The waiter left promptly after taking their drink orders, leaving them facing each other once again.
“Stop feeling sorry for her, Megan. It was because of her that we’re not together right now. She’s the one who has kept us apart all these years.”
Megan smoothed the napkin in her lap, not wanting to look Dylan in the eyes anymore. She hated hurting people, but he was insisting.
“Dylan, Taffie is not the reason we’re not married today. I’m the one to blame for that. Don’t you see, Dylan? If I had trusted you at all, we would have three kids and a house out in the country by now. But I didn’t. And what’s more, even if you had really done all those things, someone who sincerely loved you would have stuck by you and forgiven you. I’ll be honest with you, I had been praying my heart out to get an answer from Heavenly Father that you were the right one for me. But I never got any answer. So when Taffie told me all of those lies that morning, I was more than willing to believe her, because I saw that as an answer to my prayers. It never felt right to me. Remember after you got back from your mission and I insisted on being engaged for an entire year? There was a reason for that. Yes, I wanted to graduate from BYU, but there was more to it. We weren’t meant to be together, Dylan. Not for a minute and definitely not for an eternity.”
Dylan looked away from her and out the window at the passing people. He was quiet for so long, Megan didn’t know what to do. Was he ill?
“What do you say to a man who has wasted the past eight years of his life wishing for someone he can never have?”
Megan reached across the table and grasped Dylan’s hand in hers and smiled.
“I say, better eight than a lifetime.”
Dylan tried to smile, but failed, and grimaced instead. He squeezed Megan’s hand one last time then let go.
“I guess I have a lot of thinking to do. I hope you don’t mind, but I think I’ll just forego lunch. I’m just not very hungry anymore. Please stay and eat though. I would be upset if you felt you had to leave.”
Megan remembered why she agreed to meet Dylan in the first place and had to jump up and grab the sleeve of his suit coat as he began to walk away.
“Please, don’t go yet. I have some questions for you that I need answers to.”
Dylan looked curiously at her, then sat down, crossing his arms.
“Taffie said some things last night that I would like you to clarify for me. She said that information about my father was going to come to light that would humble my whole family. Do you know what she meant by that?”
Dylan’s mouth tightened into a hard line, transforming his face. He now looked like the man she was more familiar with. “You weren’t the only one looking for a quick escape, Megan. Your dad’s side of the business had started to pick up in the last month before the wedding. He started having second thoughts about the merger. Of course, he didn’t bother telling my dad that when he took two hundred thousand dollars of good faith money. He never did give it back, Megan. Your dad is a thief. A thief who’s going to jail if we have anything to say about it. And we’re not the only one’s he’s swindled. We’re going to testify against him in court. Don’t take it personally, Megan. This has nothing to do with you.”
Megan raised shaky hands to her cheeks as she tried to take in everything Dylan had just dumped on her. Her own father? How could he do something like that?
“But he said the merger didn’t happen because of me. He said that I’m the one who caused the disintegration of his business relationship with your father. He’s blamed me for everything for the last eight years. He can barely even look me in the eye when he sees me, and when he does, he looks nauseated. He can’t stand to be in the same room with me.”
Dylan smiled sadly at Megan and got up from the table once again.
“You’re just a reminder of his guilt. Nothing more.”
Dylan turned and walked out of the restaurant and back to his life.
Twenty-Three
AS MEGAN WATCHED DYLAN disappear from sight, she realized she wasn’t very hungry either. She wasn’t sure what to do or what to think, but when she ended up in front of her mom and dad’s house fifteen minutes later, she knew what needed to happen. She had to hear the truth from her father. Megan rang the doorbell five times before her mother finally answered the door.
“Megan, what on earth are you doing here? And why do you look like some kind of refugee?”
Megan ignored her mother’s automatic verbal slap and walked in without an invitation.
“Is Dad here? I really need to talk to him.”
Trisha shut the door and walked around Megan as if she smelled like something vile.
“He should be home anytime for lunch. We’re playing tennis with the Wendells. I’m afraid he won’t have time to talk to you today. Why don’t you go home and get cleaned up and call him later tonight? We don’t have any plans later, so he should be around.”
Megan walked into the living room and sat down on one of the three black leather sofas arranged in a triangle.
“I’m not leaving until I talk to him, Mother. Do you think the Wendells would mind if I came along? I haven’t played in years, but I used to be pretty good. Remember all of those lessons you made Linette and I take?”
Trisha looked alarmed at her daughter’s determination to stay put. Megan always put her husband in a bad mood and she just couldn’t handle his vicious temper today. Just the thought of another blow-up had her feeling frantic. She had to do something, so she went on the offensive. She couldn’t push Megan out the door physically, but when it came to verbal pushing she was a heavy-weight champion.
“Speaking of Linette, when you’re through brainwashing her, please feel free to send her home where she belongs. I think you two have had your fun long enough.”
Megan felt her already strained stomach tighten further. Her mom had pulled out her claws and she knew how to draw blood. Megan had the scars to prove it.
“What exactly do you mean by brainwashing?” Megan asked softly.
