Greshmere

by Scott Wittenburg

  And as he had hoped would happen, there had been no foul play suspected in the accident. Because of Stanser Lane’s reputation as a high-accident zone, no one had even suspected anything. It was quite apparent that Kendall had lost control on the slick road before plummeting down the ravine to his death that Friday afternoon.

  Gary took another belt of straight Scotch and stared at his cellphone on the bar. It had been two weeks since her husband’s death. Now it was time to strike. She had accepted her loss and was on the road to getting over it, at least to some degree. The stage was set for Number Two to enter.

  That would be him.

  And what more fitting time than during the Holidays, when she would be feeling the full brunt of loneliness and life without her beloved husband? Megan Kendall just needed someone to come along and cheer her up.

  Chapter 17

  -Then-

  “Thanks, Steph—for everything!” Megan said.

  “My pleasure! I am so glad you went home with me—aren’t you?”

  “Definitely. The whole thing has managed to pull me out of this funk I’ve been in and I truly appreciate that.”

  “I’ll call you tomorrow. Maybe we can get together for a drink?”

  “Sounds like a plan. Love you.”

  “Love you, too!”

  Megan watched Stephanie as she went out to her car and got in. She waved and waited until her friend had backed out of the driveway before closing the door.

  She was smiling as she went into the kitchen and put a pot of coffee on. The trip to Smithtown had been a revelation of sorts. It proved to her that there could actually be a life after losing Daniel, although she still found it difficult to admit that to herself. Seeing her family and exchanging gifts had raised her spirits more than she had ever thought possible so soon after the tragedy, and in a way she felt guilty about it. But on the other hand, she knew that Daniel was probably looking down on her right now, happy to see that she was trying to move on with her life.

  While the coffee brewed, she carried her gifts over to the small tree that Stephanie had helped her set up and trim and placed them under it. The tree was very pretty and she loved the way it brightened up the family room. There had been nothing but utter gloom in here until now, she thought.

  “Merry Christmas, little one,” she said out loud, patting her tummy. Baby’s first Christmas. At least they had each other.

  She returned to the kitchen and poured herself a mug of coffee and added some cream. Taking a sip, she wondered how long she could sustain this feeling of contentment. She knew the pain was still there, deep inside of her. But she had managed to put a lid on it, at least for now. If only she could shake off the dull sorrow she always felt, she might be able to make it through this after all.

  She sat down at the kitchen table and debated whether to fix a snack or not. She had stayed for Christmas dinner and left Smithtown not long afterwards, yet she felt hungry again already. No doubt, being pregnant had something to with this. She got up and was just about to get out a carton of ice cream from the freezer when the doorbell rang. Instinctively, she glanced over at the wall clock and saw that it was nearly ten o’clock at night. Who in the hell could it be at this hour?

  She moved quietly to the living room window and peered out through the parted blinds. At first, she didn’t recognize the man in the overcoat standing there. Then she nearly screamed. It was Gary Jamison!

  She stood there for a moment, frozen, trying to get her thoughts together. What should she do? He had to know she was home because the house was lit up like a Christmas tree. She could just ignore him, but she also knew that this would do little good. He would most likely just lay on the doorbell until she finally answered it or until Hell froze over—whichever came first.

  She may as well answer it and get this over with. Why the idiot had come all the way from Chicago to Columbus unexpectedly on Christmas day and put her on the spot was a mystery—and a very annoying one at that.

  The doorbell rang again. She went over and opened up the door.

  There stood Gary Jamison, a potted poinsettia in one hand and a shopping bag in the other. He was smiling broadly.

  Megan cracked open the storm door and felt a puff of cold air splash her face. “Gary, what in the world are you doing here?”

  “Just trying to spread a little Christmas cheer, that’s all.”

  As annoyed as she was, Megan realized she was just going to have to let this play itself out. She opened the door wider and said, “Well, come on in out of the cold.”

  “Thanks,” he replied. “It is a bit nasty out here.”

  She waited until he was inside and then closed the door. Gary looked taller than he appeared at the seminar and not any less handsome. It was hard to imagine this guy as the same one who had not so long ago harassed her on a daily basis and threatened to have her fired from her job. He certainly seemed more charming in person than on the phone.

  He handed the poinsettia to her. “I brought this for you. I know it’s a bit cliché, but I feel that there’s always room for another poinsettia in the home.”

  “Thanks, it’s lovely. And I have to admit I don’t have one of these.”

  “But surely you have a Christmas tree?”

  “Yes, that I have. It’s tiny, but functional.”

  “Would you mind if we put these under it?” he asked, gesturing to the shopping bag he held.

  “Surely you didn’t get those for me.”

  “That, I did. And I beg of you, please don’t refuse them or feel guilty in any way. Like I told you the other night, I am so very sorry for my poor behavior in the past. And these are just a little token of my sincerity.”

  Megan managed a smile. “All right, you win. But you really shouldn’t have. Follow me.”

  She led Gary to the family room, placed the poinsettia on the coffee table and then went over and stood before the tree. “Here it is.”

  “It’s wonderful! And I see that Santa has already been here.”

