“Should work out well then.”
“Yeah. We may hardly see each other.”
That was probably for the best.
“Except here at night, of course,” she added.
“Right. Except at night.” And even that wouldn’t be a problem anymore. He wouldn’t let it be.
Suddenly there was a knock at the door and it opened slightly. Marge poked her head in. “You two had better get yourselves dressed. It’s almost time to go.”
“Go?” Jed asked.
Marge shook her head. “To church. Land sakes, cowboy. The town is dying to meet you. It’s not every day Karin brings home a man. You two aren’t going to have a minute to yourselves for the next week.”
It wasn’t exactly what Karin had envisioned but it would please her mother. And everyone in town—well, at least the churchgoing folks of Chesterton. They would make this public appearance at church and then everyone would forget about them. She just had to play the part of a fiancée for a few hours and then she could go back to worrying about impending motherhood.
“Park over there,” her mother instructed from the back seat.
“There are closer spaces,” Karin pointed out as Jed was pulling into the spot.
“Oh, leave those for the old folks that have trouble walking.” Marge leaned forward over the seat back and put her hand on Karin’s shoulder. “Walking doesn’t bother you, does it, honey? I never thought about that.”
“No. I’m fine.”
“Are you sure?” Jed asked.
There was a look in his eye that annoyed her for some reason. She never should have confessed so much of her personal life this morning, about being laughed at as a child and her foolishness with Rico. Jed was going to feel as though he should hover over her.
Now he was feeling sorry for her and that was ten times worse than being laughed at. Why hadn’t she kept her mouth shut?
“I’m fine,” she repeated. “I have no trouble walking. I like to walk.”
“Great.” Her mother sank back onto her own seat. “This will give everybody waiting outside church a good long look at my new family.”
Karin could have groaned aloud. Why hadn’t she thought about that?
Jed had seen her mother’s motives and had tried to warn her, but she had stupidly read his gaze wrong. Of course, he could have just said something. What was his thing with meaningful looks? How was she supposed to know what he was thinking? This really was all his fault.
“Heavens, Mother,” Karin said with a sly smile aimed at Jed. “You’re going to embarrass Jed. He’s actually rather shy.”
Jed smiled back as he turned off the engine. “Nonsense, sweetheart,” he said ever so lovingly. “Besides, when I’m with you, I know no one’s looking at me anyway.”
His words caught Karin off guard and she felt her cheeks burn. If he thought that she...
Karin took a deep breath. What was she thinking? One word from Jed and this whole facade was over. And much worse than having a broken engagement would be everyone finding out she was only pretending to be engaged. Her mother would never live that one down.
“That’s so sweet of you,” Karin murmured, the words painful to get out nonetheless. “But I was just kidding. I don’t think there’s a shy bone in your body.”
“How can a bone be shy?” Lissa asked.
Marge laughed and opened her door. “Come on, Lissa. Let’s you and me get going and leave these lovebirds to peck and coo all they want.”
“What’s pecking and cooing?” Lissa asked as she got out after Marge.
Karin couldn’t hear her mother’s response, but didn’t need to. She took a deep breath. “Guess it’s time to face the firing squad,” she said and opened her door.
“Don’t move,” Jed snapped as he jumped out of the driver’s side.
Don’t move? Why not? What in the world was the matter?
Then Jed was around to her side, his hand held out to her. She put her hand in his—an annoyingly pleasant place for it to be—and got out of the car, looking around cautiously.
“What was that all about?” She tried to peer around Jed, but he was blocking her line of vision.
“A gentleman helps a lady out of a car,” he said as he put her hand on his arm. “Opens her door, too, if she’d give him a chance.”
“That was it? You made me think I was about to be attacked by a swarm of killer bees so you could help me out of the car?”
He leaned in close, so close that it almost felt as if his lips were touching her cheek. Or was it just his breath? Why was her heart racing so?
“We’re in the show ring, remember,” he warned.