Trisha smiled and knew automatically she had scored. “You’re a complete fanatic, Megan, admit it. Ever since you started going to church every Sunday, you’ve become some pathetic, pale excuse for a person. You haven’t seriously dated since Dylan and we know how wonderful that turned out. All you do is stay home, read your scriptures, and listen to your dog bark. For heaven’s sakes, just look at you! You don’t even wear makeup anymore. You are a lifeless little robot and you’re determined to make your sister into an exact replica of yourself. Trust me, one boring Molly Mormon is enough for this family.”
Megan felt her chest constrict as pain filled her whole soul.
How could a mother feel this way about her own daughter? Megan tried to remind herself that it was her mother who had the problem, but the pain clouded out her reasoning. It was just too much.
“Do you even have a heart beating in your chest, Mother? Did you ever love me?”
Trisha frowned as she walked over to her grand piano and whisked her fingers across the keys carelessly. “Don’t be tedious, Megan. Just tell Linette that I’m giving her two more days to get this out of her system, and then I’m cutting her completely off. No more money. Ever.”
Megan leaned her pounding head back against the soft leather of the sofa and buried her dreams of a reconciliation with her parents for good.
“Why do you want her back so badly? Oh, I get it. It’s just you and Dad now. The pressure gets to you after a while, huh? Let’s see, who’s left to make Dad proud? You? It’s almost like your life is one big beauty pageant, isn’t it? I finally walked off the stage and Linette practically killed herself to get off. Did you even care that your daughter was anorexic? She could have died.”
Trisha turned around to face her daughter, caught off guard by someone fighting back. She wasn’t used to defending herself against her daughters. She’d never had to.
“She’s naturally slender. She isn’t anorexic. This is just another example of
your deranged mind. Do you just sit around all day and make these fairy tales up? You really need to get a life before it’s too late. I would hate to have you committed, although the idea is starting to grow on me.”
Megan got to her feet slowly and walked over to the wall by the front window. The family portrait they’d had taken right before she had left for college hung in a prominent position, as if to show all of her parents’ guests that they were a normal happy family. What a joke.
“I admit I do like fairy tales. I’ve always been fond of happy endings. Are you planning on a happy ending, Mom? How happy are you going to be when Dad’s in jail for embezzlement or whatever they’re charging him with, and you’re stuck in this huge house all by yourself? No husband to pay your bills and no daughters to demean. That sounds like a tragedy to me.”
Trisha sat down on the piano bench shakily. “What are you blabbering about, Megan? I want you to leave now. And don’t come back. After I tell your father what you just said, I’m sure he’ll disown you.”
Megan heard her father’s car drive up into the driveway and straightened her shoulders. After getting the truth from her father, there would be no reason to ever return. She was amazed at the feeling of relief that realization gave her.
“You better go get changed for tennis, Mom. You don’t want to keep the Wendells waiting.”
Trisha’s eyes widened as she glanced at her watch. She wanted to impress the Wendells and being late wasn’t good for her image.
“You know where the door is. Use it,” Trisha said.
Megan kept her back to her mom as Trisha practically ran from the room and up the stairs. She would have at least ten minutes alone with her dad. That’s all it should take. She winced as the front door swung open.
“Trish, get a move on! I’ll change at the club.”
Megan walked into the entryway and leaned up against the wall with her arms crossed.
“She’ll be about ten minutes, Dad. So, while you’re waiting, do you mind telling me why you stole two hundred thousand dollars from the Carlisles?”
Lane Garrett turned his head quickly to face his eldest daughter. His face looked haggard and strained as if he had been under a lot of pressure lately. He didn’t look healthy at all.
“Why shouldn’t I take the money? They owed me. What’s it to you anyway? I’d think you’d be thrilled to see me stick it to the Carlisles after what Dylan pulled on you.”
Megan flinched at the bitterness and ugliness emanating from her father. When had he become so twisted and mean? Growing up, she remembered him being distant and critical, but this was different. This was wrong.
“Give back the money, Dad, or you’ll end up in jail. Do it for Mom’s sake. Who will take care of her when you’re in prison? Think of something else besides money for once.”
Her father smiled acidly at Megan and jingled the change in his pockets. Megan suddenly felt as if she needed to run, to get away from this house as fast as she could.
“I’m sure your mother’s new boyfriend will take care of all of her wants and needs if I have to take some time off. I’m not worried, though. They can’t touch me. My lawyer assures me I’m clean. The Carlisles are dreaming if they think they’ll get one cent back. Oh, and by the way, I used some of that two hundred grand to pay for your college education. You might even want to send them a thank you,” he said, laughing at his daughter’s horrified expression.
Megan dashed around her father and out the door, wishing she could erase the sound of her father’s cold laughter from her mind. Had she really come from those two people? Was it even possible for something good to come from something so clearly bad? Would she someday end up like them? The possibility made her nauseous as she drove quickly out of the elite subdivision and towards her humble home.
Twenty-Four
MEGAN DROVE STRAIGHT HOME and stumbled inside, numbly walking to her room where she fell face first onto her bed. She had been exhausted by Dylan and mercilessly drained by her parents. She didn’t think she’d be able to move for the next three days. The only thing she had the energy to do was cry.
