Right Here Waiting (12 page)

Anger flared up in her, but she tried not to let it show.
What did he think she was? Did he think she was his plaything? “That's what I
need to talk to you about.”

He frowned, deep lines creasing his forehead. She could
tell he was irritated, but she couldn’t back down. “What?”  All playfulness was
out of his voice.

“I know we’ve talked about this subject once before and I
hope this is the last time I have to repeat it. Last night wasn’t supposed to
happen. I told you before we couldn't be doing this.”

Anger blazed in his steel gray eyes. “If I remember
right, I heard no complaints from you last night. In fact, you were begging for
it.”  She gasped at his accusation.

“I was not,” she snapped, her anger bubbling up within
her. She jumped out of bed and grabbed her nightgown up off the floor, covering
herself with it. She turned to him. “Last night was the last time you and I
have sex, got it?” She moved toward the door.

“Oh yeah, I forgot. You’re Megan Nelson. Ms.
Sophisticated City Girl now. Is this how you city folks do it? You screw them
and leave them?” How could he say such things about her?

She gasped. “You are the cruelest man I know, Blade
Thorne.”

She ran from his room and into her own, slamming the door
behind her and locking it. She sank to the floor, her back leaning against the
door. Her tears began to fall in deep sobs that shook her whole body.

Seconds later she heard Blade’s door open, and the sound
of him banging on hers, but she ignored him. She couldn't even look at him
right now, let alone talk to him.

How could her parents do this to her? Was the ranch
really worth all this heartache? Maybe she should sign it over to Blade and get
it over with. She would call the attorney later today.

* * *

“
C
ome
on Megan, please open the door. I’m sorry and I take back what I said." He
desperately wished he could take the words back.

She didn’t respond. The only thing he could hear was the
sounds of her sobs. It twisted his heart, knowing he was the cause of her tears
and all the sadness she was going through. He never meant to hurt her. He
wanted her so bad each time she withdrew from him; it unleashed the anger in
him and he exploded, saying things he didn't mean.

“What is going on up here?” Martha asked, coming up
behind Blade who was standing outside Megan’s bedroom door in just his pajama
bottoms. “Why are you shouting?”

“There was a misunderstanding,” Blade explained, “and now
she is refusing to talk to me.”

Martha flinched when she heard Megan sobbing. She pinned
her glare on Blade. “What did you do to the girl?”

“I said some things to her I shouldn’t have. I wish she
would talk to me.” He knew if he didn't watch it, he was going to lose Megan
again and his heart wouldn't be able to take it.

“What did you say to her?” she asked, jabbing him in the
chest with her index finger.

“I all but called her a slut.” He groaned, hating the
sound of his own words as he said them out loud. Megan must really hate him
now.

Martha’s mouth hung open in shock. “You ought to be
ashamed of yourself, young man. I wouldn’t talk to you either.” She turned and
walked back downstairs.

That was just great. Not only was Megan mad at him, but
Martha was mad at him as well. He couldn’t win for losing. He stomped back to
his room to get dressed, hoping for the chance to make this all up to Megan
later in the afternoon.

* * *

M
egan stuffed the last of her clothes
into her suitcase, not caring if her clothes were unfolded and getting
wrinkled. There was no way she was spending another night under the same roof
as Blade. She never wanted to lay eyes on him again. Her heart was broken
enough by him. She wasn’t going to allow him to do it again.

She lugged her suitcase downstairs. Before she could get
out the door Martha stepped in front of her and stopped her. At least it wasn’t
Blade. She looked around and didn’t see him anywhere. She was relieved and
relaxed a little.

“Where are you going?”

“It’s not you,” she sighed, the sad look in her eyes
speaking volumes. She knew Martha understood. The sympathetic expression was
there, playing all over her face. “You’ve been great as always, but I can’t
stay one more night in this house.”

“But where will you go?”  She could tell Martha was
worried by the tone of her voice.

“I’m moving back into the cabin.” She should have been
more persistent with Blade and stayed there last night. Megan knew she wouldn't
be in this mess now if she did.

“What about Josh?” What did everyone here have against
poor Josh? He hadn’t done anything wrong that she was aware of.

“If you’re worried about our sleeping arrangements, I’ll
be sleeping on the sofa.”

Martha looked relieved. “Will you at least come and sit
down and have a cup of coffee with me?”  Megan was tempted to take her up on
her offer, but still, she worried.

“I don’t know,” she said, looking around nervously.” What
if Blade walked in? Leave it to Martha to know exactly what she was thinking.

“Don’t worry about Blade. He needed to go out to the far
north pasture with some of the other men to repair a fence. Some of Old Man
Farley’s cattle knocked it down again. It’ll be a few hours before he’ll be
back. I still have some peanut butter cookies left,” she added when Megan still
seemed reluctant.

She managed a slight smile. “You are good at bribing
people, you know? You’ve got yourself a deal.” She could rarely resist anything
Martha baked.

She set her suitcase down and followed Martha into the
kitchen. A fresh pot of coffee just finished percolating. She began to suspect
Martha was watching and waiting for her to come out of her bedroom, and she
planned on them having coffee together.

She sat down at the kitchen table and accepted the hot,
steaming cup of brew Martha offered her. She slowly took a sip, trying not to
scald her tongue.

Martha set a plate of peanut butter cookies on the table
and sat down across from her. “Do you want to talk about it?” Martha asked in
her caring, motherly tone. She missed the talks she used have with Martha in
her younger years, but she wasn’t sure how much she should tell Martha, if she
said anything at all about her plans.

