Marriage by Mistake

He'd made Dean look at the facts. Feelings didn't last, even the best of them. Dean had learned this at an early age, he just hadn't wanted to remember it. Things had been going so well with Kelly, he hadn't wanted to face that one day it was going to be over. One day Kelly would look at Dean and she just wouldn't care any more.
    Dean released a laughing sigh. For a crazy little while there, he'd actually imagined it could be different. Permanent.
    Well yes, he had been crazy.
    A banging, clunking sound in the hall caught Dean's attention. The sound moved toward the front door.
    "What the—?" Dean got up, strode to the study door, and opened it.
    Kelly was struggling toward the front entry, pushing one beat-up suitcase ahead of her and dragging two other, mismatched suitcases behind her.
    "What the—?" Dean repeated. He stalked out of the study and down the hall. "What are you doing?"
    Kelly paused in her travail and turned. "No problem. My taxi should be here any minute."
    Dean halted. "Your taxi?"
    Kelly drew herself up. "You made yourself clear, Dean, crystal clear."
    "Oh?" He felt stiff as ice. Her taxi ?
    She adjusted her purse strap over her shoulder. "This marriage isn't going to last. In point of fact, it shouldn't."
    Dean tried, but couldn't, incline his head to agree. Of course it wasn't going to last. That was a given.
    But he hadn't meant she should leave now .
    "The trial period is over, for all intents and purposes." Kelly laughed. "I think we know each other as well as we're ever going to."
    Again, Dean couldn't move, couldn't utter a word in reply. She was talking about leaving now . When he'd thought he had until September.
    But he heard the sound of tires, a car pulling up in the front driveway. The taxi? There was a peremptory honk.
    "I, uh—" Kelly looked away from Dean, toward the front door. "I meant what I said earlier, in the morning room."
    Dean's head was spinning. Her suitcases were in the hallway. There was a taxi outside. And she was asking him to remember what she'd said in the morning room? For the love of—
    There was another honk from the taxi outside. Kelly turned to look at Dean. For a moment the defensive defiance in her eyes fell away. She seemed to open toward him, waiting. Dean felt a spike of hope. He could prevent this, stop her exit—if he only knew what she was waiting for.
    Kelly's lashes fell over her eyes. She gave a short shake of her head. "No," she said. "I didn't think you would."
    I will , Dean wanted to roar. Whatever she wanted. But he didn't. How could he? There were her suitcases and a taxi was waiting outside. How was he supposed to stop this progress of events?
    Kelly sighed, then opened the front door. She shouted out to the cabdriver, "I have some things. Could you lend a hand?"
    Yes, Dean thought, ice inside. She was leaving. There was nothing a man could do to stop a woman who wanted to leave. He'd learned that long ago. He could only watch numbly as the burly cab driver shuffled into the house and began gathering Kelly's bags.
    Kelly turned to Dean. "Goodbye," she said. She smiled, she waved, and then she went out the door.
    Dean's ears were ringing. He felt dizzy. The cabdriver managed to gather all of Kelly's bags at once. Grunting, the man followed Kelly. A wide slice of sunlight spilled into the entry. The driver had left the door open.
    Dean could only stand there like a fence post. He heard the trunk slam, then a car door, followed by the sound of spitting gravel as the cab pulled away. Still he stood there, staring at the swathe of sunlight. Of course he'd known this day was coming. He'd just this morning told Kelly all about it, enunciated the truth she hadn't wanted to face. But still, he felt as if his legs had just been cut from under him.
    She'd left him, gone. It was over.

    CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

    Kelly was in a daze during most of the flight to Las Vegas. She could hardly believe her own actions. She'd walked out. She'd really and truly done it.
    For once in her life she'd taken charge in a relationship.
    Kelly got off the plane at McCarran airport in Las Vegas and wondered why her self-assertiveness wasn't making her feel any better. As she trudged through the bustling airport, she wondered if she felt bad because in fact she'd done the wrong thing.
    God, maybe she had. Surely it was a mistake to walk away from the most loyal, most honest—and incidentally wealthiest—man she'd ever been involved with. And only because he hadn't