If the Ring Fits (15 page)

David winced. “I’m sorry, M.K. I never meant to hurt you.”

Mary Karen wanted to stay angry with him. Wanted to blame him for allowing her to believe that happily ever after was possible for her.

But she couldn’t hold on to the rage. He was her big brother. The one who’d protected her growing up. When Steven had left, he’d been there for her. Yes, he’d made a mistake. But she believed it had been done only with the best of intentions.

“Thanks for finally being honest with me.” Avoiding his searching gaze, she headed down the hall. When she reached the front door, she turned. “Tell July hello.”

“You and Travis have a good thing going.” His voice
was low and filled with anguish. “I hope I didn’t screw it up.”

“You didn’t screw anything up, David.” She kissed his cheek and pushed him out the front door. “Travis did.”

M
ary Karen buckled Logan into his car seat then slipped behind the wheel of the aging minivan. After she picked up the twins from school, they’d stop at the store. Shopping with three little kids wasn’t her idea of fun, but it couldn’t be helped. The cupboards were almost bare. By the time she got home it would be time to start dinner.

Then Travis would be home.

Normally she couldn’t wait for him to walk through the door. But right now she wasn’t sure what she would say, how she was going to act.

The child in her wanted to slam the door in his face and tell him she never wanted to see him again. The adult in her knew that wouldn’t solve anything.

Mary Karen slipped the key into the ignition and as she bent over, she caught a glimpse of her twenty-six-year-old face in the rearview mirror.

Passably pretty.

A dutiful daughter.

A loyal friend.

A mother who tried her best.

All she wanted was a husband she loved and who loved her back.

She could see now that she’d never have had that kind of life with Steven. His violent outbursts. The verbal abuse. Best friends?

Soul mates?

Mary Karen snorted. She hadn’t known how truly unhappy she’d been until Steven was out of her life.

Travis was different. He was the whole package; a decent, honorable man who was sweet and caring and passionate.
He
was her soul mate. Her best friend.

Had he given up the life he wanted for her? She wouldn’t know until he got home and they had a chance to talk.

With a resigned sigh, she turned the key.

Then turned it again.

Flipped the key back and tried one more time. Dead silence.

She glanced at her watch and bit back an expletive. In fifteen minutes her two five-year-olds would be out in front of the school waiting for her to pick them up.

Her first impulse was to call Travis. She immediately dismissed that option. His Roadster wasn’t big enough to handle both boys.

She grabbed her cell phone from her bag and hit Speed Dial, praying her mom would answer. Their van not only had the room, it had child seats for each of the boys.

Within minutes she had the pickup arranged. There
was barely any food in the house for dinner but that couldn’t be helped. Her children’s safety and a dead battery took priority.

Sometimes a woman just had to play the cards she’d been dealt.

“Tofu pizza?” Travis stared down at the slice on his plate and tried not to cringe.

Mary Karen took a sip of milk. “It’s either that or nothing.”

There was an edge to her voice that had been there since he got home. Though she’d tried to conceal her red, swollen eyes with makeup, he’d noticed them immediately. He’d asked about her day but all he’d gotten was a clipped “Fine.”

“I thought you were going to the store today.” He forked off a bite but couldn’t bring himself to lift the piece to his mouth. Still, since she’d gone to the trouble to make it, he’d have to find a way to gag it down.

He wondered if this was payback for the night he’d given Kate a ride to his welcome back party. If so, Mary Karen couldn’t have picked a worse day. He’d been so busy, he’d skipped lunch. Still, he’d promised not to complain so he clamped his mouth shut and ignored the piece of slime on his plate.

“I planned on grocery shopping this afternoon.” She shot a steely-eyed look at the twins who were mashing down the topping on their slices of pizza. “I didn’t make it to the store.”

“The van wouldn’t start.” Logan picked up his glass of milk, dragging his sleeve across the top of his pizza in the process. “Mommy called Grandma, then she cried and cried.”

The twins looked up and exchanged glances.

Travis pulled his brows together. This was the first he’d heard of car trouble. He put down his fork. “Honey, what happened?”

