Pregnant & Practically Married (The Bridal Circle #3)
Page 1
“Why not pretend we’re engaged?”
Letter to Reader
Title Page
Dedication
Books by Andrea Edwards
About the Author
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Epilogue
Copyright
“Life is never dull in this small Indiana town where
love and laughter seem the order of the day!
A priceless new series.”
—Rendezvous
“Why not pretend we’re engaged?”
Karin said, her words tumbling out in a rush.
“This is insane, ma’am,” Jed told her. “What about the father of your baby? What if he should come around?”
“His lawyers assured me he won’t.”
“Calling him a swine or a snake don’t seem fair to the animals,” Jed said, his hands fisting in anger at his sides. Karin laughed, and suddenly Jed found himself staring at her mouth and wondering what it would be like to kiss her. Staring at her hair and wondering what it would feel like to run his fingers—
He jerked back on his reins and held himself steady. He had a decision to make. One week and a little white die...
Jed gazed into Karin’s blue eyes, took her hand in his. “If you’ll have me as your intended for the next week, I’d be honored, ma’am.”
“If you’re going to be my husband, maybe you should stop calling me ma’am....”
Dear Reader,
Welcome to Special Edition... where each month we offer six wonderful new romances about people just like you—striving to find the perfect balance between life, career, family and, of course, love...
Those dynamic MONTANA MAVERICKS are back with brand-new stories to tell! Reader-favorite Christine Rimmer launches Special Edition’s continuity, MONTANA MAVERICKS: RETURN TO WHITEHORN. In Cinderella’s Big Sky Groom, a virginal beauty enters into a pretend engagement with the prince of her dreams. Then in December, the passion—and peril—continues in our 2-in-1 Special Edition book, A Montana Mavericks Christmas, featuring 2 brand-new novellas by Susan Mallery and Karen Hughes.
Also this November, look for The No-Nonsense Nanny by Penny Richards, about the trials and tribulations of a feisty nanny looking for a fresh start and a second chance with the town’s sexy sheriff.
Silhouette’s majestic five-book cross-line continuity, ROYALLY WED, begins with A Royal Baby on the Way. In this first installment by Susan Mallery, a headstrong princess searches for the missing crown prince ..and finds herself inthe family way! Follow the series next month in Silhouette Intimate Moments. And sparks fly in Cowboy Boots and Glass Slippers by Jodi O’Donnell when a modern-day Cinderella finally meets her match
Rounding off the month, Yours for Ninety Days by Barbara McMahon is an evocative story about a mysterious loner who finds sweet solace with an enticing innocent. And an unlikely twosome find themselves altar-bound in Pregnant & Practically Married by Andrea Edwards—book three in the adorable THE BRIDAL CIRCLE miniseries.
Enjoy these unforgettable romances created by women like you, for women like you!
Sincerely,
Karen Taylor Richman
Senior Editor
Please address questions and book requests to:
Silhouette Reader Service
U.S : 3010 Walden Ave., PO Box 1325, Buffalo, NY 14269
Canadian: P.O. Box 609, Fort Erie, Ont. L2A 5X3
ANDREA EDWARDS
PREGNANT & PRACTICALLY MARRIED
To all the wonderful people in Chesterton, Indiana, for always making us feel at home when we visit their little bit of Oz.
While Chesterton, Indiana, does host a wonderful Wizard of Oz Festival each year, the authors have taken some liberty with the history and actual events of the festival.
Books by Andrea Edwards
Silhouette Special Edition
Rose in Bloom #363
Say It With Flowers #428
Ghost of a Chance #490
Violets Are Blue #550
Places in the Heart #591
Make Room for Daddy #618
Home Court Advantage #706
Sweet Knight Times #740
Father: Unknown #770
Man of the Family #809
The Magic of Christmas #856
Just Hold On Tight! #883
*A Ring and a Promise #932
*A Rose and a Wedding Vow #944
*A Secret and a Bridal Pledge #956
Kisses and Kids #981
†On Mother’s Day #1029
†A Father’s Gift #1046
†One Big Happy Family #1064
Christmas Magic #1144
‡The Paternity Question #1175
‡Who Will She Wed? #1181
**If I Only Had a...Husband #1246
**Secret Agent Groom #1264
**Pregnant & Practically Married #1283
Silhouette Intimate Moments
Above Suspicion #291
Silhouette Desire
Starting Over #645
*This Time, Forever
†Great Expectations
‡Double Wedding
**The Bridal Circle
ANDREA EDWARDS
is the pseudonym of Anne and Ed Kolaczyk, a husband-and-wife writing team who have been telling their stories for more than fifteen years. Anne is a former elementary school teacher, while Ed is a refugee from corporate America. After many years in the Chicago area, they now live in a small town in northern Indiana where they are avid students of local history, family legends and ethnic myths. Recently they have both been bitten by the gardening bug, but only time will tell how serious the affliction is. Their four children are grown, but remaining at home with Anne and Ed are two dogs, four cats and one bird—not the same ones that first walked through their stories but carrying on the same tradition of chaotic rule of the household nonetheless.
