Ready-Made Bride

by Janelle Denison

  “Yes?” He frowned, emphasizing his sudden apprehension.

  “Kane, I need to know, are you doing this for me?”

  He reached out and gently brushed his knuckles across her cheek in a feather caress. His eyes glowed with a deep, abiding emotion she’d never seen before. “No, I’m doing it for me, so I can put the past to rest. And for us, so we can be a family.”

  The heaviness weighing on her heart the past week lifted. No matter what happened here today, she knew they were going to make it together. Kane’s unselfish gesture was proof that he cared enough to make their marriage work.

  She followed him up the walkway. After he rang the doorbell, she slid her hand into his, giving him whatever support she could, even if it was a physical connection of warmth and love. He stared at the door as if it were a portal into his past and he wanted no part of it. His palm was damp against hers, and he shifted anxiously as they waited.

  “Are you nervous?” Stupid question, but she wanted to keep him talking so he didn’t freeze up when the door opened.

  “A little,” he admitted, then added wryly, “I’m fully expecting Patricia to slam the door in my face.”

  Luckily, Harold answered the door, looking at first startled, then concerned. “Is Andrew okay?”

  When Kane just stared without answering, Megan said, “Andrew’s fine.” Come on, Kane, don’t back out on me now!

  “Who is it, dear?” Patricia’s voice drifted from behind Harold, then she appeared next to her husband in the entryway. Her eyes widened when she saw who her guests were. The only word she managed to utter was a surprised,

  “Oh!”

  Kane retreated a small step, and Megan tightened her grip on his hand. She felt him take a deep breath, then he said on a rush of expelled air, “Patricia, can we come in? We…I’d like to talk to you and Harold.”

  Patricia fingered the string of pearls around her neck, her mouth pursing. “Whatever you have to say, you can say it from where you are.”

  Megan’s gaze shot to Harold, silently imploring his assistance before they lost what little ground they’d gained.

  “Give the man a chance, Patty,” Harold said hastily. “Come on in, both of you.” Grabbing his wife firmly by the arm, he led them all into the living room.

  They sat opposite each other on the couch and matching love seat. Patricia shifted uncomfortably on the sofa cushion, Kane rubbed his palms down his jeans-clad thighs, and Harold gave Megan a helpless look that said, Now what are we supposed to do?

  Awkward was a generous description for the tension filling the room. She prompted Kane with a gentle nudge to his side.

  He cleared his throat and stopped the nervous motion of his hands by clenching his fingers into his thighs. “There’s…” His voice cracked and he cleared it again. “There’s something I need to tell the both of you,” he said in a steady, determined tone. “Something I should have told you a long time ago. I…I’m illiterate.”

  There was a moment of silence as Harold and Patricia stared in disbelief.

  “Good God!” Harold said, looking more miffed than appalled by Kane’s declaration.

  A horrified expression transformed Patricia’s expression. “You can’t read?”

  Megan winced at her high-pitched, condescending tone and fought the urge to jump up and defend her husband.

  “No, I can’t,” Kane replied calmly.

  Patricia’s hand fluttered to her pearls. “You can’t be serious!”

  “I’m very serious.” He took a deep breath, as if to build up more fortitude to continue. “It’s the reason I had to refuse the job Harold offered me at the bank.”

  Patricia gasped. “But…but Cathy never told us!”

  “She led us to believe you flat-out refused the job because you didn’t want to accept any handouts. It was never a handout, Kane.”

  “I know.” Kane’s mouth stretched into a grim line. “Cathy didn’t tell you the truth because she was humiliated that I couldn’t read and had to refuse the job. She didn’t want anyone to know I was illiterate, and I was too embarrassed to say anything.”

  Harold cocked his head curiously. “So why are you telling us this now?”

  Kane looked at Megan, and she gave him an encouraging smile that she hoped conveyed all the love in her heart.

  He met his in-laws’ gazes. “Because I was hoping we could bury the hatchet and start over with a clean slate.”

