Page 54 of It's Always Been You

“You and me both. All done?”

The doctor nodded and started to pack up. Caitlin waited for her to gather her things so they could exit Travis’s study together.

Travis was pacing outside the room with a somber look on his face. When he saw them, he barked, “What took so long?”

“Calm down, Travis. I just wanted to be thorough,” Dr. Ryan answered.

He inclined his head jerkily, his eyes cutting to Caitlin, but he was addressing the doctor, “Is she okay?”

“Healthy as an ox.”

Relief mellowed the tension on his face.

“No heavy exercise,” the doctor added, her meaning not lost on them both. Caitlin felt color rising to her cheeks even as Travis turned ruddy. “And if you don’t want her to getpregnant, Travis, you should continue using condoms for a week.”

Travis grinned. “Not a problem, Fern.”

The doctor shook her head, reached out, and squeezed Travis’s arm. “I’m glad you found her.”

She turned her bespectacled gaze on Caitlin. “You have a good man here, young lady. Stay out of trouble.”

Travis slung his arm around Caitlin, pulling her close, and kissed the top of her head. They walked the doctor to her car, and watched her pull away. Returning to the house, Travis paused at the foyer and turned her fully in his arms. “We have a slight problem.”

His tone seemed serious, but his face wasn’t.

“Um . . . What?”

“My parents are coming over.”

9

He was joking,right? Caitlin thought frantically as she stared at Travis with her mouth hanging open. Travis’s eyes grew alert, taking in her reaction carefully.

“Babe. Breathe,” Travis said worriedly.

Breathe? Breathe?Breathing was the least of her problems. Well, maybe not. She started taking deep exhalations, pulled away from Travis, and backed into the kitchen slowly. She turned around and leaned against the countertop, bracing her hands on the edge. “Are you trying to kill me?” she gasped out as her heart galloped against her breastbone.

“Caitlin,” Travis’s voice was calm behind her. “They’re going to love you, sunshine. Don’t worry.”

She released her grip on the counter and faced him. “Have you told them I’m alive?”

His gaze slid away from her and stared at a spot on the floor.

“Freaking great,” Caitlin muttered. “You’re going to give your parents a heart attack as well.” Then she shrieked, “What the HELL were you thinking?”

Travis’s arms were outstretched to placate her, but sheswatted them away and scooted past him to wear a hole in the carpet in the living room.

“I’ll explain when they get here,” Travis said.

“And tell them what? Oh, by the way, my wife is alive?”

“I couldn’t hold them off forever.” It irritated Caitlin that Travis was so matter-of-fact about the whole thing. “Mom said my sister, Lisa, had some stuff for me and wanted to bring them over before she returned to work this week.”

“Travis, have you considered what would happen if things don’t work out between us?” Caitlin asked. “We’ll hurt them in the end.”

“We’ll make sure we won’t,” Travis replied, still speaking in that measured tone, but a line formed along his jaw.

And that was when it hit her. He was so calm about the whole thing because this was another way to back her into a corner and make her accept her fate as his wife.

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