Call It Destiny

at all certain she could win in a deadly serious contest of wills with this man. Not when her own willpower was going to be undermined by the fact that she loved him with all her heart.
    „Don’t worry, Ruth,“ Jake said politely. „Heather will be at the wedding.“
    Paul and Ruth Strand looked from Heather to Jake and back again, silently weighing their knowledge of their daughter’s stubborn pride against their knowledge of Jake’s uncompromising determination.
    Heather didn’t care for the way either of her parents’ mouths relaxed into a satisfied smile.

    Heather had dinner with Jake and her parents that night. She helped her mother prepare the tacos and enchiladas, working in a companionable manner that was very soothing to Heather’s heightened state of tension. The readiness with which her parents seemed willing to forgive the scene with the motorcycle astonished her, but as Ruth kept saying, she fully sympathized with her daughter.
    „Your note in the suitcase meant a lot, mom. I felt so terrible about that scene once I’d had a chance to cool down and think it all over.“
    „I was astounded that those two would mislead you that way. I knew Paul intended to sell the Hacienda eventually but I thought he and Jake would strike a deal after the two of you were married.“ Ruth shook her head as she arranged the enchilada filling inside the tortillas. „Men. They always think they know what’s best. Paul told me that he thought everything was all right because Jake had assured him he would be marrying you.“ She cast a sidelong glance at her daughter who was grating cheese. „Are you going to marry him in two weeks?“
    „One way or another I’ll be with Jake here on the Hacienda. He needs me.“
    „And you love him?“
    „I love him. But I don’t know if we’ll be married in two weeks.“
    „Are you trying to punish him for what he did to you?“ Ruth asked gently.
    Heather firmly denied that with a shake of her head. „No. I’m trying to make him understand exactly how he feels about me. Jake doesn’t know much about love. He doesn’t trust it. He prefers to put his faith in other things like common interests and… and physical attraction.“
    „There is that last item between you two, isn’t there?“ Ruth chuckled. „You can tell a mile away. The two of you are so… so aware of each other. I know the feeling because your father and I have always had it.“
    Heather blinked, eyeing her mother in astonishment. „You don’t seem particularly worried about the fact that that may be Jake’s only interest in me.“
    „You’re not eighteen anymore,“ Ruth replied shrugging. „I’ve seen my very successful, very intelligent daughter in action. She’s an adult and she’s learned to take care of herself. You and I have stepped out of the mother-daughter relationship. We’re friends now, Heather. Good friends, I hope.“
    „The best,“ Heather agreed huskily, throwing her arms around her parent. „The best of friends.“
    The two women hugged each other in a silence that put the seal on the very special relationship that can only exist between mother and daughter.
    After dinner Jake took Heather’s arm in an almost painfully firm grasp as they started back through the hotel gardens.
    „Well, you’ve certainly managed to earn everyone’s forgiveness for standing me up at the wedding,“ he observed as he led her through the quiet grounds. „How do you do it, Heather? Magic?“
    „Nope, not this time. You did it and you know it. You had everyone so grateful that I was alive that they forgot to be angry at me for having caused that scene. I owe you one, Jake.“
    He smiled. „Good. Maybe if I get you deep enough in debt you won’t cause me any trouble in a couple of weeks when it’s time to drag you to the altar.“
    Heather paused, obliging him to stop beside her. Her mouth curved upward as she lifted her face in the moonlight. The desert skies were clear again and the sparkling night was warm and inviting.
    „I love you, Jake.“
    He groaned and pulled her close, crushing her mouth hungrily beneath his own. „Then don’t fight me,“ he urged against her lips. „Don’t fight me.“
    „I won’t fight you tonight. Shall I come back to your cottage with you?“ She traced a pattern against the nape of his neck, her fingers moving tantalizingly there. Her body arched closer to his, full of invitation and responsive desire.
    Jake lifted his head, eyes shadowed