Wild Fire (The Fairy Tale Match Series) (8 page)

“Leave Laura alone,” he told him
angrily. “She is not like your other women. She deserves better than a low life
like you trying to get into her bed. You will not use her like you do every
other woman you take a fancy to.”

“If I want Laura, I’ll get her. Make
no mistake about that!” Walter sneered at him.

“Not if I have anything to do with
it,” Jake assured him, gritting his teeth against the urge to punch Walter’s
lights out.

Walter simply smirked at him, looking
him up and down with a derisive glance. “Do you think that given the choice,
Laura would go for you rather than me?” He gave a snort of laughter. “I’m happy
to take the challenge. I’m going to love beating you to her bed.”

Jake grabbed hold of Walter by his
shirt front. “I’m not competing with you for Laura!” he hissed. “I’m warning
you to stay away from her.”

“Sorry, old chap!” Walter replied,
calmly disengaging himself from Jake’s tight grip. “I never turn down a
challenge. The game is on my friend. If you don’t participate, it’ll just mean
I get there that much quicker.”

He turned and walked away, leaving
Jake to glare after him in fury. What had he been thinking to warn Walter off
Laura? He should have known the man would take it as a challenge. He hadn’t
been thinking straight when he saw Walter helping her off her horse. He’d stood
so close to her, Jake doubted a pin would have fitted between them. He’d seen
red and reacted from that crazy possessive streak he was fast developing for a
woman he’d made a point of pushing away. Now he was stuck in the position of
looking out for her. He couldn’t just let Walter get his hands on her. What a
crazy mixed up situation!

Jake ran his hands through his hair.
Yep, his life had gotten more and more complicated since one stunning woman had
flown into it.

*****

Lotta slumped against the stable wall
in exhaustion and tried to ignore Flo as she spun around in rapturous circles,
her wand leaving showers of stars in her wake.

“I told you it would work!” she cried
in jubilation. Lotta wanted to strangle her. It was very unfairy godmother like
feelings, but really a person could only take so much.

“You could have killed or injured her
Flo. What were you thinking?” Lotta gritted out.

Flo just waved her hand airily.
“Don’t be silly, Lotta. She was perfectly safe. You kept her on the horse
wonderfully well.”

Lotta nearly screamed. This was
without doubt, one of the worst days of her life. She’d nearly conjured a cow
in fright when the horse carrying Laura had suddenly taken off without warning.
She’d torn after it, trying to slow it down. Nothing she’d said worked. Lotta
had had her work cut out for her, keeping Laura in the saddle. Thankfully,
Laura had been too terrified to notice that at one point her fingers had been
holding on to thin air and her body in no way touched the saddle. Lotta had
managed to hold her in the air by sheer force of will.

Flo had been no help. She’d been too
busy getting Walter’s mount to spin in circles to worry about a small thing
like Daisy jumping fences. Lotta could still not work out how Flo had done it.
That horse was well known by all the other horses for being slow and placid.
Lotta could not imagine how Flo had got the animal to run, let alone jump. It
proved that Lotta would have to keep an even closer eye on Flo from now on.

“Oh, what a brilliant day this had
been!” Flo sang happily, fluttering off the ground, her small feet doing a jig
in mid-air.

“It was a terrible day!” Lotta
snapped at her. “We put one of our charges in danger.”

“Jake kissed her!” Flo announced
stubbornly. “I told you he would. My plan worked perfectly. It was romantic and
dramatic and not at all boring! You’re just upset because I thought of it first
and because you couldn’t change my wonderful idea for once.” She pouted in
upset indignation, which lasted about ten seconds before she was back to
spinning and dancing in the air.

Lotta heaved a sigh of despair. If
only Jake had kept his lips to himself. Unfortunately, the escapade had indeed
brought Jake and Laura closer. Which only meant Lotta would have a harder time
keeping Flo in check.

“Just how did you manage to get that
horse to run so fast? Nothing I did would get it to stop.” Lotta couldn’t help
asking.

