It Had to Be Him (3 page)

M
eg ripped off her wet clothes and dug through the plastic garbage bags she’d hastily filled with the entire contents of her closet in her rush to leave Denver. Who needed a matching set of Louis Vuittons? There were definite benefits to waterproof, forty-gallon-sized, tear-resistant luggage. Especially if you happened to own an old car with leaky windows and moved as often as she did.

She bypassed the tight tanks and Daisy Dukes she’d been keeping in case her fat-free, pre-Haley body miraculously decided to reappear. Probably her stress-induced chocolate addiction wasn’t helping that happen.

Instead, she opted for
acceptable clothing
should her dad pay her an unexpected visit. She plucked out an oversized T-shirt with her college’s logo on it and an old pair of jean shorts. An outfit that thoroughly disguised all the parts that made her a girl and wouldn’t send her father’s blood pressure to stroke levels—and she was caving again, dammit. But she needed a job worse than she wanted to poke at her grumpy bear of a father.

Her dad would most likely start the dreaded family meeting with his usual discourse, pointing out her chronic lack of discipline. Admittedly, being a single mother and now jobless on top of it hadn’t been in her mission statement, but it was her life, and she refused to be told how to live it.

Well, right after she painted Grandma’s fence.

Grandma and Casey were the only ones she didn’t mind bossing her around. Much. They were the ones always there for her. Her father was a different story. It seemed as if he couldn’t stand to be in the same room with her. She’d never been sure why.

After Casey had returned Haley, Meg found the pretty pale-yellow paint and brushes, then settled her daughter in a spot where she could watch her. Swatting away the curious dragonflies dive-bombing her, Meg channeled her inner Tom Sawyer and dove in.

Periodically, she glanced over to be sure Haley was still where she was supposed to be. She sat nearby in the shade of a tall pine tree, contently coloring beside Grandma, who’d pulled up a chair to supervise and had promptly fallen fast asleep.

“You doing okay, kiddo?”

Haley held up her masterpiece. “See? Purple cow!” Her shout startled Grandma awake.

And the cow was red. Another thing they’d work on.

Meg was just about to compliment her when Zeke’s rusty old voice croaked out. “Never seen me a purple cow before. That’s pretty darned special.” He smiled at Grandma. “Hiya, Ruth.” Zeke, the town handyman who reminded Meg of the scarecrow in
The Wizard of Oz
, wasn’t only certified to work on their family’s helicopters; he could fix any car, boat, Jet Ski, or beloved toy she’d ever owned as a child. He was more of a father to her than her own.

Grandma scowled at him. “Hello and goodbye. I have somewhere else to be.”

Zeke chuckled. “You’re about the busiest woman I’ve ever met, Ruth. When I’m around, anyway.” After Grandma left, he leaned down to inspect the picture Haley had colored. “Yep. You got some real talent there, little lady.”

Haley beamed with pride, then shoved the picture at him. “For you!”

“Why, thank you.” Zeke was nice enough to clutch it to his chest like it was a rare Picasso.

Meg pressed the top back on the paint can, grateful for a break. “Hey, Zeke. Nice to see you.”

“Welcome back again, Shorty. Reporting for Haley-sitting duty as requested.” He walked over and checked out her handiwork on the fence. “I’ve been offering to do this for Ruth for over a year, but she wouldn’t let me.”

“Yeah, well, I’m just special, I guess.”

“Or in trouble with her again, I suspect.” Zeke cracked a smile. “You know, I could rig you up a compressor, get this done a lot faster.”

“That’d be awesome!”

“Why don’t you run along to your meeting and me and Haley will go back to my shop and get it all set up? There may be some ice cream involved too, if that’s okay?”

She kissed Zeke’s wrinkled, stubbly cheek. “My hero.”

After making sure Haley was all settled in Zeke’s shop—and warned not to touch anything without asking—Meg jogged to the main drag. Hopefully Amber would be busy with her fake do-gooder act somewhere else at the moment because Meg really wasn’t in the mood for two confrontations in one day.

Running late, she didn’t have time to clean up. Her hands were covered with yellow polka dots and her shirt looked like the canvas for a modern impressionist splatter painting. One more thing that’d irritate her dad. What was one more fail for the day? Her father should probably start a tab.

