by Sherri Hayes
Rebecca glanced back to where Gage was now talking to his father and Trent. “He really is.”
The talk of dads sent Megan’s mind drifting back to Paul, and she immediately began searching the crowd for him.
“Looking for someone?”
Megan turned back to face her sister. “Huh? What?”
“I asked if you were looking for someone.” Rebecca had a strange look on her face, and Megan knew Rebecca was going into big sister mode. It was the last thing she wanted.
“Not really.”
Her sister frowned. “Is something going on I should know about?”
Now Megan was confused. “Like?”
“I don’t know. I mean you’ve gone four months without chasing after a guy. That’s a record for you.”
Megan rolled her eyes. “Thanks.”
“I didn’t . . . I didn’t mean it like that. I worry about you. I want you to find a nice guy—someone who will treat you well. I don’t want to see you hurt again.”
“I know. And when I find him, you’ll be the first to know.”
Rebecca reached up to brush a strand of hair away from Megan’s face. It was something she’d done since Megan was little—a motherly gesture from the only real female authority figure Megan had ever known. “Come on. Let’s get to the bathroom before I burst. I think I drank way too much water earlier.”
Following her sister, Megan took one last look around trying to spot Paul, but she didn’t see him anywhere.
Chapter 2
Paul didn’t manage to stay under the radar for as long as he would have liked. Unfortunately, there were only so many places he could hide without leaving the reception entirely. That meant his family was able to find him without too much difficulty.
After leaving Megan, he’d ambled back over to the bar and got another drink to nurse. He needed to take it easy. No matter how bad the pain got, he didn’t want his daughter to see him falling down drunk.
He made it about a half hour at his lone table in the corner, sipping his second glass of scotch and nibbling on some food, when Chris and Elizabeth found him.
“Congratulations.” Paul tipped his glass to the bride and groom.
“Thank you.” Chris held tight to his new bride’s hand, and his smile was bright enough to light up the whole room. Paul remembered that feeling. He remembered holding his new wife in his arms—their first dance—their first kiss as husband and wife. Everything.
He was going to need another drink.
Elizabeth was the one to bring Paul out of his memories this time. “So I was wondering if maybe you’d like to dance?”
“Worn your new husband out already?” Paul attempted the joke, but it felt dead to his own ears.
Chris, luckily, didn’t seem to pick up on it. Paul supposed his brother was too caught up in the joy of his wedding day, which was exactly as it should be. “Pfft. Not hardly. I’d dance with her all night if that’s what she wanted. Aunt Claire, however, wants a dance.”
Paul smiled. He wasn’t feeling it, but he could pretend. He was good at that. “Sure. I’d love to dance with my new sister.”
Reluctantly, Paul left the remains of his scotch on the table, and took Elizabeth’s hand. Sure, he could have downed it like he did before, but if he kept doing that he wouldn’t be able to walk soon. Plus, Chris might have noticed, and that was the last thing he needed. On the whole, Paul preferred beer, but he would have to down a case of beer to get that numb feeling he was looking for tonight. Scotch was more efficient.
Elizabeth held onto his arm until they reached the dance floor. They danced in relative silence, until he saw some of the happiness drain from her features. “Something the matter?”
She tilted her head to the side. “I was going to ask you the same thing.”
Obviously he hadn’t been hiding his emotions as well as he’d thought. “I’m fine. Good. My little brother got married today, and I happen to think the woman he chose is perfect for him.”
She smiled, but the concern didn’t leave her face. “Thank you for saying that, but what about you?”
“Like I said, I’m fine.”
Elizabeth seemed to think about it for a moment, and he was really hoping she would drop it. He should have known better. “Does this remind you of your wife? Of your wedding?”
Paul shrugged, not wanting her to make a big deal out of it. “Some. It is a wedding, after all.” He didn’t add that when Elizabeth had walked down the aisle in her white dress he’d had a flash of Melissa walking toward him on their wedding day.
