake. Just trying to keep busy. I was at the med center all morning. Eric and Mary surprised me with lunch ... and brought me a beautiful bouquet of flowers."
"Mom, we kind of have a gift for you, too. Are you sitting down?" He chuckled to himself as he pictured her gushing over the news, going nuts with wedding plans, and embracing Heather as one of her own.
"I am. What's going on?"
"Well, Mom . . . how do you feel about having a new daughter?" Not giving his mother a chance to respond, he continued, "Heather and I are getting married."
Had she heard Jake correctly? "You're getting married?" she asked waiting for the words sink in. Tears of joy stung her eyes. For the first time in a long time, Jake sounded happy and she couldn't help but conclude that it was all due to Heather. The knowledge that he would have someone by his side to share the good times and to help him through the bad times was like a balm to her soul. Her intuition told her that her son had found his soul mate, just as she had found hers with Johnston. While she didn't know Heather very well, she'd always liked the young woman, and given her apparent positive effect on her son, she couldn't wait to welcome her home with open arms. Gail couldn't remember the last time she felt so happy and excited. She couldn't have gotten better news, especially on this particular day. Unable to keep the smile out of her voice, she repeated what she had just said, "You're getting married!"
Heather let out the breath she had been holding when she heard the excitement in Gail's voice. "Jake asked me last night. It was so romantic!"
"Romantic? Jake was romantic?" Gail asked incredulously.
"Very! He took me on a picnic and proposed to me in the middle of a field of wildflowers. It was so beautiful."
Gail chuckled at the picture of her usually pragmatic son turning suddenly romantic. "Well, I never knew he had it in him."
"Well, now you know." Heather glanced at Jake and was surprised to see his face turning red. She smiled and looked him in the eyes as she told Gail, her voice taking on a dreamy quality, "It was perfect."
The couple became lost in each other's eyes. Momentarily forgetting that his mother was on the phone, Jake kissed Heather. Hearing the smooching noises on the other end, Gail laughed silently and cleared her throat. The couple drew apart and Heather giggled, embarrassed that they had been caught kissing 'in front' of Gail. "Sorry, Mom," Jake said somewhat sheepishly,
"That's okay. I remember what it was like." Gail laughed softly before allowing a soft sigh, "Heather?"
"Yes?"
"Welcome to the family. I'll be happy to call you my daughter. I hope that you'll call me 'Mom' now."
"Thanks, Gail . . . I mean, Mom."
She liked the sound of it. She hadn't called anyone 'Mom' since her own mother's untimely death when she was fourteen. They had been very close and she especially missed the quiet talks they used to share. There were many times in the intervening years when she had longed for her mother. She didn't know Gail very well, but her instincts told her that she would soon be enjoying those quiet talks with a new mother.
Jake, seeing her eyes well up, remembered the sad expression on her face as she had told him about the death of her mother and her father, four years later, over dinner the other night. Knowing what this moment meant to her, he gave her a sideways hug. "I second that request. I'm more than happy to share my mom with you," he whispered in her ear before kissing the side of her face.
"So, have you two set a date?"
"No, we just know it won't be until we get home," Jake replied.
Gail breathed a sigh of relief.
"Mom?" Heather asked, not at all surprised at how easily the word rolled off her tongue.
"Yes, Honey?"
"I don't know anything about planning a wedding. Will you help? Obviously, with times being as they are, it won't be fancy, but it's important to both Jake and me that our family and friends are there."
"I would be so happy to help you!" Gail gushed.
"Good! I'm going to try to write down some ideas. Maybe you can do the same, and we can compare notes when we're back for Stanley's and Mimi's wedding."
"That sounds like a good idea. We can talk over coffee, and you can tell me all about that proposal you got from my son."
"I'd like that."
"Jake, I'm going to get Eric now. I'm sure he'll want to hear the news from you two."
"Okay, Mom."
"I'll be right back."
