by Regina Duke
MEGAN RUSHED INTO THE BOOKSTORE.
Karla was easy to find, since she was the only customer dressed in black at the end of a very warm June.
“Are you ready to go?”
Karla looked concerned. “What’s wrong? You look upset.”
“It’s nothing. I just need to get back to the ranch right away.”
“Okay.” Karla picked up her purchases.
Megan pulled out cash. “This is faster.” She wasn’t sure she ever wanted to use a credit card again, after hearing Douglas Wake’s sneering explanation of how he used it against them.
Back in the truck, Megan forced herself to calm down. She had to drive back to the ranch and deliver Karla in one piece. Then she could decide what to do.
It wasn’t just that Kevin was broke. Everyone she knew was broke, before she met Kevin’s family.
It was the specter of credit agencies pursuing her for her medical bills. The thought of it made her sick to her stomach! She never wanted to look Douglas Wake in the face again. She wanted to leave as soon as possible. She had to get away from that evil man.
She was grateful that Karla was quiet on the drive home. She needed all her concentration to pay attention to traffic.
She wasn’t sure how she would do it, but Zach had been helpful so far. Creamy would be okay with little Keegan. Kevin was a big boy, he would get over it.
It felt like a fist squeezed her heart.
Kevin.
Could she leave Kevin? How could she love him so much in so little time?
And Karla and Keegan? She loved them, too, and they were not part of the plan!
She had to get away and think. She couldn’t bear the thought of ever seeing Douglas Wake again.
She wanted to run to her mother, but she didn’t even know where her mother was.
Karla leaned forward in her seat and squinted at Megan as she sped down the long ranch driveway.
“Megan? Are you crying?”
“No!” She wiped impatiently at her face. “I’ll never cry again. No one will ever make me cry again!”
She braked hard, parking the truck in Zach’s space. Leaving Karla to her own devices, Megan pulled the keys from the ignition and went in search of Zach.
She found him in the stable.
“Thanks for loaning me your truck,” she said tightly, handing him the keys.
Zach examined her through narrowed eyes. “You okay?”
Megan took a breath and let it out. “No. I have to leave. I need a ride to an airport. Or a bus station. It doesn’t matter.”
“Does Kevin know you’re going?”
Megan’s hand flew to her mouth. A moment later, she said, “I can’t talk to him right now.” She was afraid if she saw Kevin standing in front of her, she would lose her resolve. The idea of leaving him was breaking her heart. But she would have to suggest an annulment. If he was as poor as she was, staying with him meant they would both be slaves to those stupid medical bills!
For the first time, she wished she’d died in the crash.
“I have to get away from here,” she said firmly.
Zach nodded. “I see. I don’t suppose you want to tell me what happened in town? Did Karla do something?”
“No, of course not. Karla’s wonderful and kooky.” Her voice threatened to fail her. “I just have to leave.”
“You need to think things over.”
“Yes. Away from here. Far away.”
Zach made an understanding sound. “Okay, then. I’ve got some fences to check, so let’s take the ranch truck.”
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
The parlor was in disarray. Megan’s wedding gown stood finished in one corner. Genevieve the seamstress was giving orders to two assistants. One of them began transporting the dress upstairs to Megan’s room. Two other dress dummies were draped in black. Three sewing machines were set up along one wall. Three bolts of cloth were stretched across a folding table.
Kevin and Krystal stood near the parlor door.
“I see,” said Krystal into her phone. Her voice sounded stronger every day. “Thank you, Mr. Ratigan. I’ll relay the news to Kevin.” She hung up.
“All good, I hope?” said Kevin.
Krystal shook her head. But before she could speak, Karla ran in from the kitchen, breathless.
“There you are! I’ve been looking all over!”
“What’s wrong?” asked Krystal. “Is Keegan okay?”
“Yeah, he’s fine. Playing with his friends and the puppies.” She gasped for breath. “But something’s wrong with Megan. Something happened in town, but I don’t know what. She wouldn’t say. She didn’t talk at all on the ride home. Something awful,” she gasped. She took a moment to catch her breath, then added ominously, “She was crying.”
