It Had to Be Him (36 page)

Love, Josh

He’d written the letter in case he got killed? The words swam with her tears as she read the letter again.

He thought she was a strong person? And a good mother before Haley had even been born? But was she strong enough to handle whatever might happen if she took Josh back and it didn’t work out again?

Josh evidently believed it.

He’d been doing his job and she’d gotten caught up in it. Just like Casey had said. He really did love her. He’d had no choice but to leave her.

And he had more faith in her than she did. She couldn’t argue with the hard proof she held in her hands.

He’d just sworn to her he’d never leave her and Haley again.

She folded the letter and tucked it into her pocket to keep.

Forever.

To remind her the next time her stupid insecurities made her doubt his love for her again, because she tended to do that. Maybe one day she’d get past that tendency, but for now his letter had been just what she’d needed to give her the courage to try.

Meg jumped off the bed and ran for the kitchen. She pulled what she was after out of the fridge and then made her way to the living room.

When Meg walked into the living room with her hand behind her back, Josh’s stomach clenched as he stood. “Did you decide what you want to do?”

“I think so. But I need to ask you a couple of questions first. Are you certain you can be happy living here, in such a small town and working for Zeke, long term?”

That she’d ask the question meant she was reconsidering. His knotted stomach muscles loosened a fraction. “I love it here. The way everyone knows everyone else. And I’d forgotten how much I enjoy mechanical work. Zeke has been wanting to retire, so he’s giving me the business to run. He’s also donating some land he owns just outside of town so I can start a summer camp for kids like Eric. I hoped you’d help me with that.”

“You won’t miss all the excitement and intrigue?” Her forehead scrunched. “Because I’m still not sure who the real Josh is. This guy who likes to work on engines and help kids, or the agent who lived an exciting life and can lie like no one I’ve ever met.”

He took a step closer to get a better look into her eyes. Uncertainty shone brightly along with her unshed tears.

He wanted to hold her. To wrap her up and reassure her she’d always be enough for him. But she wasn’t ready for that, so he
stuck his hands in his front pockets. “I’m all those things, Meg. No doubt, I joined the FBI for the excitement, but more to be a part of something important. I was good at what I did, but I had no one to miss me if some of the guys I put behind bars decided to retaliate. Then you came into my life and showed me what I’d been missing. I liked to think someone would care if I was gone, that maybe you and Haley . . . needed me?”

“We did need you, Josh.” A tear spilled over and down her cheek. “Still do. Dammit, I’m just going to do this.” She whipped a hand out from behind her back. “Here.”

He blinked for a moment, struggling to understand the meaning behind her gift. “You’re giving me a fruit cup?”

“Yes. Don’t you remember?”

When he shook his head, she sighed. “You told me nothing says love like a fruit cup. So I’m giving you one. Jeez. You aren’t making this any easier on me, Josh!”

His heart nearly beat out of his chest as he laughed and pulled her close. “Say it. Or I’m not taking you back.”

“I’m the one doing the taking back here!” She poked him in the ribs. “But all right.”

She leaned back and smiled. “I love you, Josh. I don’t know if things are going to work out, but I’m willing to try because I like my life better when you’re in it.”

“I’ve liked my life a whole lot better since the day I met you, Meg.” He kissed her. “And I’m going to spend the rest of it showing you how much I love both you and Haley. Now let’s go tell your grandmother the news. Maybe we’ll be able to walk out of here alive.”

T
he next morning, Meg stood beside Josh and Haley as they watched Eric drive a soccer ball down the field. The score was tied, one to one.

Josh picked Haley up and then slid his arm around Meg’s waist, pulling her close. She snuggled against his side, grateful for her family’s meddling for a change. She would have pushed him away to save herself future pain, but now she’d made up her mind to live in the moment and take life as it came.

And for the moment, life was pretty darned good.

Pam walked up beside her and drank deeply from her to-go mug of coffee. “Morning. How are you guys?”

Josh smiled at her. “Great. How are you?”

Pam’s eyes slid toward Toby. A sly grin tilted her lips. “Just fine, thank you.”

Meg glanced at Toby in time to see a look pass between him and Pam. Grabbing Pam’s arm, Meg dragged her away from everyone. “Are you sleeping with Toby?”

Pam chuckled. “We don’t do much sleeping, but yeah.”

Concerned for her best buddy, Meg said, “You know he’s not the committing type. I couldn’t bear it if he broke your heart, Pam.”

Pam laughed. “I’m not giving my heart to anyone but Mr. Right. And he hasn’t come along yet. Oh, I almost forgot, did you hear the news about Amber?”

Meg wasn’t sure she wanted to know. “What? Has she cooked up a new scheme to make my life miserable?”

“No. Nothing like that. Randy’s mother came in to see me for her perm yesterday. While she was under the dryer, Mrs. Jackson asked if it was true that Amber kicked Randy out!”

“Did she?”

Pam nodded. “Randy’s evidently banned from their house until he breaks it off with that waitress he’s seeing down south. He moved back home with Mommy yesterday.”

Meg smiled. “Good for Amber.” As much as Amber could be a pain, Meg really did want the best for her. She always had, even when Amber had turned on her when they were kids. Maybe there was hope for her and Amber to patch things up yet.

“Yeah. Well, gotta run. I have a cut and color in five minutes.” Pam hugged Meg. “I’m so happy you and Josh worked it all out.”

“Me too.” Meg gave Pam a hard squeeze. “We’re going to work on finding you Mr. Right next.”

