“That sounds like a good idea.” They turned to Jasmine who had entered the foyer. “Do you want to go to Gymazing?”
“I want to play in the balls.” She ran over and hugged Peter. “Daddy;” Megan smiled at the encounter.
“I think that it’s unanimous.”
“After you;” she led the way out the door and he helped Jasmine into the back of his truck and then Megan got into the car before he had a chance to get her door. It wasn’t a date; they were married.
The ride to Gymazing was quiet; it was too quiet to Megan’s liking. Although, she didn’t know what to say to him or why they were there; the last thing she wanted was to say anything that would cause some more friction.
“Are you okay?” He whispered as they were about to reach their destination.
She nodded. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“I don’t know; we haven’t…” Megan shot him a glance and then looked in her mirror on her visor. Even though Jasmine was only 3; she knew she was very perceptive.
“We’ll talk when we get there.” She mouthed and he turned back to the road. She let a slow breath as they continued down the back road that led them to the parking lot. When he parked; he jumped out and she quickly opened the door. Once Jasmine was out of her car seat she started to run ahead, but Megan caught her and held onto her hand. “You need to walk with us.” They walked into the building as a family and she was glad that Peter didn’t try to take her other hand. It was awkward enough.
“Welcome to Gymazing; just 3 of you today?”
“Yes; please.” Peter took the lead.
“Okay; follow me.” The hostess led them to a table and Megan could see the excitement on Jasmine’s face. Luckily the hostess had placed them at a table right next to the ball pit. “Is this suitable?”
“This is perfect; thank you;” Megan smiled at the girl and then she left their table.
“Mommy, can I…”
Megan looked at Peter and he nodded. “You can jump in the balls, but stay right there. Understand?”
The little girl nodded her head and then sauntered off to enjoy herself. “What do you want to get to eat?” Peter asked as he looked in the menu.
“Let’s just get a large pizza; that way we can easily feed Jasmine while she continues to play.”
“Okay.” They agreed on just a pepperoni pizza and then they placed their order. Once the waiter had left their table Megan turned to watch Jasmine. She was playing in the balls and she was the only one. “How have the last couple of weeks been on you?”
She turned to face him and just shrugged. “It’s had its moments. How about you?” She didn’t know if she wanted him to be miserable or happy; both of the options would have its ups and downs.
“I’ve missed both of you; I’m not going to lie. I did want to give you this.” He pushed an envelope her way and she cautiously opened it.
When she opened it she found a check. She looked at him. “Thank you; I didn’t expect the bills that would be piling up.”
“I’m sorry about that.”
She looked away; there was nothing to say to that. It was her fault that he had left. “Have you told your parents we separated?”
He shook his head. “Have you told yours?”
“I haven’t even told Seth. I didn’t ask you to leave, because I wanted to hurt you; I feel that over the years we have gotten accustomed to each other. When we fight we are comfortable with each other to make up.”
“I don’t get it; isn’t that a good thing? We don’t hold grudges.”
“Normally that would be a great thing, but there comes a time where you have to go to the root of the problem. You have to work on why we’re arguing so much; not whether we can get through those times.”
“I hear what you’re saying, but do you believe that someone is going to be able to make us work through those?”
Megan turned and looked at their daughter; she was still joyfully playing in the pit. “I think so.”
She looked back at Peter and his face was showing apprehension, but he shrugged as their eyes connected. “I’ll give it a shot.”
“You will?”
“If it means repairing this…” he pointed to her, then to Jasmine, and back to him. “I feel that this might be the only way.”
Megan smiled. Her hand reached over and squeezed his. “Thank you; I love you and I just want to see if someone else has a take on our situation.”
She pulled away as the pizza arrived at the table. “Thank you.” Peter smiled.
“Do you need anything else?”
“Not right now, but we’ll let you know.” Megan turned to Jasmine. “Jasmine; come eat.”
She groaned, but sluggishly walked towards them. “She already looks beat.” Peter laughed.
“She is going to sleep well tonight.” Megan laughed as she placed a piece of pizza on Jasmine’s plate. They all were going to sleep well, because they were finally taking a step towards fixing their relationship.
____________________
Peter was enjoying the day at Gymazing. He was glad he had told Megan they could go to the specialist. She obviously wanted that the most and he wanted to do anything he could to make her happy. The sooner they started to patch up their problems, the quicker he would find his way back home. “I can’t believe she ate all of her pizza.” He grinned as Megan wiped the corners of Jasmine’s mouth.
“She must have been hungry.”
“Mommy, can I get down?”
He watched Megan as she looked like she was contemplating a tough choice. “We have to go, but you can do it 3 more times.”
“Okay;” Jasmine clapped as Megan helped her out of her booster seat and she ran off to play for a little bit longer.
“I had fun today; evidently so did Jasmine.”
“Peter nodded; it’s mutual all the way around. We’ll have to do it again soon.”
“I agree.”
Peter stood up and reached for the bill. “I’ll go pay this so that we can leave when she’s done.” He headed to the counter and paid the clerk; when he turned around he almost ran into Seth, Cassie and Savannah who was entering the restaurant.
