If the Ring Fits (17 page)

When she returned to the dining room, Travis had the room picked up and the boys dressed and ready to go. Mary Karen could tell the twins were excited by the way they kept punching each other.

“You look very nice,” he said, gazing appreciatively at her new cinnamon-colored maternity sweater and pants.

“I even put on some makeup.” She batted her lashes at him, before she remembered she shouldn’t flirt.

He apparently didn’t have any such compunction. His smile widened and his eyes began to twinkle.

“Love the tail,” he said, giving the hair she’d pulled back and curled, a gentle tug.

A rush of pleasure washed over Mary Karen and she couldn’t help from smiling back.

“M.K.,” he began. “I hope you know—”

“What’s David doing with the children?” Mary Karen
hated to interrupt but she refused to get into a heavy discussion only minutes before July showed up.

“He called back a few minutes ago,” Travis said. “Your parents are coming over to his home to babysit. I told David I’d stop by and pick him up.”

Although everything was in place, now that the time was here, guilt sluiced through Mary Karen. Here she’d told him last night to think if he really wanted to be a husband and a father and now she was foisting three rowdy boys on him on his day off. Talk about torpedoing yourself. “Are you positive you don’t mind?”

“Are you talking about me watching our boys?” Travis tossed a duffle bag onto the table. “Or me taking the van?”

“Both.” Since David’s SUV wasn’t big enough to handle two men, three kids and fishing tackle, Travis had no choice but to take the van. Since she and July would walk downtown, they didn’t need a vehicle.

“I know you love Ethel, but I promise I’ll take good care of her.” He sounded surprisingly serious. Then he grinned. “Oh, and I’ll take good care of the kids, too.”

Travis had proven to be an able father in the past few months so Mary Karen wasn’t worried about that at all. She just hated that he was forced to take Ethel. “Thank you for not complaining about the van.”

His brows pulled together in puzzlement. “Why would I complain?”

A knock sounded on the door, sparing her the need to respond. “I bet that’s July.”

Travis pushed aside the lace curtain with one hand and peered out. “Yep, she’s here.”

Mary Karen started toward the door, but before she’d taken two steps, Travis grabbed her hand and pulled her back, kissing her soundly.

Hadn’t she told him no kissing? No, wait, she’d told him no sex. Her fingers rose to her still tingling lips. “What was that for?”

“I love you and don’t you forget it.”

J
uly glanced away from the abstract sculpture. “He said that?”

Resisting the urge to touch her lips like a love-struck adolescent, Mary Karen nodded.

“Then…I’d believe him,” her sister-in-law said with a decisive nod.

“You would?”

July twisted a strand of auburn hair around her finger. “When I was seeing Dr. Allman last year—trying to get up the courage to tell David the truth—he said that when David told me he loved me, I should believe him. It’s called taking people at face value.”

“Steven told me he loved me, but he didn’t,” Mary Karen said pointedly. She didn’t want to be a Debbie Downer, but life wasn’t as simple as Dr. Allman’s advice implied.

Before July could respond, the crowd surged forward,
the momentum pushing Mary Karen off balance. Her sister-in-law grabbed her arm, stopping her fall.

“How about we get a coffee or something?” July dodged a woman’s suitcase-size purse and a feisty white furball on a pink leash. “You’d think after living in downtown Chicago all those years I’d be used to crowds, but I’m not. Unless you prefer to stay and watch—”

“I’m getting a bit claustrophobic, too.” Mary Karen placed a hand to her back. “And I’m definitely ready to get off my feet.”

Mary Karen hadn’t even finished speaking when July crooked her arm through hers and they began weaving their way through the throng of people. Though it wasn’t far, by the time they reached the coffee shop, Mary Karen’s breath came in short puffs. She bit back an exclamation of dismay when she saw that, like the streets, the shop was packed with people.

“Those girls are getting up.” July pointed. “You snag the table by the window, I’ll order. What can I get you?”

“Green tea,” Mary Karen called over her shoulder.

Several minutes later July joined her. She handed Mary Karen her drink then took a seat on the other side of the small round table.

Mary Karen took a sip of the steaming tea, surprised when her sister-in-law simply stared at her cappuccino making no move to drink it.

“What’s the matter?”

July looked up, her eyes serious. “There’s no delicate way to say this.”

“Say what?”

“Don’t let your ex ruin your life.”

Mary Karen tilted her head. “I’m not following.”

“From what you’ve told me, Steven made the three years you were married pretty miserable.”

Mary Karen nodded, still not sure where this was headed.

“From where I’m sitting, he’s still doing it.”

“No,” Mary Karen protested. “I haven’t even seen him in—”

“Time doesn’t matter. The lies he told you are now making you doubt Travis. Your husband says he loves you, but you don’t believe him…because of your experiences with Steven,” July said. “Never give a rat that power.”

