The Weekday Brides 04 - Single by Saturday (9 page)

“Oh, yeah…they just don’t get their kicks by defacing property. Stealing a tractor for a joy ride, bonfires, and beer parties. Deer hunting off season.”

Karen couldn’t imagine. “Did you hunt?”

“Been years. But yeah.”

“Did you like it?”

He turned off the main road and out of town toward the residential portion of Hilton. “Didn’t hate it. Might have enjoyed it more if I liked the taste of venison. My mom’s a good cook, but I never did like the gamey taste of deer.”

Karen smiled at a couple who stopped to watch them drive by. “Doesn’t taste like chicken?”

“Not even close.”

“Has to be better than snails.”

Michael made a heaving noise. They’d both tried escargot and both decided the French laughed at every American who ate the crap. “Stupid Americans. They’ll eat anything,” she said with her best French accent. They both laughed at the memory of their time in France.

There were several cars parked on the streets outside of the houses. Unlike homes in California, here there was sufficient space between the homes, and each one looked different from its neighbor. He slowed down in front of a two-story traditional with room in the drive for their rental. “You ready?” he asked.

Karen had never had a home to go home to. Although her heart rate had kicked up a notch as he put the car in park, there was an excitement to meeting the people with whom Michael grew up. Regardless of their not truly married status, Michael was a friend,
and she couldn’t remember seeing a more genuine smile on his face in the past. That made her extremely happy.

“I’m ready. Are you ready?”

Michael no sooner twisted the key away from the ignition than the door to the house swung open and out poured a gaggle of people.

One step out of the car, and a young teenage girl ran to him with open arms. “Mikey!”

Here we go.

Zach held back and let his family welcome home the famous son. Hannah couldn’t hold in her enthusiasm as she jumped into Mike’s arms and he swung her around. Judy quickly followed while little Eli ran around their feet in his excitement. Eli couldn’t really know Mike all that much, except for the pictures and explanation that Mike was his uncle.

“Is that her?” Zach’s mom whispered to him as they stood on the porch and waited for the youngest girls to give Mike and Karen a chance to get out of the car.

“Yeah.”

“She doesn’t look like the pictures.”

He stared at her now. “No, she doesn’t.”
She looks better in person.

As if Karen sensed their stares, she looked directly at him.

He stilled and the air around him charged.

“She’s hot,” Joe whispered behind him, jolting him out of his thoughts.

“Aren’t you married to my sister?”

Joe was Rena’s husband, and had been since they married right after high school. They adored each other.

“I’m not blind.”

His mom moved from her perch and the rest of them followed.

“Hey, Rena.” Mike hugged the oldest sister and tickled the baby’s chin. “She’s grown,” Mike said.

“Eighteen months next week.”

Rena stood back and gave their mom her turn. Mike pulled her into a hug and lifted her off the ground.

“I was starting to think you forgot about us,” Janice said.

“I’ve had a crazy year,” he told them. Then as if he realized for the first time that his wife stood by his side, he lifted his arm to Karen and invited her into the circle of their family.

“Mom, this is Karen. Karen, my mom, Janice.”

Karen smiled, her perfect teeth shining. “It’s a pleasure, Mrs. Gardner.”

“Oh, Janice. Please.” Zach could see wonder in Karen’s face when Janice pulled her into a hug.

The girls stood back and let Mike introduce his wife.

“We’re so excited you’re finally here.”

“Michael has had a very busy schedule this year. I’ve heard so much about all of you.”

“Where’s Dad?” Mike asked as he looked around.

“Closing up the shop,” Rena told him.

Zach felt Mike’s disappointment. Not that he should have expected anything different. Their father put work first. Almost before his family. It’s just the way it had always been.

“This is Joe, Rena’s husband,” Mike told Karen.

Karen was too close to do anything other than shake hands, which appeared awkward for her.

“And you know Zach.”

If watching her shake hands with Joe felt awkward, it had nothing on the open arms she presented to him. It was as if she knew
they should be on a somewhat more familiar basis…and she was, but their brief hug did nothing other than remind him of the peach shampoo she used and the overall intensity he felt in her presence.

The desire to hold her, suck her in, made him hold on a fraction too long.

She stepped back and didn’t meet his gaze. Instead, she looked beyond him.

Zach twisted around and tried to focus.

He cleared his throat. “Mike, Karen…this is Tracey…my girlfriend.”

Chapter Seven

The entire time Karen sat among the Gardners, all she could see was the one person in the room who wasn’t related by blood or marriage.

Tracey walked around the home, occasionally placing her hand on Zach’s shoulder to gain his attention, but otherwise acting as if she belonged. She did, and would much longer than Karen.

Zach had yet to keep eye contact with her for more than a second. Neither of them had forgotten or misinterpreted what had happened in the driveway back in Beverly Hills. As much as Karen wanted to forget that moment, she couldn’t.

She had no right to feel misled by the fact that Zach had a girlfriend, considering she was the married one, but the feeling was there nonetheless.

Thank God, they hadn’t kissed. There would be no way she could have walked in the door with Michael if she could taste his brother on her lips.

The Gardner family home held a spacious living room complete with a fireplace, worn and comfortable sofas, and reclining chairs. Rena had put her daughter down for a nap in one of the upstairs bedrooms, while everyone else gathered in the living room. Karen had yet to see where she and Michael would be sleeping. She
never made it past the living room before someone suggested she and Michael sit and allow the family to quiz them.