(BEEP): Hi, Mom, it’s me, Karin. Looks like we’re playing phone tag. I just got your message about finding that box of memorabilia from my old high school club, The Bridal Circle. Remember when my girlfriends and I used to plan our perfect weddings? Anyway, I’ve given up on the perfect wedding—or any wedding, for that matter. Recycle it, will you?
Can’t wait to see you, Mom, and the old hometown. But please, please, don’t try to fix me up on a date while I’m home. Especially with any guy wearing a Stetson and spurs.
Maybe I should warn you now...I’ve got a humdinger of a surprise. Are you sitting down? How do you like the sound of Grandma? See you soon—love you!
Prologue
Karin rolled over in her sleeping bag and stared out through the screen door at the moonlit farmyard. The lights were out in the family room, and the four girls were all stretched out in their sleeping bags. Penny, Heather and Dorothy were asleep but Karin was still wide awake. Wide awake and irritated.
The best part of Penny’s slumber party was over and they’d never told the ghost stories Karin had wanted to tell. No, instead they’d spent hours planning their stupid weddings.
That had been the biggest waste of time ever. They were in high school and none of them even had a real boyfriend, so what was the big deal?
“Karin, are you awake?” Dorothy whispered.
Karin rolled back over. Dorothy’s sleeping ba
g was right next to hers, and even in the darkness she could see that Dorothy’s eyes were open.
“I thought you were asleep.”
Dorothy shook her head. “I ate too much popcorn. If I go to sleep now, I’m going to have nightmares.”
“I’m going to have them from all that wedding talk,” Karin said. “I had the greatest ghost story I wanted to tell, too.”
Dorothy scooted a little closer. “You can tell me.”
Karin hesitated. The right mood for a ghost story had passed. Besides, she wanted to scare all three of her friends. “Maybe I’ll keep it until next time.”
“Okay.”
Dorothy rolled over on her back and was silent a long time. So long that Karin thought maybe she’d fallen asleep, but then she turned to Karin.
“Why didn’t you like planning our weddings?” she asked. “I would have thought...”
Karin sighed. “That I’d have all sorts of plans because I’ve been to so many?” she finished for Dorothy. “Maybe that’s just it. I’ve been to too many. The next time my mom gets married, I think I’ll skip it. Hey, it’s not like I won’t have the chance to see her get married again in a few years.”
“I like your mom,” Dorothy said.
Karin took her turn at being silent, then sighed again. She shouldn’t have spoken that way. It sounded mean, as though she didn’t care about her mother. “I like her, too. It’s those jerks she marries that I don’t like. Men are jerks and cowboys are scum.”
“Don’t say that,” Dorothy whispered, half raising herself on her elbow. “You know it’s not true. One day you’re going to marry a wonderful man and you’ll see that it’s not.”
Karin looked at the ceiling. “The only way I’m going to my wedding is on a team of wild horses,” she said. “I’m not ever going to fall for that love nonsense.”
“Never’s a long time,” Dorothy said.
“Not nearly long enough.”
“Would you two go to sleep?” Penny said from across the room, her voice groggy with sleep.
Dorothy lay back down and Karin turned to stare out the screen door. Her friends could make all the romantic plans for weddings they wanted to, but she wasn’t going to. She was never ever getting married because she was never ever falling in love.
It wasn’t just because she didn’t want to, but also because she didn’t think she could. She’d loved Hadley, her stepfather when she was six, but that hadn’t stopped him from making her and her mom both cry all the time. When her mom married Wally, the stepdad that came next, Karin let herself like him but she didn’t cry when he left, and she didn’t bother to like the stepfathers that came later. Liking someone was okay, unless you liked them too much. Then it was dumb. Loving someone was just plain idiotic.
She never had crushes on kids at school, thought Valentine’s Day was a waste of time and hated mushy TV shows and movies. She didn’t care if the kids at school said she had no heart, it was much better that way. No one would ever hurt her again.
Chapter One
“It’ll just be a minute more.” The young woman at the airport glanced briefly at the car-rental form the printer was spitting out, and flashed a warm smile Jed’s way. “Are you going to be in town for a while?”
He stared at her a long moment. It was only a little harmless flirting—something he used to be good at, and then good at fending off after he and Wendy had gotten married. But since her death last year, the whole idea of flirting left him cold.
“No, ma’am,” he said crisply. “We’re just passing through Chicago.”
“What a shame.” Her voice was more than a little inviting. She tore the form from the printer, putting it on the counter as she held out a pen. “If you’ll sign at the bottom, you and your little girl—”
The woman stopped speaking, her gaze suddenly off Jed and onto Lissa. Jed glanced down at his daughter. Damn, she’d taken off her sunglasses and her trademark big brown eyes were visible for everyone to see—and recognize. With a laugh that he hoped masked the fact he had no more air in his lungs, he turned back to the clerk.
