“Come on, sweetheart. Let’s go get some of that popcorn, before Blaine eats it all.” Trevor grabbed her hand and pulled her inside, very grateful that this kiss had ended much less painfully than the last one.
* * *
“He kissed you. He kissed you,” Linette said in a singsong voice as she picked up the empty popcorn bowl.
Megan knew she was blushing again and glared at her sister’s back as they walked into the kitchen.
“How do you know? Were you all peeking out the window?” Megan asked, horrified at the very thought.
Linette laughed as she reached for a glass from the cupboard. “Don’t be paranoid. I just happen to be very good at reading people. What would you think happened if someone walked into a room looking like they had been hit by lightning, followed by a man who couldn’t stop grinning for an hour and a half?”
Megan giggled, knowing it was true. “Okay, you win. Yes, he did kiss me.”
Linette sipped her water and stared at her sister expectantly. Megan rolled her eyes and sighed theatrically. “What!?”
“Tell me. What was it like? Was it like a nerdy kiss or a Brad Pitt kiss?”
Megan smiled and leaned against the counter, remembering every second. “Hmm. Well, it’s hard to describe, but if I had to put it into words—and I guess I do—I’d have to say it was a mix of Brad Pitt, Mel Gibson, and a little Russell Crowe thrown in.”
Linette laughed and put her glass in the sink. “You’re impossible, Meg. Just tell me if it knocked your socks off.”
Megan grinned, knowing her socks were definitely still on, which was just as it should be. But there was potential.
“Linette, you said yourself I looked like I had been hit by lightning. What do you think?”
Linette followed her sister out of the kitchen, frowning. “I think Blaine better kiss me on our next date or I’m going to start feeling very jealous.”
Eighteen
MEGAN WATCHED BRENNA WIPE ketchup off her little toddler’s mouth and then lean down and kiss her, before sending her back to the McDonald’s playland. She looked very happy and very content with her life. She looked like everything Megan wanted to be: a mother and a wife.
“Brenna, you are the luckiest woman alive. You do know that, don’t you?”
“You don’t know very many people, do you?” Brenna grinned at Megan before eating the rest of her kid’s forgotten fries. “So lay it on the line, Megan. I want all the dirt, I want all the smut—every bit of scandal you can come up with. I want everything a combo meal will get me.”
Megan looked down at her double quarter pounder and wondered if it was worth it. She took one more bite and then nodded. Yeah, it was.
“How much time do you have?”
Brenna glanced at her watch and frowned.
“Thirty minutes before I have to pick up Mitchell from school, so give me the short version. But you have to give me half of your fries back.”
Megan raised her eyebrows questioningly. Was she serious? She was. Megan pushed half of her fries over to Brenna’s side of the table but kept her ketchup. Brenna deserved naked fries.
“Okay, the short version. Well, the morning of my wedding arrives, and Taffie calls me forty-five minutes before I’m supposed to leave for the wedding breakfast. She tells me all about how Dylan went to a wild bachelor’s party the night before and had gotten down and dirty with one of the waitresses. She wasn’t sure if he had actually gotten drunk, but, according to her brother, he’d had at least three beers.”
Brenna’s mouth fell open in disbelief. “That doesn’t sound like Dylan at all! Sure, he could get wild and crazy sometimes and, yes, he was pretty much a jerk, but he was always a straight arrow when it came to stuff like that.”
Megan looked down at her half-eaten hamburger and stared blankly. She had believed Dylan capable of everything Taffie had accused him of doing. She hadn’t had any faith or trust in him at all. That was why she wasn’t celebrating eight years of marriage. It was because of her, not Taffie. And here was Brenna, who wasn’t even close to Dylan, and she assumed right off the bat he hadn’t done anything wrong.
