Momentary Marriage(34)

“So Jared, I suppose you’ll be having some offspring of your own in the near future,” Carla commented, sinking into a lawn chair opposite Kelsey and her mother.

Kelsey felt a stutter in her heart beat. She’d known this kind of thing would come up, but she still felt bad about being less than honest with these nice people.

Jared, however, didn’t seem to blink an eye. He stood behind his sister’s chair, his hands dropping to rub her shoulders. “We’ll have a family one of these days. Right now, I’m just glad to have snagged Kelsey.”

“Yes,” Carla groaned in a voice of deep appreciation, dropping her head forward. “Keep up the back rub.”

Her brother laughed, stopping only long enough to ruffle Carla’s hair. “Glad to be of service.”

“Here’s yours, Kelsey,” Mike, Carla’s husband said, handing Kelsey a plate.

“Thanks.”

Letting the family interaction flow around her, Kelsey picked at her plate. She hadn’t really had any specific expectations about Jared’s family, but the reality left her bowled over. They were all so…affectionate. Laughing, talking, making jokes. Enjoying each other.

Jared had greeted his father with an honest-to-goodness hug. He’d remembered to bring his sister-in-law some sort of parcel from the city. He was a millionaire…being an errand boy.

She wasn’t sure why all this caught her so off guard. He was a nice guy, sort of, why shouldn’t he have nice parents? Even millionaires could have happy families, she supposed.

So why had he offered to marry her? Her own disillusionment about the longevity of love had taken a childhood to realize. Had his one effort at marriage taught him the lesson so well?

“Tom,” Jared’s mother called, gesturing to her husband with a smile. “I’ve saved my mushrooms for you.”

A tall, lanky Tom Barrett ambled across the patio, smiling at his wife.

Kelsey blinked. Jared had come by his charm honestly. She hadn’t seen his resemblance to his father before this.

His father leaned down, his head close to Mary’s while she extended a mushroom on her fork.

“Mmmm. Thank you, sweetie.”

Mary looked up into her husband’s face with loving eyes. “You’re welcome.”

Watching them left Kelsey with a funny feeling in her stomach. Envy, perhaps? Skepticism? She knew some people, a very few these days, made marriages last. But to stay in love for years? That seemed so unlikely as to border on fantasy.

Of course, she recognized that married couples often appeared different in public than they actually were in private. But Jared’s family seemed…happy. They acted like they really liked each other.

Perhaps Tom and Mary were one of the rare, lucky couples who had won the lottery in the love department.

Kelsey looked down at her plate. Maybe some people were just cut out that way. Able to fall in love deeply and somehow keep the joy and excitement alive.

She definitely wasn’t one of that rare breed, however. Certainly, she didn’t have the genetics for it and if her past love life was any indication, she’d be a bad bet for the future.

The thought sobered Kelsey. This warm fuzzy reception from his family was all well and good, but she had to remember she was playing a role here, one that wouldn’t earn the family’s good wishes when it was all over.

She could enjoy them, but she had to keep from getting too attached. Fortunately, she’d grown used to that. Descending into a family with the consciousness that any ties could and would be easily severed in time.

Still, it made her tired. She’d been in this position too many times.

“So,” Jared's mother leaned forward, her eyes sparkling. “When is the wedding? Do you have a date?”

Glancing at Jared, Kelsey swallowed a bite.

“August 15,” he answered, strolling over to where she sat next to his mother.

“August 15!” Mary exclaimed. “That’s less than a month away.”

“We know,” Jared said. “But I phoned Reverend Kinney on the way down and he’s available to do the service on that Saturday.”

“But the rest of the arrangements,” his mother sputtered. “Kelsey won’t even have time to find her dress and get it ordered and—“

“I’m sure she can find something wonderful in a city the size of New York,” Jared said, his voice reassuring. “If we have to have someone whip something up, it can still be arranged.”

Kelsey went still as his hand rested lightly on her shoulder. She wasn’t yet accustomed to the drum roll his touch elicited from her body.

“Will your mother be able to attend the wedding?” Tom asked, interrupting her thoughts. “Jared tells us that she’s living in Spain.”