“Hey Peter;” Seth shook his hand and Peter prayed he wouldn’t see the tension.
“Hey guys; apparently you had the same idea as us.” He put a smile on his face and pointed to Megan. “We were just getting ready to leave.”
“That’s too bad;” Cassie replied as she turned to look at where had had just pointed. “Things have been so hectic lately we haven’t seen much of you, Megan, and Jasmine.”
“I know, but we’ll change that soon. Come over to the table; I’m sure Megan and Jasmine would love to see you.”
“We’ll be right there; as soon as we find out where we’re sitting.”
He nodded as he went back to his table. “Your brother is here.”
“He is?” Megan looked around and her eyes fell to the other end of the building. “Was it strange?”
Peter thought about that and nodded. “Yeah; pretty much.” They both laughed. “I didn’t say anything; I’m sure the secret is still hidden. They’re going to come over here before we leave. So, put the happy smiles on and they’ll never find out.”
As the last word left his mouth he saw the threesome heading their way. “Hello Seth;” Megan kissed his cheek and then hugged Cassie. “You both look great.”
“Thank you Megan.” Cassie smiled.
Megan turned to Savannah and she was smiling at her, but then quickly her gaze went to the ball pit and she wiggled to get out of Seth’s arms. “I get the point.” Seth chuckled as he put Savannah down.
Megan stood up and laughed at the two kids that were carrying on like they were best friends. “It helps that they’re close in age.” Cassie turned to Megan. “We were telling Peter that we need to get together soon; there hasn’t been much time.”
Peter watched Megan as she started to fidget and he felt the need to help her out. “I said that
soon we’ll make time.”
Megan nodded. “We’ll definitely find the time. We need to get going. Jasmine is sleepy and she will need a nap; otherwise she’ll be a bear.”
“Tell me about it; Savannah had her nap prior to coming. I knew what we would face.”
Peter looked over at Jasmine; she was getting out of the pit and he knew that was the best chance he would have to catch her. She started to jump back in, but he reached out and grabbed her. She started to frown. “I know, but we have to go.” Her frown slowly subsided. “It was good seeing all of you.”
“You too; Megan, I’ll see you at work.”
“Okay; goodbye.” They waved and left the building.
“You know;” Peter began. “Sooner or later, you’ll have to tell them.”
“I know, but I’ll stick with later. I’m just not ready; maybe after we’ve had a couple of sessions with the counselor.”
“Okay; I’ll go with that.” Peter didn’t want to pressure her to tell her brother that it wasn’t always paradise at their place. However, he wanted to support her; he just hoped she would let him.
Chapter 5
Megan waited in the hallway as Peter was putting Jasmine in her bed. “Sleep well little one;” she heard him say. She quickly gained distance from Jasmine’s room. She didn’t want him to know she was spying. “I knew she would fall asleep in the car.” She looked up as he was leaving her room. “Thanks for letting me tuck her in.”
“No problem.” She didn’t want to admit it, but the day was going better than she had thought it would. It made her begin to even question what she expected out of the separation. “Would you like to stay for coffee?” His eyes got big and she wondered if it was a mistake asking. “It could give us time to coordination our schedules for the counselor.”
“That would be nice.” He followed her into the kitchen and she tried to ignore the elephant in the room. “Would you like a piece of pie? I have pie.” When she looked at him, he looked like he was trying desperately, not to laugh. “What?” She asked; her defensive nature taking over.
“Nothing; you just seem so nervous.” He chuckled and shook his head. “We are married; there’s no need for the formalities.”
Megan looked away, but then started to laugh. “You’re right, but it has been three weeks.”
“You’re wrong about that.”
“I am? Why do you say that?”
“It has been 3 weeks, 1 day, 17 hours, 36 minutes, and 14 seconds.” He looked up from his watch; “but, who’s counting?”
Megan stared at him; surely he was only teasing. “Obviously not you;” she snickered. “For that, you definitely deserve a piece of pie.” She placed a piece in front of him and he smiled.
“Blueberry? It is my favorite.”
“Don’t I know it;” she mumbled. He looked at her, but she quickly turned away. She poured him a cup of coffee and then grabbed hers and took a seat.
“Thank you!” Their eyes locked for a moment and she cleared her throat.
“What night would work best for you to start counseling?”
He shrugged. “Can’t we discuss it a little later?”
By the look on his face, he didn’t seem too interested. “Okay, but we need to talk about it before you leave.” She noticed him roll his eyes and she was annoyed. “I’m only thinking about our future. You’re the one that said you were willing to give it a chance.”
As she was ranting she saw his expression start to soften. “I know; I’m sorry. I do want to go, because it seems very important to you, and…”
“It should be important to you too.” She threw at him. She was pleased he was willing to bend to make her happy, but it seemed like a huge sacrifice he felt he was facing.
“I just have a difficult time imagining that anyone would do anymore than we could. If we work on our communication then that should be enough. I have confidence that we could work through anything.”