“When I tried to start the car, the battery was dead,” she said as if it had been of no consequence, certainly not something that had made her “cry and cry.” “I called my mother and she picked up the twins for me. Then I called the Battery Store.”

“Why didn’t you call me?” he asked. “I could—”

“What could you have done?” Mary Karen paused, then offered a slight smile as if to offset the abruptness of her response. “Finding someone to pick up the boys was my first concern. Once I had that covered, all that was left was having a new battery brought out and installed. No worries. I’m more than capable of handling these kinds of minor catastrophes. After all, I’ve been on my own since Steven left.”

“You’re not on your own anymore.” He leaned over and took her hand. “I’m sorry you had to deal with it alone. I wish I would have been here to help.”

She slipped her hand from his and he caught a glimpse of something in her eyes that he didn’t understand. Pain? Hurt? Anger? All three emotions?

“Maybe you should kiss Mommy and make it all better,” Connor suggested.

Travis wasn’t fooled. The boy wasn’t so much interested in seeing his mother kissed as he was in diverting attention from the pizza he was stuffing in his napkin.

Logan’s brows pulled together in worry. “I don’t want Mommy to cry again.”

“I don’t, either.” Travis stood and rounded the table, taking Mary Karen’s hand again and pulling her to her feet.

She rose with obvious reluctance.

Her hesitation surprised him. Something was definitely troubling her.

He cupped her face with one hand then gently covered her mouth with his. She allowed it for a second then stepped away.

“All better,” she said, smiling at her sons. A smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes.

A chill traveled up his spine. Travis wasn’t sure if Mary Karen’s somber mood was simply pregnancy hormones or something else. But because the boys were watching, he pretended he hadn’t noticed anything amiss. Over dinner he smiled and joked and even managed to down a piece of pizza.

With three sets of ears hanging on their every word, there was no opportunity to talk privately.

Once the boys were asleep and Mary Karen was in the bedroom changing, Travis set into motion his plan to bolster her spirits. He started by opening a bottle of sparkling grape juice and splashing some into two wineglasses. The lights on the Christmas tree added a festive glow to the living room. He lit a couple of candles. Soon the smell of cinnamon and spices filled the air. After turning on Kenny G’s Christmas album, Travis stepped back and studied the room.

Perfect.
If this didn’t cheer his wife up, he was out of ideas.

Mary Karen entered the room then paused, her mouth forming a perfect O. Her hair gleamed like spun gold in the muted light. Dressed in a silky blue gown and robe with bits of lace at the neck and cuffs, she looked as lovely as the angel topping the tree.

Pleased with her reaction, Travis smiled and handed her a glass. “I thought it’d be nice to celebrate.”

Mary Karen stared at the drink in her hand then raised her gaze. “Celebrate what?”

“It’s exactly three months until our babies are due.” He smiled. “I thought you’d be counting down the days.”

She ignored his teasing grin and took a seat in the chair, rather than her normal spot next to him on the sofa.

“Is that what you’re doing, Travis?” she asked quietly. “Counting down the days?”

Travis wasn’t sure what she meant, so he didn’t answer her question directly. He’d been around women enough to know what they said often had no connection to what was really troubling them.

“If you’d have called, I’d have figured out a way to pick up the twins.” Travis dropped down on the sofa cushion, hating the thought of how stressed she’d been. It wasn’t good for her or the babies to be so upset. “You shouldn’t have had to—”

“This has nothing to do with the boys.” She picked at the lace on her sleeve. “I talked with David this morning.”

An odd remark. Her brother and sister-in-law couldn’t be an issue. She had a great relationship with both of them. Unless there was something going on with Adam or Alex… “Is everything okay with the kids?”

“As far as I know they’re fine.”

Travis understood that there was something his wife wanted to say. Some reason her family had stopped over. What he didn’t understand was why she didn’t just tell him. Why he had to pry it out of her. He forced a smile and tried again. “Any special reason they stopped over?”

“Not July. Just my brother. And he came because I asked,” Mary Karen said. “We talked about you.”