She glared at him, at his typical cowboy attire of blue jeans, cotton shirt, boots and hat. His predictability was just as annoying as he was. Always looking right, sounding right, being right.
“Don’t you ever wear anything other than that?”
“No, ma’am,” he said and slightly pushed his hat back on his head. “I don’t have much choice since we don’t have our luggage yet, but even if I had all my clothes here, I’d still be wearing these clothes. A cowboy’s not a cowboy without his hat and boots, and blue jeans are God’s most perfect clothes, so it would feel like a sin to wear something else.”
She really wanted to argue with him, but on him, they were the perfect clothes. And this wasn’t the time or place for a scene. She smoothed her frown into a smile, glanced over toward the church and forgot her annoyance with him.
It looked as if half the town was out front, watching them. And every one of the people there had a sappy smile on their face.
“I feel a bout of morning sickness coming on,” she told him.
He slipped his arm around her shoulders, and for a split second she leaned into his strength. Even more frighteningly, she almost wished she had the right to lean into it.
“Morning sickness won’t work. That’s a first trimester thing.”
“Maybe I’m doing things in a different order.” She straightened up and they started walking toward the church.
“Well, maybe not the preferred order, but I think there are some things that you can’t really control.”
“What do you mean the preferred order?”
“You know, have a father ready to help raise the kid.”
Her steps faltered. She felt as if he’d hit her, and for some reason it hurt far more than it should have. “There are lots of single mothers bringing up fine children.”
“That doesn’t mean it’s the preferred way to raise a child.”
“Depends on what the father prefers, doesn’t it?”
“I guess. But I was talking about ideals.”
“A perfect world.” She managed a smile for those watching, though her insides ached. “I don’t know about you, but I don’t live there.”
“Guess if either of us did, we wouldn’t be here now, would we?”
There was such a wealth of sadness in his voice, such infinite loneliness that her annoyance seemed petty. She tightened her hold on his arm, pulling him closer at the same time. The crowd was waiting.
“A few minutes now and a few minutes after the service,” she said. “Then we can have a breather for the rest of the day.”
“That’s assuming we don’t drown in good wishes first,” he said.
They didn’t exactly drown, but Karin did feel swamped. Old friends, old acquaintances, people who looked only barely familiar surrounded them, shaking Jed’s hand, hugging Lissa until her hat seemed permanently askew, and kissing Karin on the cheek.
“Karin, how good to see you.”
“What a handsome young man.”
“And a ready-made family.”
“How did you meet?”
“What does he do?”
“Do we see booties in your near future, not just wedding bells?”
“Later all,” Marge called, Lissa firmly in hand as she led them into the church.
Karin followed along but felt all quivery inside
. So much for loose-fitting dresses. And Jed was right. Babies needed fathers, too. Her baby especially. What kind of mother was she going to be if she couldn’t even love—if she had no heart?
She glanced at Jed as they settled into a pew near the front. He was straightening Lissa’s bonnet, pulling it down lower over her face. She was frowning but it was obvious that she cared about her father and respected him. Karin could tell he was a good father. Was there any chance that she could talk him into keeping up the pretense a little longer—like maybe another twenty years?
By the time the service ended, Karin was exhausted and ready to spend a quiet day at home. Except that her mother had other plans.
“We have to go to brunch at the Landing,” Marge said once they’d braved the gauntlet of good wishes on their way out of church. “The Ingersolls invited us and I accepted. We can’t not show up.”
Brunch at the Landing, the most popular restaurant in town. Karin used to consider eating there a treat, but today it would be torture. Every churchgoer in Chesterton would be there.
“But maybe we had other plans,” Karin said.
“Did you?” Her mother sounded surprised at the idea.
“No, it’s fine,” Jed said as he got them all into the Jeep. “Karin’s appetite’s been uncertain lately, that’s all. There’re some foods that she can’t bear to even see.”
“Really?” Lissa said. “I can’t stand to look at mushrooms.”
