Forever Love (Love Conquers All Book 4)

by Persons, Cheryl

  “I would like that.” He shuffled his feet and then grinned. “I’m sorry about the kiss. It’s just that no one knows…”

  She looked around the shop; there were some workers nearby she didn’t want them to hear. “I understand. By the way, we got an invitation to our class reunion. It’s on the 1st of July; I didn’t know if you would be interested in going. It’s in Avery, of course, and they have a bunch planned. I thought that it could be fun.”

  “Do you want me to go?”

  Megan swallowed hard. “I do, but only if you want to.”

  “I would like that; we’ll see how things are when it gets closer. I don’t want there to be awkwardness.”

  “Of course;” she didn’t know what she expected, but she would just plan on getting a hotel room and hope for the best. “Thank you for fixing my car. What do I owe you?”

  He laughed. “It’s on the house.”

  “Hey Mrs. P. I didn’t see you here.” She turned and saw Joe, another mechanic, approaching them.

  “Hey Joe; I had a dead battery.”

  “I bet it’s nice to have a husband that’s a mechanic to take care of these things for you.” He laughed as he hit Peter on the arm. She smiled and nodded. “Well, I’ll leave you two alone; it was great seeing you.”

  “Good to see you too.”

  Peter walked her around to the driver’s side and opened the door for her. “Is that strange?” He asked; his tone was quiet.

  “Maybe a little;” she started to get in, but stopped herself. “I didn’t know that you hired a new receptionist.”

  “I’m sure that I told you.”

  She shook her head. “Um…I think that I would have remembered that.” She got in the car and shut the door. Before he could say anything else, she was gone. It bothered her; even though she didn’t want to admit it. However, it bothered her more that he didn’t tell her that he hired a young, blonde, beautiful girl. It was just one more secret that was in their relationship, and another reason they would have a lot to work through.

  ____________________

  Peter watched his wife back out of the garage. He didn’t like what she was insinuating; she acted like there was something going on between him and the receptionist. He went back to work and just ignored the situation. It wasn’t worth worrying over. “I didn’t mean to run Megan off.”

  “Don’t worry about it; she has a lot to do at work. It had nothing to do with you.”

  “That’s good; I was thinking…you and Megan should come over to our house soon. We haven’t had a good ole’ fashion cookout in a long time. I know that Marcella would love to see you again.”

  “I would like that.” He knew that it was a long shot, but the fact was he didn’t have the time or energy to want to explain it to him. “We’ll keep that in mind.”

  “Okay; sounds good.”

  “Hey, I have some work to do in my office. Let me know if any of you need anything.” He quickly made his getaway and headed towards his office. He had just sat down when there was a knock on his door. He looked up and saw Kristina at his desk. “Hello, Kristina.”

  “I just wanted to tell you how nice it was to meet your wife. She seemed…friendly.”

  He looked at his computer and tried to ignore her. “Thank you; I am sorry to rush you, but I have a lot of work to do.”

  “Mr. Prescott, you seem on edge. Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine; just busy.”

  When he looked at her, he noticed that she was going around his desk and she placed her hands on his shoulders. “Wow; you are tense. I’m going to school in the fall for Massage Therapy; I…”

  He jumped up and turned to face her. She looked at him in astonishment. “Please don’t do that.”

  “I…I’m sorry; I just thought…”

  “I know you are only trying to help, but things that you do can come across as sexual harassment and we wouldn’t want that.”

  Kristina’s eyes got big and she started to laugh. “Sexual harassment; are you serious? I will be going to school for Massage Therapy.”

  “So, you’ve said;” he mumbled.

  “I wouldn’t do anything like that; I am only trying to ease your stress. I’m sorry; I won’t do that again.” She giggled. “Sexual Harassment; I never would have thought of that.”

  “I just wouldn’t want anyone to get the wrong idea. It isn’t right; especially when I’m married and you’re so young. I’m sorry if I startled you, but I need to make myself clear.” He fidgeted. “Did I make myself clear?”