“Where is she?” asked Kevin.
“I don’t know. It took me half an hour to find you guys.”
“Why didn’t you call?”
Karla rolled her eyes and glared at the two of them.
“Oh, right,” said Kevin. “Mom, I think you need to restore her phone privileges.”
“I was going to buy her a new one next week.”
“Cool,” said Karla. “But Megan was not a happy camper when she came and got me in the bookstore.”
Krystal drew a worried breath, then touched Kevin’s arm. “Your father!”
Kevin’s brow darkened. “Karla, did you see dad in town?”
“I didn’t, no, but Megan went to the Feed and Grain while I looked at books.”
Krystal’s voice hardened. “He’s staying at the Cattleman’s Inn.”
Kevin growled, “Across the street from the Feed and Grain! Damn that man. I’ve got to find Megan.” He turned and strode through the house. “Mom, alert the staff.”
An hour later there was still no sign of Megan.
Kevin, Krystal and Cookie gathered in the kitchen. Kevin wiped a hand over his mouth. “Where could she go?”
“I hear a vehicle,” said Cookie. “Maybe that’s her.”
Kevin rushed out the back door.
A green Ford Expedition pulled up next to the chain link fence near the kitchen door. Jeffrey Wong got out, looking happy but road weary.
“Hi, Kevin! I made it!”
Kevin went through the gate and approached Jeffrey. “Have you seen Megan?”
Jeff frowned. “She’s here with you.”
“She was here with me, you traitor!” Kevin took a swing at Jeff.
Jeff dodged and weaved. “Hey! What the hell?! Back off, dude. What is going on?”
“You! You’ve been feeding information to my father for years! How could you do that? Now we think he’s chased Megan away. We can’t find her anywhere.”
Jeff looked offended. “Hey! I have covered your tracks for years. I can’t stand your old man. The one time we met, he called me names. Why would I ever help him?”
“My sister Karla heard him talking to a man on the phone. He was calling him Wong.”
Jeff’s features slid into disappointment. “Patrick!”
Kevin’s jaw worked. “He’s been helping me with legal stuff for weeks.”
“And he’s my cousin,” said Jeff. “Anything I talked about during family gatherings, he would have access to. That jerk! I knew he was ruthless about his business, but I never thought he’d stoop this low.”
“My dad must have offered him a lot of money,” said Kevin. “That’s how he usually works. Sorry I doubted you, Jeff.”
“Oh, man! Me and my big mouth. Before I left Seattle, I told my mother about our change of plans.”
“You’re allowed to talk to your family. You had no way of knowing. It’s not like we were keeping national security secrets. But Patrick drew up the prenup.”
Krystal took Kevin’s arm to secure her balance. “So he knows that you and Megan only met last week.”
Kevin nodded grimly. “I have to find Megan. Who knows what he might have said to her?”
Cookie wiped her
floured hands on her apron. “You come in and eat, young man. Did you drive all the way here from Seattle?”
“Yes, ma’am,” said Jeff.
Krystal said, “Kevin, we’ll take care of Jeff. You go find Megan.”
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
Kevin stood for a moment, considering his options. He realized he hadn’t seen Zach around either. He trotted to the metal office building and stuck his head inside.
“Mrs. Garcia? Have you seen Zach?”
“No, sir. But he had fences to check, so he’s probably working.”
“Is your husband around?”
“No. Mr. Zach sent him on an errand to Denver.”
Kevin felt a flash of panic. “Not in the last hour, I hope!”
“Oh, no. He told him yesterday that today he would go to Denver. My Checo, he left at nine this morning.”
“Okay, thanks.” At least Garcia wasn’t driving Megan to the airport.
“Oh, Mr. Kevin, I think the ranch truck is back now,” said Mrs. Garcia. “So maybe Zach is back, too.”
Kevin stepped outside in time to see the ranch truck pull behind the stable. He trotted to the stable and came to a halt next to Honey’s stall.