“I’m sorry. I wish I could have met her.”
He nodded. “She would have liked you.”
Elizabeth smiled. “I’m sure I would have liked her, too.”
Although he didn’t mind talking about Melissa to a certain extent—he talked about her often to Chloe—given the events of the day, he didn’t think he could handle a long drawn-out discussion. When the song ended, Paul politely thanked Elizabeth for the dance, and went in search of his mom. He needed a few minutes to himself . . . away from everyone . . . but he didn’t want to just up and leave without telling anyone either. That would only invite more questions from his family that he didn’t want to answer.
He found his mom sitting near the buffet table. Chloe sat next to her, stuffing her face with a piece of bread and some chicken. “Hey, Ma.”
“Da-mee!” Chloe’s words were muffled around her food.
“Don’t talk with your mouth full.” His daughter didn’t look fazed by his reprimand, and went back to eating.
“I was looking for you earlier.”
Paul pulled out a chair beside his mom, and sat down. “Elizabeth wanted a dance.”
Marilyn Daniels smiled at her oldest son. “I’m so happy for Chris. He should have married Elizabeth the first time around.”
“That would have been difficult since Elizabeth was still married to someone else at the time.”
His mom waved the comment away. “You know what I mean. Elizabeth should have been his first.”
Paul couldn’t argue with that. None of the family had been crazy about Carol, Chris’ first wife. That should have been a big clue right there. Unfortunately, Chris found out the hard way that she wasn’t the right woman for him when he caught her in bed with his best friend. Paul counted his blessings that he’d never had to experience a betrayal like that. He and Melissa had been childhood sweethearts. She’d been his first, and he hers.
“Paul?”
Blinking, he refocused on his mom. “Sorry. What were you saying?”
She glanced over at Chloe, and then back at him. “Chloe and I were talking about her having a sleepover with Grandma and Grandpa tonight, but I told her we’d have to make sure it was okay with you first.”
“Please, Daddy? Please?” This time Chloe made sure to swallow first before she began pleading.
“Sure. We aren’t leaving until around noon tomorrow, anyway.”
“Yay!”
His mom laughed, and Paul managed a smile. “I was actually coming to find you to see if you could watch Chloe for a bit. I need to run up to the room for something.”
“Of course.”
“Did you need me to bring down some clothes for her while I’m up there?”
“Nah. We’re good. I’ve got a T-shirt with me she can wear. You just enjoy yourself tonight. I’ve got Chloe.”
“Okay.”
“Thank you, Daddy.” Chloe jumped up off her chair and hugged Paul’s legs.
He hugged her back. She was growing up so fast. “You be good for Grandma and Grandpa, you hear?”
She smiled up at him. “I promise.”
Bending down, Paul kissed the top of his daughter’s head before walking away. He knew he could have asked Megan to keep an eye on Chloe for him, but he’d told her to take the night off and enjoy herself. She deserved it with all the overtime he’d been working lately.
As Paul headed toward the entrance, he paused and looked over the crowd.
Everyone was having a good time, as it should be. He narrowed his eyes a little when he saw Megan talking to that same guy who’d been trying to chat up the bartender.
Shaking it off, he moved on. Megan was a big girl. She could take care of herself.
He looked away, and his gaze honed in on the bar once more. Chloe was spending the night with his parents, so he was free for the rest of the evening.
Throwing caution to the wind, Paul turned on his heel, and ambled toward the bar to get a bottle of scotch to keep him company up in his room. He already knew it was going to be a long night, and he was still feeling way too much. Chloe wouldn’t be there, so there was no reason to hold back. He was going to get drunk. Maybe then, he could stop feeling for a while.
Megan saw Paul slip out of the reception hall. She was talking to a guy named Kevin. He was nice enough, but she couldn’t help compare him to Paul. On top of that, she’d met plenty of guys like Kevin before. He was looking for someone to warm his bed and, for once, Megan wasn’t interested.
