If the Ring Fits (6 page)

T
ravis kept Mary Karen laughing on the short walk to the restaurant while the boys focused on making sure they stepped on every crack in the sidewalk. The popular eatery was filling up so while Travis got in line to order, Mary Karen commandeered a large booth in the corner of the room. Once she was in the booth, she slithered out of the jacket and immediately felt better.

She should have taken off the coat, but couldn’t take the chance of someone noticing her rapidly expanding belly. Still, Mary Karen knew she couldn’t go on hiding forever. One week more, maybe two. Then she’d come clean.

She pulled out the crayons she always kept in her purse and turned over the paper place mats for the boys to draw on. While they colored, she tugged down the front of her shirt and touched up her lip gloss. She’d just dropped the tube into her pocket when Travis walked up.

“It shouldn’t be long.” He smiled and slid in next to Connor, directly across from Mary Karen. His head cocked as he surveyed the table. “Where’d they get the crayons?”

Mary Karen gestured to the large bag at her feet. “They’re a staple. I never go anywhere without them.”

“You’re amazing.” The look of admiration in his eyes took her by surprise. “The boys are lucky to have you for a mother.”

“I’m not so sure about that,” Mary Karen said with a rueful smile.

She’d been only twenty-one when the twins had been born. Going from carefree college girl to mother of two had been a rough transition. She’d done her best but most days it felt as if she was merely treading water. “I’m a horrible cook. I clean but you certainly wouldn’t want to eat off my floors and—”

“—you love your boys with your whole heart and put their welfare ahead of your own needs.” Travis waved a dismissive hand. “That other stuff doesn’t matter.”

Mary Karen hugged the compliment close as unexpected emotion clogged her throat. She was spared from having to say anything by the waitress appearing with their drinks. Iced tea for her. Milk for Travis and her sons. When the boys wrinkled up their nose at the milk, Travis took a big, noisy sip of his. Before long they were drinking their milk noisily, too.

Travis was so good with children, it was a shame he didn’t want any of his own. Of course, right now, the way he was teasing the boys and coloring alongside them, you’d never have known he’d been determined to be childless.

Mary Karen couldn’t have said what they talked about until the pizza came, only that Travis did a good
job of including the boys in the conversation. By the time they finished everyone was full and content.

“Thanks for the pizza, Trav,” Mary Karen said when he refused her offer to pay. “You didn’t have to buy.”

Travis winked. “A gentleman never lets his date pay.”

“But this isn’t a date,” she reminded him.

“You say to-ma-to,” he said. “I say to-mah-to.”

She rolled her eyes. “What am I going to do with you?”

“I’ve got some ideas.” He wiggled his ears. It was a talent he’d honed during his middle school years. “None of them appropriate in present company.”

Mary Karen chuckled. The ear thing should have turned her off. Instead it made her smile, just as it had when she’d been eight. The unexpected antic was so totally Travis.

He’d always had a special something that had drawn her to him. Call her crazy but she found his off-beat sense of humor very appealing.

Not to mention his boy-next-door brand of sex appeal. Today, that was out in full force. His sandy-colored hair, which normally looked as if he’d raked his hand through it, lay perfectly in a stylish razor cut. The long-sleeved green shirt she’d given him for Christmas brought out the emerald in his hazel eyes. It was no wonder she’d cast her good sense to the wind in Vegas and married him…?.

“Will you do it?”

Mary Karen blinked and pulled her thoughts back to the present. “Pardon me?”

“The hospital awards banquet is tonight,” he said. “I’d like you to come with me as my guest.”

Mary Karen had attended this event several times before. She knew the food would be superb, the atmo
sphere elegant and the mood a tad romantic…which was precisely why she shouldn’t attend. Not with Travis. Too many potential landmines.

“Think of it as a chance to spend an evening having my undivided attention,” he said, flashing that impudent Travis smile. “If that doesn’t do it for you, think of it as a free meal or an excuse to dress up or whatever else will get you to say yes.”

He was determined to change her mind, but that wasn’t happening. “It’s tempting but—”

“C’mon, M.K.,” he said. “Be a sport and say yes.”

