Double trouble (18 page)

'*If you don't want to marry him, then don't," Kristina interjected sharply.

Kayla gaped at her. That was probably the last thing she'd expected her sister to say.

''No one is holding a gun to your head, Kayla," Kristina continued. ''If you're determined not to marry Matt, then let's go downstairs and tell everybody the wedding is off."

Kayla was staggered. She imagined walking downstairs and standing amid all those smihng faces and telling them

"I—I can't do that, Kristina," she blurted out.

"Of course you can. I'll go with you, if you'd like. Just say you've changed your mind and we'll be on our way. My car is parked right out front and I'll drive you back to Washington. Nobody will keep you here against your will, Kayla. No one is going to drag you into that church and make you say 'I do.'"

ICristina was right, of course. The full implication of that revelation hit Kayla with stunning force. Granted, it would be unnerving, but she could walk out of here any time she wanted, without going through with the wedding.

Kayla's mouth was suddenly very dry. She could hardly swallow. "But—but Matt is—" she paused to wet her lips with the tip of her tongue "—it would be humiliating for him to be dumped so publicly. His whole family is expecting us to get married, they've made all these plans for the wedding and they—"

"What do you care if Matt is humiliated or his family is disappointed?" Kristina cut in.

*'Well, I—I—know how it feels to be rejected. Remember when Scott Ceres broke up with me and immediately got engaged to that conniving Victoria Dillon? Imagine how Matt would feel if I left him, with his whole family looking on, believing we're in love and that he's going to marry me! I—I just couldn't hurt him that way."

''So you're willing to marry Matt because you feel sorry for him?" Kristina laughed incredulously.

"Of course not! I'd never marry a man out of pity!"

**rm not following your argument, Kayla. Are you going to marry him or not?"

Kayla stared at her. '*Oh, Kristina, I—I think I am."

"You mean it? You really mean it? You're not just giving in to pressure or exhaustion or—-"

"I mean it," Kayla said, and this time she wasn't astonished by her own admission. "Kristina, I'd like to be alone for a while.. .to get dressed and.. .and to think things over."

"I'll go back downstairs and finish eating. Those Min-teers can really cook!" Kristina gave her a swift hug. "You made the right decision, Kayla."

Yes, she had. Alone in the room, Kayla finally felt in full control of herself. And as a thinking, mature woman, she realized that marrying Matt Minteer was the best thing to do all around.

Now if she could just get through the wedding...

Ten

Minteers of all ages exuberantly congratulated themselves that the impromptu wedding had ''gone without a hitch." Almost everybody had had a hand in arranging the event and locating such wedding staples as the organist, flowers for the altar, Kayla's bouquet and even a multitiered cake in a mere twenty-four-hour time span. After the ceremony, a celebratory reception was held in Minteer's Tavern, which was to be temporarily closed to the public until after the departure of the newly weds.

Kayla, in Kristina's cream-colored suit and royal blue blouse, was thankful for the Minteer ebullience, because it relieved her of having to do anything but smile and nod during the noisy celebration. Someone fixed her a plate from the buffet table that offered a feast of traditional west Pennsylvania wedding food—an ethnic mix of pierogi, rig-atoni, chicken legs, chipped ham, mounds of potato salad and countless plates of cookies. Kayla made a pretense of eating, desultorily moving the food around with a fork. Like

many a bride on her wedding day, she was too nervous to eat.

However, unhke most brides, she had married a man she had never had a date with. They'd skipped such traditional rites as the first phone call and the first date and moved directly to marriage and impending parenthood.

Matt stayed by her side during most of the festivities, and from time to time, Kayla would stare at him, mascuhnely resplendent in his dark blue suit and white shirt, and try to assimilate the fact that he was her husband. It didn't seem real, though the plain gold wedding band encircling her third finger, left hand, proclaimed her new status as a married woman. Yes, the Minteers had even come up with matching wedding rings for her and Matt.

By nine o'clock, couples with young children began to depart, and Matt's father and brother Mark jokingly announced that the reception was over and their paying customers were now being admitted.