  “Those are from my parents. I went home yesterday.”

  “And where is home, may I ask?”

  “Smithtown. It’s a couple of hours away.”

  Gary removed a couple of gift-wrapped packages from the shopping bag and placed them under the tree. “You can open these anytime you want to. They’re really not much, but it’s the thought that counts.”

  “It would be rude of me not to open them while you’re here. Would you like me to take your coat?”

  “Thanks. That would be nice.”

  He took off his coat and handed it to Megan. “I’ll go hang it up.”

  As she left the room, Megan couldn’t decide if she should throw a fit or continue being civil to her unexpected guest. Gary Jamison’s sudden appearance out of the clear blue had thrown her for a loop. Had this happened at any other moment in her life, she would have refused to play the game. But she knew it would probably be wiser to just remain cordial and pray that Gary Jamison didn’t plan on staying long. And once he left, she could write this all off as something that probably had to happen and most likely would never happen again. End of story.

  She hung up his coat in the hall closet and returned to the family room. Gary was staring at a framed portrait of her and Daniel that was hanging on the wall. Seeing this made her feel guilty all of a sudden. If Daniel were looking down on her right now with this handsome stranger standing in his family room, he certainly wouldn’t be smiling.

  She went over to the tree and knelt down in front of it.

  “I’m sorry, Gary, but I really am tired and need to turn in soon. Which of these do you want me to open first?”

  He went over and picked up the larger of the two gifts. “No problem.”

  He handed her the box. “Merry Christmas, Megan.”

  She forced a smile, tore off the wrapping and removed the lid. It was a sweater—a very expensive sweater.

  “Why, it’s lovely. But you shouldn’t have.”

  “
I saw this and immediately thought you might like it. If you change your mind, there’s a gift receipt in there so you can exchange it for something else.”

  “Oh, I doubt I’ll do that. It’s the right size, too. Thanks again.”

  He handed her the other box. It was a couple of inches thick and looked like it could be a large hardcover book. “I’m pretty sure you’ll like this, too.”

  Megan removed the wrapping. It was a leather-bound photo album, obviously of top quality.

  “It’s beautiful, Gary. But what made you think I’d want something like this?”

  “Well, you had mentioned once that you took a lot of photos and I thought this might be something that would come in handy. Also, I figured you could look at it as the beginning of a new chapter in your life. I mean, you know…”

  His eyes were so sincere when he spoke that Megan was unable to say what she really wanted to say. That she was not interested in documenting her new life with new photos; that all she needed were the photos of her old life with Daniel to comfort her. But she refrained.

  “Well, it’s very nice. Thanks for your kindness, Gary.”

  “You are most certainly welcome.”

  Megan suddenly felt very awkward and uncomfortable. She wanted Gary Jamison to leave before she lost it altogether.

  “Gary, I’m sorry, but I really am beat.”

  “I understand completely. I want to apologize for my unannounced visit and hope that you’ll forgive me. It’s just that I haven’t spoken to you since I sent the flowers and I really started to think that maybe you hadn’t received them. I mean, I never heard back from you and you never responded to either of my voicemails. It’s been eating at me, so I wanted to see if I could find out once and for all if you ever got them. And yes, I’ll admit that I have also wanted to make up for how incredibly horribly I’ve treated you in the past. I’m not the jerk that you probably think I am and I don’t know why I acted so rude toward you. I really want you to accept my apology, that’s all.”

  “It’s okay, Gary. I got the flowers and I should have thanked you for them before now. As for the other thing, apology accepted. I just need to get some sleep now, if you don’t mind.”

  “No problem—I’m out of here. And thanks for your forgiveness. You’ve just made my day!”

  Megan smiled, astonished at how much all of this apparently meant to the guy. Maybe she had misjudged Gary after all. At any rate, he was leaving now and maybe he would finally quit bothering her since everything was all cleared up.

  She stood up and led him out of the room. Stopping by the closet, she got out his coat and handed it to him.

  “Thanks for the Christmas presents, Gary. It was very sweet of you.”

  “You are more than welcome, Megan. And thank you for not shutting me out.”

  Megan went to the front door and opened it for him. “Goodnight.”

  “Goodnight, Megan. Merry Christmas!”

  “Merry Christmas to you, too.”

  She closed the door and leaned back against it. Heaving a huge sigh, she closed her eyes.

  What have I just done?

  Part of her regretted answering the door in the first place while another part was relieved that she had at last addressed this whole Gary business head-on. Gary Jamison represented a loose end that had never been dealt with—even before Daniel’s death. And although she had finally vowed to tell Daniel how Gary had been harassing her, she had never been given an opportunity to follow through with it.

  She thought about Gary’s sudden change of heart after Daniel’s death; how he seemed to have turned on a dime to become not only sympathetic to her in a time of tragedy but going out of his way to make amends for being such an asshole before.

  Now she would have to just wait and see how things played out. He would either leave her alone, which she hoped would be the case, or he would view all of this as an open invitation to pester her to go out with him again.

  Precisely what she had sworn she would never let happen.

