A Prince for Jenny (9 page)

"Sort of an old-fashioned duenna."

"Again, aptly put." Dr. Dodge laughed. "You have to understand Jake's background to know why he was so protective with Jenny, particularly why he never let her drive a car. You see, his first wife and daughter were killed in a car wreck. He blamed himself because he was driving."

"You've been more than helpful, Dr. Dodge; you've made me a very happy man."

"If you're made of the kind of stuff I think you are, you'll make Jenny a very happy young woman. But I'm warning you, don't expect life with a special woman to be easy."

"Nothing worth having is ever easy."

 o0o

Daniel went straight to a telephone booth on the corner. He'd wasted too much time already. He was so excited that he dropped the telephone book twice before he found Jenny's number. Then he put his money in and dialed.

The phone rang ... and rang... and rang ...

"Blast it all," Gwendolyn muttered. The phone was ringing again. Probably somebody wanting a portrait done. If she answered it, they would never get to Jake and Sarah's house.

"Jenny ... honey.. ." She stuck her head into Jenny's room. Jenny was staring out the window, and her suitcase was on the bed only half packed. "I can help you pack if you'd like."

"No, thank you."

Downstairs the phone was still ringing. Well, let it ring.

It stopped as Gwendolyn lumbered down the stairs, then it started up again. Whoever it was didn't give up easily.

She started to pass it by and go on with her tea making. A cup of tea. That's what she needed. Some crazy impulse made her pick it up.

"Hello?"

"Gwendolyn, this is Daniel Sullivan."

This was bad news. Gwendolyn sank into the Queen Anne chair beside the telephone table.

"Thank God you haven't left," he said.

Or maybe it was good news. Gwendolyn put her hand over her heart. She was going to tell Jake she couldn't do this job anymore; then she was going to go down to Florida and find that little retirement cottage she'd been dreaming about.

"Is Jenny there?"

"What do you want with her?"

"If she's there, I want to come over and see her."

"We're on our way out of the house. I'll give her a message."

"What I have to say is too important to say over the phone."

Gwendolyn didn't know what to do. If she told him no, she might be destroying Jenny's only chance for the kind of future other young women took for granted. If she told him yes and things didn't work out right, Jenny would be completely destroyed. It was a no-win situation.

"Don't let her leave," Daniel said. The decision was out of her hands. "Are you there, Gwendolyn?"

"I'm here."

"I'll be there in fifteen minutes. Please keep her there that long."

"I want to believe this can work."

"I'll make it work."

"Jake should know."

"I'll make it right with Jake later, Gwendolyn. Right now the most important person is Jenny. Please, give her this chance. Give me this chance."

Upstairs, Jenny would still be staring out the window, waiting and hoping and dreaming.

"Daniel, how can I say no?"

"Anything you want is yours, Gwendolyn. Name it."

"There is one thing." Gwendolyn had a vision of Jenny as a small child climbing into her lap with a book so dog-eared and jelly-smeared, the words were barely discernible. But it wasn't the words that thrilled Jenny; it was the pictures. She'd punch her favorite picture with an emphatic little gesture, then point to her chest. "P'ince. My p'ince."

Gwendolyn told him what she wanted. After she'd hung up, she prayed that Daniel Sullivan would be Jenny's prince.

 o0o

She put her sketch pad in the suitcase, and her pencils. The packing was almost done.

Jenny drifted to the window once more. Hopeless. Gwendolyn had warned her to know the difference between a dream and reality. Everybody had warned her.

The curtain slid back into place, and she started to turn from the window. That's when she saw the horse, a white horse of all things, coming down the street. Enchanted, Jenny opened the sash and leaned her elbows on the windowsill. The rider was dressed in some kind of costume, shiny black boots and red-lined cape. It must be some kind of parade.

But where were the bands?

The horse was coming at a gallop, his hooves clattering on the pavement. His rider cut a dashing figure as he lifted himself high in the saddle and waved his hat. It was a plumed hat, and the feather was bright red.

"Jenny!" The horseman knew her name. "Jenny!" he called again, waving his hat.

Jenny's hand flew to her heart. It couldn't be. Horse and rider came closer, close enough to see. It was Daniel with his dark hair and fierce eyes and beautiful lips. Daniel, her hero. Daniel, her prince.

