Ready-Made Bride

“Oh, please do!” Diane said excitedly.

They talked for a few minutes longer. By the time Kane exited the bedroom and she handed him the phone so his sister could congratulate him on his new marriage, Megan felt as though she and Diane had forged the beginning of a friendship.

And as Megan sauntered into the kitchen to give Kane some privacy, she decided she liked having a real family of her own, complete with the sister she’d never had but always wanted.

CHAPTER EIGHT

KANE arrived home from work the following Thursday afternoon expecting Joyce’s car to be parked out front as it normally was. It wasn’t. He was surprised she’d left without her weekly pay, which he gave to her after he cashed his check on Thursdays. Maybe Megan had paid Joyce after her tutoring session with Andy, he thought, climbing out of his truck.

Megan. They’d been married less than a week, but already they’d settled into a comfortable pattern shared by married couples. He looked forward to coming home and seeing her, sitting at the kitchen table, eating dinner and talking about everyone’s day. Just like a real family. Andy had asked Megan if he could call her mom, and the delight and love shining in her eyes had warmed Kane. Despite his personal reservations about marrying Megan, he knew he’d done the right thing for his son.

He entered the kitchen, set his lunch box on the counter, then followed the voices drifting from the living room. Megan and Andy sat on the couch together with Andy reading from a textbook while Megan followed along and helped him pronounce the more complicated words.

“Where’s Joyce?”

Megan glanced up, startled.

Andy stopped reading and put a bookmark between the pages before closing it. “Hi, Dad. Joyce isn’t here.”

“She didn’t show up for your lesson?” It wasn’t like Joyce to be so irresponsible.

“She was right on time,” Megan said, straightening the school papers scattered on the coffee table. “I paid her for the week and sent her home.”

He stopped in the middle of the room, frowning. “Is she sick?”

“No.” Finally, Megan looked up, meeting his gaze. A hint of defiance shimmered in the depths. “I let her go.”

“You what?” His voice rose an octave.

Megan didn’t flinch. “I said I let her go.”

“As in she won’t be back?”

“Yes.”

He gaped at her, unable to believe she’d be so bold. He could feel his world shifting, throwing him off balance. He struggled to find even ground. “You let her go without asking me?”

“I thought we’d discuss it tonight,” she replied reasonably.

He wasn’t feeling reasonable. “I’d like to discuss it now.” He turned and strode into the kitchen.

He heard his son’s plea. “Mom, please make him understand.”

He heard Megan’s soft response. “I’ll try my best.”

He paced the floor, a jumbled mass of emotions twisting inside him. Needing a release, he vented his anger on Megan as soon as she entered the room.

“You had no right to get rid of Joyce.” He jammed his hands on his hips and pinned her with an incensed look. He knew he was acting irrational but he couldn’t help himself. “I hired a tutor for Andy for a reason!”

She crossed her arms over her chest, not backing down at his ferocious glare. “Which is?”

Kane froze. Too late, he realized his mistake. Only one reason managed to filter through his muddled mind. I want him to have all the advantages I never had as a kid I want him to be able to go to college and be successful one day. But he couldn’t voice his explanation because his reasons intertwined with his insecurities and childhood memories of forgetting school lessons. Of wanting to learn but being so overwhelmed by other responsibilities that he’d had to forfeit an education.

And now, as an adult, he paid for that sacrifice every day of his life. He’d vowed long ago that Andrew would never know the degradation and humiliation of not being academically inclined.

Of not knowing how to read.

But Megan seemed to understand even without knowing the truth. Her expression softened, and she approached him. “I know you want the best for Andrew, but I talked to Mrs. Graham today and found out he’s well above most of his classmates.”

“A tutor keeps him there,” he replied tightly.

“Andrew is a smart kid. He told me only the kids with learning disabilities have tutors.”

He released a harsh breath that whistled between his teeth. Turning away, he pushed his fingers through his hair, wondering if he’d inadvertently damaged his son’s self-confidence. He’d never intended to make Andy feel inferior, had only meant to give him every benefit possible. It pained him that he’d hurt his son that way, yet a part of him didn’t regret his decision.

“Dad?”

Kane looked at Andrew, who stood in the kitchen doorway, an uncertain expression on his face. “Yes?”

He fidgeted on his sneakered feet. “I don’t want Joyce to tutor me anymore.”

Kane couldn’t quite let go of his convictions. “Son, sometimes we have to do things we don’t like-”

Megan placed a firm hand on Kane’s arm, halting his lecture. “Kane, you need to listen to Andrew.”

He clenched his jaw, but he looked at his son.

“I like Joyce,” Andrew went on, “but it’s not like she teaches me things I don’t already know.”

“She helps you with your homework,” Kane pointed out. And that was something he couldn’t do.

Andrew’s gaze went from Kane to Megan. The two exchanged a look before he glanced at his dad again. “Mom can help me with my homework.”

Kane rubbed the taut muscles at the back of his neck, debating the merits of such an arrangement.

Megan’s fingers tightened around the corded muscles in his forearm. “Since I’m here when he gets home from school, I’ll be able to spend time reviewing his homework with him.”

“Please, Dad,” Andrew begged. “I don’t need Joyce. I got straight As on my last report card.”

“What if your grades start slipping?”

“If that happens, which I doubt,” Megan said wryly, letting Kane know with a pointed look that she wouldn’t allow it to happen, “then we’ll rehire Joyce.”

Kane could feel his arguments crumbling. He couldn’t protect Andrew forever, and he knew he needed to extend his son some trust or Andrew would grow to resent him and the tutoring. The only thing that eased his mind was that Megan would be able to monitor his progress.

“Deal?” Andrew asked enthusiastically, thrusting a hand toward Kane before he could formulate any more questions or change his mind.

Kane knew when he was beaten and accepted defeat gracefully. “Deal,” he muttered, and shook the hand Andrew offered.

“Andy, get dressed for church,” Kane called as he followed the delicious aroma of coffee down the hallway. “We’re leaving in half an hour.”

“Okay, Dad!” Andy darted around him to the bathroom, Sunday clothes in hand.

Kane entered the kitchen. Megan glanced from the tablet of paper in front of her, pen poised for jotting down items in a neat row.

“Good morning,” Kane greeted her cheerfully. He opened the refrigerator and peered at the meager contents.