Chapter 19
NINETEEN
JULIA
Ilaid the three dresses I owned on my bed, eyeing them suspiciously.
One was too fancy. My mother had bought it for me to wear to a cousin’s wedding a few years ago.
It was baby blue and even had a little ruffle along the hem—not my style at all.
I needed to give that one away, and I made a mental note to drop it off at the town hall.
The mayor’s office collected formal and semi-formal wear for any Pop High students who couldn’t afford to buy an outfit for a formal dance.
The other dresses were a sleeveless sheath and a wrap dress with a full skirt.
They were my all-purpose dresses, hauled out for every special occasion I’d been dragged to over the years when my usual wardrobe of simple, practical clothes that could withstand working around animals didn’t fit the bill.
Of course, my preferred way to deal with not having the right wardrobe for parties was simply not to go.
I was happy to support my friends through the important milestones in their lives, but parties weren’t my scene.
Never had been. I was far better with animals than people.
I was okay with my circle of close friends, but a crowd of people? I shuddered.
I’d rather face stampeding cattle. And right now, I had too much on my plate and getting dressed up and going to a community dance was just about the last thing I would have chosen to do. But it hadn’t exactly been my choice.
Jake had suggested it. And then he’d attempted to sweet-talk me into it before I’d fully said, no.
When that didn’t work, he’d tried insisting on it, but that hadn’t lasted long once I started glaring at him.
As a last resort, Jake had gone behind my back and bought me a ticket.
He’d tossed it on my kitchen table three days ago when he’d come over to talk about baby stuff.
We’d spent several evenings together, going through the books and magazines he’d bought, researching baby names and reading new parent blogs for advice on what to expect through the different stages of my pregnancy.
We’d settled on a mix of organic cotton disposable diapers and reusable, but we were still figuring out what we’d need in terms of strollers and changing tables and all the other various items marketed to parents.
It was amazing how much stuff babies required.
And it was downright overwhelming how many choices there were.
Just seeing page after page of web results for something simple like bottles was enough to make my head swim.
Since he’d been around Amy while she was pregnant with Henry, Jake talked about what he remembered about their planning.
I didn’t ask a lot of questions, because to me, it sounded as if Laura and Amy did all the work while Luke strutted around like some sort of proud peacock.
I wasn’t about to judge Amy and Luke’s parenting, but that wasn’t the kind of partner I wanted in my life.
For that, if nothing else, I was glad to have Jake in this with me.
To my shock, he seemed to love doing the research into what brands and styles and models of everything were the best. And he’d gotten surprisingly into looking up cute baby toys and clothes online.
I never thought I’d see the day when Jake Thorne, tough cowboy, would spend hours cooing over baby onesies with pictures of puppies on them, but it had happened just the other night.
It was surprisingly endearing listening to his suggestions. It added another layer to my odd, perplexing relationship with him. The relationship that currently seemed to consist of friendship with the occasional kiss. Okay, and the night I invited him upstairs.
Now, it included him taking me to a dance.
Not that he was actually taking me there.
It certainly wasn’t a date. He’d never actually said anything about us going together.
When he talked about it, he mostly mentioned that I would have a good time, or that it would be a shame for me to miss it when practically the whole town was planning to attend.
Last year, the community center, elementary school, and park had burned after one of the buildings was struck by lightning. The fire ate through both buildings and the surrounding area and would’ve headed for downtown Poplar Springs if it hadn’t been for the quick action of our fire department.
Thanks to the incredible success of the charity rodeo, the town had more than enough funds to cover the cost of the rebuild. I’d heard that Cal’s parents—who owned a successful construction firm down in Austin—had offered their design services at no charge.
The dance tonight was originally meant to be the final fundraiser to pay for the new building, but instead, it had turned into a celebratory event with the proceeds from the dance going into an emergency fund.
It was a good cause, a worthy cause. Just not an occasion that I would have felt the need to attend myself.
But Jake had bought me the ticket, and I’d promised that I would use it.
Of my two all-purpose dresses, which was appropriate for a local dance?
I sighed. This was so not my territory. I almost texted my mom for advice, but then I’d have to explain why I was wearing a dress and who had convinced me to go to a dance.
My mom would want details, and I wasn’t ready to share yet.
Soon, I’d tell her about Jake and the baby.
But that wasn’t something I was going to worry about tonight.
I shoved the blue ruffled dress back into my closet.
Then I picked up the sheath dress to put it on.
It went over my head just fine, but refused to slide down my body like it should.
I tugged and pulled, eventually getting it into place.
But when I tried to do up the side zipper, I knew it wasn’t going to happen.
I hadn’t noticed pregnancy changing my figure enough to impact my everyday clothes, but apparently it was enough to ruin the fit of this dress.
I huffed and puffed as I struggled back out of the dress.
When I was free, I tossed it on the bed and sat down.
Maybe I should text Jake and tell him I was feeling queasy or had a headache.
Caitlin had been mired with morning sickness during her first trimester, so it was completely plausible. Anything to get out of this evening.
