Confessions of the World's Oldest Shotgun Bride (19 page)

“But I wanted to spend the weekend catching up on my sleep. I need to get plenty of rest. For the baby,” she teased.

He laughed. “Hey, that’s my line.” He lifted a hand and stroked her cheek with his thumb. “Not to worry, you can sleep while I drive. How fast do you think I can crank up the ‘Vette on the interstate?”

* * *

Turning Kathryn’s Corvette loose on the empty, cop-free highways was a blast, but watching his bride tense up tighter than a guitar string wasn’t. With every mile, he felt the protective coat of ice around Katie’s heart thickening. As he pulled off the interstate, he touched her arm. “Maybe this will go better than you expect.”

She didn’t answer but narrowed her eyes and skewered him with a look of contempt. He could understand what made her so formidable in business. The Ice Queen stare must intimidate all but the few people who knew the woman inside.

A few minutes later he pulled into the driveway of his parents’ home. For the first time, his own nerves kicked in. Focusing on Glenda St. John’s reaction and whether it would upset Katie had kept him from considering what his parents might say.

After helping Katie out of the Corvette’s low-slung seat, Steve took her hand in his, led her to the front porch, and rang the doorbell. His mother answered within a few seconds, her perfectly made-up face wearing a broad smile. “Hi, Ma,” he said, giving her a bear hug.

“Welcome home. It was such a great surprise when you called to say you were coming. You were just here at Christmas. We didn’t expect to see you again so soon.”

“Or to see you with Katie,” his father said.

No point putting this off. Steve slipped an arm around Katie’s shoulder and felt her arm settle around his waist. “We have an announcement to make.”

“You’re seeing each other.” Jack Tyler didn’t sound either surprised or pleased.

Steve gave his father a direct stare. “Not just seeing each other. We’re married.”

Both of the older Tylers’ faces filled with shock. “Married?” Sandy asked. “When?”

“Last weekend, in Las Vegas.”

“You got married without us?”

This was the part of eloping he’d hated, knowing his mother would feel hurt. But his first obligation was to Katie now. He gave his mom a smile he hoped seemed contrite. “I’m sorry, but we were in sort of a hurry.” He took a deep breath and felt Katie’s fingers dig into his side in silent support. “We’re going to have a baby.”

“Oh my God,” Sandy said. For a moment her expression turned from shocked to horrified before she recovered and offered a weak smile. “Congratulations.”

“I need a drink,” Jack said.

Steve shot his father an angry look. “We didn’t plan this, but we’re happy about it, so please be happy for us.”

“Katie doesn’t look all that happy.”

“I prefer Kathryn now,” Katie said. Apparently she was going to let the substance of his father’s comment pass. She slid out of his grip. “And I think you guys need to talk as a family. I’ll go next door and do the same.”

He shook his head. “Not without me.”

“Thanks for the offer, but it’s better if I go alone. This may not be pretty.”

“All the more reason I should be there. I don’t want your mother thinking I got you into a jam and left you holding the bag.”

“Your actions show that’s not true. I need to give her the chance to say what she needs to say without an audience.”

“I’m your husband. I should be there for you.”

“Can you just stop arguing with me?” Katie’s voice contained an edge of hysteria. Then she squared her shoulders and her face turned neutral, all emotion tucked away. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have yelled. You’re trying to help. But the best way you can be there for me is by trusting my judgment.”

His mother cleared her throat before speaking. “Mother-daughter issues can be complicated. Maybe you can give Kathryn and Glenda a few minutes alone first and then join them.”

Katie sent his mother a grateful look and laid her hand on Steve’s arm. “That works for me. Give us ten minutes, then you can come over.”

“All right. I don’t like it, but I’ll do it your way.”

“Thanks. After ten minutes you can ride in on your white charger.”

He slipped his arms around her waist and leaned in to kiss her cheek. “Go.”

The three Tylers watched as Kathryn exited through the front door and the screen door clicked shut behind her. Then by wordless agreement, they made their way into the large, airy kitchen that had always been the nerve center of the Tyler house. Steve and his mother took seats at the kitchen table, while his father went to the refrigerator and took out a tray of ice cubes.

“Well, Stevie,” she said.

The phrase carried a truckload of meaning, most of it bad. He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms in front of his chest. “Please, Mom, don’t look at me like that.”

