Pregnant & Practically Married (The Bridal Circle #3)

by Andrea Edwards

  For some reason, he was feeling more and more responsible for Karin. He’d be glad once he was done steering her through this reception and able to admit the truth.

  “You look downright awful, ma’am,” he told her as they finally broke away from a group of her gradeschool acquaintances that had stuck tighter than burrs to a dog’s tail. “You ought to be home resting.”

  She frowned at him. “Does that smooth talking work on cows?” she asked. “It doesn’t do much for me.”

  “You’re pale,” he pointed out.

  “I’m always pale. I have pale skin.” She smiled and murmured a greeting to a couple passing by. “I feel fine.”

  He should just take her at her word. She was an adult, after all, and only a pretend fiancée. But there was something so vulnerable about her. A timid young girl trying so hard to be brave. Which was about as nuts as it got. She had to be the most pigheaded woman he’d ever met.

  “Want to take a walk?” she asked him suddenly.

  “Over to the car? I’d be delighted, ma’am.”

  Her lips tightened into an impatient line. “I’m fine,” she said. “I just wanted to talk.”

  Jed offered Karin his arm and let her lead him down a deserted-looking garden path. He might have made a joke about being led down the primrose path if he wasn’t sensing how tired she was.

  “How about we take a walk, then get some food and go?” he said. “You’ve had a rough day.”

  She stared at him for a long moment, then laughed quietly. “How about a rough few months?” She leaned slightly into him.

  It was only natural to put his arm around her shoulders. She needed his support, needed his strength. That was all it was—on both their parts.

  They walked in silence amid beds of wildly blooming flowers, meeting fewer and fewer people as they strolled away from the reception garden. Jed was amazed at the different kinds of flowers everywhere and at the number of blooms.

  “How’d she get everything to bloom for the wedding?”

  “Oh, knowing Penny, she simply asked the flowers to wait to bloom until her wedding day.” They arrived at a stone bench under an old oak tree and Karin sat down with a sigh, then looked around at the garden. “It is pretty amazing, isn’t it? It’s almost as if the plants all knew how much she loves Brad and conspired to make this a perfect day.”

  Jed looked at Karin. The garden was sure pretty, but there was something in her voice that drew him. A wistfulness. A sense of something that would never be.

  Whatever mood was on her, she seemed to shake it off and turned to him. Her eyes weren’t windows into any part of her. She was all business.

  “I’ve been thinking about this engagement nonsense,” she said slowly. “It really is a mess, isn’t it?”

  “Maybe I was wrong to wait,” he said. “Maybe it would have been best to tell your mother right away. But she seemed so happy and I thought it would...”

  She took his hand in hers. It surprised him, given her businesslike manner. It also seemed to warm something deep inside him that he wasn’t going to think about.

  “I don’t want my mother hurt,” Karin told him. “And I don’t want her laughed at.”

  “Who’d laugh at her?”

  Karin shrugged and looked down at their hands, still entwined. “My mother owns a bar—a cowboy bar. It’s called The Corral, and romantic that she is, she keeps thinking every jerk who walks through the door is the cowboy who’s going to ride off with her into the sunset. So she keeps falling in love—but with real losers. They make a fool of her and everyone snickers behind her back.”

  Jed shook his head. “Most of the people I met here seem to like her.”

  “My father ran off when I was three,” she said and looked away. “Then, when I was in first grade, Ted Michaels told the whole class my stepfather had gone to a motel with his older sister.”

  He winced at the pain in her voice. “The almostmurder,” he said with a nod of comprehension.

  Karin went on. “When I was in fourth grade, my mother had to bail a different stepfather out of jail for writing bad checks, which she tried to make good on since they were mostly to people in town. Then he skipped bail and we lost our house.”

  “But she had nothing to be ashamed of,” Jed pointed out.

  “When I was in eighth grade, I had yet another stepfather. This one couldn’t hold down a job to save his life, yet he sure had expensive tastes. Fancy cars, nice clothes. She ran herself into the ground trying to please him and he still left—with the car and clothes she bought him. She was still paying them off years later.”