Flo smiled in delight. “It was easy,”
she said grinning. “I spoke to all the horses, not knowing which one Laura
would be given. I told them all my incredible plan that whichever one was used
for Laura’s lesson, they were to run and not stop for anyone other than Jake;
and they were all too happy to help. Daisy is beyond thrilled tonight that she
got to be the one to carry it out! She’s quite a romantic, you know. She’ll be
boasting about this for days!”

Lotta dropped her head in her hands,
the urge to cry was nearly overwhelming. But fairy godmothers did not give in
to such behaviour. She put her fingers in her ears to drown out the cheerful
song Flo had decided to start singing at the top of her voice. Coloured sparks
danced around in the air to mark Flo’s celebration, while Lotta wished she was
somewhere else!

“How are you feeling today?” Kerry
asked Laura as she came into the kitchen the next day.

Laura groaned as she walked stiffly
across to where Kerry stood holding out a plate of toast and coffee for her.
She took them gratefully and stood at the table to eat, her backside refusing
to sit on the hard chair.

“My butt hasn’t forgiven me for
yesterday and I’ve discovered muscles I didn’t know I had. All night long, I
kept dreaming of being on the back of a runaway horse. I never want to go
through something like that ever again.” Laura bit into her toast, feeling her
face heat up at her small emission of detail. There was really no need to tell
Kerry that her dreams had also included the re-enactment of one fiery hot kiss,
the memory of which still left her breathless and had her toes curling. The
less said the better.

Kerry took a long, hard look at
Laura’s flushed face. “Did anything happen yesterday that I should know about?”
she asked slyly.

Laura choked on the mouthful of
coffee she was just in the process of swallowing. She coughed. “I don’t know
what you mean!” she managed to get out of her tight throat.

“I don’t know. Something seemed
different with you both yesterday when you got back. Maybe it’s just my
imagination.” Kerry shrugged casting a sidelong glance at her flustered friend.
“Course, I couldn’t be happier than if things between you became……..romantic.”

“Back up, Kerry.” Laura held her
hands up in protest. “If Jake hears you saying anything like that, he’ll run
for the hills!”

“Ah-ha!” Kerry yelled, pointing her
finger at Laura.

“Ah-ha what?” Laura asked taking
another bite of toast.

“I’m not exactly sure, but that
statement definitely says something. Come on Laura. You can talk to me. I won’t
tell Jake anything, you can be sure.” She turned huge pleading eyes in Laura’s
direction. “It would be so great to know my meddling may have come to
something. I won’t have to feel so guilty.”

Laura sighed, putting down her half
eaten breakfast. She wasn’t sure she could stomach anymore anyway. “I guess it
would be good to talk, but you better not let it get any further.”

“Cross my heart,” Kerry promised,
tracing the sign with her finger across her chest.

“Well, we did sort of..…..kiss.”
Kerry’s screaming nearly burst Laura’s eardrums. She put her fingers in her
ears as Kerry clutched her arms while jumping up and down.

“OMG! This is so fantastic,” Kerry
cried. “This is just what I hoped would happen.”

“Don’t get too excited,” Laura
warned. “He made it pretty clear that he considered it a mistake afterwards. We
didn’t even talk about it much. I got the impression he’d rather forget the
whole thing.” She tried to hide how much that upset her, but something must
have showed on her face.

“But you don’t feel the same way, do
you?” Kerry asked seriously.

“No; I don’t want to forget it. In
fact I would be happy to explore it a whole lot more,” Laura’s face burned with
her confession. “The only thing is I have no idea what’s stopping Jake from
taking a chance on the attraction we both seem to feel for each other. At
least, I hope it’s not all one sided.”

“Of course it isn’t,” Kerry assured
her. “Jake hasn’t even looked at a woman in the last four years, let alone
kissed one. If he gave in to temptation with you, it’s a really good sign.”

“What should I do?” Laura desperately
needed help formulating a plan to win over one very stubborn man. “Maybe you
could tell me something of what happened to shut Jake down like this?”

Kerry looked awkward. “I don’t know
that I should say anything. Jake would never speak to me again.”

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked.”
Laura threw away the remains of her breakfast and cleaned her plate and mug.