Jake stood up, stretched and sat back down on the bed, this time at its head with his back leaning against the wall. He held out his hand, "Come here, Babe."
Heather scooted up to the head of the bed and settled herself between Jake's legs. Just as she was leaning back against Jake's chest, she heard Chavez bellow, "They're getting married!"
Heather leaned to one side and turned her head. "Yes, we really are getting married."
"You better believe we are," Jake replied.
Before he could kiss her, they heard Chavez say in a somewhat quieter tone, "Wow, Jake's one lucky son of a gun."
"Yeah, I am," Jake said before he lowered his mouth to Heather's.
Their kiss was interrupted by the sound of Eric's voice, "Jake? Heather? Are you there?"
"Hey Eric," Jake greeted his brother.
"Mom came back in the dining room all excited. She said you had some news."
Jake was surprised that, despite his mother saying otherwise, that in her excitement, she hadn't let it slip. He was glad that his brother would hear the news from Heather and him. "Yeah we do, Heather and I are getting married."
"That's great news. Congratulations from both Mary and me. Jake, you're one lucky son of a gun!"
Jake and Heather both laughed at the comment. "So I've heard."
"You know, he's not the only one who's lucky," Heather chimed in happily.
"Just warning you, Heather, my brother doesn't know how to pick up his socks." Eric chortled and then cleared his throat, "Just kidding. You're both very lucky to have each other."
"We are," Heather and Jake said simultaneously.
"You should have seen Mom's face when she walked into the dining room. She was literally beaming. I haven't seen her look that happy in a long time."
"Good," said Jake.
"I'm glad," said Heather,
"Welcome to the family, Heather."
"Thanks Eric."
"Mom just came in. Jake, she forgot to tell you something. I'm going to put her back on. When she's done Jake, we need a meeting with everyone. Okay?"
"Sure thing, Eric."
Jake and Heather heard some rustling on the other end as Gail settled herself before she spoke into the phone. "Jake?"
"Yeah, Mom."
"I wanted to remind you about that talk your grandfather had with you at your grandmother's funeral."
"Huh?" he asked, having no idea what his mother was talking about.
"Jake, think about it. It'll come to you," Gail replied, a little exasperated. She paused, hoping her son would understand what she was talking about without her saying anymore.
It took him a minute but it finally dawned on him when his mind wandered back to the day of his grandmother's funeral. His grandfather had taken him aside and had told him that as the oldest grandson he was to have his grandmother's engagement and wedding rings.
"Like the ranch, the rings have been in the family for over a hundred years," he had said. "Your great-great grandfather won the diamond fair and square in a saloon poker game a couple of years before he married. He had it set in a ring for my grandmother - he told her the diamond sparkled like her eyes - when he asked her to marry him. It was in 1900, when he won the ranch and had a place to bring her home to." His grandfather had laughed, "Of course it was a different poker game and the ranch was a quarter of the size it is today."
Jake remembered he had enjoyed hearing the story, but it had not meant anything to him at the time. After all, he had been only eighteen and marriage had been the last thing on his mind.
"You still have them?" he asked when he felt Heather tapping her fingers on his thigh, bringing him back to the present.
"Of course I do, Honey."
"I'm glad, Mom."
"I'm sure she'll love them. It'll be a nice surprise," Gail said forgetting that she was on speakerphone and that Heather would be able to hear.
"Yes, I think you're right," Jake said, knowing how much Heather would appreciate and love the history and sentiment behind the rings.
Heather leaned to one side and looked up at Jake, her brows furrowed in question. "It's a surprise," he mouthed. He smiled at the little pout he saw on his fiancée's face before turning his attention back to the phone. "Thanks, Mom. For everything. We're going to head back into the kitchen and give Hawkins a chance to talk to Darcy. Then we can hear the news that Eric has for us." He gave Heather a gentle push, and she scooted to the edge of the bed and stood up then held out her hand for Jake. Hand in hand, they walked into the kitchen.