“My heavens,” she was murmuring. “I just noticed. She looks exactly like that cereal girl on TV.”
“Yeah, we hear that a lot,” he said quickly and scribbled his name on the line. “Can’t see it myself though. Where’d you say we catch the shuttle to the parking lot?” He took a step to one side, blocking her view of Lissa.
The woman seemed to shake herself then smiled a more businesslike smile. “Just step through that door there and wait by the yellow sign. A courtesy bus will be along soon to take you to your car.”
He tried for a bit of the McCarron charm, flashing that lopsided grin that had left the ladies happy when he’d been on the rodeo circuit. “Thanks.” He grabbed the handle of the luggage cart and Lissa’s hand and hurried toward the exit.
“Put your sunglasses back on, darlin’,” he told his daughter under his breath. “Now.”
“She was very pretty,” Lissa pointed out as she put the glasses back on. “And we aren’t in any rush.”
“She recognized you.”
“I bet she would have liked to have lunch with us.”
Jed sighed as they went out into the warmth of mid-September in Chicago. A car-rental bus pulled away from the marked stop. Oh well, another would be along in a few minutes. Buses were one of the things in life that you could miss and count on another coming along.
“Why didn’t you call her darlin’? You used to call all the ladies darlin’ and now it’s only me.”
Jed frowned at his daughter. “The other ladies might not understand,” he said. “It’s just a word, and they might think I was interested in something more serious.”
“Mommy wouldn’t want you to be alone.”
“I’m not. I have you.”
“Daddy.” There was a hint of his Oklahoma drawl in her voice. “I’m growing up. I’m going to be leaving for college soon. And after that, I’ll be going to South America to save the rain forests. You have to find some friends of your own.”
“You’re eight. I’ve got time.”
“Not at the rate you’re going.”
He frowned at the darkening clouds, then stared down the bus lanes trying to see if another was coming, but the road was empty.
“Besides,” Lissa went on. “You’re getting older and that’s going to make it even harder for you to find friends.”
He fought the urge to point out he was only thirty-five—hardly over the hill—but he was not going to let Lissa distract him. He might not have mastered French braids yet, but he had learned Lissa was an expert at bait and switch.
“Look, you wanted to vacation like a regular kid,” he reminded her. “Without any Crunchy Flakes PR people handing out autographed pictures and security people holding back the crowds. I agreed to it, even though you’re missing school, but only if you’d stay unobtrusive. That meant sunglasses, dresses and a hat.”
“I hate sunglasses, and dresses are for sissies.”
Jed glanced around them. A couple had joined them at the bus stop but they had eyes only for each other. Jed looked away, his jaw tightening suddenly. He’d had that kind of love once, and never would again. One love to a customer and he’d lost his. He took a deep breath that brought him a lungful of exhaust fumes, but also some sanity.
“Dresses are fine,” he told Lissa. “Girls wear dresses all the time.”
“I don’t.”
No, she didn’t. Not in real life and not in the Crunchy Flakes commercials. That’s why he’d suggested dresses. As the Crunchy Flakes official spokesperson for the last two years, Lissa always wore jeans in the ads—her own designer label, “Lissa’s Line,” which were sold at better department stores. So a dress would be a different look. And the Crunchy Flakes people tinted her blond hair a brownish red and curled it into a riot of corkscrews that could barely be contained into two pigtails—so Jed had washed the tint out and combed her hair back into a ponytail for their
vacation. There was no way to hide those big brown eyes though—except with sunglasses. And she was going to keep those on. He was not going to risk Lissa being mobbed by fans and maybe hurt in the process. Not like that time in Albany when she’d been honorary chairperson of the Reading Adventure Program.
“Here comes the bus,” Jed said, grateful to see another yellow vehicle coming around the bend. “Pick up your bag.”
Lissa wrinkled her nose at him but she did as she was told. Would she do that as a teenager or would she fight him every step of the way? He’d been in some tough situations in his youth on the rodeo circuit, but none of them were as hard as being a widower and a single father.
The bus pulled up to the curb and they hopped on. He put their suitcases in the carrying rack, and tossed in Lissa’s overnight bag before taking a seat next to her. She was kneeling on the seat looking back at the airport terminal, her whole body alight with excitement and energy.
Jed sat back in the seat, a weary kind of contentment settling over him as he watched her. She had such a zest for life. Everything she did was an adventure that she shared with those around her. She just radiated enthusiasm until everyone fell under her spell.
He and Wendy hadn’t planned on Lissa becoming a celebrity. In fact, if they could have looked into the future, Jed wasn’t sure they would have agreed to her making that first commercial. They never dreamed that within months Lissa would be the featured spokesperson for the breakfast cereal, with guest spots on television shows and her own fan club. Or that a year later, Wendy would be gone.