Janelle Denison - Ready-Made Bride

“If they’re that catty, let them-” Her mouth snapped shut, and she visibly bristled like a lioness in defense of her little cub. “I don’t want Andy to suffer any backlash of me being here.”

“He won’t.”

“But you just said people will talk.”

“Andy won’t hear any of it. The town, and gossips, are careful to curb their tongues around the Linden grandson.” Kane’s biggest fear after Cathy’s death was that Andy would hear the horrific rumors floating around about him, and believe them. So far, Andy was blissfully ignorant of his father’s reported reputation.

Catching Megan’s frown, he said gently, “I just don’t want any of the gossip to hurt you in any way.”

“Thank you for caring,” she said softly, making him realize that he did care. “But I can handle the heat if you can.”

He shrugged. “Like I said, I’m used to it.”

She leaned toward him and winked playfully. “Then let’s go give them something to talk about.”

The gossips were out in full force. Walking down the side aisle of Linden’s only church to a vacant pew, Kane heard, “Who’s that woman with Kane?” He knew most of the crowd attending the Sunday morning service had come to their own scandalous conclusions about Megan.

They’d arrived a few minutes late because Andy hadn’t been able to find one of his good leather loafers, but their tardiness worked to his advantage. Everyone was seated and waiting for Reverend Paul to make his appearance at the podium, sparing Kane the phoney politeness the hypocrites of Linden felt obliged to demonstrate to him on the Sabbath.

Six rows from the front of the sanctuary, Kane paused to let Megan and Andy file into the empty pew. Andy breezed by, waving to his best friend, Corey, who sat two benches behind them. Megan met Kane’s gaze, and the radiant smile she gave him left him feeling like he’d been punched in the gut. Her perfume stirred his senses as she passed, adding to the heady feeling lingering from her smile. The effect she had on him was getting totally out of control.

Damn . Giving himself a mental shake, he followed her into the pew and sat next to her. A family of five filtered into the same row and came up one seat short. Everyone shifted to give them more room, and Kane automatically scooted closer to Megan. Their knees bumped, and she quickly crossed her legs, but that didn’t keep his thigh from pressing into hers. The cramped quarters forced him to stretch his arm across the back of the bench to keep their shoulders from butting uncomfortably for the next hour.

“Sorry,” she said, slanting him an apologetic look.

He wasn’t. Sitting so close to her was pure torture, but he couldn’t say he didn’t like it. Unfortunately, their position appeared very intimate to their avid audience, one of whom was his mother-in-law. She sat on the opposite side of the church two rows ahead, her short blond hair immaculately coifed. She had a perfect view of the three of them if she craned her neck and moved to the left, which she had no compunction about doing in order to stare at Megan. Her icy blue gaze narrowed in disapproval, and her pink painted lips pursed. Her line of vision shifted to him, and he nodded in acknowledgment. Flustered at being caught, she quickly looked toward the altar just as Reverend Paul stepped to the podium.

The next forty minutes passed slowly, and in every minute that ticked by he caught a covert glance aimed at Megan. Finally, Reverend Paul bid them all, “God be with you.” The crowd slowly filtered out of the church and into the bright sunshine. People broke off into small clusters to mingle and chat. Lightly touching Megan’s elbow when they reached the bottom of the steps, Kane guided her toward a grassy area where his boss from the lumber mill stood with his wife and two young boys.

“I forgot to mention it sooner,” Kane said as they neared his boss, “but Andrew spends Sundays with his grandparents.”

“It’s nice he has a regular day to visit them.”

All part of the deal, and something Kane had learned to accept. “He won’t be home until later this evening.”

She adjusted the strap of her purse on her shoulder. “If you’re worried about entertaining me, I’m very capable of finding something to do to keep myself busy for a few hours.”

“Great.” So why did her plans interest him more than his Sunday afternoon ritual of spending time in his workshop to keep his mind occupied and off how quiet the house was when Andy wasn’t around? He should be glad she wouldn’t be bothering him.

“Morning, Jeff.” Kane shook the hand of the tall blond man who’d been his only true friend over the years. He gave Jeff’s wife, Karen, a light kiss on the cheek. “Hello, Karen. You’re looking beautiful, as always.”

She laughed and shook her head, her blond hair flowing around her shoulders like a cloud of silk. “Flattery will get you everywhere, Kane. Who’s your friend?” She openly eyed Megan, a speculative gleam in her brown eyes.

“This is Megan Sanders. Megan, this is my boss, Jeff Gibas, and his wife, Karen. Their two boys are Tanner and Corey.” He motioned to the two tow-headed boys playing with Andrew a few yards away. “Jeff runs the lumber mill in town where I work.”

Smiling, Megan shook their hands. “Nice to meet you.”

“Likewise.” Karen gave Kane a sly look. “Shame on you for not telling us you were seeing someone.”

“I’m not,” he said, quickly defusing her insinuation. “This is Andy’s penpal.”

Jeff chuckled, raising a brow incredulously. “Penpal?”

“I write a children’s series called Andy’s Adventures,” Megan explained. “Andrew and I have been corresponding for quite some time now. I’m here for his birthday.”

“Oh.” Karen didn’t look totally convinced, or else she wanted to believe something more significant was going on between him and Megan. “Well, welcome to Linden, Megan. If you get a chance, we’d love to have you and Kane and Andrew over for dinner.”

“I don’t think she’ll have time for that,” Kane said before Megan could reply. He shuddered to imagine Karen alone with Megan. He was fond of Karen, but knew from her many comments about his lack of “female companionship” that she wouldn’t hesitate to do a little matchmaking.

“See, I told ya she’d come, Corey,” Andy said smugly, coming up beside Megan.

“Wow.” Blond, hazel-eyed Corey stared at Megan as if star-struck. “Are you really Megan Sanders, the one who writes the books?”

She smiled, totally oblivious of the pedestal her young fans had put her upon. “Yes, I am.”

“Awesome.” A slow smile crept across Corey’s face. “Do you think you could write a book about a boy named Corey?”

She thought for a moment. “I’m pretty busy with my Andy series, but I don’t see why I can’t give Andy a friend named Corey.”

Eyes as wide as half-dollars, Corey turned to Andrew. “Did you hear that, Andy? I’m going to be your friend in her book.”

Andy gave Corey a high five. “See, I told you she was cool.”

They stood talking for a few more minutes until Andrew grabbed Megan’s hand excitedly. “There’s Grandma and Grandpa. Come on, Megan, I want you to meet them.”.

Kane shoved his hands into his trouser pockets and watched them go, struggling with the urge to tell Megan to stay. Patricia Linden never had anything good to say about her son-in-law, and a part of him hated that Megan would be subjected to that censure.

Karen smacked him lightly on the arm with her small purse, bringing him around. “You’re just going to stand here and let Andrew feed her to the barracuda?”

“Megan’s a big girl, Karen, and more than capable of taking care of herself.” It hadn’t taken him long to learn that. Megan was a strong individual in character and spirit, and he was confident she could handle anything the barracuda dished out. “Besides, Patricia’s problem isn’t with Megan, but me.”