She already called the attorney and arranged to meet him
in his office later in the afternoon. She decided to hold off telling anyone
anything until she already did what she needed to do.

”There’s not much to talk about. Blade and I got in an
argument, nothing more.” It was much more than that, but she didn't want to go
into all the details with anybody.

Martha shook her head in disbelief. “Don’t try to pull
one over on me, Megan Marie Nelson. I may be old, but I wasn’t born yesterday.
I know there’s more to it than you’re telling me. As usual, Martha was right.

She opened the cabin door without knocking and set her
suitcase down. Josh was sitting at a desk he brought with him and put together
himself. He was typing something on the computer, but he looked up at her
without stopping. She was still standing in the doorway with the door open.
“Are you going to come in or just stand there at let all the flies in?” By the
grin on his face, she could tell Josh was only joking with her.

She picked up her suitcase again and finally managed to
get her legs to cooperate to carry her in the rest of the way. She shut the
door behind her, sat her suitcase down and collapsed on the sofa, drawing her
legs up with her. She slipped off her sandals, letting them fall to the floor
and land wherever they may. She let out a long, drawn out sigh.

“Is there something the matter?” Josh asked at last,
jumping to his feet and walking over to where she sat. “You look like you’ve
been crying.”

“I don’t want to talk about it.” It was too humiliating
to discuss with anyone. She wanted to keep it all to herself for as long as she
could. To her grave would be nice.

“It’s Blade Thorne, isn’t it?” He was sure quick at
getting to the source of the problem.

“More or less, it’s him.” She didn't want to give out to
much detail of the situation, but she felt Josh was about to drag it out of
her.

“What has he done to you now?” She couldn’t help but hear
Josh’s distaste for Blade in his voice. Why couldn’t he just leave it alone?

“I said I don’t want to talk about it.” She was becoming
irritated with all his questioning.

“Okay, well I called the phone company this morning. They
said it could be two to three weeks, at least, before they can get a DSL
connection line out here.”

“Don’t worry about it. I don’t think we’ll need it.”  She
felt drained from the morning’s events. The events from the middle of the night
were taking a toll on her as well. She needed a nap, but she wasn't going to
get one.

“What do you mean? Our boss would have a fit. We have to
have it to get the video conferencing working.”

“We’ll be back in New York City before they can get it
out here. Believe me that will make Mr. Harper very happy.”

“Stop saying that. You might jinx it and it might take a
year or more to get it out here.” He went back and sat down at the computer. He
started typing again.

“We won’t be staying much longer. At least I don’t think
we will.” She let her words hang in the air as she waited for his response.

Josh stopped typing and gave her his full attention.
“What do you mean? I thought you needed to stay a whole year and help run the
ranch in order to get full claim of it or it would be turned over to this Blade
person who runs everything around here, including your life.”

“It’s true, but I have decided it’s not worth keeping.
I’m letting Blade have the ranch and I’m going back to New York as soon as all
the legal stuff is squared away.”

“Are you serious? It’s a big decision to be making so
hastily.” He seemed skeptical.

“I’ve already called the attorney. I have an appointment
with him this afternoon. Do you think you can take me in your rental van?” It
would do her some good to get away from this place for a few hours.

“You know I’ll take you anywhere you need to go. Have you
told anyone else what you’re doing?”  Stopping what he was doing, he turned to
look at her while he waited for her answer.

“No. I want to keep this between you and me until after
it’s done, so not a word of this to anyone, Josh. I mean it. I don’t want to
reveal my plans to anyone until we’re ready to leave and I have all the legal
stuff squared away.”

* * *

W
hen Blade returned home, he was hot,
tired and in dire need of a shower. Before he took one though, he wanted to
talk to Megan. He needed to make everything right with her. She was all he was
able to think about all day while he worked.

The more he thought about her, the more he knew he needed
her in his life. Why did she have to keep pulling away from him? As a teenager,
she was practically attached at his hip. Now that she was an adult, and he
wanted her there always, she kept pulling away. He would never understand
women. He needed to hold her in his arms this very moment.

When he got to her room, he knocked, but she didn't
answer. He tried the doorknob and the door opened. He looked around the room.
She wasn’t there. He stepped inside to get a better look. He didn’t see any
signs of her using the room. There were none of her personal items in sight. He
checked the closet. None of her clothes were there.

Panic seized him. His heart contracted and felt as if it
were stuck in a vice. She wouldn’t just leave, would she? He ran downstairs
shouting, “Martha” as he searched the house for her. He finally found Martha.
She was coming upstairs from the basement carrying a basket of laundry.

“What in the world are you shouting about?” she asked,
setting the load down on the counter.

“Megan’s belongings are missing from her bedroom. Where
did she go?”  He needed to find her.

“Calm down. She moved back out to the cabin.”  That meant
decided to stay with Mr. City Guy. At least Megan was still on the property. He
could live with it until he could figure out a way to get her to move back into
the house.

Before Martha could say another word or stop him, he ran
out the back door. He began running up the path leading to the cabins at record
speed. When he got there, he began banging on the door. He got no answer.

He looked around and noticed the van Josh arrived in the
day before was not parked where it was earlier. Where did they go? Did Josh
take her back to New York? He was overwhelmed by fear and panic, which was
slowly worming its way into his brain and finally consumed him. He couldn’t
lose her when he just got her back. He sank to his knees.

CHAPTER NINE

M
egan sat in Mr. Halifax’s office. “I
have decided I no longer want the ranch,” she explained to him.