  “Yes; no more massages for you. I got it, but I think it’s silly.”

  “Also, I would prefer if you didn’t wink in my general direction.”

  Kristina laughed. “Okay; I will control all of my winking from now on.”

  “Thank you; you better get back to the front desk. I wouldn’t want any customers to think that we weren’t open.”

  She nodded and left his office. He hoped he got his point across without being too forward. If there wasn’t such angst going on in his relationship he was sure that it wouldn’t have been such an issue. He just couldn’t take the chance. Anything that Kristina, or any other woman did, could be perceived as cheating and that was the last thing he needed in his life; especially when he was going to try to convince his wife to let him come home.

  Chapter 3

  “I appreciate you taking the time out of your weekend to watch Jasmine.” She smiled at Bess as she grabbed her cell phone and purse. “I shouldn’t be too long. I just have a couple of things to get at the grocery store.”

  “No problem Megan, anytime. Jasmine and I are going to watch a movie.”

  Jasmine nodded energetically. “Okay; see you both soon.”

  Megan waved as she headed out the door. She paused at her car and shrugged. She needed the fresh air and the grocery store was only a few blocks away. She made the decision to walk. She took a slow breath as she made her way to the store. She waved to the various neighbors she saw outside and as she got to the grocery store she stopped from going forward. She froze; she was sure she wasn’t seeing correctly. However, when the man standing outside the store looked her way and smiled she knew it was no illusion. “Hello Megan.” He approached her and they stood foolishly looking at each other. “It’s been a long time.” They hugged each other as she still stood there in shock.

  “I…” she pulled away and apprehensively looked away. “It’s been 10 years; I didn’t know you were back in Texas.” Brandon and Megan used to be close when they attended Avery High School. They dated until their senior year. She couldn’t even remember why they broke up, but Peter was there to help her pick herself back up. It caused her to realize that Brandon wasn’t the right one; especially if he found it easy to let her go. “It’s good to see you.”

  “So, I’m assuming you were coming here too?” He pointed to the store and she laughed.

  “Yes; I was.” They entered the store together and he fell into step with her. “How have you been Megan? You’re looking good.”

  She blushed as she grabbed a shopping cart. “I’m doing well; thank you. What about you? Last I heard you were still in California and married with two kids.”

  He chuckled; “It’s amazing how rumors start. You have the married part correct, but I don’t have any children.”

  “Oh; where’s the missus? I would love to meet her.”

  “I don’t foresee that happening. She’s still in California. She decided that she did want to have a baby; she didn’t want me to be the father.”

  “Ugh…ouch; I’m sorry Brandon.”

  “No worries; that was over a year ago. I’m over her, but I decided that I needed a new start out of life. I quit my journalism job and moved to Dallas.”

  “Wow;” Megan grabbed some eggs and put them into her cart. He was filling his, as well. “How long have you been back?”

  “I moved here a couple of months ago; I saw Seth, he didn’t tell you that I was back?”

&nbs
p; Megan shook her head. “He must have forgotten to mention that.” They walked, laughed, and joked about the old times; each throwing various items into their carts. When they reached the checkout, she looked at her cart and started to laugh. “I wasn’t planning on getting much. I guess that I wasn’t really thinking.”

  “Yeah;” he scratched his head and smiled. “I know what you mean.” Megan looked at his overfilled cart and they both chuckled. “I guess we both went a little overboard.”

  “Oh well; it won’t go to waste.” She knew that wasn’t entirely the truth; she was only cooking for 2 and Jasmine could really be considered a ½.”

  “You go ahead and go first.” Brandon stepped back so that she could place her groceries on the belt. She paid for the food; relieved that it wasn’t too high in cost and then awkwardly waited for him to pay for his. She could have easily just said goodbye and left, but she felt obligated to walk with him out of the grocery store. It had been so long since they dated, but she felt like she owed it to him.

