Marrying Kate (13 page)

"I know." Kate shrugged as she reached into the closet to hang up her dress.

When she turned back to him, Jared gently grasped the lapels of her bathrobe and pulled her close. She was forced to tilt her head back to meet his gaze. "Move your stuff tomorrow." He dropped a quick kiss on her lips. "This is for keeps, Katie. Might as well get used to it." This time the kiss wasn’t so brief.

*****

Kate leaned back on her hands and watched the kids running around the yard. Jared was in the far corner on the riding mower. Amelia and Candy played on the swings while Bry lugged a bag of grass to the garbage. Kate had finished weeding her garden and now sat on a blanket with Dani.

With a satisfied sigh, Kate closed her eyes and let her head drop back, lifting her face to the sun. At moments like these, when everything seemed so perfect, she was certain she was in the midst of a dream. It was so much like the dreams she’d had years ago of a husband, a family and a nice home. Kate prayed that she didn’t wake up to find herself alone in her bed in her condo in Seattle.

The mower cut off
, leaving only nature and the kids to fill the silence. Kate lifted her head and opened her eyes in time to see Jared striding across the grass towards her. Her heart took a tumble at his blatant masculinity. His frayed cut-offs revealed tanned, muscular legs, and his tank top did nothing to hide smooth, sleek muscles.

Jared dropped onto the blanket beside her, sweat slipping down his cheek. He lifted his shirt and wiped his face. "Whew, it’s hot for spring."

"It’s beautiful," Kate contradicted.

"Yes, I guess if I had nothing better to do than sit on a blanket and watch the world go by I’d think it was beautiful too," Jared said, a teasing look in his eyes.

"I’ll have you know I weeded my whole garden," Kate retorted. "It’s not my fault you’re slow at your job."

"Slow am I?" Jared moved towards her. "I think you need a little more sweat to show for your hard work."

"No!" Kate scrambled to her feet and tried to run but he caught her ankle.

"Gotcha now." Jared grinned up at her from his prone position on the blanket. "You’re not getting away."

Kate tried, although not too hard, to free her ankle from his strong grip. Finally she collapsed back down onto the blanket beside him. "Okay, you win." She lifted her hands in defeat. She wondered how far this teasing was going to go and decided to put it to the test. "Make me sweat."

An adventurous gleam came into Jared’s eyes as he sat up next to her. "With pleasure."

He lifted her onto his lap and rubbed his forehead against her cheek leaving it damp and smelling of sweat and his cologne.

"Ewww," Kate dragged a hand across her cheek. "Now I’m going to have to take another shower."

"It’s only fair since I’m going to have to take one too." Jared said as he slid his hand around her neck and used his thumb to tilt her head up.

Before Kate knew what was happening he’d given her a soft, lingering kiss. Her heart pounded painfully in her chest. This was the first time he’d kissed her in a casual way since they
had been married. Usually their kisses led to something more, but there was no way this kiss was leading anywhere. They were outside, in full view of the kids.

The kids! Kate jerked back from Jared and looked around. Jared moved more slowly, wrapping his arms around her waist. All four kids were watching them with expressions ranging from disgust on Bry’s to dreamy approval on Amelia’s
and curiosity on Candy’s. Dani, of course, just sat there smiling at them.

"Yuck," Bry declared. "You’re as mushy as Mom and Dad were. Why do
grownups like to kiss anyway?"

Kate turned to look at Jared, whose blue eyes twinkled at her. "I think maybe you should answer that question."

"Thank you so much," Jared said sarcastically. "How did I get landed with that honor?"

"He’s a boy, you’re a man so you get to answer his question. I’ll answer the girls’ questions which means I’ll have to answer three times as many. I wouldn’t complain if I were you. Unless of course, you’d like to switch and I’ll answer Bry’s and you can answer the girls’."

A look of panic passed across Jared’s face. "Never mind, I’ll take care of this one."