  “Don’t you think you’re five years too late?” Patricia stood, tears brimming in her eyes. “This hardly brings Cathy back!”

  “I’m sorry about Cathy,” Kane said with quiet compassion. “But I’m not responsible for her death. I loved her while we were married, but she’s gone, and nothing any of us say or do will change what has happened.”

  “Cathy was all we had!” The accusation escaped on a watery sob of despair and maternal anguish.

  “I know.” Kane hung his head for a moment, hands clasped between spread thighs, then raised his gaze to Patricia’s. “All we have left of Cathy is Andrew, and I know he loves all of us. Can we try and be friends, or at least be civil with one another, for his sake?”

  Harold grabbed his wife’s trembling hand and gently tugged her to the sofa beside him. “I think we should try,” he said to his wife.

  “I do, too,” Megan echoed.

  Patricia broke down, clinging to her husband for comfort. “I love that little boy more than anything!”

  “Then let the resentment go, Patricia,” Megan said. “There’s no reason we can’t be a family together.”

  “Family?” Patricia’s voice cracked with uncertainty.

  “Yes, a family,” Kane said, securing his hand within Megan’s. “Megan is my wife, and she’s a part of Andrew’s life now, too. We come as a complete package.”

  “We’ll take it,” Harold said before his wife could issue any objections. “This rift has gone on too long. It’s time that it ends, here and now.”

  Much to everyone’s surprise, Patricia gave a shaky nod and whispered, “Yes, it’ll end here.”

  As soon as they entered the living room at home, Megan turned and wrapped her arms around her husband’s neck, positive the love and adoration she felt for him was reflected in her eyes. “I’m very proud of you.”

  His hands swept down her spine, molding her body to his. His gaze was clear, free of the emotional barriers that had kept them separated for so long. “Yeah?”

  She nodded, threading her fingers through the soft hair at the nape of his neck. “You were wonderful.”

  “How wonderful?” he asked, his darkening gaze zeroing in on her mouth.

  She liked this new, unreserved Kane. “Wonderful enough to make me want to kiss you.”

  “Yeah?” he asked huskily.

  She smiled, welcoming the warm, melting sensation pooling low in her belly. “Yeah.”

  “Go ahead,” he murmured, lashes falling to half-mast. “Show me how wonderful I was.”

  He was a scoundrel, but she loved him, and she certainly couldn’t refuse his request. She drew his head down, and their lips met and parted on twin sighs. The silken slide of his tongue against hers sent a shiver coursing down her spine, ending where his hands linked and held her to him.

  There was an awesome tenderness to the kiss, a special spark that transcended everything they’d shared before this day. No longer did she taste a loneliness that made her ache, and the need she sensed was of a different variety-more intimate and less urgent, as if they had the rest of their lives to satisfy every craving they had for one another.

  He lifted his mouth from hers, but she didn’t mind, because she knew there would always be more, anytime she wanted it. She slid her hands down until they pressed against the strength of his chest. The wild heartbeat beneath her palms matched the staccato rhythm of hers.

  He rested his forehead against hers, both of them breathless but in no hurry to rush the inevitable when they had the rest of the day and night alone.

/>   “There’s something very important I want to ask you,” he said.

  “Anything.”

  He chuckled, his grin a combination of wickedness and sin. “I’ll hold you to that later, sweetheart, but for now… I want to know if you’ll help me learn to read.”

  His hesitant request touched her. “I would have been hurt if you hadn’t asked me.”

  Relief relaxed his features. He pulled back to look in her eyes but didn’t let go of her. If anything, his hold tightened. “There’s so much I want to do, so much I’ve missed as a result of being illiterate. I want to experience it all. With you.”

  “I’d like that. Very much.” She smiled, tilting her head. “You know, there’s something I’ve been wondering.”

  “What’s that?”

  “How do you manage everyday life without being able to read?” She felt her cheeks flush at her personal question, but Kane didn’t seem to mind. “I mean, everywhere you look there’s something that requires reading of some sort.”

