“No, Megan, he's got a point.” Now it was Charlie's turn to jump in. “I think we all want to know why he's here.”
Megan looked to her parents for help, but she should've known better than to do that. Her mom's face was impassive, a study in neutrality, looking to her husband for his reaction before she had an opinion of her own.
Her dad set down his napkin next to his plate and sat back in his chair. “You know, I think the boys are right. Why are you here, young man?”
“You don't have to answer that, Chris.” Megan met his eyes, not sure if she wanted him to answer or not. She wanted to know why he'd come, but she didn't want to hash everything out in front of her whole family. They needed to talk for sure, but not here, not like this. Damn, but she wished she'd taken at least one of his calls now.
He held her gaze. “No, that's alright. I don't mind. I'm surprised it took this long for anyone to ask me.” He turned his head, sweeping his gaze across the table before he looked back at Megan. “I’ve missed you and needed to see you again. Things went …” he trailed off, his eyes glancing around the table again before continuing, “strangely on Saturday. And you didn't give me a chance to explain.”
“So you crashed my house on Thanksgiving?” Megan was trying to keep her voice down, so she was practically hissing out her response. “I thought you were going home. Why aren't you there?”
He shrugged. “I did go home, but I couldn't stay there without seeing you and talking to you. You need to give me a chance to tell you what happened.”
“I already know what happened. It doesn't matter. You shouldn't have come.”
“Megan?” Megan turned to face her mom, realizing how intent everyone was on their conversation. “This sounds like a private matter. Would you prefer to go discuss it in your bedroom?”
“Karen!” Her dad looked scandalized that her mom would suggest she take a boy into her bedroom alone. Megan would've laughed under any other circumstances.
She shook her head. “No, Mom. We don't need to go in the other room. There's nothing more to talk about. Let's just finish eating, okay? Isn't there apple pie for later?”
Her mom's eyes examined her face for a moment before she nodded gracefully. “Yes, there's apple, pumpkin, and pecan. There's also whipped cream and ice cream to go with them. Of course, we'll wait a bit between dinner and dessert. I think the boys will want to finish watching whatever football game is on.”
Megan's eyes flicked to her brothers, who were both scowling at Chris. Logan opened his mouth, but Megan glared daggers at him. He looked at their parents and whatever he saw there had him ducking his head and shoveling more food in his mouth. Charlie had kept eating regardless of his desire to scowl, but fortunately didn't feel the need to say anything.
Her dad wasn’t put off by her attempt to change the subject. “Megan, what is the nature of your relationship with this boy?”
Oh, God. This was getting worse.
“We're dating.” Chris's voice rang out confidently, causing Megan to cover her face with her hands.
“Oh, God. Just stop. Everybody stop.” She muttered her words, but her dad heard her.
“Excuse me?” His rising voice gave away his anger. “We brought you up better than to take the Lord's name in vain. I can't stop you from talking however you like when you're not here, but in my home you will not do that. Do you understand me?” Megan nodded without looking up and her dad turned his attention back to Chris.
“Now, you say you're dating?”
Megan swore she could hear Chris swallowing. “Yes, sir.” She wasn't sure where his manners had come from, but she didn't think they'd be enough to mollify her dad.
His tone deceptively calm, her dad continued to question Chris. “How did the two of you meet? Megan hasn't told us much about you, I'm afraid.” Oh, God. If you didn't know better, you'd think he were being friendly and conversational. Megan knew better. Chris didn't. She felt him relax beside her.
“We met over the summer. Her friend Abby started dating Lance, my former roommate.” Megan stifled another groan at that.
“Former roommate? What happened?” Her dad's voice still sounded normal, but Megan could see the shitstorm coming and she wasn't sure how to stop it. She had to try, though.
“Mom, dinner today is really good. Don't you think so, Dad?”
Her dad's dark eyes flicked to her. “Yes, of course. It's delicious as always. Thank you, dear.” The last part was directed at her mom, before he turned back to Chris. “You were saying?”
Megan interrupted again. “Did I tell you I'm being featured in a show over Christmas?”
Her mom's eyebrows went up slightly, betraying her surprise. “No, honey. You didn't say anything. That's wonderful. Where?”
“There's an artist collective downtown that has shows every couple of weeks. I applied to be featured and just found out I was selected last week.”
Her dad waved that away. “That's nice. But an artist collective isn't exactly the Guggenheim now is it?” He turned back to Chris whose mouth had fallen open at that comment. “Now, what happened with your former roommate?”
"He moved in with his girlfriend." Chris’s response sounded automatic, his focus still on her dad’s previous statement. “I’m sorry, did you just put down your daughter's art show because it's local?”
Lips compressed in disapproval, her dad waved that question away as well. “He moved in with his girlfriend?” His eyes flicked to Megan. “But he just said Abby is his friend's girlfriend. Isn't Abby your roommate? So does he live with you too?”
Megan groaned and covered her face again. This just kept getting worse.
“No, Megan took over Lance's place in our house. Back to her art show.”
“What?” Her dad shot out of his chair, his face thunderous. He pointed a finger at Megan. “You mean to tell me you've been living with this boy? Since when?”