Kate sat back in his embrace, curious to hear how he’d answer Bry. She wondered herself why he was kissing her in the middle of the day for no apparent reason.

"Well, Bry, it’s like this," Jared began after clearing his throat. "When a man and a woman get married, kissing is a part of what they do. It’s something that shows
they lo..." Jared’s voice trailed off. "It’s something that shows they care about each other."

Kate tried to ignore the disappointment that flared to life. When was she going to remember that this marriage wasn’t about love for each other? It was about respect and caring and loving four kids who needed them.

The moment soon passed and Jared lifted Kate off his lap and went back to work. Kate took Dani into the house with her and began to prepare lunch.

There were no more casual kisses or spontaneous moments of affection that afternoon or in the days that followed. Even when they were alone there seemed to be a tension that hadn’t existed before. Jared even got up earlier than her and went out for his run, returning in time for breakfast but missing their devotion time together.

Was it something she’d done? Kate wondered one afternoon as she chopped carrots in preparation for dinner. She didn’t think so. After all, Jared had started the playfulness on Saturday. But there was no doubt that something had changed.

"How long
‘til dinner?" She was so caught up in her thoughts she hadn’t even heard Jared come into the house.

The knife she was using to cut the carrots slipped and nicked her finger. Kate stifled her exclamation of pain and draped a
dish towel over the cut before turning to greet Jared.

His blue eyes were serious as he watched her, his expression
bleak. Kate wanted to see that twinkle again. It hadn’t been evident since Saturday either.

"Dinner?" Jared asked again.

"Oh yes." Kate tried to ignore the pulsing pain in her finger. "It’ll be about an hour. You’re home early."

"Had a couple of things I needed to do here." Jared started to head out of the kitchen. "I’ll be in the library if you need me."

Once she was alone, Kate warily unwrapped the towel and stared at the cut. It wasn’t too deep, but it hurt like crazy and was bleeding a lot. With a slightly nauseous feeling, Kate put the bloodied towel back in place and went upstairs to the bathroom.

Her hands shook as she held her finger under the water.
Though her work had required her to work with blood, it was usually just a liquid in a test tube. She was no good with fresh blood, especially her own, and pain was something she could do without.

"Auntie Kate?" Amelia stood in the bathroom door. "Are you all right?"

Kate tried to smile at her niece. "I’m fine. Just a little cut."

"Can I help you?" Amelia came a little further into the bathroom to see. She immediately backed away when she saw the blood and water swirling down the drain.

"No, I’m fine. Just need to clean it up and put a bandage on it." Kate tried to sound
relaxed and not like she was going to faint at any moment.

Amelia nodded before disappearing out of the bathroom. Glad that she’d been able to reassure her niece, Kate slumped down onto her knees and leaned her head on the counter while water continued to run over the cut.

She just needed to regroup, Kate told herself. What was a little blood? It wasn’t like she was going to die or anything. It was just a teeny, tiny little cut.

In the distance she heard the sound of voices. As they drew closer she thought to herself she should really try and stand but her head was still spinning.

"
Kate!" Jared’s voice sliced through the spinning and pulled her together like nothing else could have. She quickly scrambled to her feet and grabbed a towel. "What happened?"

Jared took her by the wrists and led her to the toilet. He had her sit on the closed lid, then he squatted down in front of her and unwrapped the towel. Kate stared down at the top of his head. His hair looked so silky. How much she’d like to run her fingers through it. Suddenly he looked up at her, his blue eyes intent and questioning.

"What?" she asked, thinking how like the sea his blue eyes
were. Would their kids have blue eyes like his? Well, they might if she could get pregnant.

Jared gave her a little shake. "
Kate! What’s wrong with you? What happened? How did you cut yourself?"

"Knife slipped. You scared me." Kate couldn’t believe the strained voice belonged to her.

"You mean you cut this when I was talking to you in the kitchen
?"