“But what if Travis gets tired of being with me? Or being a dad? What if he—”

“What if you could be blissfully happy but instead you choose to spend your time worrying about what
might
happen?”

July made it sound simple. But that’s because she and David were so happy, so in love, that her sister-in-law thought it was possible for everyone.

“Can we change the subject, please?” Mary Karen may have phrased it as a question but this discussion was over. While she didn’t doubt her friend’s sincerity, July didn’t understand, couldn’t understand. After all, July had married a man who
wanted
to be with her.

Her sister-in-law opened her mouth, then paused.

Mary Karen braced herself, knowing that just because she’d asked July to drop it, didn’t mean she would.

“Have you decided what you’re getting Travis for your Christmas celebration?”

The celebration.
She’d nearly forgotten about it.

Mary Karen expelled the breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding. “Rubber car mats. For his BMW.”

July tilted her head and wrinkled her nose.

“To protect the carpeting,” Mary Karen explained. “You know how wet and sloppy it gets around here.”

“But car mats?” July didn’t bother hiding her dismay. “Isn’t that sort of like him getting you a blender?”

“Maybe,” Mary Karen reluctantly agreed. “But at the time I chose the mats specifically so he could see I support him having a sports car.”

Now she wondered if it even mattered.

“When you explain it that way it does make sense.” July swiped the whipped cream off the top of her drink with her finger, then brought it to her lips for a brief taste. “By the way, I emailed you the pictures I took at Lexi’s Labor Day bash. There were some good ones of you and Travis.”

July had been a photojournalist when she and David had first met. Her camera came with her to every family event and her keen eye made even the simplest digital photo spectacular. “I can’t wait to see them. Thank you.”

They talked for a while about friends Rachel and Derek Rossi in California who were hoping to return to Jackson Hole, then moved on to John and Kayla Simpson’s little girl who was facing another heart surgery.

Even though Mary Karen had known July less than two years, it felt as if they’d been friends forever. She couldn’t imagine her brother picking anyone who’d have fit better into the family.

“Yikes.” July held up her phone showing Mary Karen the time. “I promised your parents I’d be home ten minutes ago.”

“Then I guess we better go.” Mary Karen pushed back her chair and stood, reluctant to have the outing end. She’d have to remember to thank Travis again. She hadn’t realized how much she missed having girl time. “This was fun. We’ll have to do this again.”

“Again and often.” July looped an arm through hers. “The men can watch the kids.”

Mary Karen saw no need to mention that her man might not be around all that much longer. Not only because it might ruin what was left of their outing, but if she said the words, she might start crying.

“You think they’ll be angry at me for being late?” July asked with a worried little frown when they reached the door.

“If I know my mom and dad they won’t want to give those babies back.” Mary Karen chuckled. “I bet Dad is showing Adam his HO train set while Alex is probably getting lots of cuddle time with Mom.”

“Something tells me you’re right.” July grinned. “I wonder if those two ever thought they’d have five grandsons.”

“They’re so good with them, it’s hard to imagine them without all those little boys to spoil.” Mary Karen patted her protruding belly as they stepped onto the sidewalk. “Something tells me I’m going to be adding even more testosterone to the mix.”

“You’re having boys?” July stopped suddenly and whirled. “And you didn’t tell me?”

“I don’t know that
for sure,
” Mary Karen clarified. “It’s just that my intuition tells me they’re boys.”

July’s green eyes turned curious. “Is that what you and Travis are hoping for?”

You and Travis.
July put their names together as if they were a perfect fit. If only that were true….

“Mary Karen?” July prompted.

“It really doesn’t matter as long as they’re healthy.” She thought of that awful scare early in her pregnancy and remembered how glad she’d been to have Travis there. “Trav doesn’t care either way. I told him I’d like
to have at least one girl but I’d be happy with more boys, too.”

They sidestepped around a woman waiting with a double stroller outside the ice cream shop next door.

“I can’t believe you’re going to be a mother of five,” July mused.

“Sometimes I find it hard to believe.” She watched a man—obviously the woman’s husband—hurrying to her with a cone in each hand. “Having Travis at my side these past few months has made parenting a zillion times easier.”

“That much better, huh?”

“I can’t imagine life without him,” Mary Karen said simply as an ache filled her heart at the thought of losing him. “I only hope he feels the same way.”

After arguing good-naturedly about the best fishing spot in Yellowstone, David and Travis finally agreed on Lewis River.

Before they brought out the gear they took the boys for a hike, hoping to dissipate some of their boundless energy. Once the three stopped running and began walking, it seemed time to get the poles out of the van and the hooks in the water.

Helping the twins and Logan get situated on the bank brought back memories of the times Travis had taken his siblings fishing. In medical school—when life had been hectic and filled with stress—sitting at the edge of a lake in the quiet sunshine had been one of the few ways he’d found to totally relax.