“It’s not that I don’t want to tell
you. You do understand that?” Kerry told her, wanting her friend to understand.

“Of course I do. You haven’t known me
long enough to confide something like this to me.” Laura touched Kerry’s arm to
reassure her.

“It’s not that.” Kerry paused a
moment, trying to gather the right words together. “Jake has been really
betrayed in the past; I’ll say that much. It hit him so hard, as you can see he
still hasn’t got over it. I don’t want to say anything that might make him feel
I have done that to him too. I think I came close enough by meddling with the
dating agency. You’ll have to find a way of discovering what happened from
someone else.”

Laura smiled softly at Kerry, wanting
her to know she understood completely. “In the meantime,” Kerry said with a
sparkle in her eyes, “there is no stopping us from finding ways to push the two
of you together! I have a few ideas that could work.”

Laura laughed. “Such as?”

“Well, I haven’t got around to
mentioning it yet, what with Daisy going mad yesterday and all, but we have a
rather big event coming up at the ranch shortly. It’s a re-enactment of a barn
raising. We do it every year.” Kerry’s eyes shone with excitement.

“We have a small barn out back that
is rigged especially to come down easily, so we can stage the re-enactment of
the barn raising that used to take place around here in the 1800’s,” she
continued. “It’s really popular with the tourists. Most people in town take
part too. We all dress up in period costume and have dancing with live music.
We even host a pot luck dinner, which both diner’s from town are providing a
large proportion of the food. Its great fun, plus it should be really easy to
push you and Jake together if you help out with the planning.”

 “What can I do? I don’t know the
first thing about barn raising.”

“Well, I thought you could help with
the food. I have a friend in town who owns one of the diners. She’s in really
bad need of a good cook, as hers left to work for the other place. Her business
has been really suffering since Rosalie walked out. I thought it would be a
great job for you if you’re interested in working for her?” Kerry raised her
dark brow in enquiry.

“Well, yes I would be interested, but
would your friend want to hire someone who doesn’t have a formal
qualification?”

“Trust me, all Martha will want to
know is if you can cook. You’ll blow her away!” Kerry laughed, picturing the
look on Martha’s face when she tasted Laura’s cooking. “The great thing is that
not only will you get to work with food, but you’ll have to work the food
budget out with Jake. He has to approve it. We usually split the service
between both diners to be fair. He has to make sure the budget is roughly the
same for both places or all hell breaks loose!”

“You are very sneaky, Kerry!” Laura
stated, but she couldn’t help laughing at her friend’s enthusiasm.

“You only just figured this out?”
Kerry laughed too. “Maybe I should go into running a dating agency too. I
reckon I’d be really good at it!”

“I’m not sure the world is ready for
your style of dating agency!” Laura quipped.

“Probably not. Actually, while we’re
on the subject of the barn raising, we’ll need to find you a costume. We won’t
have time to make one from scratch, but we might have an old dress in the attic
that we could get altered to fit you.”

“Oh, please don’t go to any trouble.”
Laura protested.

“It’s no trouble. You have to have a
dress.” Kerry grabbed Laura by the arm and hauled her up the stairs. “Come on,
this will be fun!”

They reached the attic in record
time. It was full of clutter and dust, making Laura sneeze. The place was
filled with a families memories from lifetimes. Kerry squeezed through the
piles of boxes and knick knacks, working her way towards the back of the attic.

“If my memory serves me right there
should be a few trunks of old clothing back here. Believe it or not, my great,
great grandmother was a terrible hoarder. We have boxes filled with old
clothes, pictures, diaries and all sorts. It paints a wonderful picture of
family history, so I am really grateful she didn’t like to throw things out.”

Laura followed Kerry to the old boxes
and trunks. Kerry was riffling through a really big trunk, pulling out old
clothing with care. “Oh, wow. Look at this!” she exclaimed in delight. In her
hands was a beautiful dress in a deep emerald green. It had a slight tear in
the shoulder and hemline, but that couldn’t detract from its beauty. Laura
sucked in her breath as Kerry held the dress against her front.