  She wondered if he would be so persistent if he knew that she was carrying her deceased husband’s baby. So far, she had only told one person at the office: Michelle Ortiz, who was the only coworker she trusted and had ever confided in. And she had made Michelle swear herself to secrecy. Megan still wasn’t sure why she hadn’t told anyone else at work yet and it was something that continued to nag at her. The only reason she could think of for the delay was her tendency to want to be left alone in a crisis, so that she could work through her feelings and how to best deal with all of this.

  Now she knew it was time to let her boss, Michael Bower and the rest of Manco Corp, Columbus know about her little wonder. In fact, she now looked forward to it. For not only was she itching to share her happiness with everybody, but the news would eventually make its way through the grapevine to Gary Jamison in Chicago. And that would most likely put a swift halt to all of this nonsense.

  She had learned enough about Gary Jamison to know that he was a relentless womanizer who apparently had no interest in a long-term relationship with anybody. He was one of those guys always sampling some “flavor of the month” and never stuck with the same woman for any length of time.

  Once he learned that she was pregnant, he would no longer be interested in her. It would make no difference how smitten he may be with her; knowing that she was pregnant with her dead husband’s child should be more than enough to make Mr. Jamison start looking elsewhere for his next conquest and leave her alone at last.

  Feeling relieved that she had at last come to some sense of closure with regard to Gary Jamison and ecstatic at the prospect of spreading the wonderful news about her baby to the world, Megan felt the most liberated she had felt since this had all happened. As she went to the kitchen to warm up her coffee, she had a big smile on her face.

  Chapter 18

  -Then-

  Four months later, Megan stood naked before the vanity mirror and stared at herself. She had gotten so large so quickly that she had actually started wondering if she was having twins until the ultrasound confirmed that there was just one child—a girl. Megan had been so thrilled that she couldn’t wait to call her mother to give her the news. That’s when she learned that her mother had also been bigger than an ox while carrying her only daughter.

  She began dressing as another thought crossed her mind. Who would have thought back in December that she would actually be going out with Gary Jamison of all people? She still couldn’t believe it herself. Back then, she had wanted nothing to do with the narcissistic playboy whom everybody thought was so hot. In fact, she had hoped and prayed that she would never have to lay eyes on him again.

  But it hadn’t quite turned out that way.

  Gary had fooled everybody, including herself. For starters, when he had found out that she was pregnant with Daniel’s child through the corporate grapevine, he had immediately called her at the office to congratulate her. He wondered why she had taken so long to tell anybody at work about expecting a child and she had told him that she’d needed some time to think things through so soon after Daniel’s death. Gary seemed to understand this and told her that he was absolutely thrilled for her and that she no doubt felt herself fortunate to at least have a child to remember her husband by.

  After his display of good will, Megan had half expected him to segue into some sort of invitation that they get together some time soon, as he would normally have done. But he had fooled her again. He simply wished her well and told her to have a nice day before hanging up. Genuinely shocked by this unexpected twist, she had found herself wondering if perhaps Gary Jamison had at last finally given up on her.

  Later, she learned that he had apparently turned over a new leaf, according to one of his employees at the Chicago office. He was noticeably less tyrannical than usual with his staff and had not been seen with any women since the holidays, which had thrown everybody for a loop. One of his employees had cornered him one day and jokingly asked him why he sudden
ly seemed to be “slipping,” woman-wise, and Gary had told him that he had just decided “to give everything a rest” for a change.

  Then last week, Gary had phoned Megan at the office. After some idle chat, he asked if she would consider meeting him for dinner that upcoming weekend. He explained that he wanted her thoughts about a generous advancement opportunity in the company—in other words, a job promotion. Excitedly, she had begun quizzing him for details but he wouldn’t budge, insisting that all of the specifics would be covered over dinner.

  Although she was experiencing a feeling of déjà vu, Megan realized that for once, she had no qualms about meeting with Gary Jamison. She had become adequately convinced that his intentions were good, and that he in fact seemed to have a genuine interest in her welfare. Additionally, the thought of a promotion was more than a little enticing. Since Daniel’s death she had had to bear all of the living expenses on her modest income. Besides the large mortgage payment, she also had a child on the way that would put even more strain on her limited finances. Daniel had bought no life insurance, for which she could hardly blame him. How many people that young and healthy would ever have imagined they needed a life insurance policy?

  The fact was that she either needed a substantial raise or she would be forced to find a better paying job. Of course she could move back to Smithtown and let her parents help her out but that was something she flatly refused to even consider.

  After accepting Gary’s offer of dinner, they set a time and settled on one of the city’s more expensive restaurants as their destination. After hanging up, Megan felt the most optimistic she had ever felt since losing Daniel.

  It was now Saturday morning and Gary was picking her up at six o’clock that evening. In spite of feeling confident that the dinner date would be a positive thing, she still felt a little uncomfortable about it. For one thing, even though Daniel was gone, she could still not get over wanting to be totally faithful to him. Yes, this was hardly going to be a “real” date with potential romantic overtones, but it was nevertheless a date with a single available bachelor who had at one time clearly had the hots for her. And could still very well feel the same way.