The Wedding Promise by Judy Christenberry

Author:Judy Christenberry
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2000-11-15T00:00:00+00:00

KATHERINE WAS MORE TIRED than she could remember being after a day at the shop. She hadn’t done that much more. No, her weariness stemmed from the emotional trauma of Gabe’s visit.

“It’s your own fault,” she muttered. After all, she’d let herself hope. A ridiculous thing to do. But when he’d taken her into his arms, of his own free will, and kissed her as he once had, as if she meant everything in the world to him, her heart had soared.

Only to crash.

She should have known better. Her hopes must have been plastered all over her face. Never again.

The issue between them was about money. She wouldn’t forget that. After all, she should have expected it. He was his mother’s son. And that woman had a calculator for a heart.

Jack was sitting in the kitchen when she got home, watching her mother work with a bemused smile on his face.

“Evening, Katherine. Your mom invited me to supper.”

“Of course she did, Jack. And I’m glad. We always eat better when you’re here,” Katherine told him, grinning at her mother when she spun around to protest.

“Are the kids home?” she asked, before either of them could say anything.

“Yes,” Margaret said, frowning. “Susan didn’t even have to be reminded to collect the eggs.”

Katherine shook her head, chuckling. “Don’t worry about it. After a few days, we should have the old Susan back. Hopefully, a little nicer, but almost the same. I’m going to wash up. Then I’ll come set the table.”

She entered her bedroom and looked around her. When Paul went away to college, she’d like to make his room her office. Now her room was cluttered with her paperwork. At least she had her own bedroom.

While all the kids had been at home, they’d shared rooms. When Diane and Raine occasionally came home, she and Susan again had roommates.

It suddenly occurred to her that if Jack moved into the house with her mother, and everyone got along, she might be able to get her own place. It was an added expense, an unnecessary expense, of course, but she wasn’t going to be a martyr.

For the first time since she’d realized today that Gabe really didn’t want her, her spirits brightened. Finding time alone was next to impossible right now. But if she had her own place, an apartment on the square—she warned herself not to get too caught up in the idea. A million things could make it impossible.

When she reached the kitchen again, she found the table already set.

“Susan came in and set the table?” she asked.

“No, Jack did,” Margaret announced, pride in her voice.

“She wouldn’t let me do anything else,” he said with a shrug. “But I do know how to set a table.”

“You did a great job, Jack. Thanks. Want to help me put ice in glasses for us?”

While they were doing so, Susan and Paul came in the back door.

“We’ve got a dozen more eggs than usual, Katie,” Susan announced, holding up the bucket she used to gather the eggs.

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