  When he was finished they carried their groceries out of the store; once outside she felt it wasn’t such a good idea to decide to walk. She was now going to have to carry her five bags of groceries 3 blocks to her house. “It was good talking to you Brandon.”

  “You too, Megan;” she started to turn away. “Would you like a ride home?”

  She paused for a moment; she thought about saying it wasn’t necessary, but her hands were already saying otherwise. “Actually, that would be nice; thank you.” She followed him to the car and he opened his backseat for her to put in her groceries. He then held the door for her and she stopped before getting in. “What a gentleman!”

  He laughed. “I try;” she climbed into the passenger seat and waited for him to join her. “Where might you live?”

  “Just turn right out of the parking lot.” He did as she directed and the silence became unbearable. “Did you get the invitation to the class reunion?”

  “Yes; I did. I still keep in touch with several alumni. Are you going?”

  “Yes; I just made my reservation at the hotel.”

  “Hm…The Arial;” she nodded.

  “Are you going?”

  “Honestly? I hadn’t given it much thought. I think that it would be fun, but high school wasn’t my best 4 years of my life.”

  “Hey; watch what you’re saying.” She laughed to show that she was only kidding.

  “Let me rephrase that; the times we spent together were wonderful, but then…you know how that ended.”

  “Yeah;” she mumbled. “I think that it would be fun.” She heard her cell phone ringing and looked at it. She was surprised to see Peter’s number flash across the screen.

  “Feel free to get that, but which house is yours?”

  She ignored the call and pointed at the yellow house. “The one with the beige car;” she turned to face him. “Thanks for the ride.”

  “You’re welcome; here, let me help you with the groceries.”

  “You don’t…” before she could object he had gotten out of the car and opened the back door. “Thank you;” she mumbled. He followed her to the door and she fumbled with the keys until she was able to get the door open. “Thank you;” she reached for groceries. She didn’t want to seem too obvious that she would prefer he didn’t run into her daughter and babysitter. That was wishful thinking, because she saw Bess come around the corner. “Hello Bess;” she mumbled. Bess’ eyes immediately went to the stranger. “Bess, this is Brandon; he’s an old friend.”

  “Brandon, this is Bess; she’s my babysitter.”

  “Pleased to meet you Bess;” they shook hands and then Bess turned to Megan.

  “Jasmine fell asleep watching the movie; she’s on the living room floor. I’m sorry to rush, but I have some friends coming over.”

  “No problem; thank you.” She handed her some money and she quickly headed to the door.

  “It was nice to meet you.” She smiled and was out the door.

  “I heard you had a child.”

  Megan laughed. “You must be close to people from high school.”

  He smiled. “Just a few; I think that’s great. How old is she?”

  “She’s 3 years old.”

  “I’m sure she is adorable; does she look like her mother?”

  Megan looked away. “I don’t know; some say she does. You probably should go, but I do appreciate the drive.”

  “You’re welcome.” He leaned in and hugged her; despite her arms still being full of groceries. “I’ll probably see you at the reunion.”

  “Okay; goodbye Brandon.” She shut the door as he went to his car. She placed the groceries on the kitchen counter and then looked at her purse. She had to talk to Peter sooner or later and she was interested in whether he had left a message. She rifled through her purse and then looked in her pockets. “That’s strange;” she mumbled to herself. She couldn’t figure out where her phone could have gone. “Oh no;” she groaned. She rushed back to the window and saw that he was already halfway down the road. Her phone must have been left in Brandon’s car and what was worse; she didn’t have any idea where to find him.

  ____________________

  Peter looked at his phone; he had tried calling Megan for about the 5th time when he decided to give up. She obviously was ignoring his calls, but he had something he needed to talk to her about. He had decided that maybe it was a good idea to go along with seeing a marriage counselor. He was miserable without her and unfortunately it took him seeing her at the garage to realize that. He groaned as he grabbed the phone and dialed her number once more. He waited for awhile and was about to hang up again, when he heard a click on the other end. “Hello?”