Kate nodded, glancing down at the cut and then wishing she hadn’t. Her stomach lurched at the blood seeping out of the cut.

"Why didn’t you tell me?" Jared looked angry now, his blue eyes flashing. She liked the twinkling better, Kate decided. Would she ever see them twinkle again?

"You’re upset. Something’s wrong. Didn’t want to bother you." Kate tried to smile but it felt weak and strained. She knew it wouldn’t reassure him that she was all right. "It’s just a little cut. I’ll be fine."

"Aw, Katie." Jared looked at her again, the anger gone but there was still no twinkling, just sadness. "I’m sorry."

"S’okay." Kate patted his cheek. "I just wasn’t listening."

Jared looked at her more closely, concern back in his eyes. "What’s wrong, Kate? Besides the cut. You’re acting really...loopy, for lack of a better word."

"Don’t like
the sight of my own blood. Makes my head spin, and I feel like I’m going to pass ou..." Blackness swirled in and swept Kate away.
 

Chapter Seven

Jared watched in horror as Kate slumped forward into his arms. He never imagined a little blood would defeat his cool and collected wife. Carefully he lifted her in his arms and carried her into the bedroom. Four huge sets of eyes watched him lay their unconscious aunt onto the bed.

"It’s okay, guys. She’s just fainted. It turns out your Auntie Kate doesn’t like the sight of blood very much." Jared went back to the bathroom for a clean cloth and a bandage. He might as well work on her finger while she was out.

The kids climbed onto the bed beside Kate and watched as Jared finished cleaning the cut and wrapped the bandage around it. After he’d finished, he got another wet cloth and laid it on Kate’s forehead.

"C’mon, Katie. Wake up," Jared encouraged her. "There’s no more blood. It’s all taken care of."

Gradually Kate began to stir. He was glad to see her gray eyes were clear when she opened them. "Did I faint?"

"Yep," Jared said with a grin. "You just swooned right into my arms."

Kate’s pale cheeks quickly turned an enticing shade of pink. She pushed herself into a sitting position. "Sorry about that."

"Nothing to be sorry about. I was just glad I was there to catch you. That tile in the bathroom can be pretty hard." Jared turned serious. "Which brings me back to the question I had before you landed in my arms. Why didn’t you tell me you’d cut yourself?"

"It was nothing. I thought I could handle a little cut." Kate looked down at her bandaged finger. "Obviously I was wrong. Thanks for patching me up."

"
Kate, I’m still not satisfied here. You stood there while we talked in the kitchen with your finger bleeding all over the place. You didn’t even say ouch."

"Well, actually I did. Inside." Kate looked at him
, and Jared hoped she’d see how serious he was. Her shoulders slumped. "I’m sorry, Jared. You’ve just been so distracted over the past few days. I didn’t want to add to whatever you were worried about."

Jared started to respond but suddenly remembered they weren’t alone in the room. He glanced at the kids who were watching them both intently and then back at Kate. "We’ll finish this discussion later. In the meantime, we’re going out for dinner."

The kids’ cheers drowned out Kate’s protests, and soon they were on their way out the door.

Later that evening, after making sure the house was secure, Jared climbed the stairs to join Kate in the bedroom. It was time they finished their earlier talk.

Kate was sitting on the edge of the bed when he walked into the room. She looked at him in surprise. It had been several days since he’d come to bed before she’d fallen asleep. He’d even missed their morning devotions for the past few days. Jared felt shame sweep through him. He
hadn’t been fair to her. All because he’d been confused about the feelings that had swamped him on Saturday while he’d been holding Kate.

He read the caution in her eyes as he approached the bed. Jared sat down next to her. He didn’t look at her as he picked up her hand.

"I need to ask your forgiveness,
Kate." Jared held her hand gently his attention caught first by the bandage and then by her ring. He rubbed his thumb over its smoothness thinking as he did that Kate deserved so much more than a plain gold band.