“Like what?”

“Like I’m still a screw-up.”

Jack Tyler slammed three ice cubes into a glass hard enough that they clinked and rattled around. “I love you, son, but you just married a woman you got in trouble after dating her for about five minutes. Sounds like a screw-up to me.”

His father pulled a bottle of Jack Daniels from the cabinet and filled the glass with a generous shot, then carried the bottle and glass to the table and sat next to his wife.

Steve faced his father. “Getting married was the right thing to do. You taught me to take responsibility for my actions.”

“I also taught you to use condoms.”

“Oh for crying out loud.” Steve pointed at Jack’s glass. “You’d better pour me one of those too.”

“I’ll make it a double.”

“We did use condoms. One must’ve broken.” Steve ran a hand through his hair. “This is your grandchild we’re talking about. Can’t anyone but me be happy about this baby?”

Sandy touched his arm. “Of course we’re happy to have a new grandchild on the way, but we’re worried about you. We want you to be happy.” She gave him a soft smile. “You’ll understand soon.”

“I am happy, damn it. I have the job of my dreams, I’m married to the woman of my dreams, and she’s about to give me a child. What more could I want?”

“It’s just that this thing between you and Katie is so sudden.”

“No, it isn’t. I’ve been in love with Katie since I could talk in full sentences.” He narrowed his eyes, daring anyone to contradict him.

“Marriage is a big responsibility,” his father said.

“I know. I’m ready for it. I want what you and Mom have.”

“And you think you can find that with Katie,” his mother said.

“Damn straight. She’s everything I’ve been looking for in a woman. She’s beautiful, she’s smart, and she puts her whole self into everything she does.”

Jack raised an eyebrow. His subtext was obvious.
Including you
.

“Not just that, Dad. She’s passionate about everything in her life—her job, her friendships, her hobbies—everything. From the first time we were together, I knew I couldn’t let her get away.”

Sandy looked thoughtful. “I always liked Katie. She was a fine young woman. I just hope you two haven’t put too much pressure on yourselves by moving so fast.”

“Stop worrying, Mom. Katie getting pregnant is a good thing. She doesn’t have a lot of time left to have kids. It’s good we got started right away.”

“I’d worry less if you’d taken time to build your relationship first.”

“It’s best things happened this way. Without the baby, Katie wouldn’t have given me a chance. She’d have patted me on the head and told me to run along like a good little boy.” He hunched his shoulders forward. “Almost a direct quote, by the way. The baby gave me leverage.”

“Leverage?” Sandy asked.

“I convinced her getting married was the right thing to do. For the baby.”

“Christ,” Jack said. He slugged down the amber liquid and refilled his glass.

Sandy sighed. “Oh, Stevie, what have you gotten yourself into? Emotional blackmail isn’t a good way to start a marriage.”

“I did what I had to do. I couldn’t let her shut me out of our child’s life. Hell, Mom, she was even thinking of having an abortion. I had to stop her. So I appealed to her sense of guilt.”

Jack’s second drink disappeared down his throat and he poured himself a third. “In other words, you bullied this woman into marrying you even though she doesn’t love you.”

“She does love me. She’s just not ready to admit it yet.”

“She looks like she’d rather be boiled in oil than be in this situation.”

“Sure. She’s going through a tough time. She’s embarrassed, and she’s scared, and she’s having an awful time with morning sickness. But once things settle down and she figures out she can trust me, she’ll realize she loves me as much as I love her. If you’d seen how she ran into my arms last night when I surprised her at her office, you’d know I’m right.”

His mother frowned. “She doesn’t trust you?”

“Not completely. She thinks I’m a player.”

Jack let out a short laugh. “Gee, why would she think that?”

Steve glared at his father. “Okay, so I partied a lot and had a lot of girlfriends, but I’ve changed. I’m ready for something that will last.”

Sandy smiled. “I hope you’ve found it.”

He thrust his chin forward. “I have.”

“Then go find your wife. Her ten minutes are up.”

Kathryn let herself into her mother’s house through the sliding glass patio doors and made her way from the den through the kitchen to the formal living room. In an odd way, the St. John house hadn’t changed much since she was a child. Glenda was always redecorating, yet the feel of the house stayed the same. It was all Glenda. Then and now, there was no evidence that Andrew St. John had ever existed, beyond the fact that the decorator’s bills got paid.

