Lilac Wedding in Dry Creek. Janet Tronstad

was he to argue with an expert? Especially one who had a book to back her up.

      Cat felt Jake’s lips brush hers, but she couldn’t rouse herself enough to respond. She’d had that dream so many times, and it never turned out to be real. Only, now her heart was racing and she felt the chill of the vinyl sofa under her and the gentleness of his hand when he caressed her cheek. Everything else was a kaleidoscope of colors, but maybe it wasn’t just her imagination this time. She’d taken her heart medication this morning, hadn’t she? She tried to remember and the moment started to come back. She’d flown from Minneapolis with her daughter, Lara, because time had become so important and the bus would have taken too long.

      Had she heard Lara talking about a prince? The first thing Lara had packed in her suitcase was the book of fairy tales she’d received at Christmas. She loved those stories. It was the thought of her daughter that made Cat fight all the way back to awareness. Everything she did these days had to be about Lara.

      Jake’s hand rested against her face. She hated to move because he might take his hand away. But she willed her eyes to open. She saw Jake frowning down on her, his black eyes almost setting off sparks, he was looking at her so intently. She blinked and he came into focus. Yes, he was even more handsome—and fierce—than she recalled.

      No wonder Lara thought he was a prince. His thick black hair was styled back, longer than she remembered it. And far more sophisticated than it had been at the youth home. He’d spent some money on having it cut. His face had been thinner back then, too. Now it was filled out with all the muscles and power of a man in his prime. He still had what he called his “Cherokee nose,” inherited from his Native American grandfather. Jake wasn’t the lanky teenager who’d been her gallant defender in the home, but she would have recognized him anywhere. His eyes gave him away. No one looked at her like Jake did. He saw inside of her.

      She wondered for the first time if she would have come here even without Lara. She was suddenly glad to see him just in case the heart surgery didn’t go well. He’d been the best friend she’d ever had and she wanted to remember his face forever.

      “Could I have something to drink?” she whispered.

      Then she closed her eyes. She didn’t fear the possibility of death, but she did fear what would happen to Lara without her. Before she left Minneapolis, she’d had a conversation with the chaplain at the hospital where she hoped to have her surgery. The man had led her back to the God she’d known briefly as a young girl.

      Her faith helped her accept what was happening. Her heart was defective and had been since she was born. It’s just that now it was critical that something be done. The doctors wanted to do surgery right away, even though she might not survive it. Finally, she told them all that everything would need to wait until she got her daughter settled.

      She opened her eyes and saw a new face looking down at her. The older man from the counter was now standing next to Jake.

      “I have coffee right here,” he said as he handed a cup to Jake. “I can get her something stronger than coffee if I need to. But it’s supposed to wake people up so I figure …”

      Cat wasn’t used to strangers worrying about her and she wanted to tell the older man that she appreciated his concern, but it was too much effort.

      “Just water,” she managed to say. She should take one of the heart pills the doctor had given her, if she could find a way to take it without alarming either of the men. She wasn’t ready to tell Jake everything yet. Let him get to know Lara a little first. She had to believe that, if he spent enough time with her daughter, he would be willing to take care of her if needed. She had no one else to ask and she couldn’t let Lara go into the foster-care system. Jake would understand that.

      “I’ll be right back.” The older man rushed away to get her what she needed.

      Cat felt Lara’s hand on her arm and looked over to see that her daughter had squeezed in front of where Jake was kneeling. Everything about her was pale next to the blackness of his hair and the light brown color of his forehead, but they looked good together. As though they belonged. Cat put her own hand over her daughter’s.

      “I’m fine, pumpkin.” The words were hard to form, but she kept working at it. “I just need to catch my breath.”

      Lara smiled, her blue eyes dancing in quiet delight.

      “He kissed you,” she whispered, a little too loud to be private. “I saw everything, and then you woke up. Just like in Sleeping Beauty.”

      “Ahhh,” Cat murmured as she reached out and touched her daughter’s cheek. “Maybe it’s not quite the same. Sleeping Beauty is a story.”

      She had no strength to continue. They’d already had this discussion, anyway. Lara insisted on believing her fairy tales were real no matter what Cat said.

      “I’m going to call an ambulance,” Jake suddenly said as he reached toward his pocket—probably for a cell phone. “In case this isn’t just hunger.”

      He was looking at her with a dozen questions in his eyes. None of which she wanted to answer.

      “I’ll be fine,” Cat repeated, this time looking away from her daughter and facing him squarely. She willed him to believe her.

      “You can be fine in an ambulance, too,” he said as he held his cell phone and started to dial.

      She shook her head. Then she reached out a hand and motioned for him to move over slightly and draw closer so she could whisper and only he would hear. “I just need to rest a minute. And I don’t want to scare Lara.”

      She didn’t need a doctor to tell her what she already knew.

      “She’s not worried,” Jake murmured, and then his lips actually curved up slightly. “She thinks I’m her private prince, here to do her bidding, anyway. Like some genie in a bottle.”

      Cat smiled. She put her hand on his shoulder and felt the dampness of his shirt. “I got you all wet.”

      She could also feel the warmth of his skin through the shirt.

      “It’s okay.”

      She noticed then that his face was damp, too. She must have flung rain drops everywhere. Odd that his hair was dry. His eyes were searching hers. He always did take his responsibilities to heart. Poor Jake. She wondered if he’d rescued any more damsels in distress after she’d left the home. She had meant to spare him that.

      He leaned down farther until he was almost near enough to kiss her again. Her mouth felt suddenly dry and she wished so many things were different in her life. She hadn’t been a particularly good damsel for him to rescue years ago, but now she was hopeless. She had far too many problems for any white knight to solve. And this one deserved better.

      Just then the other man came back with a bottle of water, and Jake pulled away.

      “I have a refrigerator in the storeroom so I can keep things cold,” the man said, not seeming to notice the tension in the air. “I have a microwave, too, if you’d rather have hot water.”

      “Maybe later,” she said. “I have some crackers in my purse and I could …”

      She saw Jake scowl and start to rise.

      “Cold water is perfect now, though.” Cat braced her arms so she could push herself up into a sitting position on the couch. Then she reached for the water. “That’s just what I need.”

      “What you need is a big steak and a baked potato,” Jake muttered. By now he was standing and glowering down at her. “When did you eat last? And I don’t mean crackers.”

      She had forgotten how it was with Jake. He liked to rescue damsels, but he was opinionated as he did it. She didn’t have energy to challenge him now, though. “I had something on the airplane coming out here.”

      “Pretzels, I suppose. They’re not any better.”

      Cat