As Zach had told Karen, Hannah talked obsessively. “I can’t believe you’re finally here,” Hannah told them.

“I can’t believe you didn’t come sooner,” Rena scolded.

“Leave the pestering to Mom,” Michael told his sister.

All eyes moved to Janice. “I’ll pester later. Right now I want to make Karen feel at home.” Janice offered Karen a warm smile.

“Oh, pester away,” Karen encouraged them. “So few people in Michael’s life give him any grief other than me.”

The comment managed a few laughs.

“Thanks for throwing me under the bus, hon.” Michael winked at her.

“Your ego was always too big for this town,” Zach said.

“When it gets too big at home, I just tell him to take out the trash and lower the lid to the toilet.”

“That’s gross, Mike,” Hannah chided.

Tracey sat on the arm of the couch and placed her arm around Zach’s shoulders.

Karen skirted her gaze away.

“How did you two meet?” Tracey asked.

“Haven’t you seen the YouTube video?” Hannah pulled her cell phone out of the back pocket of her jeans.

“You met on YouTube?” Obviously, Tracey didn’t understand the social media site or how it functioned. Zach’s girlfriend had a set of soulful eyes and dark brown hair. She stood a couple of inches taller than Karen, and carried a few more pounds, but not in an unflattering way. She didn’t wear a lot of makeup, but Karen could tell she had put some effort in her appearance. She kept watching Michael, and it was impossible to miss the slight blush to her cheeks when he smiled her way. Karen had seen that happen more times than she could count over the past year. It was one thing to watch
a celebrity on the screen and quite another to meet them in person, and here Tracey was thrust into a room with a virtual superstar and expected to hold a normal conversation when it was obvious she was having her own fan-girl moment.

“No, silly. They met when Mike went to one of those after school places that keep kids off the streets.” Hannah scrambled over toward Tracey and Zach while she expertly surfed the net with one finger, all the while talking about Karen and Michael’s
chance
meeting.

Karen glanced at Michael and noted the smirk on his face. They both knew there was nothing
chance
about their introduction to each other. In fact, they’d both had an opportunity to look over each other’s Alliance profiles and had already agreed they were compatible, at least on paper, for a short marriage.

Through Hannah’s phone, Karen heard the familiar sound of the kids at the center chatting over each other as they were telling Karen that
Michael Wolfe was asking her out
. She’d seen the YouTube clip so many times and from many different angles in the weeks following. It had aired on two entertainment television slots and even showed up as a clip on the local evening news.

Michael really was gifted in his art. He’d convinced everyone in the club that day that they’d just met and he was enamored with her. She, of course, knew there wasn’t a snowball’s chance that their marriage would be anything but temporary even before they met. Gwen picked up on his sexual preference when she met him, so Karen knew he was gay from day one.

Gwen’s gaydar had been legendary since. At many Hollywood parties, Michael would hang back with Gwen to get a heads-up on the sexuality of the men in attendance.

Tracey watched the footage from the Internet with interest.

Zach glanced at the screen on the phone briefly. “I seem to remember you pulling that line on Suzie Baker in tenth grade.”

Karen shot a playful grin to Michael. “You fed me a line?” she asked with a wink.

“Me, the actor? Fed
you
a line? Never!”

They were laughing when the sound of a car pulling into the driveway caught Eli’s attention. “Grandpa.”

Michael sat taller, and his smile fell. She reached out and clasped his hand in hers with a squeeze.

He glanced at her. For whatever reason, Sawyer Gardner twisted Michael in knots, and she was determined to help Michael through whatever the man presented. As platonic as their relationship was, she really did love her husband.

The weight of someone’s stare had her looking around the room. More than one set of eyes landed on her. Rena appeared to be deducing something inside her head as she stared at Karen. Zach seemed to be focused on her and Michael’s clasped hands. When his eyes moved toward hers, Karen glanced back at Rena, who was now watching Zach.

Karen purposely closed her eyes and drew in a breath. When she opened them again, she forced her eyes to the front door.

Janice welcomed the patriarch of the Gardner family home, as did little Eli, who ran to his grandfather with open arms.

Both of the Gardner sons obtained their height from their father, Karen mused. Sawyer stood six two and looked as if he could hold his own with lifting heavy weights at his hardware store, or lugging two-by-fours on a construction site. His dark hair was peppered with gray but didn’t seem to be thinning, which probably lent some hope to both Michael and Zach that they would each have a full head of hair throughout their lives.

Michael stood, and pulled her to her feet to meet his father.

“Look who’s here,” Janice said to her husband.

Sawyer’s gaze took in the room and hesitated on Karen for a brief moment before landing on Michael.

What will it be, a handshake or a hug?

Michael stepped in front of her and the handshake won.

“It’s good to see you,” he told his father.

“We thought you’d forgotten about us.”

Karen cringed. How many times had she heard that in the past hour?
Too many to count.

Instead of offering an apology or an excuse, Michael turned to Karen. “Dad, I want you to meet Karen.”

She offered her hand as she had Janice earlier. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Gardner. Michael has told me a lot about you.”

“Is that so?” he asked as he shook her hand briefly. “He’s told us virtually nothing about you.” Sawyer’s unnerving stare shot through her.