Glenda St. John was ensconced in an overstuffed white leather armchair, nursing a gin and tonic. Her clothes were the same general style as Sandy Tyler’s, what Kathryn thought of as the country club look. But on Sandy, the look was relaxed; on Glenda, it was stuffy.

“Darling, what a delightful surprise,” Glenda said. “Though I expected you earlier, after you called from the turnpike.”

“We stopped next door first.”

“We?”

“Steve Tyler and I. We drove up together.”

“Stevie?” Glenda frowned. “I heard something about the Air Force sending him to D.C., but I didn’t realize you two were in contact.”

“‘In contact’ doesn’t even scratch the surface.” Here went nothing. She held out her left hand. “I married him.”

Her mother choked as a swig of G&T went down the wrong way. “What did you say?”

“You heard me, Mother.”

“Have you lost your mind? Why would you do such a thing? Granted, he’s... well developed, but he’s much too young for you.”

“Thank you so much for your support.” Her smile turned mean. “It gets better. The answer to ‘why’ is the usual reason for quickie weddings. I’m pregnant.”

Glenda set her drink down on the glass-topped coffee table with a thump and stared at her daughter. “You’re going to have a baby?”

Kathryn crossed one knee over the other as she returned the stare. “That’s what pregnant means.”

“You slept with Stevie? Good God! What on earth were you thinking?”

Kathryn smirked. “Obviously, not much thinking was going on at the time.”

Glenda’s face turned purple. “You think this is funny?”

“No, Mother, actually I don’t. I realize having a child is a huge responsibility. Getting pregnant was an accident, but staying pregnant was a choice.”

“I’ll be a laughingstock when this gets around. And it will get around. If you had to act like a tramp and make a fool of yourself, did you have to do it in my backyard?”

So much for motherly support. Ordinarily Kathryn would have felt like smacking her mother, but under the influence of the killer baby hormones, she felt like crying. A much less pleasant feeling. She thrust her chin forward, trying to look braver than she felt. “Be grateful I married Steve and your grandchild won’t be illegitimate.”

“Yes, you got the boy to marry you. Of course he would; Sandy and Jack raised him with values. Congratulations. You’ve finally gotten yourself a husband, even if you had to use the oldest, sneakiest trick in the book to do it. I didn’t realize you were that desperate.”

“You think I did this on purpose?” She ran a hand through her hair. “You’re right, I did. I was dying for the opportunity to have this lovely conversation.”

“Don’t get smart with me. You’re not a total idiot. You know how to prevent things like this from happening, if you’d wanted to.”

“We used birth control. It didn’t work.”

“I suppose it’s possible you conceived through ineptitude rather than by design. It really doesn’t matter. Either way, the result is the same. You’ve ruined Steven’s life.”

The unfairness of the accusation made Kathryn rigid with frustration. “Steve wanted to get married. I never pressured him. He wants our family as much as I do.”

“Yes, because he’s an honorable man. But it was selfish of you to say yes. Eventually the thrill of doing the right thing will wear off, and he’ll feel trapped and embarrassed, and he’ll resent you. Probably sooner rather than later.” Glenda St. John’s cool tone held no mercy for her daughter.

Kathryn flinched. “Stop it, Mother. You’re being cruel.”

“No, I’m being honest.”

As if the two were mutually exclusive. Kathryn stared into her hands, trying to regroup mentally.

Then a pair of warm hands settled on her shoulders.

“You’re wrong, Mrs. St. John,” Steve said. “I love your daughter. I’ll make her happy, and I’ll give you beautiful grandchildren.”

Her mother’s mouth twisted into a small, joyless smile. “Wasn’t one mother enough for you? This situation would be hysterical if I couldn’t see how badly you’re both going to get hurt in this train wreck.”

Kathryn saw Steve stiffen as he walked around the chair to stand in front of her. “We can finish this discussion later. Right now my wife needs to rest.” He grabbed Kathryn’s forearms and lifted her gently to her feet. “Come, sweetheart.”

Kathryn gave him a trembling smile. “Steve...”

Not letting her finish her protest, he slid an arm around her waist and nuzzled her hair. “Hush.”