“Don’t you want to go with Travis, Mommy?” Caleb asked, looking up from his coloring.

“Yeah, Mommy.” Travis leaned forward. “Don’t you want to go with me?”

For a second she found herself drowning in the depths of those hazel eyes, until she forced her gaze away. “I appreciate the invitation but it’s too late for me to get a babysitter.”

“If you had one, would you go?”

She glanced at her sons who’d obviously grown bored with the conversation and were now attempting to turn the place mats into paper airplanes. “You know as well as I do that not just any sitter can handle the three of them.”

“It’d have to be someone you trusted,” Travis agreed. “If you had such a person or persons, would you go with me?”

Knowing there was no way she could get a sitter who met her qualifications this late on a Saturday, Mary Karen smiled. “Of course.”

“Great.” A look of relief crossed Travis’s face. “Then, we’re set.”

“Uh, not so fast. You have to find the babysitter first.”

“Boys,” Travis announced. “Your grandma and grandpa will be coming over tonight.”

“Cool,” Caleb said, smashing the tip of his plane into Logan’s arm and making him howl.

Connor smiled. “Grandpa always lets me stay up late.”

“Your grandpa will do as I—what am I saying?” Mary Karen stopped herself. “My parents are playing cards with Ron and Carol Evans this evening.”

“They
were
playing cards,” Travis said, a smug smile on his lips. “Carol has the flu and had to cancel. Your parents are now available to babysit.”

As always, Travis seemed so confident, so sure. But Mary Karen had spoken with her mother this morning, just before she and the boys had left to walk downtown. “How could you possibly know that?”

“I ran into them a few minutes before Connor found me.”

“The fact that their plans fell through doesn’t mean they want to babysit,” Mary Karen said, shooting Logan a look that said he’d better stop fussing and disturbing other customers.

Her three-year-old reacted by punching Connor in the arm.

Mary Karen sighed. But before she could admonish him, Travis took her hand and began caressing her palm with his thumb. “I told your parents about the banquet and dance this evening.”

She pulled her hand away before her eyes closed. “Stop that,” she hissed.

“They were happy to hear you’re going out. Even if it was with me,” he said without missing a beat. “They’ll be over at five-thirty.”

No fair,
Mary Karen wanted to protest. She didn’t
need Travis coming around and playing nice. She needed to stay strong. Do this alone. For her sons’ sakes.

The boys still asked about their daddy, still wondered why he wasn’t around. They loved Travis. If he became an even bigger part of their lives and then left, they’d be devastated.

“M.K.” His voice broke through her thoughts. “I want you there. You’re my best friend. That hasn’t changed.”

Mary Karen felt a momentary twinge of disappointment at the thought of only being his best friend and nothing more. Which didn’t make sense. They
were
best friends. Through the years she’d been able to count on that one constant.

“Please come with me,” he said, offering her a smile that made her heart flip-flop.

The thought of the night she faced if she decided to turn down his offer and stay home gave her pause. She’d get to make dinner, clean up and watch the most recent Transformer movie…again. After that, baths and bedtime before collapsing exhausted into bed, then getting up tomorrow and doing it all over again.

“You said you owed me,” he reminded her.

Though he wasn’t playing fair, she
did
owe him. He’d brought her son safely back to her. And really, what was the big deal? What would it hurt to spend a night enjoying good food and adult conversation?

She sighed. “Pick me up at six.”

The ballroom of the Spring Gulch Country Club reminded Mary Karen of a beautiful garden party. Huge urns of flowers surrounded the shiny, wooden dance floor. Crystal goblets and sterling silver flat-ware gleamed in the candlelight. Most of those in attendance, men in tuxedoes and women in gorgeous cocktail
dresses, were people Mary Karen had known her entire life.

Knowing the event would be dressy she’d chosen a black silky jersey dress with a long luxe tie. She hoped the one bare shoulder and long tie would draw attention upward, away from her rapidly growing baby bump.

Mary Karen didn’t mind if people thought she’d gained a little weight. She just didn’t want them knowing she was pregnant. Not yet.

July had tactfully asserted she needed to face facts. Mary Karen smiled at the thought. Every day her changing body brought her pregnancy up close and personal. Still, she hoped to get through the emotional roller coaster of this first trimester before dealing with everyone’s disappointment when they learned how stupid she’d been…again. “You okay?”

Mary Karen shifted her gaze to Travis, surprised at the concern in his eyes.

“I’m not going to throw up all over your new Italian loafers, if that’s what you’re worried about.” Mary Karen forced a chuckle.

“That’s a relief.” He shot her a wink and set a reassuring hand on the small of her back as they crossed the room.

A group of young doctors that Travis often partied with stood by the bar, laughing uproariously. He didn’t spare them a second glance. “What sounds better to you? Dancing or mingling?”

A cocktail hour and dancing always preceded the dinner and awards. Though Mary Karen normally loved to talk, tonight she preferred to surrender her worries and sway in time to big band music.

Of course, she began to regret her choice the second
her “husband” pressed her tightly against his tuxedo-clad body. They’d danced together many times but she couldn’t remember him ever holding her so closely before. She fought against the emotions and the desire the nearness engendered. Travis hadn’t held her this tightly since they’d made love their wedding night in Vegas.

The woodsy scent of his cologne teased her nostrils. Unlike the smells which sent her stomach reeling, this scent tantalized and beckoned her closer. Mary Karen laid her head against his broad chest and let the music seep into her soul. They danced silently for several minutes. “You smell wonderful.”

“It’s the cologne you gave me for my birthday.” Travis pressed her more firmly against him. “Every time I wear it I think of you.”

The popular scent had been an impulsive purchase at the big box store out on the highway. The college student clerk had told her that “girls love this scent on their guys.” When Mary Karen had heard that she’d smiled, wondering which of Travis’s many girlfriends would reap the benefits of her gift.

“Why did you invite
me
to come with you, Trav?” She kept her tone low, her words soft and for his ears only.

“You’re my wife,” he said, executing a series of turns that left her breathless. “Even if you weren’t, there isn’t another woman I’d rather be with tonight than you.”

His response took her by surprise. Then she laughed. “You’re so full of it.”

For a second he looked askance then he chuckled. “And you my dear, are such a skeptic.”

“Realist.”

“Skeptic.” His breath tickled her ear and sent a shiver
up her spine. “Think about it. When everyone gets together, who is always my date?”

There was no need for him to explain who “everyone” was—they both knew it was the tight-knit group of friends and family who socialized together on a regular basis.

“That’s only because you didn’t want any of your girlfriends to think you were getting serious.” Mary Karen slid her fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck. He’d always worn his hair a little longer than her brother’s other friends, but on him it worked. “And you enjoy giving me a hard time.”

“Wrong.” Travis maneuvered them to the edge of the dance floor where it wasn’t so crowded. “You and I fit. I enjoy your company. We like the same music, find humor in the same jokes. I venture to say there’s no one on this earth who knows me as well as you do.”

Mary Karen couldn’t dispute his words. A wave of sadness washed over her at the realization of how close they’d grown these past couple of years. She did know him. And it was that intimate knowledge of his aversion to children that confirmed her belief that marriage between them would never work.

She sighed, wondering why the truth that had led them to split up all those years ago, still held the power to hurt. But it was why, when she discovered she was pregnant, she’d known there would be no happily ever after for her.

“I heard that,” he said.

She blinked rapidly, clearing her eyes of unwanted moisture. “Heard what?”

“The I-know-him-so-well-and-that’s-not-a-good-thing sigh,” he said, his tone teasing.

Mary Karen simply smiled. Travis didn’t want a wife.
He definitely didn’t want children. They could rehash the whys all night and nothing would change.

“C’mon, the least you can do is deny it.” He dipped her low, gazing into her eyes. “Stroke my ego. Tell me what a wonderful guy I am. Reassure me that any woman would be lucky to have me.”

There was an undercurrent to his words that she didn’t understand, but she ignored it and fell easily into the teasing mode that epitomized their normal conversation. “You’re okay.”

“Okay?” He sounded shocked and slightly wounded. “Okay isn’t even average.”

“We both know there is
nothing
average about you.” Impulsively she molded her body against his.