Honey snuffled and threw her head back, but when she saw Kevin, she reached out with her nose to be petted.
“Not now, Honeybun,” said Kevin. “I’m in a hurry.” But he couldn’t disappoint her. “Okay. Just for a few moments.” He laid one hand on her face and immediately felt calmer.
Zach’s voice came from deeper in the stable. “I told you, didn’t I? It’s hard to rush when you’re holding a brush. Or in this case, touching the horse’s nose. You looking for someone?”
Kevin turned to face Zach. “How is it you always know what’s happening in my life?”
“Maybe because I been there before you.”
Kevin was rubbing Honey’s chin now. “Where is she, Zach? Did she tell you where she was going?”
“Megan?”
Kevin gave Honey one last pat and stepped away. He was too agitated to leave his hands on her for long.
“We think my dad said something to her in town. He’d say anything to chase her away. I just found out he’s had a spy in Seattle watching my every move. So he knows that Megan and I only met last week. But I love that girl. A man can fall in love in a week, can’t he?”
“People fall in love at first glance,” said Zach. “You could fall in love a thousand times in a whole week.”
“Well, maybe I’m slow,” said Kevin. “But I knew she was special when I first met her. And then, watching her with my family? She’s perfect. Everything was going great. And then my father entered the picture.”
“You knew he would. He’s got a lot invested in taking over this ranch. He’ll do whatever he has to do, get rid of anybody who stands in his way. Lord knows he’s tried to get rid of me. But I’m a tougher nut to crack than young Megan.”
“I need to find her before she does something foolish. I need to tell her how I feel.”
“Even if it means losing your inheritance? The trust fund? The ranch?”
Kevin spread his hands. His voice betrayed his anguish. “What good does all this do me without her?! She made this place come alive for me. I saw an old-fashioned house. She sees a Victorian treasure. I saw my sister spiraling into mental illness. She sees a creative genius and finds a way to bring Karla out of her shell. Keegan was becoming more and more cut off from the world. Now he has friends! If Megan leaves, it all falls apart.”
Zach squinted into the distance for several seconds. At last he turned to look at Kevin again, and his eyes were a bit brighter than before.
“She’s over to Fineman’s Pond, in the fishing cabin. She needed a safe place to hole up for a while and think.”
“Thanks, Zach.” Kevin turned to leave, but Zach caught his arm.
“When you were a boy, spending your summers here, you looked up to me.”
“I still do, Zach. You know that.”
“Well, listen up real good. If you want me to respect you the same way, don’t you come back here without that woman. It don’t matter what your father says or threatens to do. There’s no fortune on the planet big enough to make up for losing her. You understand?”
Kevin nodded, then extended a hand. “I’ll bring her home.”
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
Kevin headed back to the house, but checked the Ford for keys before he went in. Jeff had left them in the ignition. Kevin got in and drove carefully toward the rutted path that led to Fineman’s Pond.
As he drove, he wondered what his father had said to her. Had he used the information from Patrick to hammer a wedge between them? Had he told her he was not the wealthy man he’d pretended to be? Kevin had already admitted to that. That couldn’t be the problem. What could his old man have said?
The scary thing was, Douglas Wake could have said anything, and it didn’t matter to him if it was true or not. He was ruthless. That was one of the qualities that had sent Kevin running clear across the country at eighteen. But Kevin was no longer a boy. He was a grown man, and he had grown in every way. Physically, his father no longer frightened him. Kevin knew if he had to, he could defeat his father in a fight. Not that he would ever want to fight the man. But Megan did not have the reassurance of physical superiority. She was still recovering from her accident. She had financial worries. What could his father have used against her?
Whatever it was, Kevin would protect her. He couldn’t bear the thought of losing her. It was just too painful. He could not return to life before Megan. Looking back to those days, it felt like he had no heart, no soul, no joy. He got up every day and wished he was someone else. Since meeting her, he wanted to be himself, because that’s who she had fallen in love with. He was sure she had. He could feel it.
