The Wedding Wager

by Regina Duke

  Keegan looked horrified. “Where are they going?”

  “Not far,” said Megan. “Just from here to the main house.”

  “Really? They’re going to live in the main house?”

  “Sure. My dog is going to sleep in my room and watch TV with me and eat in the kitchen.”

  “Oh.” Keegan drooped. “You get one of the puppies?”

  “Yes, I do,” said Megan. She joined him inside the enclosure and lowered herself carefully to the sawdust that covered the dirt floor. The puppies alternated between Keegan and Megan, leaping and grabbing at hands and clothing.

  “What’s going to happen to the other puppy?” asked Keegan, bleakly.

  “Well, that depends on you.”

  “Me?!”

  “Yes. Do you think you can spare the time from your iPad to take care of a puppy?”

  Keegan squealed with delight. The puppies began to bark. “Yes! Yes! I get a puppy! I get a puppy!”

  Megan laughed. “What are we going to name them?”

  Keegan held up his partially cleaned hands. “Peanut Butter!”

  “You can’t name them both Peanut Butter.”

  Keegan pulled the black pup into an embrace. “Chunky!” he cried. “Mine is named Chunky Peanut Butter.”

  Megan smiled and cuddled the yellow pup. “And mine is named Creamy. How’s that?”

  Keegan’s eyes were bright with tears of joy. “That’s perfect,” he said, burying his face in Chunky’s black fur.

  “I agree,” said Megan, planting a kiss on Creamy’s muzzle. “Absolutely perfect.”

  CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

  HALF AN HOUR LATER, both pups were frolicking with Keegan on the fenced lawn. Buttercup followed them to the grass and promptly fell asleep under a tree. Zach stood grinning at the sight, thumbs hooked in his belt.

  “They’ll need collars and leashes,” said Megan. “Do you think I can get a ride into town?”

  Zach pulled out a ring of keys. “Take my truck.”

  “The one Kevin learned to drive in? I’m sure I couldn’t handle that one.”

  Zach laughed. “No, that’s an old ranch truck. Mine is over yonder, the blue Ford.”

  Megan’s innards soured with fear, but she took a deep breath and accepted the keys. “Thanks. I’ll be careful.”

  Megan stepped into the house to let Cookie know where she was headed. “I’m not sure where Kevin is. If he asks, let him know, okay?”

  “Will do. He’s in a meeting with his mother, by the way. The Fineman legal team has arrived.” Cookie rolled her eyes.

  “Good grief,” said Megan. “Do you and Zach have legal teams, too?”

  “Nope. We’re just plain old working folk.”

  Megan smiled. “Just like me! I’ll be back soon.” She headed for Zach’s truck.

  Before she drove fifteen feet, Karla came running out of the house.

  “Wait! Wait!”

  Megan stopped. “Hi, Karla. What’s up?”

  “Take me with you, please! I want to get some magazines.”

  “Sure. Get in.”

  Karla climbed into the cab. Her long nails were still painted black, and her clothes were onyx and charcoal, but her face was scrubbed clean. She pulled a small white lens container out of her pocket and popped her yellow lenses out of her eyes. She turned a smiling face to Megan.

  “You have the same hazel eyes as your brother! I knew you would,” said Megan. “Hey, where do you get those yellow ones, anyway? I saw them for sale once in San Francisco, but nowhere else. What’s your secret?”

  “Promise not to tell?”

  “Cross my heart.” Megan pulled out onto the two-lane highway.

  “A few months ago my parents were freaking out because they kept searching my room and couldn’t find my supply. And they couldn’t figure out how I was getting them or anything.”

  “I heard about that,” said Megan.

  “I send money to one of my friends at school through PayPal. She buys the lenses and ships them to me in a big bottle of vitamin C. They moved that vitamin bottle a dozen times when they searched my room, but they never once opened it to look inside.”

  Megan laughed. “That is so clever! Hey, are they one-size-fits-all?”

  “Yes.”

  “Do you think I could wear a pair for the photo session?”

  Karla squealed with delight. “That would be totally awesome!”

  Megan grinned. The ride into town was so full of conversation, she didn’t have time to be nervous, not even when a large cattle truck barreled down the highway in the opposite direction.

  Eagle’s Toe was small enough to have slanted parking spaces along the main street but big enough to have a selection of shops and a couple of nice hotels to appeal to the tourists looking for antiques or a quiet meal or a few days of peace and quiet. Megan pulled into a parking spot in front of a bookstore.

  “I’ll be in here,” said Karla. “The Feed and Grain Store makes me sneeze. It’s just up this street two blocks and one block over.”

  “I’ll walk it,” said Megan. “I’ll meet you back here in thirty minutes. Can you entertain yourself for that long?”

  “In a bookstore? Give me a break. I could live in there.”

  Megan grinned. “Save a few for me.”

  The Feed and Grain Store had everything a rancher might need, including a splendid selection of leashes and collars. Megan pulled out the measuring tape she’d marked with the puppies’ neck size and began double-checking collar lengths against it. She chose four, two rolled leather collars and two martingales for better control during walks. They looked puppy friendly and the salesperson showed her how the collars wouldn’t tighten on their necks. The chain portion merely pulled the cloth collar closed so the puppy couldn’t squirm out of it in a dangerous or exciting situation. She also picked out two leashes.