Pam sighed. “Well, I’m certainly well acquainted with Mr. Wrong, so that’d be a nice change. See you later.”

“Bye.” Pam wanted a husband and kids, but never complained. Meg would make it her mission to find a nice guy for her. Pam deserved the same newfound happiness Meg had.

She walked back and stood by Josh again. Turning her attention back to the game, she winced. She’d never played soccer and was a little surprised at how rough it could be. When a really big kid tripped Eric and stole the ball, she opened her mouth to protest, but Josh beat her to it.

He called out, “Where’s the card, ref?”

She smiled as the referee tugged a yellow card from his back pocket and held it up. That set up some sort of penalty kick that had Eric lining up in front of the goal.

She wasn’t sure she wanted to watch. What if he missed? It was just a game, but Eric seemed to love playing so much she hated to see him disappointed. He’d had way too much of that in his life recently.

She circled her arm around Josh’s waist and squeezed as the ball flew toward the big goalie. It whooshed past the kid and into the net, and the crowd went wild. The ref blew time on his whistle and declared the Anderson Butte Rockies the winners.

Eric glanced their way and smiled as he jogged back to the sidelines to give his teammates and Toby high fives.

After Eric packed up his gear and joined them, he still beamed a giant smile.

Josh held up his fist for a bump. “Nice game, buddy.”

Meg gave Eric a hug. “Glad you had fun today.”

As she released Eric, Meg’s phone vibrated in her back pocket. She tugged it out and opened the text from Casey.

Dad’s back and called a family meeting. Grams’ll keep the kids so you can come. Where r u?

Meg tapped back,
Park. Be there in 5.

She turned to Josh. “Family meeting. Can you drop the kids off with my grandma?”

He gave her a quick kiss. “Yep. See you later.”

“Thanks.”

Meg hit the stone steps of Town Hall. Her emotions were mixed—relief her dad was back so everyone in town could relax warred with the familiar dread that surfaced every time she was summoned to her father’s office. With Dragon Breath behind bars where she clearly belonged, Meg walked past the receptionist’s
desk and toward her dad’s open door. Her brothers and sister were all deep in whispered conversation and had clearly started the meeting long before they’d invited her. Not sure what was up with that, she called out to her father, “Welcome back, jailbird.”

Her siblings chuckled, but Sue Ann took her usual offense. “It’s not funny, Megan. Can’t you take anything seriously?”

Meg sat in the empty chair beside Casey. “You must see the irony here, Sue Ann. For once it’s not me who’s been in trouble. But we all knew Dad wasn’t guilty.”

Dad’s brows shot up. “You never doubted my innocence? Not even for a moment?”

“Nope.” Meg shook her head. “Besides your inept computer skills, you love this town too much to ever jeopardize it. That, and you’d never risk embarrassment to the Anderson name.”

Dad leaned back and crossed his arms. “I’m glad you finally seem to get it, Megan. And since you’re the computer whiz in the family, you need to help me clean up Mrs. Duncan’s mess.”

“Uh, sure. That’d be fine.” Her dad had never asked her help for anything before. Although it was more of a demand, it put a little smile on her face.

“So.” Dad cleared his throat. “The bottom line is, Mrs. Duncan had been running an illegal gaming operation, essentially stealing money from innocent people using the Internet, right here under my nose. She blamed me for it until Ryan got Barb’s testimony, which led to Mrs. Duncan finally confessing that I had nothing to do with it. She’s going to jail for a very long time. We’re all going to forget it ever happened and move on.”

Dad’s gaze landed on her. “Agent Watts told me Josh believed I was innocent and that his opinion counts with them. He said Josh is a good man, Megan. Watts trusts Josh and is sorry he decided to leave the FBI. Seems your choice in men has finally improved.”

Sue Ann added, “And he’s pretty damn good-looking. I’m not sure you could do much better than him. Maybe he’ll be the one who sticks for a change.”

Not sure if that was a compliment or another slap, Meg said, “Well, I guess time will tell.” She rose from her chair. “I’m glad it all worked out, Dad. After I get the work crews started at my house in the morning, I’ll drop by and help with the computers.”

As she started to leave, Dad said, “Wait, Megan. We need to talk about that. The Three Amigos came to visit me this morning. They said since seeing how you’re sticking this time and are going to fix up your grandparents’ place, how you’ve taken responsibility for your actions as a kid, and that you’ve taken in Eric, they wanted me to consider giving you another chance.”

Meg flopped back into her chair in disbelief. “Really? They said that?”

“Yep. And since they can be a royal pain in my ass when they don’t get their way, I’ve decided to give you that chance. You can have your shares back in the corporation. But this time, you’ll be in charge of all the computer systems here, at the clinic, and the central reservations systems, with an appropriate salary. I don’t want any repeats of what Mrs. Duncan got away with and I’m too damned busy to have to worry about that.”

Before Meg could figure out what to say, Dad held out a white envelope. “When you came back a few weeks ago, jobless and hiding from Josh, I held little hope you’d ever change. But you’ve proved me wrong, and obviously some others in town too. This is all the rent money from your grandparents’ home. There’s a check for almost three hundred grand here. Fix up that lodge, but make it as nice as the hotel so you can book top celebrities. More rich clients will provide an extra shot of revenue for everyone in town. Don’t screw this up, dammit!”

That must’ve been what they’d all been discussing before she got there. Better, her dad finally realized she’d changed. Didn’t mean he loved her or anything, but at least he must not hate her if he was giving her the money.