Taking an Easter break for some time with the grands! See you next week in the Valley or San Francisco or even France! Jarrod and Jo have more adventures to come!
Thanks, modocal for the information on Isabella's horses! It's a perfect wedding gift from Heath.
Adult subject matter ahead...
Thirty Five The Wedding Four Weeks Later...
Victoria re-tied Heath's tie again. His nerves left the bow much to be desired. Jarrod, Eugene, and Nick were grinning widely as they watched their younger brother fumble with his suit. Victoria flashed them a look across the room. They tried to look innocent but their mother knew them well. "Boy howdy, I am nervous." The brothers had a laugh at his expense. That's what brothers do.
Last night at Harry's had left them all a little hungover but it was worth it. One last hurrah as brothers. Heath was to be the first brother to be given a bachelor's party. Hopefully, they would have their turn soon enough. Nick and Jarrod toasted him again and again. He matched his big brothers shot for shot, drink-for-drink. Eugene even managed to keep up. Jarrod was wise enough to go slow on his drinks as he needed to be in the best of health for the event. They were all glad it was a one o'clock wedding.
Heath had wanted an afternoon wedding to have plenty of time to reach the cabin before nightfall. He and Nick had ridden up there a couple of days ago to make sure everything was ready. A ranch hand had the ice and last-minute meals to load in the wagon. Heath had been waiting for this day since the summer. Nick's good-natured ribbing about gentling came to Heath's mind. Let's hurry this thing up!
Isabella and her sisters with Audra were putting the final touches on her dress and hair. Adrienne had arrived at the ranch two days before Thanksgiving and spent the holiday with the Barkley's. She had the gift of making you feel like a lifelong friend after a short time. Charm was the gift of the youngest Beaufort.
When Jarrod met her at the train station after introducing himself, she kissed him on the cheek, "I approve of my sister's tastes." Jarrod was himself awed and he was even used to Jo's candor. Eugene was already enamored with the youngest Beaufort sister. He only thought he had a crush on Jo last summer." Jarrod chuckled as he watched Eugene being overly concerned with Adrienne's comfort. Well Eugene, the Beaufort sisters seem to have that effect on us Barkleys.
Every member of the household thoroughly enjoyed her vivacious personality. At 19 years old, she was uncommonly confident and talented. The sisters harmonized beautifully and Adrienne was a virtuoso on the piano.
"What else are we going to do on an island?" She answered when Eugene asked where they learned to play and sing. Every night for two weeks, the girls entertained the family with music and animated conversation.
Isabella wore a simple milk white gown with roses embroidered in memory of Marie. Audra had helped her choose the perfect gown. Her attendants wore gowns of Paris green with white embroidered roses. All the necklines were fashionably French low-cut and Isabella wore the strand of pearls that Heath gave her at the rehearsal dinner. Jarrod and Jo had given her pearl drop earrings to match. BlackJack gave her a pearl double rope bracelet. Victoria had chosen pearl pins to go into her auburn hair. The attendants all had intricate braids. They could have fit in a French pastoral landscape with their dresses and white rose bouquets.
It was almost time and Isabella took a deep breath and last glance in the full-length gild mirror. "I wish Mama were here. I miss her so much. I am glad Pappa is here to walk me down the aisle." BlackJack escorting her down the aisle was a point of contention between her and Heath. Heath acquiesced but he still wasn't happy about it. He still could not understand how she could forgive the man that abandoned them. He knew his feelings about Tom Barkley mixed in with it but he couldn't separate them in his mind.
Isabella had been so happy with her wedding gift from Heath last night. Nick and Heath bought a golden mare from a Mexican horse trader. An Isabella. Heath had been training the horse the whole time she was ill. It was the most beautiful horse she had ever seen. Heath had named her Bella Amour.
(According to the history books Queen Isabella (Ysabella) de Bourbon of Spain reportedly kept 100 pale palomino horses in her stable, and reserved the right to own and ride horses of this coloring for Nobility. It is due to her passion for Palominos, that these horses are still to this day called 'Isabella's' in Spain and Latin America. It was this famous queen that financed the earliest exploratory New Word trip to Mexico in the early 1500s. She sent a Palomino stallion and five mares over to the New World (once discovered) to populate the new lands under her reign with her signature horses.) source: Castellare di Tonda Quarter horses
BlackJack knocked on the door and her sisters gave her one last kiss each to take their place downstairs. "You look so much like Marie. I know she's looking down on you today." Isabella and her father began the walk down the Barkley staircase.
Victoria had given Heath a kiss of her own and her own words of love before the ceremony. Jarrod walked her down the center aisle and kissed her cheek. "Love you, lovely lady" he took his place next to Nick and Eugene by Heath. Oh Tom I am so proud of our son.
Audra then Adrienne walked down the aisle. Eugene couldn't keep his eyes off Adri and was thinking about how to share a dance with him.
Heath stared at Audra. She looked so beautiful and he admitted to himself he missed their friendship the past few months Heath nodded and winked at her. She smiled a smile of gratitude back at him. He decided he would talk to her later during the dancing.
Carl Wheeler couldn't take his eyes off Audra. He had been very slow and measured in beginning again with Audra. He had Grace Anne to think about. But oh she was looking mighty fine ...
Jay and Rose walked in together dressed like the adults in the wedding party. They were beaming with excitement and took their places at the front. Jay elbowed Nick and smiled. The guests saw it and laughed. They were kindred spirits.
Jarrod's heart lurched when Jo rounded the corner. Oh, how he loved her. . His eyes met hers and they were the only people in the room to each other. Why couldn't he be getting married today?
