“I wish that were true, but...” She lifted her shoulders, then dropped them again.
“I believe it is, but unless he says the words, what I think doesn’t matter.” Janine sighed. “Do you want to call it off?”
“For the baby’s sake, I can’t. And besides, I want to make it work.”
What she couldn’t explain to Janine was that she was going into this marriage while making contingency plans for herself in case it failed.
Nikki loved Janine like a sister, but her faith in Kevin was strong, her desperation to see Nikki with the man she loved even stronger. Tony’s death had reinforced her belief in grabbing happiness while it was still possible. And though Nikki understood, Janine’s behavior in the past made trusting her in this case impossible. Besides, in another week, Janine would be packed up and back home.
And Nikki would once again be on her own.
“So you’re sure about this?” Janine asked.
Nikki closed her eyes, knowing this was her last chance to back out. She took a deep breath before facing Janine. “I’m sure.”
Janine glanced at her watch, then shifted gears and placed the car back into drive. “Then we’ve got a wedding to make.”
* * *
Kevin paced the floor outside Max’s hospital room, debating the merits of whether to go in or turn around and walk away. He wanted to. But that was Max’s style, not his.
You walked out on Nicole, a voice in his head taunted. And it sickened him to realize how like his father he’d become. So he pulled open the door and walked inside.
The television blared too loud from the remote speaker buried inside the covers on the bed. Kevin shook his head, wondering if Max even cared. “Hey, Max. How are you feeling?” Kevin yelled above the blaring television.
His father, looking more sallow than ever, pushed himself up against the pillows. He let out a loud whistle, more suited to a construction site than a hospital room. “Where’re you going all dressed up like that? Ain’t no way I’m the reason you cleaned yourself up.”
“I’m getting married,” he told his father. And that was the reason for this visit.
Although Kevin had given up on having a real father years ago, he couldn’t face this day without at least letting the old man know he was tying the knot. That he intended to make a go of this marriage. Hell, he intended to make a go of his life—despite his parentage.
If he were honest with himself, Kevin knew he wanted his father’s blessing—something he’d never get. But here he was anyway, a sucker for punishment.
“Well at least you’re doing the right thing,” Max muttered.
“Like you did?”
“I never said...”
“You didn’t have to.” Kevin walked over to the worn plastic chair he’d spent a night in and sat down. Sunlight streamed through the blinds and heated his back. “You reminded Mom that she’d trapped you and destroyed your life every day she lived under your roof.”
He shrugged. “Don’t think you won’t be doing the same thing. Coming home every day to a reminder of how you got tied down.”
It shouldn’t hurt to hear his father’s feelings on parenthood. He’d been exposed to it often enough as a child. Yet on the verge of a major life change himself, Kevin wanted some support. He knew an I’m proud of you, son would have been too much to ask for, but he’d have at least liked a pat on the back.
Kevin rose from his seat. “Nikki’s not tying me down. Besides it takes two to tango,” he reminded his father. Not that Max understood the concept of responsibility.
“Talk to me in a couple a years and you’ll feel differently. In the meantime when are you gonna get me sprung?”
“When the doctor says it’s time.” Kevin glanced at his watch. “I have a wedding to get to.”
“It won’t be a party without your old man.”
Which was exactly why Kevin had insisted on not postponing the wedding until Max was out of the hospital. He wanted to start his new life with dignity and hope. He wanted to believe he could be the exception to the rule. That this Manning could take care of more than just himself, but his wife and child, as well.
He glanced over his shoulder. But if the man lying in the hospital bed was the foundation on which his future—and Nikki’s future—had been laid, they were in serious trouble.
* * *
Kevin paced the floor outside the justice of the peace, wondering if Nikki had finally come to her senses and changed her mind. He wouldn’t blame her if she had.
He’d slept alone in his big rambling house last night, for the first time since she had moved in. The loneliness had been overwhelming. Everywhere he turned, he’d seen signs of Nikki. On the kitchen table, a vase filled with freshly cut flowers. On the windows, curtains she’d made herself from a variety of sheets and fabrics. Personal touches that had turned his empty house into a home. He hadn’t noticed before and wondered if it was too late now that he had.