Ready-Made Bride

“For one, Andrew will be home any time.”

“And for another?” he asked, wondering how many excuses she had lined up and how he could thwart each one so they could spend the rest of the day in bed.

She hesitated, then released a breath and said, “I invited the Lindens to dinner.”

CHAPTER TEN

KANE jerked back and stared at Megan, their warm, intimate aftermath quickly dissolving into chilling reality.

“You did what?” His deceptively calm voice belied the fury boiling just beneath the surface.

If his dark scowl concerned her, she didn’t show it. “I said, I invited Harold and Patricia to dinner,” she repeated easily, as if having his in-laws over for a social gathering was a weekly occurrence instead of a nonexistent event.

“That’s what I thought you said.” He moved off her, anger giving him a restless kick of adrenaline. He picked up his jeans from the floor and yanked them on.

She sat on the bed, her mussed hair tumbling around her face and shoulders. “Is there a problem with having them over?” Challenge laced her husky voice.

“A problem?” Incredulous laughter escaped him. “We don’t get along. We don’t like each other. They believe I killed their daughter! I’d call that a big problem.” He speared his fingers through his hair. “Christ, Megan, what possessed you to do something so stupid?”

He didn’t care for the determined tilt to her chin. “I don’t think it was stupid. You and your in-laws need to reconcile, and it certainly isn’t going to happen when you won’t even make the effort to be civil about the situation. Maybe bringing the three of you together will force you to clear the air and settle old grudges.”

“Hardly.” After Cathy died he’d tried to talk to Patricia, only to have his attempts spurned. Why would five years of separation make any difference? “I can’t believe Patricia agreed to this-” he sliced a hand in the air, struggling for an appropriate word “-this farce.”

She slid from the bed, slipped on a silky thigh-length robe and fastened the belt. “It’ll be a farce only if you make it one,” she said dryly.

He narrowed his gaze, keeping a tight focus on the issue at hand. “When were you gonna tell me about this little dinner party you planned?”

Picking up a brush from the dresser, she looked into the mirror and pulled the bristles through the tangles in her hair. “Just before they arrived.”

He swore. “How convenient.” Moving beside her, he grabbed a T-shirt from a dresser drawer and whipped it over his head. “Nothing like waiting till the last minute to spring your little surprise on me.”

She gave an exasperated sigh and tossed the brush down. “Look at you, Kane. This is precisely why I wasn’t going to tell you until the last minute. You’re getting all worked up for nothing.”

“Nothing?” He stood toe to toe with her, his voice rising in fury. “You know what’s going to happen when they get here? We’re either going to all sit around the living room and glare at one another, or insults and accusations are going to fly fast enough to make your head spin.”

“I was hoping we could talk.” She jammed her hands on her hips, irritation sparking in her gaze. “You know, maybe try and have a civil, dignified conversation.”

“About what? About how miserable I made Cathy? That I was responsible for her death? Great icebreaker, wouldn’t you say?” He whirled and paced the floor. “You saw how awkward things were at Andrew’s birthday party.”

She stepped in front of him, bringing his pacing to an abrupt stop. And then she touched him, gently placing her palm against his cheek. “Give it a chance. Please, Kane.”

Clenching his jaw, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her hand away, refusing to give in to the tender emotions weaving around his heart and breaking down his resistance. He’d do anything for Megan, he realized. Anything but this. “No. Nothing is going to change the past.”

“You’re right,” she conceded. “But you can change the future, if only you’d talk to Harold and Patricia-”

He dropped her hand. “No.”

“Fine. If you don’t do it for yourself, then do it for Andrew.”

Always Andrew. But how could he fault her for caring and loving his son? He couldn’t. She was an exceptional mother to Andrew, but he didn’t like her meddling in his life. “Andrew has adjusted and will continue to adjust to the situation.”

She folded her arms over her chest and scoffed at him. “That’s incredibly selfish of you to make him adjust when you have the ability to end the tension.”

“It’s not that simple, Megan.” He wished it was. Feeling caged in and edgy, he jammed on his boots, intending to get out of the house and away from Megan and her fallacy of happily ever after.

“You’re running again, Kane,” she said softly, with a perception that touched a vulnerable part of him.

He glared at her, automatically building a wall between them. It was the only way he knew how to preserve his pride. “Yeah? So what?”

She didn’t so much as flinch at his snappish tone. Her gaze held his steadily. “What I want to know is what you’re running from.”

His heart stopped and resumed at a frantic pace. “You don’t want to know.”

“That’s what you keep telling me, but why don’t you let me be the judge of that?”

Because the truth is what destroyed my first marriage. The truth is what stands between me and the Lindens. “The truth will only make matters worse.” He headed for the door.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw her step toward him, then stop. “Kane, where are you going?”

One hand on the door handle, he turned, cool mask in place. With effort, he blocked his emotions from the hurt and confusion in her gaze. “I’m going out. If you insist on having this dinner party, you’re gonna have to have it without me.”

“How come Dad didn’t come to church with us today?”

Megan turned her car onto the street heading into town and glanced at Andrew sitting beside her. “He had things to do around the house,” she lied. She didn’t have the heart to tell him Kane was upset with her. Again.

Andrew frowned, looking doubtful. “Like what?”

“I, uh…” No plausible excuse came to mind, especially when he’d been attending church with Andrew for years. “I think he just wanted some time alone.”

Ever since the dinner fiasco he’d been cool and distant, not that his withdrawal was anything new. The man’s emotional shields were strong, secure and instinctive. She was beginning to wonder if she stood a chance of permanently breaking them down.

After Kane had stormed out of the house and she’d regained her composure, she’d called Harold to cancel dinner. He’d been understanding but disappointed. He’d spent the past two weeks talking to Patricia about the situation, and although he didn’t think his wife was ready to completely forgive and forget the past, he believed in time she might be willing to accept some kind of reconciliation.

“Maybe I shouldn’t go to Grandma and Grandpa’s today,” Andrew said, looking way too serious for an eight- year-old. “I could stay home and we could make Dad some cookies, or maybe a cake.”

Megan smiled despite her heavy heart. “Honey, that’s a wonderful thought, but your grandparents look forward to their day with you.” And she wasn’t about to deny the Lindens the pleasure of their grandson. “You know that, don’t you?”

“Yeah, but sometimes I wish we could all do stuff together.” He hung his head and stared at his lap. “Corey says that his grandma and grandpa come over to his house all the time.” He lifted a confused gaze to her. “How come we don’t do things like that?”

Because your father is as stubborn as a mule. She sighed, gathering the words to