When a half hour passed and Paul didn’t return, Megan politely excused herself from the conversation she’d been having. She’d thought Paul was going to the bathroom or something, but she was starting to worry that something else was up. Knowing Paul would never leave Chloe, she went in search of the little girl.
As she began pressing her way through the crowd, Gage snuck up beside her. “Do you want to dance?”
“You mean you’re willing to leave Becca’s side for that long?”
Gage clutched his chest as if she’d wounded him. “I’m not that bad.”
She snorted. “You really are.”
“Now you sound like your sister.” Gage was frowning, which only made Megan laugh more. “Okay, fine. She sort of told me not to come back for at least fifteen minutes under threat of bodily harm. Not that I’d mind exactly, but Chris might take issue if she pulls one of her self-defense moves on me in the middle of his wedding reception.”
“I’m surprised she hasn’t kicked your ass yet.”
His eyes lit up, and he smirked. “Who says I don’t like it when your sister gets a little frisky?”
“Eww!” Megan feigned revulsion. In truth, she was ecstatic that her sister had finally met her match. Gage fawned all over Rebecca, but he also didn’t let her push him away. He refused to let her hide behind that wall she’d built up because of her and Megan’s parents. Megan understood. She had walls of her own. That didn’t mean she didn’t want what Rebecca had finally found with Gage. Of course she did. Megan wanted to be loved and adored and cherished. She just didn’t think it was in the cards for her.
“Come on. Please?” Gage pouted, making Megan laugh harder. He could be such a goof sometimes.
“Sure. Fine. Come on.”
Gage danced with her for two songs, and then said he needed to go check on Rebecca. Megan knew her sister was more than capable of taking care of herself. But she also knew that it was useless telling Gage that. She would love to be a fly on their wall sometimes to watch her sister put the big burly football player in his place.
Shaking her head, Megan wandered over to the buffet tables. She’d eaten some of the smaller stuff earlier, but after dancing her stomach was demanding nourishment. Filling her plate, she looked around the room for some place to sit. She spotted Gage and Rebecca immediately, but they looked to be in the middle of what Megan had learned to be foreplay for them—other people called it fighting. The last thing she wanted to do was get in the middle of that. If experience was anything to go by, they’d be sneaking up to their room soon to take out their aggression in other more sexual ways. Thank goodness her room was nowhere near theirs.
The bride and groom were across the room, eating and chatting with some of their guests, while Trent and his dad, Mike, were a few feet away. The Danielses were social people, and she liked them. A lot. It was just that she didn’t know them very well. The two exceptions to that were Paul—who was MIA—and Chloe, so when she spotted the little girl with her grandmother, Megan strolled over to join them. “Mind if I sit?”
“Of course not.”
“Me-gan, I’m eating chicken.”
Megan smiled, and picked up her fork. “Is it good?”
Chloe nodded in an exaggerated fashion as she shoved another piece of chicken in her mouth. They’d been working on eating with utensils, and Chloe was decent at using the kiddie ones, but the normal-sized forks that they had at the reception were a bit much for her tiny hands.
“How have you been, Megan? I haven’t seen you since Gage and Rebecca’s wedding.”
Megan swallowed the bite of food she was chewing before answering. “Good. Keeping busy. Rebecca talked me into taking some online classes.”
“Oh, that’s a great idea. Do you have a degree in mind?”
“Not really. I’ve always been interested in art, so maybe something to do with that. I don’t know yet.”
As if Marilyn and Megan weren’t in the middle of a conversation, Chloe interrupted. “Guess what, Megan? I’m going to sleep in Grandma and Grandpa’s room tonight. We’re having a sweepover.”
Not able to hide her smile, Megan reached for her drink. “You mean a sleepover? That sounds fun.”
“Yep.” Chloe was nodding again. “A sleep-over.”