But I couldn’t. He’d been trying to do something nice for me since my friends were going too.
He’d been so adorably excited about the idea of me having a nice night out.
For Jake, I could tough it out if the red wrap dress fit me.
I snagged it up and wrapped it around me.
The style was more forgiving and easily tied on the side.
Across the chest, the dress was tighter than I remembered it being.
I studied myself in the mirror. I had cleavage for the first time in my life.
Huh. It took getting pregnant to achieve that. Who knew?
I dug a pair of black flats from my closet and put a ribbon headband in my hair to hold it back from my face.
I was going to leave it at that, but then I spied my makeup basket, which I hadn’t touched in months, and decided that I might as well give it a shot.
Tonight was a night for a bit of glamour.
I applied mascara, a tad of blush, and matching red lipstick.
There, at least I looked dance-worthy, even if I didn’t feel it.
After a quick check on my animals for the night, I drove to town.
I parked up the street in a spot where I could easily leave, and walked toward the oversize tent where the dance was being held. Lights were strung and music played, giving it a festive feel and putting a bounce in my step. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad.
That warm, fuzzy feeling ended when I stepped inside the tent. Instantly, I felt all eyes turn toward me. Probably my imagination, but I did see some surprised expressions. I assumed it was because I rarely attended social events or dressed up. At least, I hoped that was the case.
I looked around for Jake and didn’t see him. My friends were also absent. So yeah, why had I come again? In that moment, I couldn’t think of a single reason. I was about to make a U-turn and head for my truck when Jake jogged into the tent, a little breathless.
“There you are,” he said, coming to me and resting his hand on my arm. “You left without me.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked, confused. Left where?
His face was flushed, and he stared at me, seeming stumped for a minute, before a grin spread across his face. “Sweetheart, when I ask a woman to a dance, I pick her up.”
“But you didn’t ask me,” I argued. Had I missed something? “You gave me a ticket and told me I’d have fun.”
“And you will have fun. Dancing with me.” Before I could say more, he whirled me onto the dance floor.
Following his lead was no problem. Figuring out what the evening meant was a different story.
He saw this as a date? That surprised and worried me.
Dating him while being pregnant with his baby seemed…
complicated, especially since we’d yet to talk about what any of this meant.
Jake was married to Thorne Ranch, first and foremost, while I was struggling to build my practice.
He twirled me around, making me laugh and momentarily forget my concerns.
A little optimistic voice inside me whispered that if it worked out between us, I might be able to have what I’d always wanted. A real partner who I could fall asleep next to every night. We’d raise our child together, maybe even marry.
I was getting ahead of myself. One thing at a time. Enjoy the evening, I told myself, and see where it goes.
“You make dancing easy,” I said when the music slowed, and I was in his arms in the middle of the dance floor.
“You’re a good partner.”
I snorted. “I’m not, but with you, I almost feel graceful.”
“Don’t sell yourself short,” he said, looking into my eyes. “You’re beautiful in every way.”
I looked away, unused to compliments like that. I didn’t know how to respond. Did he mean what he said? Or was it just empty flattery? The way he said that, I couldn’t tell for sure.
“I need to get some air. I’ll be back.” I slipped out of his arms and headed for an opening in the tent. He made to follow me, but I saw him get intercepted by his sister-in-law, Amy.
The night air felt cool on my overheated cheeks and the quiet soothed me. The evening was turning out so much better than I’d thought it would, but I still wanted a moment to myself. Jake was currently coming across as everything I’d ever wanted in a man, but how real was that persona?
I didn’t know how long I’d been standing in the shadows outside the tent’s canvas walls when I heard Jake’s voice on the other side of the fabric.
“What’s with you and Julia?” a male voice I recognized as Brian’s asked. “I thought you said she wasn’t interested. That’s not how it looks.”
“Things are different now.” Jake’s voice was low and serious, making me strain to hear. “I like her. A lot. And now that’s she having…it’s different, okay? She’s important to me.”
“Easy, bro, I didn’t mean anything by it. I was just surprised to see you together after what you said in the bar is all,” Brian said. “Don’t get your hackles up.”
“I’m not sure we’re together. I asked her to the dance tonight, but it seems that she didn’t realize I meant it to be a date. I went to pick her up and found that she’d already come on her own.”
“Did you make yourself clear?” Brian asked. “Did you say it was a date?”
If Jake answered, I couldn’t hear it. They must have moved away from the tent wall. I stayed out in the night a little longer, staring up at the sky. My heart was pounding.
Did Jake really like me for me? Or was he only trying for a relationship because of the baby?
I replayed the conversation repeatedly in my head, hearing the parts about how he liked me and how I was important to him. Was that enough? That and what seemed to be his dedication to being a good father?
It might be. And I liked him. He could be fun, when he wasn’t bossing me around, and he made me feel good.
I hadn’t realized how much until that moment.
Stargazing, dancing, kissing. Maybe it was time to take a chance on him.
I smoothed my dress, put a smile on my face, and went back into the tent ready to enjoy the rest of the evening.