Jayden shook her head. “The answer is still no.”

“You’re being mean and selfish, just like you always have been,” Skyler accused.

“Maybe so, but I’m not giving you my savings.” Jayden had trouble even saying the words.

“Then I guess this is goodbye.” Skyler stood. “I never want to see you again. I will have my dream wedding if I have to borrow the money, and you aren’t invited.”

“I wish you all the best,” Jayden said, “but step back and listen to yourself. You sound like a teenager, not a thirty-four-year-old woman.”

Skyler crammed the tissues back in her purse. “I hope you are happy that you’ve reduced me to taking out a loan. What’s family for anyway, if you can’t support me? I’m leaving.”

Elijah had left the barn when he saw Skyler coming across the yard. He waved and pointed toward the dining hall, but she kept coming toward him. They met about halfway and she held out her hand.

“I’m engaged.” She held up her hand for him to see the ring.

“Congratulations,” he said. “Did you get my message about working the rest of the summer?”

“No, but Jayden told me. I can’t take another job. David and I have so much to do the rest of the summer. We’ll have to really rush to get the wedding ready and then we’re going to Mexico to begin our exclusive new school at the first of September. It’s all so rushed that I simply wouldn’t have time to help you out,” she answered. “Do you know where I can find Novalene and Diana?”

“They’re around here somewhere, probably overseeing a job. You remember how busy we are from daylight to dark most days.” He wondered why he’d never noticed how self-absorbed the woman was.

“I do remember, and FYI, darlin’, Jayden just broke my heart, so I don’t care if I ever see her again.” Skyler’s tone was full of hate, but then she smiled, and everything changed again. “There’s Novalene coming out of the barn. Bye, now,” she yelled across the distance and left him standing there without any more explanation.

Holy hell! What had happened that Skyler would say such a thing? His thoughts were spinning like they were on a merry-go-round. He had just realized how much he was counting on the idea of Skyler helping, but after that comment she had made, he was worried about Jayden. He lengthened his stride and hurried to the dining hall. He scanned the whole place, but there was no Jayden. He had turned around to go to the Daydream Cabin when he heard a whimper.

“Jayden?” he called out.

“Right here.” Her voice was barely above a whisper.

He rushed into the kitchen to find her sitting against the back side of the buffet bar, weeping into her hands. He sat down beside her and wrapped his arms around her. “Are you all right? Are you hurt? What’s happened?”

“I told Skyler no and now she’ll have to take out a loan for her wedding, and I feel so guilty, I probably should just write her a check,” she said between sobs.

Elijah could barely make out the words. Something about taking out a loan.

“You did what?” He massaged her back and drew her even closer.

“I said no,” she told him.

That was what Skyler was talking about when she said Jayden had broken her heart. Why would the woman need money? That rock on her hand had to cost thousands, so evidently she was marrying into wealth. He could have wrung her skinny neck for making Jayden feel guilty.

“I’m here,” he whispered. “Talk to me.”

Between sobs she blurted out what Skyler had told her. “She’s used all the money she got from the sale of Mama’s house and now she wants my savings so she can have a beautiful wedding. She said that I’d never get married anyway, and she meant that I was too big and ugly for anyone to ever fall in love with . . . I’m sorry that I’m acting like a big baby.”

He kissed her on top of her head. “Shhhh, don’t cry. You’re just sad that she’s been hateful, but you did the right thing.”

She leaned back and wiped her eyes on the tail of her apron. “I need to suck it up and get back to work.”

“Work can wait. You need a few more minutes, and I need to hold you for a little while longer. I’m so sorry things worked out like this,” Elijah said.

“Why do you need to hold me?” she asked.

“Because you are my friend, and that’s all I know to do for you right now, other than listen. It’s not much to offer . . .”

She reached up and laid a finger across his lips and then snuggled down even closer to him. “Thank you. That means the world to me.”

Elijah had liked the tough Jayden a lot, but he could so easily fall in love with the vulnerable Jayden. His pulse raced at the thought of the L-word. Maybe he was confusing that word with feeling bad for her. After all, her only living relative had just treated her like dirt.

It’s about damn time you woke up and saw what’s right in front of your face. Don’t make excuses. You have had feelings for her ever since she got here. The voice in his head sounded an awful lot like Mary.

Jayden didn’t hear the dining hall door open and wasn’t even aware that Novalene was standing in front of them until the woman spoke.

“Is she hurt?” Novalene whispered.

“Yes, but not physically,” Elijah answered. “Is Skyler still here?”

“Nope, we just waved goodbye to her and that little red-haired feller. He’s not more than an inch or two taller than she is. But what happened in here?” Novalene asked.

Jayden remembered her dream about her sister carrying flowers picked from their mother’s flower beds when she got married at the courthouse. She had been with a red-haired guy in that dream. Skyler might be an annoying, narcissistic woman, but she deserved a better wedding than that. Maybe she should call her and offer to give her half her savings.

Don’t you dare, Gramps’s voice was scolding her. She’s made her bed. Let her lay in it.

Jayden didn’t want to move away from Elijah. She was safe in his arms. As long as she didn’t move, nothing could hurt her ever again, but Novalene deserved an answer.

“That’s Jayden’s story to tell,” Elijah said.

Jayden took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Let’s all have a glass of sweet tea, and then I really have to get back to work.”

“Hey, Jayden, what did you think of Skyler’s ring?” Diana called out as she headed across the room to the coffeepot. “Did she ask you to be maid of honor?”

“Of course she did,” Novalene said. “How can you drink that hot stuff when it’s a hundred degrees outside? I need iced tea to cool me down.”

Jayden untangled herself from Elijah. He stood up and offered her a helping hand. She took it, and, strangely enough, just his touch gave her strength.

“I’m leaving now so you can visit with these ladies. If you need me or just want someone to be close by, call me.” He squeezed her hand gently and then let go.

“Thank you.” She managed a weak smile and then turned around to look at Diana and Novalene. “I’m not invited to the wedding because I won’t give her my savings for her wedding.”