Chapter 29

Two months later…

'I NOW pronounce you husband and wife.' The marriage celebrant paused to smile before adding, 'You may now kiss the bride.'

Ric swept Lara into his embrace and the love beaming from their faces brought tears to Kathryn's eyes. Somehow, it was all the more moving because she and Mitch were the only witnesses to this very private wedding.

Lara was over six months pregnant, with Ric's child, not Gary Chappel's as she had feared. The DNA test had relieved her of any further concern on that score. Thank God! Kathryn thought, having seen Ric's torment over Lara's initial rejection of any further involvement with him. If Johnny Ellis hadn't gone to Gundamurra and found out about Lara's pregnancy before Ric had taken off to New York…

'It did work,' Mitch murmured.

'What?' Kathryn whispered, still watching the passionate clinch of the newly married couple and envying the absolute certainty of their love for each other.

'He took her home. And it worked for them,' Mitch answered, nodding at some private satisfaction in his mind.

It touched a highly nervous chord in Kathryn. Once they saw Ric and Lara off on their honeymoon, she was taking Mitch home to Gosford with her—his first meeting with her parents—and she couldn't help feeling apprehensive about it.

There had been no real decision made about this step. She'd mentioned it was her mother's birthday this weekend and she was expected home for it. Mitch had said he might as well use the time to visit his sister at Green Point, and since that area was in the vicinity of Gosford, they could travel together in his car, with him dropping Kathryn off and picking her up on the way back.

Given the intimacy of their relationship, it would have sounded dreadfully rude to reject the offer—equally rude not to invite him into her parental home. Yet she felt horribly self-conscious about the visit, knowing how curious her parents would be to meet the man who had supplanted Jeremy in her life, probably wondering if she'd end up being hurt by him, too.

Mitch had accepted the invitation to dine with them tonight but he had stuck with his plan to stay with his sister, possibly sensing Kathryn's inhibitions about sharing a room with him under her parents' roof. Stupid really, given they could barely keep their hands off each other, but her parents didn't know that and she didn't want them to think she was plunging headlong into another mistake.

While it had been three very hot and heavy months with Mitch now, and there was no sign of his desire for her abating, Kathryn couldn't help thinking it was all too good—magic, as Mitch had called it—and the spell might break. Introducing him to her parents was a scary prospect, especially after getting to the point of planning a wedding with Jeremy.

Maybe Mitch didn't want the open commitment of sleeping in her parents' home, either, keeping his sister as an escape route to slide away when it suited him. Three months…it wasn't a long time, yet Kathryn couldn't imagine ever wanting to be with any other man. She hoped Mitch felt the same way about her. But he hadn't said he loved her, hadn't invited her to meet his sister, and here she was, taking him home with her.

Would it work for them?

He need not have come. He could easily have avoided it altogether instead of offering to drive her both ways. Maybe he was curious about her home life, wanting some more knowledge of her and her background. But what about him and his sister…who had been raped? They had never talked about that.

Because of Jeremy?

It dawned on Kathryn that she'd been floating along in a bubble of happiness where Mitch was concerned, but other things existed outside that bubble. There was nothing hidden between Ric and Lara any more and that was how it should be…everything known, accepted, understood. That was how it had to be for a marriage to work, with love underpinning it all.

She hadn't known enough about Jeremy, hadn't understood, and couldn't accept his attitudes when she had understood. Mitch Tyler was a very different person and she loved everything she knew about him, yet how much more was there she didn't know?

This was weighing heavily on her mind by the time they'd farewelled Ric and Lara. By then it was mid-afternoon, and since she and Mitch had decided to leave the city early to avoid peak hour traffic, their weekend bags were already in his car—nothing to delay their departure. They were very quickly on their way to Gosford, Mitch in the driver's seat in more ways than one, Kathryn thought.

Had he deliberately manoeuvred a meeting with her parents for some kind of check on her while still holding himself aloof where his own family was concerned? Her uncertainty about his intentions kept her tense and silent as the car headed north.

'I guess you're thinking of the wedding you didn't have.'

The comment startled her—the wedding forgotten, the focus of her thoughts entirely on the destination they were travelling toward. Even more startling—unnerving—was the mocking little smile Mitch flashed at her, especially when there wasn't even a hint of a smile in his eyes. The twin blue laser beams bit into her with hard, purposeful intent.

Kathryn's mind instantly clicked to red alert. This was Mitch's first reference to Jeremy since he'd forcefully taken him out of her life. It appalled her that he might think she regretted her ex-fiancé's departure…for any reason at all.

'I can't imagine anything worse than a wedding where there's no real love,' she said emphatically. 'I was actually envying Ric and Lara. They didn't need any flashy frills to make their wedding into a big day. Having each other was more than big enough for them.'

'Would you be content with a ceremony as simple as that?'

She hesitated, frowning. 'My family would be hurt if they were excluded.'

'So what they think is important to you.' 'Yes, it is.'

Another stabbing glance. 'What did they think of Haynes?'

Kathryn's breath caught at the directness of the question. Was Mitch worrying about how he would compare in her parents' eyes? 'They didn't really take to him,' she answered honestly. 'I thought it was…different lifestyles.'

'Are you worried about what they'll think of me?'

Her chest tightened up as her mind whirled through the concerns that had been nagging her. 'Why do you want to meet them, Mitch?' she burst out. 'What's this all about?'

His hands tightened on the steering wheel, knuckles gleaming white. His jaw looked clenched, too, his mouth thinning into a grim, determined line. Kathryn was acutely aware of strong emotion being barely contained. Yet when he spoke it was in a calm, measured tone.

'I'd like to know why you don't want me to meet them, Kathryn.'

She winced, hating the idea of explaining her reluctance to expose where she was now with him. Yet if she didn't…what was he thinking? That she was ashamed of their relationship, not prepared to acknowledge it? Treating him like a gigolo who supplied her with sex—a person she didn't want to introduce to her parents because the relationship wasn't serious to her? In actual fact, it was so serious, she didn't want anything tainting it.

But how to explain that?

'It hasn't anything to do with you, Mitch,' she plunged in, anxious to clear the air of anything offensive or insulting. 'I foisted Jeremy on them and they accepted him for my sake, while all the time they worried that my marriage to him would turn out badly. Though they didn't say that until after…after I broke off the engagement.'

She took a deep breath as she struggled to clarify the conflict in her mind. 'It made me feel worse that they'd seen what I didn't. And here you are—' her hands fluttered in helpless appeal '—driving a classy Jaguar, exuding success, bristling with sex appeal, and they'll think I've fallen for the same package again—you taking over Jeremy's place.'

The ensuing silence felt as though it was loaded with explosives.

Kathryn closed her eyes, fiercely hoping she hadn't just ruined everything with her own squirmish guilt for being a blind fool.

'Am I the same package to you?'

Again his tone was calm, almost matter-of-fact, yet the impact of his question sent shock waves through her entire body.

'No!' Her heart sank at the train of thought she'd planted in his mind. She shot him an agonised glance. 'You must know you're so much more, Mitch.'

He didn't answer immediately and his gaze remained fixed on the traffic, making it impossible for her to read his expression. She waited, literally on pins and needles, and when he did reply, it was indirect, putting her on the spot again.