“Well, anyway, instead of believing in him and trusting him, I left him. After the wedding breakfast, everyone was supposed to meet at the temple for the ceremony. And everyone did, except me. I wrote a letter to Dylan explaining how I felt and why I couldn’t go through with it, and I gave it to Taffie to give to him. Well, she apparently ‘misplaced’ the letter. As a matter of fact, I found out just last week what you already know: Dylan never did do those things. Taffie made it all up.”
Brenna shook her head in disgust. “Does Dylan know?”
“He does now.”
“Megan, this is so sad! It’s like Romeo and Juliet, except Dylan’s still married to the wicked witch of the west.”
Megan choked on her root beer, and Brenna looked at her in concern.
“What?” Megan sputtered.
“Sorry, I shouldn’t mix up my storylines. Seriously though, what happens now?”
Megan shook her head as she finished chewing her last bite of hamburger.
“Nope, don’t go there. Dylan is married to Taffie for better or for worse. His marriage has its problems, granted, but they can work them out if they both try. It’s not like I’ve been sitting at home every Saturday night pining for him. Well, okay, I have sat home most Saturday nights, but that’s because I’m a misfit, according to my parents anyway.”
Brenna chewed on some of the ice out of her cup as she contemplated her friend’s completely messed up life.
“You’re right, Megan. And don’t get me wrong. I in no way want to encourage you in that direction. I was going more for the revenge-against-Taffie angle. You know, like painting raspberry jam smiley faces on her car or blasting her house with primary songs at three in the morning. Fun stuff like that.”
Megan laughed and tried to grab one of her fries back from Brenna. Brenna was too fast.
“Remind me never to make you mad,” Megan teased. Brenna stood up and signaled her kids to come down from the slides.
“Well, that was depressing, Megan. Now hurry and tell me something positive so I can leave with a smile on my face.”
Megan wrinkled her nose, and then smiled from ear to ear as she stood to join Brenna.
“Trevor Riley kissed me last night and he says he wants to be my boyfriend.”
Brenna almost dropped her child as they walked out of the door. “You are lying, Megan Garret! There is no way. No way.”
While Megan helped Brenna get all three of her young children into their carseats, Brenna stared at her in disbelief. As she slid into the driver’s seat, she grabbed Megan’s hand.
“All right, I’m starting to believe you. But you have to promise me one thing: don’t let Taffie be your maid of honor this time.”
Megan shut the door on her friend and walked backwards, smiling as she shook her head. Brenna rolled the window down before yelling, “Come over to my house next week for dinner! I’m not through with you.”
Megan laughed and yelled back over her shoulder, “I will if you promise not to steal any more of my food. I’m starving!”
Brenna gave her a thumbs-up and a smile as she drove out of the parking lot.
Megan felt one more empty spot in her heart close up as she realized she could count on Brenna to be a real friend to her. Facing life without friends and family to support you was hard. But facing life with good friends, one great sister, and one exciting male possibility was something to actually look forward to.
Nineteen
WHAT IS THIS?” MEGAN asked Blaine as they stood in her kitchen.
“What does it look like?” he asked. “This is your new cell phone, in case Trevor needs to talk to you. We know you already have one, but this is a Trevor-only phone. He wants to be able to talk to you anytime, anywhere. He’s an instant gratification kind of guy. And this is your very own credit card. See, it has your name right here in pretty g
old letters. You can use it for anything you want. Need a new dress for tonight’s date? No problem. Need to get that cavity fixed? Call the dentist. Whatever you want. Any questions?”
Megan stared at Blaine, who was smiling at her as if this was normal. She glanced once more at the snazzy little cell phone and credit card just within reach.
“I can’t accept this. It’s too much.”
Blaine smiled at her as if she were a child.
“Listen, if you have any questions later, just call me,” he said, ignoring her modest response. “I’ve written down my number for you, right there. I’ve got to run. I’m taking Linette out to lunch. I’d ask you along, too, but I find it’s so hard to kiss someone when their older sister is watching.”
Megan grabbed the back of Blaine’s shirt before he could make it out the door. “Just a couple things before you take off, Don Juan. Number one. I see your number written down here, but I don’t see Trevor’s. Why is that?”