The next five minutes or so were spent listening to Chloe tell Megan all about the sleepover she was going to have with her grandparents, including the movie they were going to watch, and how she was going to get to stay up really, really late. It was impossible not to smile. Chloe put her whole heart into everything she did, and from what Megan had observed while living with Chloe and her father, the little girl was very much like her mother.
Those thoughts led right back to Chloe’s father. Paul still hadn’t returned, and Megan was beginning to worry about him. Had something happened with work? Or was it the wedding in general? The look on his face earlier reminded her of the one he’d get whenever she’d pass by his bedroom and catch him holding the picture of his wife in his hands. Paul was a great guy, and she didn’t like seeing him hurting.
As Megan finished her food, she chatted back and forth with Marilyn. Every now and then, Chloe would interject a comment or share a story. When Mike Daniels, the patriarch of the Daniels family, approached the table, Megan decided it was time to go in search of Paul. She said her goodbyes, and kissed Chloe on the cheek, before going to find her sister.
Rebecca could, of course, read her like a book. “Oh no. What’s wrong?”
Luckily, Gage wasn’t around. “Nothing’s wrong. Where’s your husband?”
“He went to get me some more food. Stop deflecting.”
“I’m not deflecting.” It was sort of a lie, but not really. She knew that if she told her sister she was going to look for Paul, Rebecca would tell her husband and soon the entire Daniels clan would be off in search of him. Megan knew Paul wouldn’t want that.
“Then why do you have that look on your face?”
“Maybe because I’m tired?”
“Uh-huh.”
Not wanting to fight with her sister, Megan got to the point. “I just wanted to let you know that I’m heading up to my room. It’s been a long day, and I’m ready to crash.”
“Oh. Okay.”
Rebecca looked torn for some reason. “What?”
“Nothing.”
“Becca?”
“I saw the way you were looking at Paul earlier.”
“Okay. And?”
“And . . .” She sighed. “Is something . . . you know, going on with you two?”
Megan’s mouth fell open. She felt it, and she had no control of it at all. Her and Paul? Sure, he was attractive. Okay, more than attractive. But he’d never shown any interest in her that way, so even if she wanted to, which she kind of did, she wouldn’t push herself on him like that. He and his family had taken Rebecca and Megan in, embracing them as part of the family. Plus, Paul wasn’t over his wife. Megan knew that, above all else. “N
o. Why would there be? Besides, just because you’re getting your freak on all over the place doesn’t mean everyone else is.”
Rebecca let out a relieved breath. “All right.”
As if a lightbulb went off in her head, Megan narrowed her eyes at her sister. “What? You thought that just because he’s a man and I live with him now that there has to be something going on?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“No. You didn’t, but you implied it. I’m not a little kid anymore, Rebecca.”
“I know. I’m so—”
Megan waved off her apology. “I’m going to my room. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Megan?”
Megan continued walking, and she was glad to hear Gage asking Rebecca what was wrong. He would keep her sister from following her. Megan knew she’d have to deal with Rebecca tomorrow, and that was fine. Right now, however, she needed some space. And to find Paul.
Something in the back of her mind told her to let it go—to leave him be. Megan pushed it aside and told herself that she just needed see that he was all right. Then she could go up to her room, find some cheesy romantic movie on television, and fall asleep.
Chapter 3
Megan looked everywhere she could think of, even walking outside to see if she could spot him talking on his cell or something, but she came up empty. He was nowhere to be found, and after twenty minutes of searching, she decided to head upstairs to her room. She figured he had to come back eventually, right?
As soon as Megan stepped inside her room, she kicked off her shoes. High heels made your legs look great, but they were killer on your feet.
Next to come off was her jewelry, and then finally, her dress. She’d dressed up more than usual for Chris and Elizabeth’s wedding—more sophisticated, too. The dress she’d chosen was knee length, perfectly conservative, and had cute ruffled sleeves. To be honest, she was dressed more like her sister than she was herself. On most days, Megan preferred jeans and T-shirts, although she also liked skirts that showed off her legs. She might only be five foot five, but she had nice legs. Why not flaunt them?