“This winter we’ll have to take the twins with us when we go snowmobiling.” Travis had no doubt zooming through the mountains would be something the boys would enjoy. “They’re old enough.”

Every winter he and a bunch of his buddies brought their snowmobiles to the park. There were hundreds of miles of trails to bump and bounce over. He smiled, thinking of the fun he was going to have exploring Yellowstone with the twins.

“Are you serious?” David said in a low tone as if worried the boys might overhear.

“Don’t you think they’d enjoy it?”

“Ah, they’d have a blast. It’s just more work when you have a kid riding with you. A
lot
more work.”

Travis glanced at Connor and Caleb who were busy throwing stones in the river and scaring the fish away. “I don’t mind.”

Of course, that was assuming he was still around. Mary Karen could throw him out any day now. Travis shoved the thought aside. He
would
be around. For Mary Karen and for the boys.

“Just remember you and Mary Karen are going to be busy with two new babies this winter,” David said pointedly.

“I can’t wait.” Even though Travis spoke to David, he kept his eyes on the three boys. “It’ll be a lot of work but it will be worth it.”

“You know, Trav, for a guy who didn’t want kids, you seem to have jumped into fatherhood with both feet.”

“Being with M.K. and the boys feels…right,” Travis said.

“You really
are
happy with my sister.”

Travis nodded then grimaced. “Too bad she doesn’t believe I am.”

David cast his line into the water with well-practiced ease. “What do you mean?”

“It’s a combination of things.” Travis shrugged, deliberately being vague. When they’d been walking the
trails with the boys earlier, David had brought up his comment to Mary Karen. Travis saw that his friend felt badly and had accepted his apology without mentioning the ultimatum Mary Karen had given him. “It’s like M.K. is trying too hard, determined not to put any demands on me.”

Or at least she had been trying…until last night when she’d laid it on the line.

David raised a brow.

“I’ll give you an example. Mary Karen ran into a problem the other day with the van not starting. She didn’t call me because I couldn’t have picked up the boys anyway. Yet she didn’t say a word about how impractical a two-seater is when you already have three kids. She was being, well, too nice.”

His friend’s expression turned serious. “I think she feels guilty over ‘trapping’ you and is trying to do everything she can to keep you happy.”

“She didn’t trap me.”

“I know that. You know that. But my sister is a worrier.”

“You’ve got that right,” Travis said.

“The only way it’s going to stop is when she finally truly believes you want to be with her and the boys.”

Travis stared out over the water. He heard the high, excited voices of the children and prayed for a revelation. There had to be something he could do, something he could say to convince M.K. he was right where he wanted to be.

The answer came unexpectedly when they were loading up the van, getting ready to leave.

David took a step back and gazed fondly at the van. “Say what you want about Ethel, our SUV wouldn’t be able to handle these kids and the cargo.”

“She’s a good old girl.” Travis patted the side of the battle-scarred vehicle. “You need a van like this for a large family.”

“I’m surprised you even want to be seen in this bloated beast,” David teased. “You’ve certainly made no secret of your dislike for all things minivan.”

“You’re right about that.” Travis had no doubt that’s why M.K. had been so shocked when he’d asked to use it. But his previous attitude had been before he had a family and could appreciate all the advantages.

David chuckled. “I know you’ll hate this comparison but in that way you and Steven are alike. He hated Ethel with a passion. The van symbolized everything he didn’t like about the life he was living.”

“Daddy?”

Travis looked down at the circle of boys clustered around him. Their shirts were dirty, their hair held grass and twigs. He wasn’t sure who’d spoken and it didn’t matter. They were all his sons.

“We want to come again,” Connor said, looking uncharacteristically solemn.

“Con promises not to go into the water again.” Caleb nudged his brother and his twin nodded.

“’n I won’t cry,” Logan added.

“Those hooks are sharp.” Travis put a reassuring hand on the boy’s shoulder, seeing no need to mention that he’d told Logan not to pick it up.

“Will you bring us again?” Caleb pressed.

“Of course.” Travis’s heart swelled with emotion. “And next year we’ll bring the babies so they can watch their big brothers fish.”

The boys talked about everything they were going to show their baby brothers while David and Travis got them buckled in. He didn’t bother to remind them they
might get one or two girls. If that happened, he and Mary Karen would deal with their sons’ disappointment. Together.

Travis slid the van door shut and stood for a second, the sun shining through the fir trees warming his face. A feeling of contentment stole over him.

Over the years he’d done his share of complaining about how raising his siblings had cut into his social life. He suddenly realized those fishing trips, school sporting events and even dance recitals had been the best years of his life. Until Mary Karen.

Being with her and the kids had made his life complete. David was wrong. Travis wasn’t
anything
like Steven.

As they headed back to Jackson in safe, dependable Ethel, a germ of an idea began to form. By the time he drove past the city limit sign, Travis knew what he was going to get M.K. for Christmas.