  “You rely on other talents.” He shrugged, not knowing any other way to deal with his handicap. “I’m not exactly proud of how I’ve gotten by, but you learn where your limitations are and stay within them. You recognize labels, signs, packaging, that sort of thing.”

  She found that aspect of his life fascinating, but knew something better lay ahead for him. “You won’t have to do that any longer.”

  “Mm.” He claimed her lips and kissed her again. When he finally lifted his head, a pleasant buzz shimmered through her body.

  “There’s something else I forgot to tell you,” he said, nuzzling the sensitive spot just below her ear.

  She automatically tensed, thinking he had more secrets he hadn’t shared with her. “There’s more?” she asked cautiously.

  “Yeah, lots more.” His lips skimmed her throat, and his hands began to roam. “Lots of love,” he murmured.

  Cupping his face in her hands, she made him look at her. Striking green eyes shone with desire and a more powerful emotion that stole her breath.

  “What are you saying, Kane?” she whispered, afraid to put too much stock in his words or that wonderfully cherishing look in his gaze.

  “That I love you, Megan Fielding,” he said, as if she should have known.

  Her heart soared, and tears of joy filled her eyes. “Oh, Kane, I love you, too.”

  “Oh, and there’s more.”

  This time she wasn’t worried. Releasing her, he dug into the front pocket of his jeans and withdrew a ring-not her wedding band, but a new band encircled with glittering diamonds.

  The elegant, extravagant gift astonished her. Peeling her gaze from the ring, she looked at Kane. “It’s absolutely beautiful, but you didn’t have to, I mean, it must have cost a small fortune, and I don’t need anything fancy. Your mother’s simple gold wedding band is just fine-”

  “I wanted you to have it,” he said, cutting off her babbling. “And you’re worth every penny. To hell with being practical.”

  Practical? She raised a brow. “Am I missing something here?”

  “I told myself that I married you for practical reasons, but our marriage has been anything but practical.”

  “Or predictable.”

  “Especially predictable.” He grinned, but his gaze was soft with the love he’d professed. “Practical bit the dust the moment I realized I love you. Now we’re partners.”

  “I like the sound of that.”

  He picked up her left hand and slid the ring onto her ring finger, making her his wife once again. “The woman at the jewelry store told me they call it an eternity band. And since you’re stuck with me for eternity, I thought it was appropriate.”

  “Very appropriate.” She laughed and threw her arms around him for a hug as warm as sunshine, and a soul-deep kiss that wrapped around their hearts.

  They came up for air, and Kane gazed at her reverently. “Ah, Megan, I didn’t realize how lonely and empty I was until you came into my life. I love you and I need you,” he said, his voice rough with passion. “But right now, at this moment, I want you.”

  She gave him a sultry, upswept glance full of sass and desire. “How much do you want me?”

  “More than my next breath.”

  And then she stole his breath with a kiss that promised an eternity of love and laughter and tender, special memories.

  Andrew could hardly believe his eyes. His mom and dad were talking to Grandma and Grandpa Linden. And they were all smiling!

  The church bells tolled, announcing the beginning of Sunday service. Everyone started filtering into the white building. Megan turned, her gaze scanning the yard. When she found him playing with Corey and Tanner, she smiled and waved at him to come join the family.

  He skipped toward them, joy nearly filling him to bursting. He had a family! It had taken some time, and his father had been very stubborn at first about Megan, but he’d known his dad would eventually fall in love with her. How could he not?

  He slipped his hand into Megan’s and beamed at her. He had a mom he loved. His dad had a wife who made him laugh and smile a lot. At night, when they thought he was sleeping, he heard their soft laughter and whispered words drifting from the living room. And his grandma and grandpa weren’t angry with his dad anymore.

  He’d found the perfect woman for all of them.

  Now, there was only one thing left to do. He glanced at Megan and blurted, “When can I have a brother or sister?”

  His mom blushed and his dad chuckled. Delight sparkled in Grandpa’s eyes, and a smile touched Grandma’s mouth.