Chris opened his mouth and looked between Megan and her dad. Megan had never seen Chris look at such a loss before. He wasn't sure what to say, and Megan almost felt bad for him. Almost.
She sighed, straightened her shoulders, and held her head up. It was out now. The only thing for it was to brazen through. Maybe this was a good thing in some way. At least now she wouldn't have to hide her living situation from her parents anymore. Even if it was changing soon.
“I moved in at the end of August when Abby and Lance decided to move in together. I needed a place to live and Chris and Matt had a room they needed filled. It worked out for everyone.”
Megan heard her mom let out a little gasp, but kept her eyes trained on her father. His face was getting redder by the second.
“You live with two boys?”
“I grew up in a house with two boys. I fail to see the problem.”
“They're your brothers! It's completely different!” Her dad was in a towering rage now. He slammed his palm on the table. “You will move home this instant! I'll send your brothers to collect your things. If this is what that college does to you, then you will not be going back!”
Megan stood up and leaned over the table. She stared at him, not breaking his gaze, her muscles clenched so hard she was almost shaking. “No.” She said it quietly, her voice hard and full of determination.
Her dad jerked back in shock. “Excuse me? You do not tell me no!”
“I just did. I pay all my bills. I'm an adult. You can't order me to move back home and expect me to obey anymore. Maybe you should've thought of that before refusing to help me out financially when I didn't do what you wanted the first time.”
Chris's hand on her back drew her attention to the fact that he was on his feet next to her. He leaned in closer to her ear. “Come on, Megan. You don't need this shit. Let's go.”
She tore her eyes away from her dad for a moment and looked at Chris. His hazel eyes were sincere and apologetic, his mouth in a tight line betraying his anger on her behalf. At least this man supported her, thought she could make it as an ar
tist, and cared about her for herself instead of for how her actions might reflect on her family. That was what was really behind her dad's blustering. If anyone at her parents' church found out she was living with a man she wasn't related to or married to, it wouldn't look good for her family. But she'd long ago stopped caring enough about what other people thought to let it dictate her life. Too bad her parents couldn't get on the same page.
“Young man, you can leave if you like, but Megan's staying. I'd say it was nice to meet you, but I don't like lying.” Megan's dad sounded even more pompous than usual. Chris ignored him.
Megan's eyes bounced between her dad and Chris. She still didn't want to be alone with Chris, but she couldn’t stand being here any more. It was abundantly clear that her parents would never approve of her. She had to get out of here. Decision made, she nodded once, and took the hand he held out.
Her mom gasped, a hand flying to her mouth. Her dad's face contorted in further expressions of fury. Who knew he could manage that? “Megan, if you walk out with him, you're not welcome here anymore.”
“Richard!” Her mom's face was horror stricken and her voice little more than a whisper. The set of her dad's face made it clear he wouldn’t give an inch.
Megan looked from him to her mom. “Thanks for dinner, Mom. You're welcome to call if you ever want to check in and see how I'm doing. Bye.”
Chris's fingers squeezed hers, offering his strength through their connection. Her eyes fixed ahead, she led the way out of the dining room, grabbing her jacket and backpack on her way to the front door. Her trepidation at being alone with Chris was more than outweighed by the relief of leaving her parents' house.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
“Where are we going?”
Chris glanced at Megan in the passenger seat. Even though she'd spoken, she faced forward, her eyes glued to the scenery out the windshield, her arms crossed tightly over her torso.
“I’m not sure. I don't really know my way around here. And it's Thanksgiving. Is there anything open?”
Megan shook her head. “I don't know.”
Chris was silent for a moment, trying to figure out how this would work. He had a cauldron of emotion bubbling in his chest, and he wasn't sure how to deal with everything. He was still furious with the way Megan’s parents had treated her. Demanding she move back home and acting like her art was a joke. That would be like his parents making fun of him for going to the Regional Combines and telling him his hopes of going pro were stupid and not to be taken seriously. He couldn't imagine how awful that would be. His parents were happy for him to take the chance. And if he didn't make it, they'd still have his back.
He was glad that she'd come with him. When she'd stared at him after he'd suggested they leave he was worried that she wouldn't come with him, that maybe she'd just cave in to her parents, and he'd be left looking like an idiot by meekly sitting back down, or a jerk by storming out alone.
Adrenaline still coursed through his blood stream after the confrontation they'd just left, adding to the nerves already brewing about finally getting to talk to Megan. It made him want to take the curving roads down the hill at the edge of town much faster than he should, especially with the temperature dropping and ice in the forecast. He took a deep breath and tried to will himself to calm down.
“I’d like to go somewhere we can talk. After that I'll take you back to get your car.”
He watched Megan out of the corner of his eye, splitting his attention between her and the road. She pursed her lips before nodding and blowing out a breath. “Fine. We can talk. I doubt anywhere's open, so let's just go downtown and park by the lake.”
“Okay. Just tell me where to go.”
One side of her mouth turned up, but that was the only expression, and it was gone as soon as it appeared. She gave him directions in a soft monotone until they were driving along a treed one-lane road, the local community college on the left and the mouth of the river flowing away from the lake stretching out to the right. They drove until they were in front of the lake itself, tall pines towering above them on both sides of the road.