Blaine looked around the kitchen, not meeting her eyes. “Oh, well . . . that would be, um, probably because Trevor never gives that number out. Of course, he never did tell me expressly not to give you that information. So I guess I could. Do you really want it?”
“Yes.”
Blaine winced and then grudgingly wrote the number down next to his on the paper.
“And one more thing. If you’re playing with my sister just because you’re bored while you’re here in town, I’ll kill you. You don’t know her. She’s a little fragile right now and she can’t handle someone breaking her heart.”
Blaine straightened from the table slowly, looking Megan in the eyes. He wasn’t smiling anymore.
“Don’t judge me, Megan. And don’t automatically assume that I will hurt your sister. I know about the anorexia. She’s told me everything. Do you know where she is right now? She’s meeting with a counselor to help her deal with why she started starving herself in the first place. And that’s not being put on any of Trevor’s credit cards either. I’m picking that one up. I like Linette. I care about her. I can’t say that I know exactly where this relationship is going, but I’m not going in with breaking her heart on my list of things to do. And it offends me that you think I am.”
Megan watched Blaine stalk out of her house without looking back. She had really ticked him off. Megan grinned slowly. Blaine just might do. She walked back towards the table and slowly picked up the credit card. Megan Garrett. Right there in gold letters. Did Trevor do this for all of his girlfriends? There was no way was she putting one cent on this card. If she did that, she would feel obligated to him and that was no way to start a relationship. She’d just have to pay for his mom’s advertising with the commissions she had just received from the purchase of her lot. Poor Trevor. He wouldn’t be able to buy her, either.
Twenty
TREVOR GLANCED OVER AT Megan as he drove his brand new, sleek silver Lexus onto the freeway and headed towards Salt Lake. She was wearing a conservative formal dress that was probably more than ten years old. It was black and the style was simple, but Trevor knew automatically she hadn’t bought it that afternoon. For one thing, he had checked her account, and she hadn’t bought anything. Yet.
“So where are we going?” Megan asked.
“Just a simple business dinner. I can’t get out of it, so we’re stuck. But this will be a good opportunity for you to get acquainted with this part of my life. Don’t worry, though. It’s just a lot of talking and eating.”
Megan felt her stomach cramp up. He was going to introduce her to his business acquaintances! She was going to be on display, just like she had been for her father’s business dinners. Megan glanced in the mirror on her visor and wished she had worn a little more eyeshadow, and a darker shade of lipstick. She felt like she was on a roller coaster and she was just getting ready to go over the edge. It wasn’t a pleasant feeling.
“Oh, Trevor, I don’t know about this. I really don’t think I’m ready to meet all of these people. I thought we were just going out for a nice dinner. I don’t know anything about you—who your favorite football team is, what your hobbies are. What if they ask me questions about your business? I’ll sound like a complete idiot. All I know is that you like to work with computers.”
Trevor frowned in concentration as he listened to Megan vent. Maybe he was throwing her into the deep end a little fast, but that’s how he did everything. Fast.
“My favorite football team is the Steelers, I still love karate, and I’m currently in the process of moving my base of operations from Washington to Utah. And if you get really stumped just look confused and say, ‘Je ne parle pas anglais.’ ”
Megan laughed and shook her head in disbelief. He wanted her to pretend she was French. Where did this guy come from?
“I took Spanish in high school. That might work better for me.”
Trevor maneuvered the car in and out of traffic quickly and efficiently. Megan sighed as she realized that’s pretty much how he did everything. Unlike her. “It’s funny. Here I have a degree in business from BYU and I’m nervous about simple dinner conversation.”
Trevor glanced at her curiously. “Your degree is in business? What are you doing selling real estate?”