“You would look so beautiful in
this!” Kerry exclaimed. “I can’t believe we had such a treasure up here and I
never saw it before. I could have sworn I’d been through these trunks thoroughly.
Fancy not seeing it! Try it on Laura. We need to see if it fits or will need
altering.”

“What if someone comes up here?”
Laura protested darting a glance around her.

“Nobody will disturb us, don’t worry.
Besides we’ll hear them long before they’d see us.”

“But…..”

“No buts! Come on Laura, this will be
fun!”

Laura tried protesting again, but
Kerry would have none of it. She ordered Laura out of her clothes while she
found suitable underwear. Laura flushed bright red as she stepped out of her
clothing and stood in the dusty attic in only her underwear. She prayed nobody
would come up. The very thought of being caught out like this by Jake made her
burn in mortification, even though a small naughty part of her fluttered with
excited delight. Laura squished it firmly down. There would be nothing but
humiliation in that scenario, she was sure!

“I’m not wearing that!” Laura shook
her head at the corset Kerry pulled out in triumph.

“I know they aren’t exactly
comfortable, but they do wonders for a woman’s figure. It’s only for one night
and it will make such a difference to the dress, trust me!” Kerry came towards
her, determined to have her way with this. Before Laura quite knew what was
happening, Kerry had stuffed her into the old fashioned underwear she’d found,
complete with corset firmly laced up. Laura took a breath, hoping not to faint
from lack of oxygen.

Kerry then helped Laura into the
dress. She did up the fastenings and stood back to admire her handiwork.
Clutching her hands to her chest, Kerry gasped in delight.

“Oh Laura. You look so beautiful!”
Kerry dabbed at her moist eyes. “It looks like it was made for you. The fit is
so good, even the length. Come look at yourself. There’s a mirror right over
here.”

She drew Laura forward and stood her
in front of an old mirror to see her reflection. Laura’s breath caught in her
throat. The dress, even dirty and torn, looked incredible. It gave her such a
tiny waist. Perhaps the corset really was a good idea after all. The emerald
green of the dress really brought out the colour in her eyes. The material
hugged her body in all the right places. Laura had never felt so beautiful and
feminine in her life. Her heart dropped; there was no way she could wear a
valuable, beautiful dress like this. Even though she’d desperately love to see
Jakes face when he saw her in it. She would just have to find something else.

“I can’t wear this!” Laura told Kerry
regretfully. “It’s an antique that belongs to you and your family. It’s not
right that I borrow it. I would be scared to death of damaging it.”

“But I want you to,” Kerry told her
firmly. “This dress is perfect for you. Look how it matches your eyes. You look
drop dead gorgeous in it. Jake will never be able to take his eyes off you. We
just need to get it cleaned and mended in town. We could go shortly and drop it
off at the cleaners. I also want to take you to meet Martha.”

Laura tried to argue, but Kerry
wouldn’t hear of it. She helped Laura out of the dress and then carefully
packed it in a box with tissue paper to take with them, while Laura got her
normal clothes back on. Then she bundled Laura out of the house and into her
car. Laura gave up, her heart filled with warmth at the generosity of her new
found friend. More than anything she wanted to make a life here in Willow
Creek. A small silent voice also admitted she wanted that life to include Jake.

*****

The drive to Willow Creek didn’t take
very long. The town was every bit as charming and pretty as Laura could have
ever wished for. People were friendly and everyone seemed to know everyone
else. There was only one real street with larger shops and two diners, but
plenty of small side streets carried their own unique and interesting smaller
shops and businesses. Laura enjoyed exploring as Kerry took her to the
cleaners, who also did repairs. She gave the dress over, with the request that
it be ready by the barn raising event being held the following weekend. The
woman promised she’d have it ready on time.

Happy to have that sorted out, Kerry
headed to a diner called Martha’s. It was cheery and quaint, with flower boxes
outside the large windows. Walking in, Laura was very surprised to find it
virtually empty. Only two people frequented the place, one sitting at a table,
the other on a stool at the counter. She knew Kerry had said her friend was
having problems, but she’d expected more people. Being lunchtime, the place
should have been packed.