Page 50 of Clara Knows Best

Beck had always been the biggest troublemaker, but there was no malice in his nature; he was adventurous, carefree and unpredictable. Clara had been apt in calling Nash, the youngest, a golden retriever: everyone’s friend, openly affectionate, and excitable.

For some reason, he’d never looked too closely at Clara in the old days, never watched her the way he watched the others to see what made them tick. Maybe he’d written her off as a girly girl or someone he couldn’t relate to, or maybe he’d worried on a subconscious level that showing too much interest in the daughter of the house could jeopardize a very comfortable situation.

But Clara was worth looking at, and she held up well under scrutiny. She could rival Hart for force of personality, Beck for boldness and Nash for empathy. Not only that; Jesse suspected that she was the hub of the Wilder wagon wheel, and the rest of them were just spokes.

He’d laugh about it if it wasn’t so messed up, but the flowers she’d once sent him for his birthday had actually prompted a massive fight that had caused him and Brittany to break up for the final time.

“Jesse, it’s so great that you’re able to stay long enough to go on this trip,” Liesl remarked, interrupting his train of thought.

She could have no idea of the breakthrough they’d had that morning, but she’d have to be blind not to notice that the dynamic had changed since she’d last seen them. For one thing, his foster mother had gripped his hand through the little concert the twins had put on—they’d sung “Happy Birthday” to their aunt and then, for some reason, a Dixie Chicks song as well—and through half the meal that followed. The Doc was almost as bad at expressing vulnerable emotions as he was, but at least she could be demonstrative. He couldn’t even do that.

“Just hope the roads aren’t too bad after the storm that’s coming,” he said.

And that directed the conversation to the weather forecast, which allowed him to withdraw back into his own head.

Clara.

She’d joked about him asking her out, but he didn’t bother imagining a parallel universe wherein that was possible. He lived in the universe where the option simply didn’t exist, no matter how wistfully she looked at his bare chest. He almost smiled at the memory.

Dr. Wilder glanced at him, a quick, searching look, and took his hand again. Was she afraid he was going to bolt? He looked at the Colonel, saw him watching his wife with a satisfied expression. Jesse was pretty sure that if he tried to escape, he’d be found and dragged back before the Doc even had time to notice.

Someone kicked him under the table, and he knew it was Clara and not one of her brothers because it didn’t hurt.

“What?” he said, keeping his tone devoid of any emotion—always a good tactic when dealing with Clara.

“You said you went to the Del Amos’ cabin before, right?”

“Yeah.”

“In the summer?”

“Right.”

“I’ve been, too,” Nash said. “Couple of times.”

“There’s a lake, isn’t there?”

“More of a pond, yes,” Jesse answered.

“Probably not frozen,” Beck interposed. “Dare you to jump into it.”

“I’ll do it,” Nash said at once. “I’ll do it with you, Jesse.”

Jesse suppressed a sigh. Some things were inevitable. “Thanks, bud.”

Clara smiled.

“Did that go how you planned?” he asked her.

“Better,” she admitted.

He didn’t miss the mischievous sparkle in her brown eyes. He’d be lying if he said the parallel universe thing didn’t have some appeal.

16

Snow was lightly falling as five barefoot, shirtless men made their eager way towards the icy pond.

Clara dragged her eyes from Jesse’s shoulders to squint at her mother.

---