She wanted to point out that they had done a bang up job to prove that theory. The past 3 years didn’t show to her that they could work on any barriers they had. Instead of pointing that out she just decided to put a twist on it. “Maybe we could, but I really do want to try this. You know if we try it and don’t agree with her methods there is nothing lost. We can up and walk away.”
“You do have a point there.”
She silently prayed for the best and as she begun to worry even more, he nodded his head. “Are you sure? I don’t want you to hold any grudges towards me, because I forced you to do something.”
“I know that things have been shaky between us; I want to come back home. I will go see anyone that could make that happen.”
Megan smiled. “Thank you Peter;” she reached out and touched his hand. “I do love you; maybe it has been hard to communicate that since…”
“Shh…don’t say it.” She groaned when he stopped her from continuing. He never wanted to continue that conversation and they needed to discuss it. She looked away and her hand slowly fell from his. She couldn’t force him to deal with his pain; even though she knew it could only help.
____________________
Peter wished he could bring himself to admit the fact that he never grieved. Yet, every time she started to bring up their deceased daughter he would shoot her down. “How’s Brandon doing?”
Megan’s raised eyes proved that she wasn’t expecting to have to go there. “What do you mean by that?”
“Nothing! I was just trying to change the subject.” He wasn’t doing a very good job of that.
“I didn’t go out searching for him; if that’s what you’re implying.”
“Peter shook his head. “That’s not what I was implying.”
“Then what were you implying?”
“Megan, I wasn’t implying anything. You are reading way too much into my question. I am sorry that I said anything.”
He was nervous as she continued to give him the evil eye. “We ran into each other and he offered me a ride home because my arms were full with groceries.”
“I get that; I will again state my apology.” He just wanted that subject to be dropped.
“You know, I was thinking…why do you suppose you didn’t tell me about your new employee?”
Peter, at first, didn’t know whom Megan was referring to, but as he was thinking about it he realized exactly what she was saying. “You mean Kristina?” When she wouldn’t look at him, he started to laugh. That wasn’t the best thing to do, because she crossed her arms and stared directly at him. “There was no reason to tell you. I have hired lots of people before, you never acted like you needed to know.”
“You weren’t hiring a beautiful girl.”
“You mean the young 18 year old? Megan I am not interested in her. She’s a teenager.” His voice started to rise; so he took in a slow breath. “I’m sorry for raising my voice.”
“Whatever. You better leave before either of us ends up saying something we’ll regret.”
He stood up and headed to the front door. It didn’t seem like Megan was going to let anything go. He turned around and faced her; he wondered if he looked as defeated as he felt. “I guess you’re right; hopefully we can benefit from seeing someone.” He fought the urge to hug her and beg her to believe him. He knew that he shouldn’t have brought up Brandon; it had been years since his name was even mentioned. “You make the appointment and I’ll be there.”
“Thank you!”
“Goodbye Megan.” As he stepped onto the porch, she just nodded her goodbye. Before he could get another word out, she slammed the door. He stood there speechless. “That didn’t go well.” He grumbled as he headed to his car. He saw the anger behind her eyes and he knew that that wasn’t just because she didn’t know about Kristina. There was an underlying pain she was covering up, because none of it was adding up.
____________________
Megan stared at the door; the moment it closed she was instantly mad at herself. She didn’t really believe anyt
hing was going on between Peter and his young receptionist. Just as she believed he knew nothing was going on between her and her ex. “Mommy;” she looked away from the door. She figured the slamming of the door didn’t help to keep Jasmine’s nap going.
She walked down the hallway and put a smile on her face. “Hello, sweetie.” Jasmine was standing inside her crib; she was smiling as Megan entered the room. As she picked her up, jasmine wrapped her arms around her neck. “I needed that big hug. Do you wanna play with your dolly?”
“Yes;” she spoke with exuberance. Megan handed her the doll and placed her on the floor in the living room.
As she dialed the number to Mary Jo, she knew she was going to have to tell her about her problems. “Hello?” She sat down on the couch as her friend answered.
“Hey Mary Jo; it’s Megan.”
She tried to be as bubbly as possible when talking to her friend. “Hey Megan; it’s been too long. How have you been?”
She couldn’t just start the conversation out with news of her separation; she needed to slowly work into that. “Things have been going well. Aunt Sally’s Bed and Breakfast has been booming. In fact, in December we’re going to have a big celebration. It will be the 30th year that the Bed and Breakfast has been in business. We would love for you to come and celebrate with us.”
“Wow…30 years; that doesn’t even seem possible. We were only 8 when she started it.”
Megan chuckled. “That is true; I didn’t even think of that.”
“I am sure you got the invite to the class reunion; are you going?”
Even though Megan had made the reservations, she knew that it was really still touch and go as to whether they would go back to Avery. She wanted to, but she didn’t want to go if they were still separated and there wasn’t much time for that to change. “I made the reservations at the hotel.” At least she wasn’t lying.
“Me too; which, by the way, I was going to call you. I’ve met someone.”
If she hadn’t have been seated, she would have fallen. “What?” She was used to hearing the 3 words coming out of her mouth, but she thought that her and her husband we’re trying to reconcile. “Where did you two meet?”
Forever Love (Love Conquers All Book 4) Page 3