Her mind swelled up in waves of jumbled emotions. Anger, disbelief, jealousy. Why? Why had Trevor been born to Cora? Someone who would go to ridiculous lengths to make sure their child was happy? On the other hand, why had she been born to her parents? She knew there was an answer somewhere, she just wasn’t sure she would like it.
Megan rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling. If she continued to lay where she was, the likelihood of getting up the rest of the day would be nil. It was now or never. Megan commanded her body to move and headed for the bathroom. She wished a steaming hot shower could wash the slime-by-association feeling away. At the very least it would wake her up and hopefully rejuvenate her.
Megan was halfway through washing her hair when the doorbell cut through the sound of water.
Oh no.
Megan rinsed quickly and grabbed a towel, wrapping as she ran. It was too early for Trevor to be showing up. Who in the world could she be expecting? Megan whipped the door open.
“Hi! We’re here for our hair and makeup lesson.”
Megan stared at the three Jarvis girls and mentally kicked herself in the behind. She needed a brain transplant operation, now. How could she have forgotten something as important as this? And where was Linette when she needed her?
“Hey, girls, come on in. Let me just grab some clothes and I’ll be with you in just a minute.”
The three girls walked into the front room, giggling and smiling nervously. They were obviously excited about the opportunity to play around with make-up and Megan wanted this to be a fun experience for them. Why hadn’t she planned ahead? Megan grabbed her brand new cell phone and ran back to her bedroom as she speed dialed Cora’s phone number.
“Hello?”
“Hi, Cora. It’s Megan. I was wondering if you had anything planned for this evening?”
“Well, not exactly. There’s a good show coming on at seven that I wanted to see, but other than that, no. Why? Did you have something in mind?” Cora asked hopefully.
“What would you say if I invited you over for a few lessons on hair and makeup? I’ve got Drew’s girls over here rearing to go and I think I’m on shaky ground. I could really use some help with these make-overs.”
Cora laughed, her eyes lighting up. She had been wanting to meet Drew’s daughters and this would be the perfect opportunity. The girls would be meeting her as a friend of Megan’s instead of their dad’s new romantic interest. She was already grabbing her purse as she answered Megan.
“I’ll be there in less than twenty minutes. Just get their hair pulled back and their faces washed. This will be a piece of cake.”
Megan put the phone down, smiling for the first time in hours. Her house was full of giggling girls and Cora would be there soon. It would be impossible to be sad under these circumstances. Maybe Heavenly Father was watching out for her after all.
* * *
“Am I having a bad dream, or did I just step into Seventeen Magazine?”
Trevor put the flowers he had brought for Megan down on the coffee table and slipped out of his suit coat as he grinned at his mom and Megan, up to their eyeballs in curling irons, blush brushes, and fingernail polish.
“Trevor, you have perfect timing! I love that in a boyfriend. Would you mind coming over here and holding this section of hair for me? Your mom’s all tied up and this has to look perfect.”
Trevor’s smile faltered slightly as he took hold of the section of hair Megan handed to him. It looked as if she were trying to recreate an African wedding ceremonial hairdo. He couldn’t even count all of the loops of braids sticking out from the poor girl’s head, but by the way the girl’s eyes were shining, she was in heaven. Trevor’s smile slipped back firmly into place as he watched the two most important women in his life primp three of the happiest girls to death.
“Ta da! What do you think, Trev? Aren’t these three of th
e most beautiful girls you have ever seen? I think they look like models. What do you say?” Cora asked.
Trevor laughed at the look of triumph on his mother’s face and knew his mom was just as happy as the girls were. She loved to be needed and helping these girls out with their makeovers had given her a beautiful glow. She looked as if she had been given a makeover.
“I’m almost positive that the five most beautiful women ever created are standing right here before me. I am humbled to be in your presence.”
The three girls giggled and blushed at the compliments. It had to be true if it came from somebody as good looking as Megan’s boyfriend.
“Well, all dressed up and nowhere to go? That’s a real bummer. Do you girls think you’re up to going to the food court at the mall? I’m starving to death,” Trevor said.
The girls’ eyes turned big and round with wonder. This was almost too much. Most of the kids from school hung out at the mall and if even one guy they knew could just see how stylish they really were, their lives would be complete.
Megan chuckled as she walked over to Trevor and kissed him firmly on the cheek, causing his eyebrows to shoot up into the air.
“You really do know how to make a girl’s dreams come true, don’t you?”
Trevor grinned and slid his arms around her waist, not caring if his mom and three teenage girls were watching and leaned down for a quick kiss.
“You think the food court is good, wait and see what I have in store for you.”
Megan could feel herself blush and moved out of the circle of Trevor’s arms smoothly. Trevor would just have to wait.
Twenty-Five
AFTER A QUICK TRIP to the mall for Chinese food, Cora dropped Megan and Trevor off at Megan’s house while she took the girls home to their dad. Megan smiled to herself as she walked through the front door and threw her purse on the counter. How could such an awful day turn out to be so wonderful?
“What are you smiling about? You look like you know a secret.”
A Trusting Heart Page 13
