Megan's Marriage

“Nobody’s going to believe that! Everybody knows that I—That is, that we—uh—”

“Yes?”

“What I mean is, we’ve never even been seen together.”

“So maybe I’ve been writing you.”

“The girls know better.”

“Maybe I finally got up the nerve to confront you and admit how I feel about you.”

She covered her mouth and began to laugh, shaking her head. “Oh, no. The girls would see right through that!”

“Not if you helped me.”

“How?”

He watched her, his distinctive eyes glowing. “By pretending a little that you care for me, that we both want this.”

“Your folks will-”

“I’ll take care of my folks. You don’t need to worry about them.”

“Oh.” She looked at the forgotten sandwich on her plate. She realized that although her stomach had been growling she was no longer hungry.

“When do you want to get married?”

She jerked her head up. “I—uh—”

“If you want to wait a while and let everyone get used to the idea, that’s fine with me. An engagement would look more normal, anyway.”

“You wouldn’t mind?”

“I want you to be comfortable with the idea.”

Her thoughts raced in all directions at once. “Well, if I’m going to make the mortgage payment on time—”

“You don’t have to marry me before you get the money. I’ll write you a check tonight that should cover it, plus whatever else you’re going to need for a while.”

“But I don’t want you to think—”

“Don’t worry about my thoughts, okay? Or my feelings. This is a straightforward business deal. I’m going to be going back out on the circuit next week and will be gone several weeks.” He paused, thinking. “Maybe we should announce our engagement now. I’ll get you a ring to wear, and we can start to plan the wedding. I assume you want to be married in the church.”

“The church?” she squeaked. “But isn’t that—I mean, for a business arrangement isn’t that being a little—” She waved her hand helplessly.

“It’s going to be a real marriage, Megan. Don’t you think it needs to start out in the church?”

This must be the way Alice felt when she fell down the rabbit hole. “But knowing it’s only going to be for a year makes it seem like a sham, somehow. I mean, if everybody’s there to see us get married, aren’t they going to wonder later why we decide to part?”

He washed the last bite of his third sandwich down with a long swallow of tea before replying. “In the first place, it’s none of their business. In the second place, the way things are these days, more marriages than not end up that way.”

She thought about that for a moment. “I suppose,” she acknowledged.

“This way you’ll have time to find a dress and decide what your sisters will wear.”

All of this was coming too fast and furious for her. Her head was swimming. “A dress! Travis, I haven’t worn a dress since my high school graduation!”

He grinned. “Well, maybe you can make an exception this one time. Of course if you feel more comfortable wearing your boots beneath it, go ahead.”

Megan forced herself to eat her sandwich while Travis chatted on as though he planned weddings on a regular basis and there wasn’t anything difficult about it. When she finished eating, he helped her clean up their dishes.

“Do you want me to be here when you tell the girls?” he asked, folding the dish towel he’d used and carefully hanging it on the rack.

“Uh, no,” she said quickly, jolted by the mere thought. “No, I can tell them. I’ve just got to decide how to bring it up.”

He folded his arms across his chest and leaned against the kitchen counter. “We could go to town tomorrow and look at rings.”

She hid her hands behind her back. “Do you really think that’s necessary?”

“Rings?” he asked, lifting his brow slightly. “Yes, I do.”

“I mean, if we go into Agua Verde to look for rings, everybody in town will know about it within the hour.”

He grinned, reminding her of the mischievous boy he’d once been. Not a good omen at all, in her mind. “Well, that’s one way of getting the news out.”

She dropped her gaze to the floor, feeling horribly out of her element. She had no problem discussing anything at all about the ranch or the girls, but rings? Weddings? Marriage? She’d never given them a thought.

“Or…we could drive into Austin, if you like. We could make a day of it, maybe see a show. You know, make an occasion of it. Surely you can stay out late for one night.”

She looked up and caught his intent gaze. “Why are you doing this, Travis? I don’t understand. Why are you willing to tie yourself up in such a fashion? Surely you’ve met women during your travels that—”

“None that I’d marry.”

“But still-”

“I always intended to marry a hometown girl, didn’t you know?” he said, grinning once again.

“Then why didn’t you marry Carrie Schwarz? You dated her most of your senior year.”

He looked startled. “Carrie? Isn’t she married?”

“She is now, but she waited for you for years.”

He laughed. “I doubt that.”

“No. She did. She went away to college, but came home as often as she could, hoping to find you here. She found out during the Christmas holidays that first year that you were seeing Trish Kronig whenever you were in town.”

“You sure have a memory for names. I’d forgotten both of those girls.”