Megan frowned as she searched for an answer. “It’s kind of a long story but, basically, I majored in business because Dylan thought it would be good for situations just like this. He pictured us as being this amazingly glamorous couple. He was going to be extremely successful working with his dad and, although I would be a stay-at-home mom, I would stun everyone with my insightful comments at all of the dinner parties we would throw. I still can’t believe I did it. I bored myself to tears for four long years just so Dylan would be proud of me. I guess that was my problem; I was always so busy trying to make everyone proud of me.”
It was Trevor’s turn to frown. Maybe tonight had been a big mistake. He didn’t want Megan to feel like she was just for show.
“So, when things fell apart with Dylan and my family, I was left all alone. No one to make anymore decisions for me. And that’s when I chose to go into real estate.” Megan smiled for the first time since hearing where they were going. “I love houses. Big ones, small ones, old ones, new ones. I don’t know why, I just do. I have to admit that I’m not exactly good at selling them, but I want to be. It excites me, helping families find their dream home.”
Trevor glanced over at Megan and studied her profile. This beautiful, educated woman loved selling houses for a living. Maybe it was just her way of getting as close as she could to what she had always wanted herself: a happy home. Or was it a happy family?
Trevor pulled into the parking lot of the Marriott Hotel and handed his keys to the valet before walking around to her side of the car to open the door for her. He noticed she still looked stressed and put his arm around her for a quick hug. He decided to leave it there for good measure.
“Don’t worry, Megan. I’m not going to leave you to the sharks. I’ll be with you the whole time. This might even be fun.”
Megan felt the solid weight of Trevor’s arm encircle her waist and felt some of the tension ease from her shoulders. Fun? She’d be happy if she just survived. As they entered the ballroom of the hotel, Megan couldn’t help shuddering as she remembered the last ballroom she had been in. She was amazed to see hundreds of people. This wasn’t just a dinner party; this was a “Who’s Who” of Utah’s business leaders. Megan gasped as she bumped into the governor and almost keeled over when she saw two General Authorities.
‘Trevor, you’d better find a corner fast, and stick me in it. I don’t think my Spanish is up for this.”
Trevor grinned down at Megan and headed over to a group of people who were waving him over. “Just think of all the contacts you’ll be making tonight. Think of yourself not as Trevor’s incredibly beautiful date but as Megan, the best darn realtor in Utah County. Every single one of these people you see here tonight is a potential client. Think about it.”
Me
gan looked thoughtful. Trevor was right. This could be a good opportunity for her. If she wanted to be a million dollar producer, then this was a good place to start.
Trevor noticed the confidence slowly find its way into the countenance of the woman standing beside him and beamed. She would make anyone a perfect wife. Too bad for everyone else, she was his. He started shaking the hands of the smiling men and women in the group.
“Megan, I’d like to introduce you to some of the most amazing and talented minds of the century. This is Brian Seward, Deirdra Jacobs, Claire Whitby, Nat Barrett, and Adam Prescott. Everyone, this is Megan Garrett, my girlfriend.”
Megan was halfway through shaking everyone’s hands when her smile suddenly faded. Did he have to do that? Megan turned and glared at Trevor, who was looking over his shoulder at the buffet.
“Hey guys, Megan and I are starving—we haven’t eaten yet. We’ll catch up to you later.”
Megan smiled apologetically as Trevor practically pulled her to the other side of the room.
“Did you have to say that? Can’t you just say, ‘This is Megan.’ Did you have to add the girlfriend part?”
Trevor handed Megan a plate and leaned down to kiss her on the cheek sweetly.
“Yes, I did. You are my girlfriend and I can’t help it if I want everyone in the world to know that I’m the luckiest man in the world. Remember, you gave me a month to make you fall in love with me. Just enjoy yourself.”
Megan glowered at Trevor as he piled her plate full of everything he could get his hands on.
“Either you’re really hungry, or you’re afraid that the chefs are going to cry if you don’t eat everything in sight. And I didn’t give you a month to make me fall in love with you. I think we need to clarify this situation. I gave you a month to see if we like each other. There’s a big difference.”
A Trusting Heart Page 11