A group of regulars streamed into the bar and were immediately treated to a round of celebratory drinks on the house. While Matt was being heartily congratulated by the patrons, each of whom he knew by name, Kayla slipped into the women's bathroom. Kristina pushed her way into the closet-sized room with her before Kayla could lock the door.

"You look tired," Kristina said bluntly, as Kayla halfheartedly tried to rub off all the lipstick prints marking her cheeks, the result of many kisses from, many relatives.

"I think shell-shocked is more like it." Kayla glanced at the shiny new wedding band, remembering the moment Matt had slipped it on her finger. A small shiver tingled along her spine as she recalled the intensity burning in his eyes. *'Looks like I married a politician, in spite of our pledge never to get involved with one."

"It was a stupid, unrealistic pledge," said Kristina. "As stupid and unrealistic as Matt's belief that all political con-

sultants are jackals. You are two unique people who can't be stereotyped."

''Spoken with the customary lobbyist finesse."

"Kayla, please try to understand." Kristina took both Kay la's hands in hers and held them tight. "I didn't want you to make the same mistake that I made with Boyd two years ago. I was afraid to trust him or myself enough to make a commitment and I drove him away. I sensed you were going to do that to Matt, and that's why I interfered. I spent two of the most miserable years of my life, regretting my breakup with Boyd before I finally admitted my mistake. But with the baby coming, you can't afford to wait years. I had to act. We had to act!"

Kayla resumed trying to repair her makeup. She'd tried to stay angry with Kristina, but couldn't. Her actions were her own responsibiUty and foisting the blame on her sister was unfair.

The twins' eyes connected in the mirror and Kayla smiled wryly. "But since you helped to engineer this wedding, I'll let you call Penny and tell her about it. I'm not up to listening to her moan because I didn't get an ironclad prenuptial agreement signed before the ceremony."

Kristina's eyes gleamed. ''I'll tell her she's going to be a grandmother. I can almost hear her amend that to step-grandmother. And then she'll go into her 'I'm only a few years older than you girls, certainly not old enough to be your mother' spiel."

"And certainly not old enough to be Grandma." Kayla grinned in spite of herself. "Penny ages in reverse—she's soon going to be younger than we are."

"She's sure different from Matt's mother," observed Kristina. "And from the other women I met here today. All the Minteers are different from our relatives, Kayla. If any of the kids in that family were orphaned, there would be a whole slew of people eager to take them." Her eyes met

Kayla's in the mirror. *'Your baby will have that security, Kay la. It's something we never had."

''I know," Kayla said quietly. *'I guess that's part of the reason why I... agreed to go through with this."

"The other part is because you think Matt is a gorgeous, sexy hunk and you've fallen in love with him, even if you haven't realized it yet," Kristina said bluntly.

Kayla arched her eyebrows. "When did you become an incurable romantic?"

"On the night I arrived in Philadelphia and Boyd took me in his arms and told me that we were never going to be separated again. The same night you met Matt Minteer. It was a magical night for us both, Kayla."

"Everything that has happened since was the result of that one night," Kayla murmured quizzically. It had been, perhaps, the most fateful night of her life.

And tonight was another—her wedding night. Kayla was more than a little apprehensive as she and Matt left the tavern among shouts and handfuls of rice from the well-wishers. She sat beside him in the front seat of his car, feeling awkward and shy.

It was so much easier to talk to him when she was angry. She had no trouble thinking of what to say to him then! When had she stopped feeling that consuming anger and outrage? she wondered. Probably when she had realized that marrying him had been her own choice. She'd ceased feeling like a victim of manipulation. It was important for her to feel in control; she could cope with anything as long as she believed she was. Kayla smiled wryly at the insight.

Matt caught a glimpse of her from the corner of his eye. He'd been watching her all day, gauging her reactions and responses from those first shocked moments when she'd realized that today was to be their wedding day, to now, when they were finally alone, the ceremony and his family behind them.

They hadn't had a chance to talk alone together since those tense moments in his old room when she had furiously Ut into him. He admitted to himself that he'd arranged it that way.

But now here they were, married, and he was ridiculously uncertain what to say to his own wife. He cleared his throat. "Why are you smiling?" he asked bluntly, too bluntly, and he nearly groaned at his lack of finesse. Trying again, he plastered what he hoped would appear to be a friendly, inviting smile on his face and asked, ''Care to share the joke?"