Karin smiled at the girl. “I can’t stand them, either.”
“Mushrooms taste great and they’re nutritious,” Jed said.
“They’re fungi,” Karin pointed out. “Yucky-tasting fungi, at that.”
“You only think that because you’ve never had fresh ones cooked the McCarron way,” Jed said.
Karin made a face at him. “Oh, right. Like that’s—”
“Why haven’t you had them?” Marge asked.
Karin caught herself at the same moment Jed did. For a moment there, they’d forgotten. No, she’d forgotten. Jed’s face looked the same. No sudden flush of guilt. No worried look that he’d let something slip he shouldn’t have. She was the one that had to be more careful.
“It’s an ongoing argument we’ve been having,” Jed told Marge. “I keep wanting to cook her up some mushrooms and she keeps refusing.”
“Karin, Karin,” her mother scolded with a laugh. “How many times do I have to tell you to be more adventurous? Try new things.”
Karin contented herself with giving Jed directions to the restaurant. Try new things? Hadn’t she been doing that when she went out with Rico? And wasn’t this whole engagement nonsense something new? No, it was trying new things that was getting her in trouble. She liked the old ways, the safe ways. The ways she knew inside and outside.
Jed parked the car and they went into the restaurant. They found themselves surrounded by a new group of townsfolk, only this time they didn’t have the excuse of a church service to help them escape.
“So how’d you two meet?” someone stopped by their table to ask.
“Uh...” Karin just looked at Jed. She had never been good at extemporaneous responses. Why hadn’t they planned this out?
Jed put his arm around her, pulling her tightly to his side. “Not much to tell,” he said. “She just healed my broken heart.”
The woman looked worried. “You’re a transplant patient?”
That threw him and he stared at her. Karin closed her eyes. Lordy, another thing they’d never talked about.
Karin forced a laugh and slipped her arm around his waist. “Heavens, no,” she said. “It was only a figure of speech. Jed’s never been a patient of mine.”
He planted a quick kiss on her cheek. “Dr. Karin?” he whispered.
She raised her eyebrows in silent response. Was that a problem? Was he one of those men who was only attracted to women who were in a lower pay range?
Not that his preference in women mattered one single bit. She shifted her position to inch away from him. She had no idea where that thought had come from.
“They met at a restaurant,” Lissa chimed in.
That stopped Karin’s breathing. Lissa wouldn’t—
“Daddy swept her off her feet,” the girl went on, giving Karin a reassuring smile. “It’s ’cause he’s so handsome and strong.”
Karin slowly let her breath out.
“I was mesmerized by her beauty,” Jed said. “Couldn’t take my eyes off her.”
“Isn’t that the sweetest thing?” someone said with a contented sigh.
“So romantic.”
“Oh, our food’s here,” Marge called out.
“We’d better let you all eat then.”
“You can catch us later, Fran,” Marge went on. “We’ll be at the football game this afternoon, or drop in at the bar tonight. I’m having a little open house for these two. Then you can make them tell you all about their wonderful romance.”
Karin gave her mother a wide-eyed stare. Football game? Open house? When were they going to be left alone? Not that she wanted to be left alone with Jed...
“Stop worrying,” the old woman said softly to Jed. “She’s fine.”
Jed took one last glance into the bedroom at Lissa sound asleep on the bed, Marge’s black cat cuddled up close to her. Lissa looked so peaceful, so content. This vacation was. already doing her a world of good. He couldn’t let anything happen to spoil it.
The cat opened one eye to glare at him so Jed closed the bedroom door as silently as he could. He’d hoped to have a talk with Lissa, plan out their week and make sure she wasn’t taking this whole masquerade too seriously. But he guessed that wasn’t going to be tonight.
“I appreciate you staying up here with her, ma’am,” Jed said.
“She’s such a sweetheart,” the old woman—Aunty Em—said. “It’s a treat to get to know her.”
