Momentary Marriage(101)

Doug was glad his father-in-law came. He was so damned happy at this moment that he wanted every soul in the world to join in with him. Of course, he’d have liked to have started with his best man. But Jared stood next to him, his face blank, his eyes empty.

Remembering his threat to break both Jared’s legs if he hurt Kelsey, Doug couldn’t help thinking his best man was so miserable he might not have noticed the pain. It had to be killing him to be here in this setting with Kelsey standing up for her sister. On the other side of Amy, Kels looked like the cliched reheated death. With hollows under her blue eyes, her face looked drawn and tired.

Never had two people participating in a joyous occasion looked more unhappy. It was ridiculous. They belonged together. Now that he was over his ten-year stupidity, he could see clearly how well suited Kelsey was to Jared.

Why couldn’t she see that? All she could say to Amy was that she couldn’t trust Jared, that he’d been dishonest and manipulative.

That didn’t sound like the Jared Doug knew, but he’d never been married to the man and Kelsey had. Still, there was no question of the two of them being in love.

They just seemed like they couldn’t get a clue, couldn’t coordinate themselves to mutually apologize and get on with their lives. Hell, he wasn’t even sure what the problem was.

Someone was going to have to jump start this thing, Doug thought, turning his eyes back to the preacher. Someone would have to make the first move.

He hoped it would be soon. Neither of them looked like they could take much more.





CHAPTER TWENTY

“Come in and have a seat,” Jared invited as he shook Stewart Black’s hand.

“I was surprised to get your call,” the union     representative told him, sitting down. “I thought you had decided you were through talking.”

Jared sat down across from the man. He’d spent the last three weeks with his head up his ass, angry half the time, in a pit of despair the rest of the time. Being without Kelsey was eating him alive. Just seeing her at Doug and Amy’s wedding had left him useless for two days.

He’d been a fool to get himself involved with a woman who couldn’t trust, a woman whose warmth and tenderness came locked up with doubt and fear.

Why couldn’t she see how good it could be between them, he’d asked himself over and over? How good it had been? Her screwed-up family comprised her reality, keeping her from giving him a chance to make it all right.

“Have a seat,” Jared invited again as the other man came into his office.

“Thanks.” Stewart Black seated himself.

Remembering the last time he’d met with the union     rep, Jared felt Kelsey’s loss. She’d sat at the table with them, paying more attention than he’d realized. And now she was gone out of his life. Legally his wife, but emotionally as distant as the moon.

The only thing that kept him from total despair was the anger that consumed him, at times. He’d felt rage sweeping over him in waves, succeeded by hopelessness and the conviction that he was losing his mind.

For several days, he tried to argue his way out of any responsibility for his own heartache. So he worked situations sometimes. Did he deserve to be shot for that? What human being didn’t sometimes manipulate a little?

This morning, though, he’d woke with the certainty that he had himself created his misery. Instead of making things right for Kelsey, he’d gone into their marriage playing a game he’d felt he had to win.

She’d said he was manipulative…and he was. When had he been really honest with her? Never had he meant to hurt her, but he’d rejoiced when the situation with Doug and Amy had played Kelsey right into his hands. Without any real effort on his part, she’d fallen into his lap. He’d wanted her and come to realize how much he loved her, but always the game had been played carefully.

It was if he’d known she alone had the potential to wreak havoc on his heart and, knowing that, he’d been careful not to lay himself open for a deathblow. He’d protected himself by keeping his growing love for her to himself. Consummate risk-taker that he was, he’d been afraid to take the risk of letting her see his soul.

Kelsey was right about him. In most areas of his life, he did play a tough game and not always a fair one. That conclusion was what had brought him to this meeting with Stewart Black.

“I’m not surprised you were surprised to hear from me,” Jared said wryly after seating himself. “I’m used to playing hardball in my negotiating. But I’ve recently had my consciousness raised.”

“Really?” Black murmured, his eyebrows rising. He settled into his chair, adjusting his trouser leg, before saying, “I don’t think I mentioned that I ran into your wife a few weeks back.”