''According to your brother Luke, the joke is on you. He accused me of deliberately plotting to get pregnant so you would have to marry me. He sees you as the victim of my nefarious scheme."

"Well, we both know Luke is wrong. I'm sorry if he said anything to upset you. I'll set him straight about us as soon as I can."

Kayla shrugged. "You don't have to. It's none of his business, anyway."

"But I don't want him to think that—"

"You fell for the oldest trick in the book?" Kayla asked dryly. "I guess it's something of a blow to your ego to have your brother believe that."

"I was going to say that I don't want Luke thinking that my wife is a nefarious schemer," corrected Matt. "I know you're accustomed to putting words in other people's mouths-—it's what you do for a living—but kindly let me speak for myself."

"Oh, yes, sir!" She gave him a mock salute.

He cast her a quick, curious glance. "Do you mind if I ask you something?''

"You can ask, but I might not answer. Or if I do, you might not like the answer," she finished coolly.

"Okay. Are you still angry at me? And if you are, how angry are you?"

Her cool instantly evaporated. ''You expect me to gauge my anger? Like an earthquake on the Richter scale?"

*'I was simply trying to determine how things stand between us, Kayla. This is our wedding night and—"

*'Oh, I get it. You were trying to figure out if you were going to score tonight!"

"Score? I haven't thought in those terms since my college days. Give me a Uttle credit, Kayla. Anyway, we're married. A husband doosn'i score with his own wife."

''That's certainly going to be true in your case."

*'You're telling me you won't sleep with me tonight? Is that it?"

"That's right. Not only are we going to have separate beds, I intend to sleep in a separate room." She stopped suddenly and turned to him. "Where are we going anyway?"

He hadn't mentioned a destination and until now, she hadn't asked about one. They were on a dark road, heading into the mountains, the lights from the city glowing in the distance behind them. There were no other cars to be seen.

"It's a surprise."

She decided his smile was distinctly menacing. Kayla shivered, but characteristically decided to tough it out. "You'd better not try to take me on some primitive camping trip in the woods," she warned. "Because I categorically refuse to camp."

"Is that so?"

"Yes!"

He laughed wickedly. "Then you're really in for a surprise, Mrs. Minteer." He turned the car onto a two-lane road leading higher into the mountains, deeper into the woods. Not even the faintest glimmer of the city lights could be seen in the rearview mirror now.

He was actually going to do it! Kayla thought wildly. He intended to camp out on his wedding night! In these cold

mountains in the middle of March! *'Take me back to Johnstown right now," she commanded.

Matt kept right on grinning and didn't bother to reply. He didn't turn the car around and head back toward Johnstown, either.

*'It's too cold to spend the night in a tent in the middle of a forest in the mountains. Furthermore, if I get sick, it won't be good for the baby," she added righteously.

** Who said anything about a tent? Tents are for wimps. I like putting the old sleeping bags on top of a pile of leaves and sleeping right under the stars." He shot her a sidelong glance. "And I hope you don't intend to use the baby as an excuse to get your way for the next eight months."

''You're an insensitive bully!" Kayla stormed. ''No force on earth is strong enough to make me sleep on a pile of leaves! I'll spend the night in the car. And—" She stopped speaking abruptly.

Matt had pulled the car onto a brightly lit roadway that had suddenly appeared, as if out of nowhere. A stone lodge stood at the center of a wide circular driveway. A hand-lettered sign hanging on a post read, Keystone Inn.

"You were saying?" Matt prompted. "Something about spending the night in the car?" He braked to a stop in front of the building. "I myself am going inside. I have reservations here.'' He opened the car door.

"You—you—-" she spluttered. "You deliberately let me think-"

"I plead guilty to the charges." Matt was laughing. "You were so insistent, so indignant, so irate. I had to do it, I couldn't help myself."

Kayla's lips quivered. In another moment, she was laughing, too. "I'm still irate, you snake! Do you know how scared I was? Sleeping on a pile of leaves, outside, in thirty-five-degree weather?"