  “So she’s not the best judge of men—”

  “All of her humiliations have been public ones,” Karin said. “I can’t let her face another one.”

  “I can see that.” He suspected that Karin had tried to protect her mother’s honor each and every time another husband vanished, too. “There’s no big rush. Once I take you to her place tonight, we can—”

  Karin dropped his hand and began to wipe at a nonexistent spot on her skirt. “I’m not sure that would be a good time either.”

  “Not tonight?” Maybe he was misunderstanding. “When do you think I should tell her?”

  She glanced up at him, a hasty, lightning-quick glance that left him with the impression of pain and fear and worry and bravery. “Maybe when we’re both gone.”

  Damn. That mule had kicked him in the head again. “I’m sorry, ma’am,” he said carefully. “I’m not following you.”

  She turned to face him then, her jaw set with something he was coming to recognize as stubbornness. “It’s simple,” she said. Her words tumbled out in a rush. “We’re both leaving as soon as the Oz festival ends. Why not pretend we’re engaged for the next week? Once we’re gone, I’ll say we broke the engagement.”

  “But wouldn’t that just be making matters worse?”

  “People break engagements all the time. And this way, she could tell people in her own time.”

  Jed just looked at her, into her blue eyes that he realized suddenly weren’t the color of an icy lake, but of the early-morning sky when the world was soft and vulnerable. He sighed, something twisting around inside him.

  “This is insane, ma’am,” Jed told her. “What about the father of your baby? What if he should come around?”

  Clouds came into that new morning sky and blotted away the hope. “His lawyer assured me he won’t.”

  Jed felt the bite of anger. “Calling him a swine or a snake doesn’t seem fair to the animal,” he said.

  She laughed. It was the first real laugh he’d heard from her, and it startled him. Brought a real smile to his lips, too, and suddenly he found himself staring at her mouth and wondering what it would be like to kiss her. Staring at her hair and wondering what it would feel like to run his fingers through. Staring at her—

  He jerked back on his reins and held himself steady. It was just a momentary slip, nothing he had to worry about. “Still, living a lie doesn’t seem right. I think I should tell your mother the truth this evening and have it over and done with.”

  She said nothing for a long moment. “What if I could promise you Glinda? That’s why Lissa wanted to come, right? She wants to talk to Glinda. Well, if you help me, I’ll help you make Lissa’s wish come true.”

  For a moment, he was ready to agree, but then sanity reclaimed him. “There’s no real Glinda,” he said.

  “You’ve never been to the festival before, have you?” she said. “For three days, Oz comes to life. So yes, there will be a Glinda. I know because this year it’s me.”

  “You?” Jed sank back with a sigh.

  “I’m one of the grand marshals of the festival,” she explained. “Each year the grand marshals are given a character from the story to portray. I was given Glinda. So throughout the festival, I am Glinda, puffy dress, wand and all.”

  “Oh.” So she really would be able to grant Lissa’s wishes and maybe answer the mysterious question.<
br />
  If he agreed to this pretend engagement.

  One week and one little white lie really wasn’t asking much, he told himself, not in return for Lissa’s healing. It wasn’t such a hard way to help Karin either. And the mix-up was his fault. As a gentleman he should be willing to agree to her crazy plan, regardless of what he’d get out of it. So why was he hesitating?

  He had no idea. It had something to do with the blue of her eyes and the occasional quiver in her voice. With the tingle his lips still felt from that kiss he’d given her hours ago. It had everything to do with staying safe.

  But he’d only be in danger if he let himself. All he had to do was keep his reactions under control. He just had to be careful. But hell, it would be no different than riding a bull keep your wits about you and hold on tight.

  He looked over at her. “If you’ll have me as your intended for the next week, I’d be honored, ma’am.”

  She got to her feet, relief making her look weary again. “I think maybe you shouldn’t keep calling me ma’am then,” she noted.

  “Only if I can take you home now.”