"I'm here," she called, leaning out the window and waving.

He brought his mount to a halt underneath her window. His hat was in one hand, and in the other a bouquet, Queen Anne's lace and black-eyed Susans and honeysuckle, all the wildflowers they'd seen the day she'd driven his car and chased sunbeams and received her first kiss.

"I know you are, sweet Jenny. That's why I came." He held up the flowers. "Bearing gifts."

"I'm coming down." Jenny raced down the stairs, stumbling and crying and humming all at the same time. "Gwendolyn!" she called. "Gwendolyn! He's here! He came for me!"

Gwendolyn peeped out the window and saw Daniel on the white horse. "Saints be praised," she said.

The front door banged behind Jenny, and suddenly she was standing on the edge of the porch with her arms outstretched.

Daniel leaned out of the saddle and scooped her up. With his arms holding her tight, he kissed her, kissed her without her having to ask, kissed her in the front yard for all the neighbors to see.

At that moment Jenny believed in miracles.

"I love you, Jenny." He cupped her face. "Do you hear me, Jenny? I love you with my heart and soul. I love you the way a man loves a woman, and if you'll let me, I'd like to show my love."

Jenny trembled inside, but she kept her eyes open, watching Daniel. She was no longer afraid to look a miracle in the face.

"I want to eat in fine restaurants with you and dance in public places with you. I want us to go to movies and the theater and skating rinks and bowling alleys and parks together. I want to court you, if you'll say yes.... Say yes, Jenny."

"Yes. Oh, Daniel... yes, yes, yes!"

Let other women run without falling. Let them be the belle of the ball with their wit and their charm and their sophisticated ways. Jenny had Daniel, and she now knew what it meant to be special.

Chapter Eight

Daniel rediscovered simple pleasures—strolling down the street with Jenny, holding hands and eating ice cream from a cone; whispering at the back of the theater when the movie was so bad, it was funny; sitting on a front porch swing with Megan and Patrick piled on top of them, singing crazy songs and laughing.

He rediscovered magic.

And Jenny discovered a craving for independence.

"I have a plan, Gwendolyn."

They were in the kitchen having an early morning cup of coffee. One look at the stubborn set of Jenny's jaw told Gwendolyn all she needed to know: Jenny's plan was likely to get them all in trouble.

"Do I want to hear this?"

"Of course you do. You're part of it."

"That's what I was afraid of." Gwendolyn took a fortifying drink of coffee. She figured she'd need it. "So... are you going to tell me or what?"

"You're my friend, Gwendolyn. My best friend in the whole world."

Gwendolyn knew she was a goner. When Jenny got that twinkle in her eye and that sweet cajoling smile on her face, nobody could deny her anything.

"Bribery won't work on me, you know."

"I know. Daniel does too."

Gwendolyn snorted. Daniel Sullivan knew no such thing. Nearly every time he came through the front door, he was carrying an armload of gifts. All that candy was making her fat as a pig, and she was going to tell him so one of these days. Maybe. If she ever figured out a way to do it without hurting his feelings.

She did love that French perfume he'd brought. And the gold bracelet. And the soaking tub for her feet. Especially the soaking tub.

"I'm not saying I like any of it," she said.

Jenny laughed. Then she went to the window and looked at Gwendolyn's car sitting in the driveway, all its dented fenders and sagging parts repaired.

Someday she was going to get herself a car. But first things first. She turned back to face Gwendolyn.

"I'm going to get a driver's license, and you're going to help me."

"The saints preserve us."

 o0o

Gwendolyn wore her Panama hat to interview the young man who agreed to teach Jenny the fine points of driving.

"Can you keep a secret?"

"Yes, ma'am. I can do anything you ask. I need the money." The oldest of nine children, Jay Potter was trying to work his way through college and out of poverty.

"This is going to be a surprise for a few people we know." Daniel for one, Jake for another. He was going to be blustery as a March wind, but he'd get over it. "And if it doesn't work out, I'm not about to have people saying that Jenny failed. She's as smart as can be in spite of everything, and I don't want you to ever make her feel any different." Gwendolyn gave him a fierce stare. "Do you understand?"

