The Last One (28 page)

She smiled. “Still at the stand for another hour. Cassie sprained her ankle, and Ali’s expecting a delivery, so she has to wait there. And Bridget went home with her friend Kate to spend the night.”

Something new was rising now, and it was not anything I dreaded. “We’re alone here? For at least an hour?”

“We are.” She pulled at my arm and began walking backward toward the kitchen. “Your room?”

“Oh, yeah.”

We made it into the kitchen before I had to kiss her again, backing her into the counter where I lifted her up and stood between her knees, my hands gripping her rear and my mouth on her neck, heading south.

When I heard a knocking, I decided it had to be my heart. Or something we were shaking in the kitchen. Or maybe even a lost group of Jehovah’s Witnesses who had wandered to my front door and would just go the hell away if ignored.

“Sam.” Meghan lifted her head from my lips. “Someone’s at the door.”

“Uh-huh. They’ll go away. Shhhh, just be quiet, they’ll think no one’s at home.”

“What if it’s important?”

“Babe, nothing’s more important than what we’re doing right here.”

“But what if it’s something with Ali or Bridget?”

I sucked on the pulse in her throat. “Someone would call.”

“Unless they didn’t have your number, just the address.”

I blew out a breath of frustration and dug my fingers through my hair. “Fine. I’ll get the fucking door and then—” I pointed at her. “Then you—me—upstairs, naked. Lots of naked.”

She giggled and pushed at my shoulder. “Go, and then the nakedness.”

I stomped to the front door, cursing anyone who was stupid enough to come by my house at this moment and already making up reasons to send them away. The plague, maybe, forcing us to be quarantined. Or a rabid dog on the premises. Something really believable.

I threw open the door, and I must have been wearing my frustration on my face for all the world to see, because the guy standing on the other side took an instinctive step backward. It was to his advantage that I had no idea who he was—just a man younger than me, with black hair that reached almost to his shoulder. He was thin and not quite as tall as me.

“I’m sorry, I’m not sure I’m at the right house,” he began, and my hopes soared. He had the wrong address, and I could send him on his way without resorting to violence.

“Who’re you looking for?” I opened the door a little wider and put one hand on my hip.

“I’m—” He started to speak again, and then he looked over my shoulder, and his eyes brightened. “Hey, Megs!”

I looked over my shoulder at Meghan, who stood frozen a few feet behind me. Her eyes were round and her mouth had dropped open.

The guy smiled at me. “I came to see Meghan. I had the address, but I wasn’t sure if this was the place.”

“Owen.” Meghan’s voice was flat, and when she said his name, it dashed my hopes that this dude was her brother, whose name I knew was Joseph.

“Surprise!” Whoever he was, this Owen didn’t know how to read Meghan at all. He was still going on as though this was a big happy pop-up visit, when I could see in her face that she wasn’t happy. Well, join the club, because I wasn’t either. Matter of fact, I was damned pissed.

“Owen, what are you doing here?” Her tone bordered on hostile. Hell, it more than bordered. It actually set up camp there. That made me just a little happier.

He was beginning to get the picture, and the shit-eating grin on his face faltered. “I was just ... I got back to town, after being away all summer. Remember, I went to Europe with Dr. Edgars?”

If Meghan remembered this, she wasn’t copping to it. She lifted her shoulder in a little no-but-keep-going gesture.

“Yeah, well, I got back to Savannah, and I went by to see you, and the girl who’s staying in your apartment told me you were here. I mean, she gave me your address.”

I raised one eyebrow and looked at Meghan. She rolled her eyes. “Laura and I sub-let our apartment to one of Laura’s friends who was doing summer session. I don’t know why she’d give out my address, though.”

A sense of warmth spread through me when Meghan called my house her address. I wanted to rub it in this idiot Owen’s face, that my farm was where she belonged.

“And I really don’t know why you’d haul your ass all the way out here to see me, Owen. Without calling. What the hell?”

“I figured you were bored out here in the sticks, and I was going to come and take you to dinner. Some place nice, back in the city. Give you a little break.” He glanced at me. “I thought you could use it by now. You’re not a prisoner here, you know.”

“Owen.” Meghan’s tone said clearly that she’d had enough. “You have no idea ...” And then she stopped and dropped her head into her hand, sighing. She looked up at me, her eyes pleading for something. I wasn’t sure what it was. “Sam, would you give me just a minute with Owen? We’ll sit out on the porch. And then I’ll be right back in.” She walked past me, not giving me the chance to say no. