If the Ring Fits (8 page)

It was funny to think that the thing that had pushed them apart back then—having children—was what had forced them together now.

The truck behind him honked. Travis glanced up then hit the gas. In less than a minute, he’d wheeled the Roadster to a stop in front of her house.

“Umm.” Her eyelids fluttered open. She blinked several times then leisurely yawned, covering her mouth with one hand. “Where are we?”

“Home sweet home.” He thought about teasing her about always going to sleep on him, but stopped himself just in time. She was pregnant and needed her rest. Instead he brushed the crisscross pattern on her cheek with his knuckles.

She leaned into the caress. “What time is it?”

He gestured with his head toward the readout on the dash.

Mary Karen gasped.

“Ohmigod.” She fumbled with her safety belt. “I promised Mom and Dad I’d be home an hour ago.”

Though she insisted it wasn’t necessary, Travis walked her to the door. She attempted to send him away again when they reached the porch but he told her it would be rude for him to leave without at least saying hello to her parents.

He’d known Bob and Linda Wahl his entire life. Growing up, if he and David weren’t at the Fisher house, they were at the Wahl’s. Unlike his chaotic household, David’s home had been a refuge, a place where he could relax and catch his breath.

Mary Karen pulled the house key from her evening bag, but the door swung open before she could insert it in the lock.

“Travis.” The look of delight that spread across Linda’s face reinforced he’d made the right decision. “I never expected you to see Mary Karen all the way to the door.”

“I’m not surprised.” Bob Wahl reached past his wife and clasped Travis’s hand. “The boy is a gentleman.”

In that second, Travis was reminded of another reason he’d liked hanging out at the Wahl house. David’s dad had always made him feel as if he was special, someone who could be trusted.

Travis wondered what Bob would say when he found out he’d gotten Mary Karen pregnant. He wouldn’t be pleased, that was certain.
Unless
Travis could convince him that Mary Karen’s life would be better with him at her side.

“How were the children?” Mary Karen asked.

Travis couldn’t believe she’d asked. Knowing her boys, any questions about their conduct was risky.

“The boys were good,” Linda assured her daughter. The pretty, former schoolteacher had dark, wavy hair just like her son’s and a friendly smile. Her khaki pants were stained with juice and there was a handprint on her yellow button-down shirt.

Travis could only conclude that to this doting grandmother “good” had an entirely different meaning than it did for the general population.

“We took them on a long walk to the park, so they should sleep well tonight.” Grandpa Bob’s sandy-colored hair was sprinkled liberally with gray, but his face had very few lines and his blue eyes were still bright and clear. His jeans and University of Wyoming sweatshirt appeared to have made it through the evening unscathed.

Of course, Travis knew Bob and Linda would just say stains—and any rips and tears—came with the territory. The two considered their grandchildren gifts from God. Travis didn’t doubt for a minute that, had his parents lived, they would have felt the same way. They’d have been thrilled with Mary Karen’s pregnancy. And maybe, had they lived, he’d have been thrilled, too.

“Thank you for watching them.” Mary Karen gave her mom a quick hug. “I didn’t need to go—”

“Yes, you did.” Linda held her daughter at arm’s length. “You’re twenty-six. You deserve to enjoy yourself. So tell me all about it. Don’t leave anything out.”

“Well, we sat with Harlan and Anita Stromberg and Dr. and Mrs. Grant for dinner,” Mary Karen said. “I heard all about the surgery Anita’s cat recent underwent, so if you have any questions about feline hernia repair, I’m your woman.”

“Good to know,” Linda said.

Travis could tell by the woman’s expression she wasn’t sure if her daughter was joking or not.

“And, Travis here,” Mary Karen elbowed him in the side, “received the Humanitarian Award.”

“Very impressive,” Bob said, slapping Travis on the back. “Congratulations.”

“All that sounds well and good.” Linda’s gaze searched her daughter’s face. “But tell me what you did that was fun.”

A flush traveled up Mary Karen’s cheeks and Travis knew she had to be thinking of their after-hours party in the car. She certainly couldn’t be thinking of Harlan’s speech.

“We danced,” Travis said. “The band was great. And Mary Karen didn’t step on my toes too many times.”

“Hey,” she shot back. “I’m a good dancer.”

“You’re a great dancer,” Travis said. “And you’re a lovely, intelligent companion. Who could ask for more?”

Bob’s eyes took on a curious gleam.

“It was just too bad David and July couldn’t attend,” Mary Karen said, filling the unexpected silence.

“I don’t think July felt up to it, not with the baby due any day now.” Linda’s expression softened. “You remember what that’s like, don’t you, sweetie?”

Mary Karen nodded and Travis swore he saw her smile wobble.

“What’s the latest on the baby watch?” Travis asked.

“Contractions are intermittent.” Linda picked a piece of what looked like pizza cheese off her pants. “I hoped we’d have a chance to meet our new grandson this evening, but it looks like that isn’t going to happen.”

“You sound excited,” Travis said. “I’d think after four grandchildren, welcoming another one into the world would be old hat.”

“Oh, honey.” Linda placed a hand on his sleeve. “I’m sure seeing babies born every day desensitizes you, but just wait until it’s your own flesh and blood. There’s no greater thrill.”

Travis sensed Mary Karen’s eyes on him. He smiled. “I’m sure you’re right. Some day.”

Linda’s eyes brightened. “Don’t wait too long—”

“Linda, the man needs to find a wife first,” Bob interrupted. “Love, then marriage,
then
babies. Everything in its proper order.”

Beside him, Travis felt Mary Karen tense. That hadn’t been the way it had gone for her that first time. He knew she still felt guilty for putting the proverbial cart before the horse.

“That’s the ideal.” Travis placed a reassuring hand on Mary Karen’s shoulder but kept his attention on her parents. “But I think we all agree that children, however and whenever they show up, are always a blessing.”

Linda shot her husband a quelling glance before turning to her daughter. “Of course they are.”

“Speaking of your grandsons,” Mary Karen said. “They’ll be up with the roosters so I better be getting to bed.”

“Sleep well, sweetheart.” Linda gave her daughter another hug. “We’ll see you at church.”

“I’ll pick you up at eight,” Travis said to Mary Karen, earning startled looks from all three.

“You don’t go to church.” Mary Karen gave voice to what her parents were obviously thinking.

“I go,” he said. “Just not that often. But I made it my New Year’s resolution to attend regularly.”

“It’s June,” Mary Karen reminded him.

“Never too late to work on a resolution.” He shot her
a wink. “Actually, why don’t I stop by about seven-thirty and help you get the boys ready?”

“That’s so nice of you, Travis.” Linda smiled at her husband. “Isn’t that sweet of him, Bob?”

Mary Karen’s father nodded, but there was a curiosity in his eyes that told Travis the man sensed something more was going on here.

“Are you sure?” Mary Karen asked as Travis headed to the door with her parents. “I mean you have to drive all the way home tonight then back over here in the morning. That’s a lot of driving.”

Travis paused, his hand on the doorknob. He cocked his head. “Are you suggesting I spend the night?”

Linda and Bob turned as one, their shocked gazes shifting from him to their daughter.

“Absolutely not,” Mary Karen stammered.

“Travis, I hardly think that would be appropriate—” Linda began.

“I thought if Mary Karen was worried about time, I’d stay and sleep on the couch.” He smiled brightly. “But you’re right. Unless we’re married, spending the night wouldn’t be appropriate.”

Mary Karen made a little choking sound, and he knew if he was close enough he’d have gotten another kick to the shins. But this was part of his plan. Her parents needed to begin thinking of them as a couple. That way they wouldn’t be so shocked when they heard he was already their son-in-law and the father of M.K.’s fourth child.

M
ary Karen caught the look of surprise on her sister-in-law’s face the second July walked into the church and saw Travis. Mary Karen wasn’t sure if it was seeing him in church when it wasn’t a holiday or seeing him sitting beside her. Moving over to make room for July and her brother, Mary Karen took Adam from David while he helped his wife get settled into the pew.

Adam squirmed in her arms, reaching out for his cousins.

“Let him go.” July pushed her hair back from her face, looking exhausted although the day was only beginning. “David will grab him if he gets out of control.”

Travis, who sat on Mary Karen’s other side, lifted the boy from her arms. “I’ll watch him.”

Adam blinked solemnly at Travis, until Travis made a face that caused the child to squeal with delight and spit up all over the front of his new white shirt.

Travis glanced down. He opened his mouth then shut it.

Mary Karen’s eyes widened.

Her brother smiled, tossed Travis a cloth diaper and took back his son.

“What’s with you two?” July whispered in her ear. “Are you together?”

“No, no, no,” Mary Karen whispered back. “Absolutely not.”

She rose to her feet for the opening hymn, while Travis remained sitting, scrubbing baby puke off the front of his expensive shirt.

The fact that Travis didn’t complain told Mary Karen that he was up to something. If she had to hazard a guess she’d say he was trying to convince her that he wanted to be a family man. She knew better. She knew
him.

Mary Karen knew she probably should have called Travis’s cell after he left last night and told him not to bother coming this morning. Letting him attend church with her and the boys only gave him false hope that she would weaken and eventually give in. She couldn’t. Mary Karen had to look out for what was best for her boys.

From the moment Connor and Caleb had made their appearance in this world, her children had become her priority. Their welfare always came first.

She’d tried to make her marriage work. Her father had been such a big part of her life that she’d wanted the same for her sons. But when Steven had decided he wanted out, there had been no changing his mind. Before he left he’d confessed he never wanted to marry her. In fact, he said he’d been planning to break up with her the day she’d announced she was pregnant.

Mary Karen clenched her teeth. So she hadn’t been
what he’d wanted. He hadn’t exactly been her Prince Charming, either. She shoved the bad memories aside and sang with extra fervor.

The sermon followed the second hymn. Mary Karen caught sight of her parents sitting near the front with their Bible study group. She gave her mom a little wave, feeling surprisingly relaxed.

With Travis keeping the boys under control, Mary Karen was able to listen without her attention being pulled in three different directions.

By the time church was over, Travis looked a little frazzled. But he immediately accepted David’s invitation to breakfast at The Coffee Pot while the boys were in Sunday School.

Mary Karen stopped beside her ten-year-old minivan and held out the keys. “Want to drive?”

His BMW had been left at her house. They’d had no choice but to take her vehicle to church because a two-seater didn’t cut it for two adults and three children.

“Go ahead.” Travis opened the driver’s side door for her and grinned. “Ethel likes you better than me.”

When the blue van had first come off the showroom floor, Mary Karen’s father had christened her “Ethel” because of the resemblance to a certain blue-haired, great-aunt in Ohio. The name had stuck.

Then, when Mary Karen had announced she was pregnant with Logan, her dad had given Ethel to her and Steven.

Her parents had known there would be no way they’d be able to get
three
car seats into their Chevy sedan. Ethel had been a generous and much needed gift. Yet, in Mary Karen’s mind, the van’s arrival had also marked the beginning of the end of her marriage.

As Steven had walked around the vehicle, listening to
her dad extol Ethel’s many features, his resentful gaze had sought hers. Something had told her he didn’t plan to be around long enough to worry about that third baby seat.

Carting around three children in a used minivan wasn’t what Steven had envisioned when he’d graduated from college a few years earlier. According to him, his life was one big disappointment beginning with the day they’d said their vows.

His once perky sorority girl didn’t want to go out and party with him. She wanted to take care of her twin babies and, when she did have some spare time, catch up on her sleep.

“Having trouble getting into the monster truck?” Travis’s teasing voice jolted her back to the present. “If you need help, I’ll be happy to give you a boost.”

His hand cupped her backside, sparking all sorts of interesting thoughts, none of them appropriate for a church parking lot.

“I’m good.” Ignoring the sensations, Mary Karen hopped into the van and hurriedly slid behind the steering wheel.

Travis chuckled and shut the door behind her. “Coward.”

During the short drive to the downtown café, Mary Karen’s thoughts kept returning to her failed marriage. She’d always taken responsibility for her part, but perhaps Steven was right. Maybe it
had
been all her fault.

By the time she found a parking space and they walked to the restaurant, even the bright skies overhead couldn’t bolster her sagging mood.

They were almost to the door when Travis paused, his gaze surveying her slowly from head to toe. “I don’t
know if I mentioned it before but you look extra pretty today. Blue is definitely your color.”

A spurt of pleasure shot through Mary Karen’s veins. Her mother had told her the same thing when she’d purchased the dress on one of their rare shopping trips to the mall. “Thank you.”

Travis continued to gaze appreciatively at the wraparound dress that showed just a hint of cleavage. “Yep, very pretty. You’re obviously feeling better.”

He took her arm and they stepped aside to let an older couple pass by them on the sidewalk.

“The nausea is pretty much gone,” she admitted. “I’m not quite so tired.”

“You’re a strong woman, M.K.,” he said. “I’ve always admired that about you.”

Another compliment? Mary Karen wasn’t quite sure what was going on but the somber mood, which had wrapped itself around her shoulders like a heavy shawl, slipped to the sidewalk to pool at her feet.

“What are you two doing out here?” David called out as he sauntered up with his son in his arms and his very pregnant wife beside him. “You should be inside getting us a table.”

“I saw you parking,” Travis said easily, moving to the door and opening it. “Decided we might as well enjoy the nice weather and wait for you.”

He and David followed Mary Karen and July inside.

“Table for four and a highchair, please,” David told the hostess.

“Are Lexi and Nick coming?” Mary Karen had seen the couple in church seated toward the front. But when she’d looked for them after the service, they’d disappeared.

“I called Lex on the way over here. Apparently Addie
isn’t feeling well,” July said. “They skipped out during the final hymn.”

Nine-year-old Addie had been born during Lexi’s last year in graduate school. Lexi and Addie’s father had never married and for a long time Lexi believed there would be no happily ever after for her. Then she’d met Nick and they fell in love. Now he was her husband and in less than a month they’d be welcoming a baby into their family.

Though happy for her friend, Mary Karen couldn’t help being the teensiest bit jealous. Until her trip to Vegas, she’d still secretly hoped that someday a man would come into her life and sweep her off her feet. A man who’d love her sons as much as Nick loved Addie. A man who’d look at her like Nick looked at Lexi, or David looked at July.

Okay, so maybe she hadn’t really believed it would happen, but she’d
hoped.
Now that dream was gone.

All because she couldn’t keep her hands off the man pulling out her chair. Mr. Right for sex. Mr. Wrong, Wrong, Wrong for marriage.

She’d barely sat down when July motioned to her. “Come with me to the bathroom.”

A shiver of warning skittered up Mary Karen’s spine, but she pushed back her chair and rose to her feet. She only hoped this down-the-hall jaunt had more to do with her sister-in-law’s bladder than her desire to play Twenty Questions.

Keeping secrets had never been Mary Karen’s style. She was used to talking out her concerns with friends and family. That’s why she’d confided in July. She’d known her friend would understand. After all, July had been single when she’d gotten pregnant with Adam. But
that didn’t mean that Mary Karen wanted to talk about her “situation” this morning.

The bathroom was a single stall, a fact Mary Karen felt sure July had forgotten until her sister-in-law pulled her inside and locked the door.

“What are you doing?” Mary Karen resisted the sudden urge to giggle. She hadn’t hung out in a restroom with a girlfriend since she’d been in her teens. “There’s barely enough room for one much less—”

“Four?” July leaned back against the sink, her belly bearing a strong resemblance to Connor’s basketball.

Mary Karen had been about to say “three” but July was right. Two babies. Two baby mamas.

“I heard you went with Travis to the awards ceremony last night.” July’s eyes sparkled with curiosity. “I also heard he wanted to spend the night.”

“It wasn’t like that at all,” Mary Karen protested, then stopped. “Where did you hear all this anyway?”

“From your mother.” July’s lips lifted in an innocent smile. “Want to know what else she told me?”

Mary Karen pretended to shudder. “I’m afraid to ask.”

“Linda thinks Travis is falling in love with you. And—”

“She did not say that,” Mary Karen interrupted.

“Yes, she did.” July nodded her head decisively. “She thinks there’s definitely something different in the way Travis looks at you.”

Mary Karen shoved down the hope the words had fueled, angry at July for bringing it up and even angrier at herself for wanting it to be true.

“Well, Mom is mistaken,” Mary Karen said in a flat tone.

A knock sounded at the door. “Is someone in there?”

July blew out an exasperated breath. “Yes, someone is in here,” she called out. “That’s why the door is locked.”

“We should let her in.” Mary Karen started forward but July dashed in between her and the door, showing surprising speed and agility for a woman carrying an extra thirty pounds out front.

“Oh, no, you don’t.” July put her hands on her hips, her green eyes flashing. “You’re not leaving this room until you tell me why I had to find out from my husband that you and Travis are married.”

Mary Karen heard the hurt in her friend’s voice, saw it on her face. It was now clear what had prompted this little private party in the restroom.

The reason she hadn’t said anything to July, or any of her other close friends about her Vegas wedding, was simple. Knowing how strongly they believed in honoring marriage vows, she was afraid they’d encourage her to give Travis a chance.

“How did David find out?” she asked, buying herself a little more time.

“Travis told him,” July said pointedly. “You on the other hand, told me about the baby but not that you married the guy. Seems like a rather important fact to omit.”

With a resigned sigh, Mary Karen put the seat down on the toilet and gestured for July to sit. Then she began to pace, or as much as one could pace in such a tiny room. “Getting pregnant was one thing. Marrying Travis—a man who has always made it very clear how he felt about being tied down—was plain stupid.”

July raised a hand. “Yet, for all his talk about being against marriage, Travis willingly stood in front of a preacher and said his vows.”

Since July seemed to expect an answer, Mary Karen settled for a nod. “Well, we’d had a couple drinks—”

“Was he drunk?”

“No.” Mary Karen stopped pacing, but kept her face turned from her sister-in-law’s probing gaze. “He wasn’t.”

When Mary Karen looked back on that night, it was that part that still puzzled her. Why
had
Travis said those vows? In fact, he’d been the one who’d brought up getting married, not her.

“I think Linda is right.” July brought a finger to her lips, her gaze turning thoughtful. “I think Travis does love you. And I think he wanted to marry you. Now he’s scared. But he’ll come around. He won’t let you go through this pregnancy alone.”

“It’s not him,” Mary Karen grudgingly admitted. “I’m the one who wants the divorce.”

“Divorce?” July’s voice rose. “How can you be talking divorce? You just got married.”

Her sister-in-law’s response was just as she’d expected. Still, Mary Karen was determined to make her see reason. To understand why staying married wasn’t an option.

“Travis never wanted a family. You know that. I know that.” Mary Karen resisted the urge to sigh. “Heck, there isn’t a person in Jackson who doesn’t know that.”

“People change,” July said softly. “They fall in love.”

“Not him.”

“Are you sure about that?” Her sister-in-law’s tone turned serious. “Enough that you’re willing to bet your future on it? Sure enough that you’re going to walk away from your marriage vows without giving him a chance?”

“It’s not just about me I’m thinking of, July. What about my boys?” Mary Karen thought about her con
versation with Joel the night of Travis’s welcome home party. “There’s nothing worse than a child being in a home where a stepparent doesn’t want them.”

“Travis Fisher adores your boys,” July reminded her. “He’d never do anything to hurt them.”

“He’s never said he loves me.” The words burst from Mary Karen’s lips before she could stop them. “Not once. Not even on our wedding day.”

“Ah, now we’re getting to the heart of the matter.” July’s gaze took on an understanding gleam and her expression softened. “I remember how I felt when I was unsure of David’s feelings.”

“I want a husband who loves me.” Mary Karen blinked back tears. “Is that so wrong? I don’t want to spend the next fifty years with someone who only stayed with me out of duty.”