  “Oh; I’m sorry, I must have dialed the wrong number. I…”

  “Were you trying to reach Megan Prescott; this is the correct number. I seem to have inadvertently gotten hold of her phone.

  Peter was confused; he didn’t recognize the male voice that was on the other end. “Oh; this is Peter, her husband.”

  “Peter Prescott? It has been a long time.”

  “I’m sorry; do I know you?”

  The man started to laugh. “It’s Brandon Woodbury.” He wanted to reach through the phone and try to get answers as to why Megan’s ex was holding her phone. Brandon must have sensed the questions Peter had, because he began to explain. “Megan and I happened to see each other at the grocery store. I offered her a ride home, because she had a lot to carry. She must have dropped her phone when she got out of the car.”

  “Thank you for the explanation, but there was no need.” He lied through his teeth, but he didn’t want to seem paranoid.

  “I just found the phone, but I will be sure to get it back to her before the evening is over. I’ll tell her you called.”

  “That’s not necessary; I will talk to her later.” He hung up the phone and sat down on the sofa. The explanation seemed reasonable, but he still couldn’t worry that there was more to the story. It caused him to wonder if everything that Megan was feeling was because she had been reconnecting with her ex all along. It would definitely make sense and it didn’t make him feel any better about the prospects of repairing his marriage.

  ____________________

  “Sweet dreams Jasmine!” She kissed her on the forehead and turned the light off in her bedroom. She was about to head to her bedroom when she heard a knock on her door. When she peeked outside she saw that it was Brandon. She opened the door and gave him a smile. “Good evening;” she looked at his hand and saw her phone. “I see you realized that I left my phone in your car.”

  He handed her the phone. “I’m sorry for coming so late, but I had a prior engagement and I just got through with it.”

  “That’s alright; I’m just glad to get it back. You don’t know how much something means to you until you’re without it.” That went with humans too. “Thank you!”

  “You’re welcome.” He started to leave, but turned back around. “By the way, your h
usband called. I’m sure you have probably already talked to him; is he around? It would be good to see him too.”

  Megan shook her head. “He’s out of town for work; I am sure you will see him if you go to the reunion.”

  “That’s true; have a good night Megan.”

  “You too;” she closed the door and headed back to her room with her cell phone in hand. When she climbed into her bed she dialed Peter’s number.

  “Hello?”

  “Hello; I heard you called?”

  “Yes; I see you got your phone back.”

  She knew he was wondering why Brandon had the phone; if she was being true to herself she kind of hoped that it made him a little jealous. “Yeah; I just got it back. Did you want something?”

  “Actually, I did. However, I am not so sure that it is something that I should discuss on the phone. I was hoping I could come over tomorrow and we could all go to the zoo. I thought Jasmine would enjoy that.”

  “That sounds like fun.”

  “Great; I will pick you both up at noon.”

  She hung up the phone and reached over to turn out the light. She was curious as to what Peter wanted to talk to her about. She just wanted the next day to be about Jasmine; she needed that and Megan was thankful that Peter gave the suggestion. It could be fun; as long as the day didn’t turn into more than just a family outing. After all, they were still a family; despite the disconnection.

  Chapter 4

  Megan looked out at the cloudy sky; it didn’t look like the weather was going to cooperate with them. She was about to shut the front door when she noticed Peter’s truck heading up their road. She held it open and waited for him to get out of his vehicle. When he did he looked up and she knew he was thinking the same thing. “So much for the zoo;” he laughed as he got to the porch.

  “That’s what I was thinking. Come on in! Do you have a plan B; since the weather doesn’t look too promising?”

  “We could go to Gymazing.” She thought about it for a moment. Jasmine always enjoyed jumping in their ball pit and she was sure it would be a good alternative.