Finally reaching the stone steps of Town Hall, she took them two at a time, then yanked the heavy door open and slowed her pace as she headed toward her father’s office. Her jaw clenched when she spotted the long table set up just inside the door. There
sat the Three Amigos, who had always felt
poor, motherless Megan
needed their guidance.

Bless their hearts.

The octogenarian trio headed up the church council and were peddling their newest craft thing that no one wanted but bought to be polite. Luckily, they were busy chatting among themselves, so maybe they wouldn’t notice her.

“Megan? Is that you?”

No such luck.

Sucking a deep breath for patience, she changed directions. “Hello, ladies. How are you?”

Mrs. Jenkins, a retired principal, said, “We heard you were back. Pregnant again, dear?”

Wow. Really?

“Nope. Just going to a family meeting. Nice to see you all. Gotta run. You know how my dad hates tardiness.”

All three bobbed their gray heads at that, so she was off the proverbial hook. But their pursed lips confirmed they all still thought she was going straight to hell.

Amazing how they couldn’t remember where they put their car keys, but they could recite each and every one of Meg’s indiscretions since elementary school.

Scurrying down the hall, she forced another smile and greeted her dad’s assistant, the dragon lady who loyally guarded the gates to hell, better known as the mayor’s office. “Hi, Mrs. Duncan. How are you?”

The assistant looked up from her computer screen and quirked a brow. “So the prodigal child returns home once again, huh? The mayor’s in a meeting and since you weren’t on the invite list you can just wait over there until they’re through.”

Before Meg could respond, her oldest brother, Ben, arrived.

“Hey, Muckity Muck.” Throwing his big arm around Meg’s shoulder, he winked at Mrs. Duncan. “I’m sure Dad didn’t know Megan was back when he asked you to send out the details of the meeting. It involves the whole family. You’re looking lovely today, by the way.”

So much testosterone pumped from Ben that he cast a spell over the entire female race. He was the opposite of her brother Ryan, who spoke only when necessary.

“You’re probably right, Doc. Go on in.” When the woman’s eyelids fluttered seductively, Meg’s gag reflex kicked in.

Ben lifted his chin as a farewell, dragging Meg along with him. When they got out of earshot, he whispered, “Welcome back. Bring Haley by the clinic. I want to check her breathing.”

“I will. Thanks.”

He opened the office door for her to enter first. When her feet refused to move any closer to her raging bull of a father, Ben placed his big hand on her lower back and pushed. “Good luck.”

Good luck? That wasn’t a good omen.

Her father stopped mid-sentence and his jaw clenched. Before he could yell at her, Ben said, “Sorry we’re late. I asked Meg to help me with something.” He looked down at her and grinned. “Yellow paint was clearly involved.”

Grandma snorted out a laugh. “Come on in, you two. We were just getting started, weren’t we, Mitchell?” Her tone dared Dad to disagree with her.

“Why am I not surprised to see you here uninvited, Megan?” The frown lines deepened on her father’s weathered face. “Have a seat. Let’s get this over with.”

The steady thump of a dog’s tail signaled at least someone was happy to see her—Dad’s dog, Numbskull, who lived up to his name.

She ventured deeper into the room, stunned that even the step-monster was in attendance. Sue Ann never came to these things. Normally the woman was too busy rushing off to Denver and spending Dad’s money to worry about the details of how they all made it for her by running the many businesses in their little resort town. She hailed from Texas originally, was only ten years older than Casey, still spoke with a twang, and had perfect makeup, big hair, and even bigger fake boobs. It made Megan wish she’d thought to at least take her ponytail down and brush her hair. “Hi, everyone,” she said.

Sue Ann raised a brow, then shook her head as her eyes did the up and down over Meg’s outfit. “Lord, you’re a mess. As usual.”

Nice.

Plastering on a smile as fake as her stepmother’s double Ds, Meg said, “Great to see you too, Sue Ann.”

Meg found an empty chair next to Ryan, and Ben plopped down next to Casey. Ryan leaned over and gave Meg a shoulder bump in silent greeting.

Sending her brother a weak grin, she braced for the impact.

Wasting no time, Dad asked, “So, Megan, how long are you planning to stay this time?”

No welcome home or how’re you doing? As usual. “For the summer season at least. Then we’ll see. I want Haley to—”

“And how were you planning to support yourself and Haley this summer? I told you you’re not welcome to work for our company after the last time you ran off, leaving us high and dry.”