  His mom and dad exchanged that special look he’d seen them share before, then his dad ruffled his hair. “We’ll get to work on it, son,” he promised.

  Andrew grinned. He could hardly wait for the stork to arrive.

  EPILOGUE

  “ANDY Gets a New Sister.” Kane read the title of Megan’s new book out loud to his audience of two. The words were slow and precise, but his voice was strong, clear and steady. He flipped open the book and showed the bright, colorful illustrations to the two kids sitting on either side of him before beginning the story about Andy’s newest adventure.

  Megan leaned against the door frame to Andrew’s room and smiled at the cozy scene within, a content feeling adding to the love she harbored for her family. She’d received her advance copy of Andy Gets a New Sister that afternoon and was pleased with the book and the illustrations that depicted Andrew and his two-and-a-half-year-old sister, Emily.

  While Kane read the story, Andrew interjected comments, explaining to his little sister about the exciting adventures Andy got himself into, and that when she got older, he’d show her his entire collection of books. And maybe he’d take her on an adventure all their own so their mother could write about it.

  Emily, with her big blue eyes and silky raven hair, alternately stared in awe at her big brother, then Kane, clutching the teddy bear Andrew had given her the day she’d been born.

  They were outgrowing their little house. Andrew shared his room with Emily, but they’d decided to expand another two rooms, one for Andrew and one for her office. She was quickly outgrowing her small corner in the bedroom and needed her own space, especially now that she’d received approval from her editor to start another children’s series, this one entitled Emily’s Escapades.

  Life was good. The past three years had been a lot of bard work, filled with frustrating moments and arguments-Kane could be so stubborn!-but the love her family shared and the close bond they’d established more than made up for any hardship.

  Kane read the last page, then closed the book and looked up, meeting her gaze. He gave her a private smile that still had the ability to make her feel sparks of excitement and anticipation, then he stood, his focus on the kids.

  “Okay, kiddos, time for bed,” he said. “We’ve got church tomorrow.”

  Andrew bounced off Emily’s bed and into his own. Megan kissed him and wished him sweet. dreams while Kane did the
same to Emily, then they switched children.

  Megan tucked the covers around Emily and kissed her brow.

  “See Gama and Poppa Linden ‘marrow, Mama?” Emily asked brightly.

  Megan smiled. “Yes, sweetie, you’ll see Grandma and Grandpa Linden tomorrow after church.”

  The Lindens had adopted Emily as another grandchild. Not only did Andrew and Emily spend Sundays with their grandparents, the Lindens dropped by regularly to visit. It had taken some time for Patricia to become comfortable with the family thing, but Megan had gone out of her way to make her welcome in their home. Her patience and persistence had paid off. Now, a couple times a week Patricia “found herself in the area” and dropped in to say hello. Megan saw through the woman’s ploy and thought it quite cute the way she made excuses for her visits. Funny how she always had a little something with her for the kids.

  “‘Night,” Megan said, and received two sleepy replies. She snapped off the light and closed the door halfway. She headed toward the living room, but as she passed Kane he snagged her hand and pulled her in the opposite direction… toward their bedroom. She didn’t protest.

  “Emily’s growing so fast,” Megan said from the middle of the bedroom.

  “And she’s just as beautiful as her mother.” He locked their door with a soft click and gave her a sexy smile that made her bare toes curl. Slowly, he approached her, and her heart raced at the predatory gleam in his eyes.

  “Ready for another one?” he asked as his fingers deftly unbuttoned her blouse, revealing a champagne-colored satin bra and more satin skin. His mouth glanced off her shoulder as he pushed the garment down her arms to pool on the floor.

  She gasped and let her head fall back so he could taste more of her. “Maybe one more,” she managed. “Once your shop gets established.”

  Kane had finally succumbed to her urging to do what he loved. Learning to read had given him the confidence to reach for his dreams. With Harold’s help he acquired a business loan from the bank, then opened a small shop in town for cabinetry. So far, business had been steady. Twice a week in the evenings Kane attended adult education classes and planned to eventually get his high school diploma.