  As the cashier rang up her purchases, a Cadillac pulled into a parking space in front. The sun gleaming off the car’s grille sent patterns of light skittering across the wall, like a little devil dancing a jig.

  Megan took her plastic bag and headed for the door.

  Blocking her path was Douglas Wake.

  Megan pulled herself inward, but stood her ground. “Excuse me,” she said coldly. “I’m leaving.”

  Wake hesitated, then stepped aside and waved her through. “May I have a word?”

  Megan kept walking. Wake strode beside her.

  “I realize you saw me at my worst out at the house,” he said, calmly. “I apologize. My rude manners had nothing to do with you, and yet I took out my frustrations by yelling. Sometimes its a curse, being a man. I was born with a big voice, and it gets out of control.”

  Megan wasn’t sure what to make of Wake’s change in attitude. She offered a noncommittal, “Okay,” and kept walking.

  “May we sit for a moment and chat? I realize that after Friday, you will be my daughter-in-law, and I don’t want you thinking your father-in-law is a monster.”

  Megan wavered. He seemed sincere. Maybe he was really extending an olive branch. After all, even though he didn’t know it yet, they were already related by marriage.

  Or did he know?

  No better time to find out. Megan stopped abruptly and sat down on a quaint bench outside an ice cream shop.

  Wake looked pleased. “Can I buy you a cone?”

  “No, thank you. I’m on a schedule. Please say what you have to say and I’ll be going.”

  Wake sat at the other end of the bench.

  They were still too close for Megan’s comfort, but she reminded herself that they were in public, and after all, this was not her fly-off-the-handle father who used to embarrass her publicly. Wake was a businessman and should know how to control his public image.

  “I just wanted to let you know,” he began, like a father offering a daughter advice, “that Kevin is a fine young man. He’ll make a wonderful husband.”

  “That’s good to hear.” Megan let her guard down
a bit.

  “And if I had picked a bride for him myself, she couldn’t be any prettier than you.”

  Megan looked away and rolled her eyes, but she leaned back on the bench and said, “Thanks.”

  “I do want you to come into this marriage with your eyes open,” he continued, with oily assurance. “And that’s why it’s important for you to know that Kevin doesn’t have a dime in his own name. I know he promised to pay off your medical bills—”

  Megan shot up off the bench. “How did you—?”

  “Now, now, I’m a businessman.” He continued in the same calm vein. “Surely, Kevin told you I have my spies.”

  Megan’s heart was pounding, but she forced herself to sit back down on the edge of the bench. “Was that your man in Tahoe with the binoculars?”

  “Yes. Not a very adept employee, but he has his uses.”

  Megan’s eyes darted back and forth. “How did he find us?”

  “Well, tracing the credit card purchase of the airplane tickets was easy enough. My spy in Seattle told me about the trip to Reno. My man there floundered a bit when you rented the car. Wasted valuable time trying to decide what to do. Finally called me and I told him to grease a few palms behind the rental car desk, and sure enough, those cars are equipped with GPS locating devices. For the right price, the clerk told him you were at Lake Tahoe. Gave him the exact location.”

  The man’s calm demeanor was even more maddening than his rage of the night before.

  “I know about your prenup. I know about Kevin’s search for a bride and his clever but misguided attempt to get around the requirements of the trust. And frankly, I admire him for that. He’s more like me than I ever suspected. He’s got a true sense for business. Devious, like his old man. A chip off the old block. I couldn’t be happier. Too bad it won’t work. You see, it’s not a marriage based on love. It’s a last minute maneuver to acquire control of his mother’s family money. And it won’t work. I have my legal team all over it. So I just thought you should be aware, from the start, that you’re marrying a fine young man, a man clever enough to take you in and make you think he really cares about you.”

  “He does really care about me!”

  Wake chuckled darkly. “That’s the best part. He fooled you just like I fooled his mother and his grandfather. Well, mostly his grandfather. That old coot wanted Krystal to marry a man with ambition, a man of business. It wasn’t too hard to convince an impressionable young girl that I was madly in love with her. She was a lot like you. And Kevin is as good an actor as I was. But your motivation was money, so it’s important that you know that he’s as poor as you are. With that in mind, you might want to be thinking about how you’re going to start paying off those bills.”

  Megan’s stomach churned. The man was like a cobra, using his tone to lull her while his words dripped with venom. She clutched her plastic bag until her knuckles turned white. She stood up to leave.

  “Oh, before you go, one more thing.” With that line, his voice changed, and the implied threat was delivered with a cruel modulation. “I’ve already reported you delinquent to colleagues at three different credit agencies. Called in a few favors, as it were. The phone calls and debt letters will start arriving soon.”

  “Get away from me!” Megan’s tone and volume attracted the attention of a number of shoppers who stared as she ran off down the sidewalk.

  She glanced back over her shoulder, to make sure Wake wasn’t following her. He was just sitting there, smiling smugly.

  CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

  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.”