"Oh, yes, ma'am."

"Good. Then when do we start?"

"How about tomorrow?"

 o0o

They took to the back country roads for fear of discovery. Farmers on tractors plowing their red clay fields became accustomed to the sight of the lanky rawboned youth, the motherly matron in her Panama hat, and the lovely young woman with the lopsided bow in her hair.

After three weeks of intensive training, Jay and Gwendolyn declared Jenny ready for her driver's test.

 o0o

Jenny was scared, but she wasn't about to let it show. Young men and women, mostly high school age, bent over their driver's tests, yellow pencils clutched in their hands. Such confidence they had. And such careless disregard for their ability to scan the questions and quickly mark the answers.

She felt a stab of envy, but it passed as quickly as it came. How could she, who had so much to be thankful for, feel envy for people she didn't even know?

"Are you ready, Miss Love-Townsend?"

The kind-faced man who spoke would take her to a private room and administer her test verbally.

"I'm ready."

Suddenly she was no longer scared; she was proud. She'd done it. She'd done what most people thought she couldn't do.

 o0o

On a balmy night in late June, Daniel returned from work and saw Gwendolyn's car in his yard.
Jenny! Something had happened to Jenny.

His heart racing, he ran into his house, expecting the worst. What he saw was Jenny and his children covered with flour and chocolate and smiles. Megan and Patrick stood on chairs on either side of her, and between them was a large mixing bowl. They were up to their elbows in flour.

"Surprise!" Jenny's face was wreathed in smiles. "I drove, Daniel, with a license I earned all by myself." Her grin turned impish. "On the sly."

"I'm in love with a devious woman." Heedless of the flour on her apron and the chocolate on her cheek, he hugged her close. "I'm proud of you, Jenny."

"Am I debious, too, Daddy?" Patrick tugged on his sleeve.

Daniel scooped him into his arms. "You certainly are ... in here making surprises for Daddy." Jenny took a batch of cookies from the oven. "Umm, they smell delicious."

"Daddy." Patrick cupped Daniel's face with his flour-smeared hands. "I like Jenny."

"So do I, Patrick."

"Can she be my mommy?"

All the heartbreak of a small motherless boy was in his voice. Megan came to Daniel and wrapped her arms around his hips.

"Can she, Daddy?" Megan asked.

He'd thought of nothing else for the last month. Leaving Jenny each night on her own doorstep was agony. Going to separate beds was torture. He'd kept telling himself it was time ... time to talk to the children, time to talk to Jenny.

Courtship was one thing, but marriage was altogether different. Courting Jenny, he could give her all the things she'd missed, a ride in the moonlight in an open car, lazy picnics by the river, and sweet embraces under the shade of the trees, flowers and music boxes and bonbons. He could show his love in a hundred different ways. And he had.

But it wasn't enough. He'd known from the beginning that it would never be enough.

He'd handled courtship with a special woman. But was he wise enough to handle a marriage?

The silence in the kitchen was complete. Jenny watched him with wide blue eyes and deliciously rounded mouth. Color bloomed in her cheeks and one hand was pressed over her heart.

His eyes never left hers as he held on to his children. So much was riding on his answer; so many lives depended on him.

"Jenny, it seems my children have preempted me. I wanted to propose with candlelight and music and roses. I wanted to take you someplace special and give you a very special ring." Such love shone on her face that he wanted to take her into his arm. But not yet. Jenny had to have her chance to choose.

"All of us love you very much, Jenny, and we would like for you to be an official part of our family. But we know that marriage is a grave responsibility, and if you'd rather just be our friend, we'll understand. In either case we want you in our lives."

"Daniel, I don't need roses and candlelight and music. I don't need special places and a special ring." Because of her great emotional turmoil, her speech was more halting than usual. "I will be honored to be a part of this family."

Slowly she came to them, came with all the grace and dignity that was Jenny. And because she saw with her heart, saw their greater fear and their greater need, she hugged the children first. She took Patrick from Daniel's arms then knelt so Megan could cuddle close.

"You're my dream come true, the children of my heart." She gently pressed her palm over their small chests then pressed it over her own. "I will take care of you and love you always and forever."