Ever since they had decided to quiet their courtship down until they resolved the annulment issue, they tried to keep the physical distance they agreed on. They had even told the family their plan that night in the study. It had not worked well. It actually had heightened their attraction. Jarrod was more frustrated than he had ever been in his life. He had more than once been tempted to call on Ghisilane in San Francisco or stop by Big Annie's. He had even gone so far at the townhouse to ask Charles to send for Ghisilane. Charles looked at him and for once, forgot his place, "Are you sure Mr. Jarrod?" Jarrod was appreciative of Charles's honesty and advice. It took him aback. "You are right my friend" Once in the barn, he and Jo had ended up in a tussle in the hay with McColl interrupting their tryst. Her skirts had been bunched up and her bodice loosened. McColl averted his eyes and backed out of the stables. Jo was embarrassed and avoided Jarrod for a day or so. She still blushed when she saw the foreman. It had even progressed to the point that they were cross with each other over insignificant things. They were doing well parenting the children together and working on business...but their private moments were taxing on them.
BlackJack entered the room with Isabella and everyone rose. Tears filled Heath's eyes. Leah and Hannah would be proud of him. Victoria dabbed her eyes. "Who gives this woman to be married?" BlackJack in an uncharacteristically quiet voice said, "Her mother and I" and he kissed her on the cheek and sat by Victoria.
Heath was staring so intensely at Isabella he had to be prompted to say "I do". Nick laughed aloud. He didn't miss the "You may kiss the bride part". Nick "Ahem..Ahem" and the guests laughed again. Heath just grinned his crooked smile and took his 'Bella's hand for the rest of his life.
Silas and Dutch along with Rosa and Martha out on a spread for the guests: the Merars, Frank Sawyer, Fred Madden, Jacqueline, and the French consulate, all four generations of Wheelers, several of Victoria's oldest friends, Professor Hawthorne, and all the ranch hands. Gifts had come in for weeks including the Morgan family, Senators, Judges, and the Governor.
Silas and Jo spent two days in the kitchen making Isabella's wedding cake and petit fours with tiny rosebuds on them. Jarrod loved watching her baking creations come to fruition... She was as beautiful as ever with flour smudges on her face. He wished for privacy to taste them. In a house full of twelve people, private moments were a rarity.
Heath enjoyed his first dance with his 'Bella. His dance with Victoria was especially poignant as well as BlackJack and His daughter. So many relationships forged in love. Outsiders looking in would not fathom the depths of these combined family's strengths.
Eugene finally got his courage up and asked the beautiful Adrienne to dance. She was delighted. They shared several more before the evening was over. There is something about these Barkley men, she thought.
Adrienne and Jo ended the wedding with a beautiful duet with Jacqueline. A love song of course…. Jarrod and Eugene didn't remember a word of the song but they could tell you exactly how it made them feel.
Jacqueline and Jo's friendship had blossomed since the consulate dinner. She impulsively added them to the guest list in December. Isabella didn't care but it was Heath who wanted a small guest list. The guest list was all Barkleys so Jo thought it ok to have her guest. She had never really had a friend except for her sisters. They had met up for lunch one day in San Francisco at an exclusive restaurant when they were back in town for business. Jo found herself sharing her problems with the annulment and her relationship with Jarrod. She even mentioned how testy they were since they had backed off the private time they had together. "We felt since marriage was not on the horizon soon, we should resist temptation." "Why," asked the more cosmopolitan Jacqueline. In her world, lovers and affairs were common. "I swore I would never bring a child into the world without marriage. It was very hard on us even after my parents were able to marry. Mama didn't want that for us. Papa never cared since he had Mama but she did. Jarrod saw what that did to his Mother and Heath and has forsworn too"
"Jo, please forgive my impudence. There are plenty of things you can do that will not leave you enceinte… very simple to very complex ways… many ways of love and pleasure..." she winked. And she proceeded to tell her.
Jo blushed profusely and held her breath. She had never considered herself naive or an innocent before but she realized she was. She changed the subject eventually but every word was burned into her mind. She literally had no idea. Jacqueline just smiled. Life was to be enjoyed Her friend deserved all the happiness she could find.
Heath tethered Isabella's new mare, Bella, to the wagon with Charger and headed for the cabin. They planned on riding when they were there. He and Nick had everything ready. Nick had said a brotherly, "Don't do anything I wouldn't do" under his breath and he loaded the ice on the wagon with Heath. He grinned back, "why, I will just do it better." They laughed and bear-hugged each other. Nick went to the front of the wagon and kissed Isabella on the cheek. "Have a good time, sis"
Jarrod and Jo helped the rest of the family clean up the festivities. They were sharing stolen looks and touches all evening. It was a perfect day for everyone involved in the wedding.
Jo had kept thinking about one simple thing that Jacqueline imparted to her, kisses and nibbles on the lobe of the ear and at the pulse point. She knew when Jarrod kissed her there how she felt. I wonder if he would too. They were alone in the study finally. She gathered her courage. She brazenly leaned over while he was sitting in his chair by the fireplace and spontaneously started kissing him there. He groaned and pulled her into his lap. She knew instantly how he felt about that.
They pulled apart as they heard someone coming. "Young lady, if you do that again, I may not be responsible for being a gentleman" with his eyes sparkling in love with her.
"Fair warning"
They were going to make it through this season.
Heath and Isabella made it to the cabin. They unpacked the wagon self-consciously and made a fire for the night. They cuddled on the bear rug in front of it and started sharing kisses and words of love. "I think I better go change clothes," she said flirtatiously. "I think I would like to help you" and pulled her down on the rug. He took down her long hairpin by pin by braid. He buried his nose in the lilac scent. "You smell so good" as he trailed his lips down her neck." "We will go as slow as you want Bella. We have the rest of our lives." She took his hand and placed it on her breast. "I trust you, Heath". He earned her trust that evening several times. They went to sleep in front of the fire in each other's arms.
To Be Continued …...