Suddenly all this cat-and-mouse action made sense.
Mary Karen had been stressing for weeks over what gift to get him. Ever since they’d decided to celebrate Christmas in September, she’d been asking in some subtle and not-so-subtle ways what he wanted. Since he hadn’t given her any suggestions, it appeared she’d decided to try to get some ideas from her brother.

“Honestly, M.K., don’t worry about getting me a gift. Just having you and the boys—”

“I didn’t ask him over to find out what you’d like for a gift.” She shifted her gaze to the tree with the twinkling lights for several seconds before refocusing on him. “David made a comment a couple weeks ago at Lexi and Nick’s Labor Day barbecue. About you.”

Travis cocked his head. Just when he thought he had it all figured out, the conversation veered in a totally different direction. “What did he say?”

Mary Karen’s eyes met his. “Something to the effect that he didn’t think we’d be together if he hadn’t pushed you in the right direction.”

Relaxing against the back of the sofa, Travis shook his head. “That’s your brother. Trying to take credit for us being together. He’s been trying to match us up for years.” He laughed, recalling David’s awkward and not-so-subtle attempts to bring him and Mary Karen together. “Remember that time in college when you had that sorority dance and he—”

“That’s not it at all.” Mary Karen expelled a harsh breath.

“Then what?” Travis’s smile faded at the serious look blanketing her face.

She leaned forward, as far as her belly would allow, pinning him with her gaze. “When he found out I was pregnant, did he—or did he not—tell you to do what
ever it took to convince me to let you be a part of my life?”

Travis furrowed his brow. He remembered David’s anger that day—and the locker latch digging into his back—but his friend’s exact words were a little hazy. “He may have said something to that effect, yes. I know he was quite upset.”

The last bit of hope in her eyes disappeared. “That’s why you told me you loved me.”

While he may have set out to deliberately win Mary Karen over, Travis knew what David had said hadn’t had any real impact on his actions. “I told you I loved you because it’s true.”

“Really?”

He ignored the skepticism in her tone.

“I believe that I’ve always loved you.” The moment he said the words a sense of peace settled over him. “You’ve been one of my closest friends for as far back as I can remember.”

The smile that had begun to lift her lips disappeared. “I don’t want you to love me as a friend.”

Now he was thoroughly confused. “What are you talking about?”

Her blue eyes flashed. “Actions, Trav, speak louder than words.”

“Haven’t I showed you how much I love you? When we’re in bed together—”

“You were all about a divorce until you found out I was pregnant.” Mary Karen jerked to her feet and crossed the room.

Travis rose and quickly moved to her side, standing as close as he dared. He had a bad feeling he was making matters worse. If only he understood why. “Mary Karen, honey, where is all this coming from?”

“The reason—the
only
reason—you told me you loved me was because you felt an obligation, a duty, to me and the babies.” Her voice started out shaky but grew stronger with each word. “You made me believe— Well, anyway, I know better now. There’s no need for you to pretend I’m anything more than just an obligation.”

He took a chance and slipped his arms around her, pulling her close. “I love you,” he said with a fierceness that surprised him as much as it did her. “The fact that you were first my friend doesn’t diminish the feelings I now have for you.”

Curling a finger beneath her chin he urged it upward until her gaze met his. “What do I have to do to convince you I’m sincere?”

Mary Karen stared into his eyes for a long moment before answering. “Tell me you’d have wanted to stay married and be a father to my boys even if I hadn’t been pregnant.”

He hesitated, wanting to be honest. “I can’t say that for sure, but I can tell you that I’ve been extremely happy being a family man these past four months.”

She sighed. “I put you in the position where you had to marry me.”

“That’s simply not true, M.K.,” he said, keeping his tone light. “Correct me if I’m wrong but I don’t recall anyone putting a gun to our heads in that wedding chapel.”

“But we were going to get a divorce—”

“We didn’t.”

“Because of the babies.”

“Because,” he stressed, “we realized we loved each other.”

“I want to believe you, Trav. But I—I can’t.”

Her eyes were filled with such despair that he couldn’t
be angry. On the stereo, Kenny G’s sax belted out, “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.”

“Helluva thing,” Travis muttered.

“What is?”

“To be in love with your wife and not have her believe you.”