Casey sighed. “She didn’t leave us high and—”

“You, Casey.” Dad’s meaty finger changed direction toward Grandma. “And you, Mother, are the reason Meg’s so damned irresponsible. You both baby her and look where that got us.” His steely gaze found Meg again. “I’m serious, Megan. You’re welcome
to see if anyone else in town will have you, but they all know you, and are aware of your stellar track record.”

Her father really
was
serious this time. “I’m sorry about before, Dad. But after Haley was born I was just doing the leftovers no one else wanted anyway. I didn’t think you’d mind if I left.” Her father had lost all respect for her for “getting herself knocked up” and had barely been speaking to her. That was the real reason she’d left, but mentioning it wasn’t going to help.

An exaggerated, Texas-sized sigh sounded from the step-monster. “Here we go again.”

Ignoring her, Meg pleaded, “I’ll sign whatever you need, do whatever job you’d like me to do, and I’ll stick to it. No matter what it is. I promise.”

“Oh, you’ll sign a contract, huh?” Her father laughed and ran a hand through his thick white hair. “Like that’s going to change anything. The answer is no, Megan!”

Ben spoke up. “She’s apologized, Dad. And she has a point. You did give her the crap jobs after Haley was born. I could really use Megan’s computer skills at the clinic.”

Thank you, Ben!

Dad replied, “I couldn’t give her jobs with any real responsibility because she was breastfeeding every damn time I turned around. She’s made her bed and needs to lie in it for a change. We all agreed after she left last time that no one hires her ever again.”

What? They’d all gone behind her back and ganged up on her? It wasn’t like she was an alcoholic who needed an intervention, for God’s sake. And it would have been nice if at least one of her siblings had cared enough to mention it to her. What was she going to do?

While picking at the paint splatter on her hands, Meg searched for the words to get out of the hole she’d dug for herself. She wouldn’t get any help from her brothers or sister. Dad held
Ben’s massive student loans over his head, forcing him to be the town doctor in exchange for paying them off. Casey, devastated after her ex left her with emptied bank accounts, needed the high-paying hotel job to support her kids—not to mention how much she’d always craved their father’s approval. And Ryan? Meg’s theory was he wouldn’t leave town because the only woman he’d ever loved, Sarah, had married another man. One who, when he drank, turned hot-tempered and mean. Ryan stayed to protect her.

But still. A phone call would have been nice.

Alone in her battle, she had no choice. She was going to have to tell them. “After I lost my last position, I looked for other work in Denver but no one would hire me because I’ve changed jobs too many times.” It killed her to tell them that. But she wouldn’t blame it on Haley’s asthma. It’d just give her dad another opportunity to tell her how stupid she’d been to get pregnant without a husband. But Haley came first. Always. No matter if it cost her jobs.

Digging deeper and giving up all of the little remaining pride she still possessed, she begged. “Please, Dad? Haley’s father has reappeared. I’m afraid he’ll want to be part of her life. He’s a rich and powerful software developer and I’m unemployed. He’d win a custody battle in a heartbeat if that’s his plan. I’m willing to clean rooms if I have to.”

Casey gasped. “It was one thing to withhold his name, Meg, but you should’ve trusted me enough to talk about this. You know how I’ve battled with Tomas for the boys.” The hurt and concern in her sister’s eyes cut straight into Meg’s heart. “We can’t lose Hal—”

“That’s enough, Casey. And dammit, Megan!” Numbskull whimpered at her father’s raised voice. The veins in Dad’s neck puffed and his face turned red as he growled, “You’re going to have to figure things out on your own for a change. This is what happens when you sleep around and get yourself knocked up!”

And there it was. It didn’t matter that she’d once loved Josh
and that Haley had shown her a whole new kind of love between a parent and child she didn’t even know existed.

Numbskull sauntered over and laid his big head in her lap, letting out a long, been-there-done-that sigh. Sadly, her only ally in the room was a big goofy mutt.

Appreciating the pooch’s loyalty, she rewarded him with a dual ear rub while her brain raced for a solution.

Her sister was the only one remotely capable of changing Dad’s mind. “Come on, Casey. You know I can run the hotel as well as you can. You said so yourself when I took over while you were on your honeymoon.”

Before Casey could answer, her father said, “No. Maybe the threat of losing the one thing you seem to care about is what it’s finally going to take to wake you up. This meeting is over!”