  She nodded and let him take her hand. They walked in silence back to the reception, though a million questions were running through his head. They ought to be planning things out and comparing stories, but she seemed too tired for that now. And he wasn’t going to push her.

  Once back in the reception crowd, they saw her mother and Lissa at a table by the garden’s edge. Marge frowned as Karin and Jed approached and he knew that she saw how tired Karin looked. She said something to Lissa and they both came over.

  “Karin’s had a long day, ma’am,” he told her. “I’ll just take her on to your place then Lissa and I’ll head on out.”

  “Out where?” Marge asked.

  “Uh...” Damn, in this for barely a minute and he was slipping off the bull already. “We didn’t want to crowd you, so I reserved a motel room for me and Lissa.”

  “That’s silly,” Karin’s mother cried. “I know I’ve just got an apartment, but it’s got enough room.”

  “Yeah,” Lissa agreed. “Me and Grandma already figured it out.”

  Grandma? Jed frowned. Lissa knew this was pretense, didn’t she? She’d been there for the misunderstandings and discussions. “What did you figure out?”

  “That I’ll sleep in Grandma’s room with her.”

  “And...?” He was almost afraid to ask.

  “And you can sleep with Karin in her old bedroom,” Lissa said with a decisive nod. “Isn’t that neat?”

  Jed stared at his daughter, his stomach slowly curling into a ball. This was not the way to keep his reactions in control. “Neat ain’t the word for it, honey,” he said slowly.

  Chapter Four

  A night had never been so long. From his spot on the trundle bed on the floor, Jed watched the minutes drag by on Karin’s digital clock. Every once in a while a car would drive by and the reflected lights would splash against the drapes and then fade away. Eight cars passed the first hour, the number dwindling with each hour. He’d heard a dog barking around three, but nothing since.

  No, that wasn’t quite accurate. He’d heard Karin’s soft breathing all night long, as well as an indistinct murmur every so often. He’d sensed her restlessness when she’d stirred on the bed slightly above his and off to the side. And he’d breathed in the faint scent of her cologne and her childhood memories which filled the room.

  This was all a gigantic mistake. He would have to tell her their ruse wasn’t going to work. As for Lissa and Glinda, well, he’d take his chances.

  Finally the sun started to ooze through the beige drapes, giving the room a golden glow. With light, the hulking shapes on the shelves became teddy bears and the dark shadows revealed themselves as books. Nancy Drew’s Secret of the Old Clock. Cherry Ames, Student Nurse. Mr. Wizard’s Book of Science.

  He glanced up at the bed where Karin lay. One arm near the edge was about all that he could see. What did those books say about her? Did she see herself as a detective, a nurse or a scientist? What was she now anyway? He was beginning to realize he knew nothing about her. How had he ever thought they could carry off this pretense for a week?

  Then she stirred and moved her bare leg near the edge of the bed. Trim and shapely, a woman’s leg with all the inviting curves that set a man’s belly on fire. He rolled over on his side to look away.

  This was pure insanity. He definitely had to cancel this agreement. He and Lissa had a great vacation planned. They didn’t need to add anything or anyone to make it more complete.

  Even though he was looking away, he could feel Karin behind him. Still sense the rhythm of her breathing, feel the inviting warmth of her skin.

  Lordy, he was feeling like some moonstruck junior-high kid. Suffering from a mad crush on—

  “Are you awake?” she asked.

  Jed’s heart stopped. Panic swept over him. Had she somehow overheard his thoughts? He sat straight up—and rammed his shoulder into the overhang of her old desk.

  “Damn it,” he muttered, holding his shoulder. “Damn it all to hell.”

  “Are you okay?”

  He could hear her moving across her bed toward him. Was she going to climb down into his bed? That was the last thing he wanted.

  “I’m fine. I’m fine,” he said and scooted to the far side of his bed.

  “Are you sure? It sounded like you whacked yourself awfully hard.”

  “Hey, I’m tough. Takes more than a little bump to hurt me.”