Jed had thought Karin was joking when she’d introduced Penny’s grandmother as Aunty Em. But apparently not, since Marge had told him a few minutes ago that Lissa had gone up to bed, and that Aunty Em was going to baby-sit. He guessed the whole town called her that.
“You know who she reminds me of?” Aunty Em said.
Jed stiffened, his blood turning cold. Lissa had been recognized. They’d gone all day without anyone even looking twice at her and he’d stopped being careful. He’d relaxed and that had been his mistake. But maybe he could appeal to the old woman’s sense of—
“Karin,” Aunty Em went on. “Oh, I know they don’t look anything alike, but Lissa’s just like Karin was as a little girl. Before she learned to hide her feelings from everybody.”
Karin? Relief washed over him, and he hoped it didn’t show. “She hides her feelings?” Jed asked idly, only half in the conversation. Lissa hadn’t been recognized. So they still had a chance at a real vacation.
Aunty Em laughed and patted his arm. “Oh, I’m sure she doesn’t hide them from you. But from others she does. You must have noticed.”
The pause in her conversation jerked Jed back to the present. “Oh, yes, of course, ma’am.” He edged toward the door. “Guess I’d better get back downstairs.”
She waved him off. “You just go take care of Karin. If ever a lady deserved a little cosseting, it’s her.”
Jed was tempted to ask her questions about Karin’s life, but he didn’t need to know any more than he already did. Knowing would only lead to helping and that would lead to involvement that neither of them wanted. He nodded to Aunty Em and made his way back to the door. Besides, seeing as how he and Karin were “engaged,” he shouldn’t have to ask a stranger about his fiancée’s past.
He left the second-floor apartment above the bar with a brisk step that slowed once Aunty Em could no longer see or hear him. And the farther he got down the stairs, the slower his descent. Half the town must be here at Marge’s. He and Karin hadn’t had a moment alone since this morning. And at the rate the night was going, it would be tomorrow morning before they had another one.
They’d never gotten his car, or his and Lissa’s luggage. They’d never gone over the basic stories of how and when they met. They didn’t even know simple facts about each other, like where they lived or how they earned a living. Now, he didn’t mind doing a bit of bluffing, but even the simplest scam needed a little preparation. Maybe he could do some acting and get Karin to take a walk with him. They could firm up their story.
“Hey, there’s the man of the moment,” someone called out, voices dragging Jed back into the bar.
Smile in place, he made his way through the crowd playing pool and the group gathered around the buffet table, still working on the remains of dinner.
“Congratulations,” someone called to him.
“Nice lady you’re getting there,” someone else said.
He smiled and nodded, shaking hands as he went along. His eyes searched the crowd though, looking for Karin. He found her almost instantly. She was sitting at a booth along the far wall—on which hung about a hundred cowboy hats in all sizes and colors—with her friends Heather, Alex and Dorothy. The other three were laughing and talking and Karin was joining in, but the laughter didn’t seem to have melted her tensions and somehow she appeared to be holding herself apart from them.
He took a deep breath, tightened the cinch in his mind and walked over to the booth. “Howdy.” He took a deep breath and added, “Darlin’.”
She looked up, her cheeks suddenly flushed and her eyes betraying a startled, wary look. “Hi.” She seemed to push herself forward. “Sweetheart.”
Alex laughed. “Wow, what passion, Karin,” he teased. “If we didn’t have proof to the contrary, I’d think this guy was a stranger.”
“Yeah, and where’s your ring?” Dorothy asked.
“Oh, leave her alone,” Heather scolded. “Not everyone’s comfortable sharing their feelings in front of people. And maybe they haven’t had a chance to get a ring yet.”
A ring? Jed hadn’t even thought of that. “It’s on order,” he said, “we had to get it sized.”
Karin blushed a deep red as he slid into the booth next to her. The lies made him uncomfortable and he hurried to change the subject.
Pregnant & Practically Married (The Bridal Circle #3) Page 7