“Pull over here.” She gestured toward the left side of the road.
“On the left?”
Megan nodded. “The right side is the Centennial Trail. It's for pedestrians and cyclists. Parking's on the left on the dike road.” She was silent for a moment, looking around. “It looks so thin. I can't believe they took out so many trees.”
“What?” He couldn't make sense of her cryptic comments. They were there to talk about what happened on Saturday and why she'd run away and not returned his calls, and she wanted to talk about trees?
She gestured around. “There used to be a lot more trees. They took out like seventy percent of them in the summer and fall. They were only supposed to thin thirty percent. Apparently they got carried away.” The wistfulness in her tone turned to acidic sarcasm on the last sentence.
Chris made a noncommittal hum. He really wasn't sure what the point of this conversation was, but he let her talk. At least she wasn't freezing him out with silence. Finally she turned and looked at him, her expression solemn, guarded. Not the usual openness with the hint of a smile playing around her lips that he was used to.
Her eyes examined his face. “Why did you come today?”
“You wouldn't take my calls. I needed to talk to you.”
She cocked her head to one side. “Most people would take my lack of response as a sign that I don't want to talk to them.”
“That's not fair, Megan. I deserve a chance to explain at least. If you're going to break up with me, have the balls to do it in person. Don't just leave and freeze me out.” His hands still rested on the steering wheel, and he squeezed it hard, transferring his frustration and nerves to the inanimate object instead of taking it out on Megan. At least he managed to keep his voice controlled.
She studied him for another moment before nodding once. “You're right. I'm sorry.” She looked away and stared at the trees across the water. “You don't need to explain, though. Lance told me what happened.”
“He did?” His voice came out strangled and he cleared his throat. “What did he tell you?”
“That you didn't do anything wrong. That that chick climbed onto your lap while you were almost asleep and started kissing you. That you dumped her off your lap and told her off in front of everyone then came looking for me.”
That about summed it up. He let out a breath, grateful that Lance had at least been there to tell his side of things. “When did he tell you that?”
He saw her close her eyes, but she still wouldn't face him. “Sunday.”
“So you've known the truth since Sunday, but you've still refused to talk to me.” He paused, waiting for a reaction, a little surprised himself that he was still managing to keep his voice low and even instead of yelling, or getting out of the car and punching a tree or throwing rocks into the water. Those things still weren't out of the question, but he really wanted to finish this conversation before he gave into that urge. He'd been managing to keep his temper in check by spending lots of time in the weight room the last few days. Sadly all the university buildings were closed up the rest of the week, including the weight room. He wouldn't be able to go work off his frustration once he was done here. Not until Monday. Shit.
Megan gave the barest nod in answer to his question, her eyes still closed, like she was bracing herself for his reaction.
He squeezed the steering wheel harder. “Care to tell me why?”
She opened her eyes to blink rapidly a few times and looked up at the roof of the car. “I’m not upset about Saturday anymore. I know that wasn't your fault and you didn't do anything wrong. Regardless, we can't continue seeing each other. I'm sorry.”
“What?” The even control was gone. He was in shock, and the word flew out at almost full volume before he could stop it. “What the fuck does that mean?”
Megan closed her eyes again, still refusing to look at him. Her
voice stayed soft and steady. “I’m sorry. But it's for the best.” She uncrossed her arms and reached for the door handle. “The Resort's just on the other side of the park around that curve. I'll walk there and get one of my brothers to come get me. I'll be in touch about moving my things. I'll pay for December's rent so you guys have enough time to find a new roommate.”
She had opened the door as she finished her sentence, and already had one foot outside, intending to walk somewhere in the twilight. Chris grabbed her other arm and stopped her before she could get out all the way. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
“Let me go, Chris.” Her eyes were glued to his fingers wrapped around her arm. The fabric of her coat kept him from feeling her warmth.
The fact that she was so still and calm was almost more infuriating than what she was saying. He'd seen lots of sides to Megan. She almost always let everyone know exactly what she thought. She didn't hold back and didn't pull punches. This still calmness hid something much more turbulent, he was sure of it. Something she didn't want him to see.
“No. Look me in the eyes and say that again. And don't forget to explain why.” He managed not to yell, but his voice sounded harsh and commanding.
She raised her eyes to his, and they glistened with suppressed tears in the waning light. “I can't see you anymore. I'm sorry.” Her eyelids dropped and a tear slid down her left cheek. Before he could react she'd wrenched her arm out of his slackened grip and gotten out of the car. The slam of the door brought him back to himself. He yanked the keys out of the ignition and got out, going after her.
He only had to jog a few steps before he caught up to her, the pine needles on the asphalt crunching under his feet. He grabbed her by the shoulders and whirled her around. His chest squeezed when he saw the tears streaming down her face and breathing became more difficult. She uncrossed her arms, scrubbing at her red eyes and nose with her hands, wiping away the tears, then lifted her chin. It was the same defiant tilt to her head she'd used when she was going at it with her dad before they'd left.
Convenient Fall (Players of Marycliff University Book 2) Page 18