Fifty feet from the cabin, he parked the Ford under the lean-to horse shelter he and Zach had built years before when they spent summers fishing at the pond. He pocketed the keys and headed quietly for the cabin.
He started to enter unannounced, but caught himself and knocked softly.
A moment later, Megan called, “Who is it?”
Kevin wanted to barge in but she hadn’t said come in. He knocked again.
A few seconds passed, and after what felt like an hour, the door opened.
Megan’s blue eyes were red-rimmed and her nose was pink. She made a little sound when she saw Kevin, and then she tried to close the door.
But he was fast. He blocked it with his boot.
“Megan, please let me in.”
“Your father made everything extremely clear,” she said. “I know I signed on to be your temporary bride, and it’s not your fault I let myself fall for you. But I thought you fell for me, too! I thought you really cared about me. Now I know the truth. You were just proving to your father that you can be as mean and thoughtless as he is!”
“No, no! That’s not the truth, I swear.” Kevin stepped inside and pushed the cabin door shut behind him. “So, we guessed right. When Karla told us how upset you were, mother immediately thought my father had cornered you and said something to upset you.” He stepped toward her, but she backed away.
“You told me up front that this was a job, a business deal,” she said. “You would pay my medical bills, and in return I would help you fulfill the obligations of the family trust. I was an idiot to pretend it was more than that.”
“No, Megan, I’m the idiot. I fell for you hard. I couldn’t even sleep with you in Reno after we got married because I cared so much about you that I wanted you to love me before we actually touched each other. I wanted to make love to you, not have sex with you.”
His words stopped her cold. “Do you mean that?” she whispered.
“Yes,” he whispered back. He took another step forward. She was pressed against the wall of the cabin now and could retreat no further.
“What did he say to you?”
“He told me you were more like him than he ev
er suspected. He said you fooled me, just like he fooled your mother.”
“That bastard!”
“And he, he, he,” she stuttered, not sure about whether to share the rest.
“Go on,” said Kevin gently.
“He said he has proof you’re not fulfilling the requirements of the trust and he can prevent you from inheriting. He’s reported my medical bills to a collection agency! And if you’re as broke as I am, and I stay, then you’ll be burdened with those bills, too! So I was thinking the best thing I could do for you is leave. Get an annulment.”
“No!”
Kevin opened his arms, and Megan stepped into them.
“You can’t leave me. And I won’t let you have an annulment. I love you, Megan. My father was lying. He was playing on your worst fears. Patrick Wong has been spying for him, and he told him about the prenup. You’ve never been in debt, so you don’t know how these things work. He was saying whatever it took to get you to run. I know enough about his business to know he can’t just make a phone call and put you on a collection agency list. Only the hospital could do that. And thanks to you, come Monday, I will be a very wealthy man. Even if his lawyers take our lawyers to court, he doesn’t have a leg to stand on. We were married in Reno!”
Megan leaned back to look in his eyes. “I don’t think he knows that. His spy only caught up to us in Tahoe. He didn’t know about our stop at the courthouse.”
“Well, that’s even better. He’ll show up tomorrow at the wedding expecting to gloat and hold it over my mother.”
“Does she know about Reno?”
“I’ve been trying to tell her. Even during our meeting with her legal team, those guys just keep talking. I still haven’t had a chance to let her know.”
He took gentle hold of Megan’s arms. “Even if the worst happens, we stand a good chance in court. But it doesn’t matter. Rich or poor, I have to have you in my life. Please say you’ll stay.”
“Oh, Kevin! I almost made a huge mistake!”
He kissed her forehead, then her cheeks, then her chin. “No, I’m the one who made the mistake. Megan, my old man can have it all. I don’t care. I just want you.”
“Oh, me, too!” She kissed him back, planting her lips across the bridge of his nose. Her breath was coming in quick little gasps, but she couldn’t stop talking. “I want you, too! I don’t care about the money. I’m a good waitress. I’ll get a job and start paying my medical bills, a little every month. They’ll just have to settle for that.”
