Close Your Eyes (5 page)

‘I wonder how
he convinced
his grandfather to use us
anyway,
’ Jenna continued, her mouth curved into a
n impish
smile. ‘
I would love to be a fly on that ceiling when Ry
an
talked him into it…’

‘He said it was easy,’
Meg
an admitted reluctantly, not
particularly
eager to discuss details of the
Harper
household.

She loved Jenna to pieces
,
and they were best friends
. B
ut ever since she fell head over heels for her handsome boyfriend
,
Eric,
Jenna
tended to have a really loose mouth. The last thing
Megan
needed was Jenna going around
,
sharing some of the more private details with
her boyfriend
and his friends
.
The
Harper
family had been in the local paper often enough, especially after a rather messy and sensational divorce between Elisa and
Rupert
, followed by
the
even
more spectacular fallout of his brother James and his wife, Nathalie. The whole clan
was
dragged
through the gutter with viciousness that could only be
attributed to
the very human need to see
that
the wealthy and powerful
were
as weak as
the rest of the
people in the
world. And Ry
an
’s grandfather certainly qualif
ied
for both titles
. H
is money and aloof manners earn
ed
him just as many
enemies as
well-wishers
.
He made it easy for people to envy him and wish to
knock him
from his pedestal.

Meg
an liked
Ryan’s grandfather
.
Not
that she had actually had
opportunit
ies
to talk to him in person
very
often
. Henry
Harper
didn’t just walk down the street chatting with whoever wanted to share a moment with the richest man in town.
When he wasn’t at his large
,
five-hundred-year-old
estate, he spent most of his time at his office or traveling, barely ever
pausing
to draw a quiet breath. On the few occasions that she
had
managed to catch a glimpse of him
with
the rest of the clan, he
was
far
too
unapproachable
for her
to even contemplate saying
more than a few meaningless words
to him
.

The Harpers
were always present at
the
town celebrations. Most
large
projects involved the
Harper
s
in
one way or
the
other,
and
the best seats
at events were always
saved for the family that had lived in the large grey house for as long as anyone could remember.

‘So how are things between you and
Ry
?’
Her eyes expectant,
Jenna seemed bent on extracting some information
.
‘
Any
progress?’

The question was a bad one, e
ven worse since it was an exact repeat of her mom’s probing only last evening.
Meg
an felt the familiar anger threatening to take over as she recalled her mom’s exasperated pleas for her to finally grow up and take life seriously. She knew very well what her mom meant, as did her dad. He had
decided
to remain silent and disappear quietly, under the pretext of having something urgent waiting
for him to finish
in his office.
Megan hadn’t had the same luxury
of escape
,
and
her mom’s pushy hints for her to take her
relationship
with Ry
an
to another level
were
still ringing in her ears.

‘
All is going well,’ she said hesitantly, her voice serious.
‘Nothing interesting to report, though.
Only…’
S
he stopped
,
catching herself in time, not fast enough
,
though.

‘Only what?
Come on,
Megs
, tell me.’ Jenna
whirled
, her poppy
-
colored skirt glowing in the
lamplight
. ‘
Seriously
, you are like an onion. The more one peels, the more layers there are…’

‘Wow, that’s poetic, Jen
.’
Megan
couldn’t stay serious, she realized
. Her
friend’s puppy eyes
soften
ed
her resolve to remain mum. ‘
His grandfather
and the rest of the
family
will be gathered at their usual table for the speeches and the meal afterwards.
Ry
thought he would invite me to
sit with them, and his grandfather was very welcoming to the idea.
I’ve met most of his family by now
,
of course, but this is different
, k
ind of official, I guess. Making a gesture to show
that we’re
an item.
’

‘
Well
, that’s huge,
Megs
!’
Her
eyes
wide
, Jenna watched her with newfound respect
. ‘I have to say that I admire you
,
though.
I would die if I had to talk
in private
to Henry
Harper
,
I know it
. Seriously, I wonder if he ever smiles
.
’

‘He seems very nice,’
Meg
an replied evasively, uncomfortable with the turn the conversation was taking. ‘
Just
a bit reserved, that’s all.
I have just managed to talk to him a few times, but
I don’t think we will be chatting a lot. And yes, I am terrified to meet them all
at the same time. There will be some relatives I haven’t met
,
and I can only hope they’ll like me
.
Ry’s
family is very impressive.’

‘No kidding
.
’ Jenna giggled, her sense of humor restored. ‘
Sometimes
I wonder how they managed to get such a great guy like
Ry
mixed up with the rest of them
.
Some genetic quirk or something, I guess…’

‘
Make
it double.’
Meg
an grinned, forgetting her cautiousness for a moment. ‘
Matt
used to be a great kid
,
too, remember?’

‘Yeah, before he
became
all wild and rebellious
;
I remember.’ Jenna nodded wryly, her eyes pensive. ‘I guess that’s why they sent him all the way to the States to study, don’t you think? So he can’t make too much trouble.
I remember him coming back last year for his summer break
,
but he went back, didn’t he?
I haven’t seen him
around
in
over
half
a year, have you?’

‘No, not really
.
’
Meg
an bit her lip
. She busied herself
with putting the arrangement back into the box.
Her hands were shaking
,
and
one of the
arrangement’s
delicate leaves
broke
off
,
landing on the ground.

‘Caref
ul,
Megs
.
’
Her voice anxious,
Jenna pushed her aside. ‘
We
can’t really replace it if you shred it to pieces. Let me do it
,
and go check the rest of the boxes, will you?’

She was glad to escape
, and
she almost ran to the other room, her heart beating loud enough for her to hear it.
She tried to pull herself together
as she stood against the closed door, her cheeks burning. Whatever happened a year
ago
didn’t
m
att
er. It was in the past
. T
he memories
faded
each and every day. With Ry
an
around,
forgetting
the few insane moments
when
she
had
suffered a total lapse of
judgment
was easy. H
umiliation
burned
her cheeks
as she remembered
.