  She stopped moving. He could sense her pulling back. “I told you not to put your bed so close to my desk,” she said.

  Better than close to her bed. “I didn’t want to be in your way.”

  “I’m not that clumsy.” She sighed and settled back on her bed. “At least not yet.”

  Jed didn’t say anything as he lay back down on the bed. Wendy had been at her most beautiful when she’d been pregnant with Lissa. There had been a glow about her, a sensuous richness that had drawn him to her. Karin didn’t seem to be as comfortable in her pregnancy, at least not yet, but she had that glow that made her a feast for his eyes. Another reason why he had to tell Karin he’d changed his mind.

  “So how’d you sleep?” Karin asked.

  “Uh, fine,” Jed said, trying to slow his racing heart. “And you? How’s the head this morning?”

  “Fine. Only a little ache.” There was a long moment of silence. “I just wondered if it would bother you, sleeping in here with me.”

  Not unless counting her every breath was a bother. “No, no. It was fine.” Heavens, couldn’t he think of another word? “Don’t see that we had much choice.”

  “I suppose you could have insisted on going to a motel.”

  He wasn’t sure what that little undercurrent in her voice meant. “Is that what you would have rathered?”

  “Me?” she answered quickly. “Oh, no, this was no problem.”

  They lay there in silence for a long moment. He was carefully studying the ceiling, looking for advice in the bumpy plaster surface. Just how was he supposed to tell her he’d changed his mind?

  “You know, I really appreciate your doing this,” she said. “You probably think it’s pretty pitiful that I even asked, but I couldn’t face everyone alone. Not after the rumor got started.”

  By him. He felt like a calf being let out of the chute, a team of ropers right on his tail.

  She went on. “It’s just that all my life it seemed like someone was laughing at me or my mother and I couldn’t take it anymore.”

  The lead man had the rope around his neck. “It’s okay,” he muttered.

  “And it’s not like I have anyone to blame but myself for being pregnant,” she said. “I never thought Rico loved me. Well, not really. Not when I thought about it logically.”

  The back man got his legs and Jed was caught. “Really, it’ll be fine,” he said. “It’s no big deal.”

  “If you don’t want to go through with thi
s, I’ll still be Glinda for Lissa,” she said. “I wouldn’t disappoint her.”

  He wanted to groan. He wanted to cry out in agony, but he swallowed his chance to escape. “No. We’all play this out as we planned.”

  “Well, I don’t want you to feel that you can’t have your vacation or do what you had planned.”

  Was she firing him or just giving him a long leash? “I probably shouldn’t pick up too many ladies at the local bar though.”

  She rolled over on her side to look down at him. “Was that what you wanted to do?”

  She sounded so serious, so worried, that he had to smile. “No, ma’am. I was only pulling your leg.”

  For some reason, they both looked at her leg. The covers had fallen back and it was exposed. The ankle had such a sweet curve to it that climbed up over the calf and then slid past the knee to—

  She pulled the sheet over her leg and lay back again, but not before he saw her face turn a delicate shade of pink. This was not doing much to slow his racing heart.

  He cleared his throat and went back to his contemplation of the ceiling. “I didn’t have a whole lot planned actually,” he said. “We need to get our car from the tollway oasis. It’s got our luggage in it and we’re not going to last long with the stuff in Lissa’s bag.”

  “We can drive over there today. It’s not too far, so once we do that, you and Lissa will still have almost the whole day free.”

  “Great.” But what about her? No, that was dumb. This was her home. She’d have all sorts of people and places to visit. He didn’t have to worry about her.

  “I have no idea what Lissa will want to do.” He made his voice brisk. “She’s got a list a mile long of vacation activities.”

  “Oh?”

  Was it his imagination or did she sound wistful? “You’re more than welcome to join us if you’d like.”

  “Thanks, but I don’t think so.” She paused. “Well, maybe sometimes just so nobody gets too suspicious.”

  “No, we wouldn’t want that.”

  “I have festival events to attend though, so nobody should think anything of us going our separate ways.”