Page 23 of Her Bachelor Cowboy Billionaire

“I should say not.” Jessica put her hands on her hips. “What would I put on my potatoes?” Then she chuckled. “I’ll get the food on the table. I believe the salad, peas and potatoes are done. The crescent rolls are ready to come out of the oven. Perhaps Uncle Philip would carve the roast for us?”

“Of course, I’d be happy to.”

“The roast has been resting. It’s under that aluminum foil on the counter.” Her mother pointed to the tented meat.

Jessica placed the dishes of food on the table, except for the pork.

In a few minutes, Sally and Philip emerged from the kitchen and Jessica would have sworn her mother looked like she’d been thoroughly kissed. Her hair was a little mussed, and she blushed like a schoolgirl.

Philip was no better. He set the roast on the table and then ran a hand through his hair.

It didn’t help, and Jessica had to work hard not to laugh. But soon all the food was served, and any thought of laughing or talking fled her mind and was filled instead with dinner. It was wonderful. Her mother was still the best cook. She wished she’d inherited some of that knowledge. Alas, she wasn’t a cook. She was a baker, though, and should have brought her chocolate layer cake, but she didn’t have a chance to bake it yesterday.

After dinner, the three of them retired to the living room.

“Mom, I need to go, but I wanted you to see the dress Roark gave me. It’s the most beautiful thing I own.” She went to the coat closet and retrieved the gown. Still struck by its beauty, she held it up for her mother to see in its full glory. “Well, what do you think? It fits like a glove…like it was made just for me.”

Phillip and Sally sat on the sofa. “Who is Roark?”

“Roark Sullivan of Sullivan International Holdings, Inc.,” Jessica explained.

“Well, well. That is some interesting news.” Philip turned to Sally. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Sally shrugged. “I didn’t really know anything, and now you know as much as I do.” She reached out and felt the dress. “It’s beautiful. Are those real gems?”

“I don’t know.” Jessica examined the stones again. “They look like it, don’t they? But surely, even Roark wouldn’t have real gemstones on a dress…would he?”

Sally smiled as she touched the dress. “Where did the dress come from?”

“Veronica Sattler’s House of Design.”

Sally’s eyes widened, and she yanked her hand away. “Really? Well, considering some of her other creations, they could very well be real. You know, Veronica’s built a lot like we are, and they always make very long the dresses so they can sew the hem for the individual client. She might have made this for herself and she could very well have put real gemstones on it.”

Jessica looked at the dress again, but with new appreciation. “Oh, my God. I should put this in my safe deposit box.” She looked over at her mother. “I need a bigger box.”

Sally and Philip laughed.

Philip pointed at the dress. “Just keep it in your closet and don’t cover it with plastic. I read it does something bad to the material during long-term storage. You’re better off using a pillowcase with the bottom seam opened just enough for the hanger to slip through. Or you could just keep it in the box it came in.”

“I don’t want the folds to make permanent wrinkles in the material, so no to keeping it in the box.” Jessica cocked a brow. “How do you know this stuff?”

Philip grinned and cocked a brow, mimicking her. “I read all kinds of things, and that was one bit of housekeeping hints I read.”

“Well, it makes sense to me and I will definitely do the pillow case tonight.”

Jessica was happy to see her mother so content with Philip. They were clearly in love. Would she and Roark look like that someday? Did they already look like that? No, it was too soon to even think about love, but that was the first thing that popped into her mind when she thought about him.

She gave her mother a kiss and a hug. “I need to go, Mom. I’ll see you in a couple of weeks.”

“Have fun on your vacation.”

“I will.” Jessica looked into the living room. “Goodbye, Uncle Philip. It was good to see you.”

Philip stood and walked over to her. “Have a good time. I enjoyed seeing you. Perhaps we’ll see more of each other now.”

“Oh, I’m sure we will.” She gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Be good to Mom or I’ll have to kill you.” She laughed.

He grinned. “If I treat her less than well, you have my permission to do just that. Now go. Have fun.”

As she was leaving, she glanced back and saw her mother and Philip standing next to each other. He had his arm around Sally’s shoulders. She wondered when the wedding bells would be tolling. Her mother should be happy. She still had a long life ahead of her, and she should have companionship and, hopefully, even love.

Heading home, she thought about her own relationship with Roark. Two days! It had only been two days, and she felt like she’d known him forever.

What would their trip to Montana bring?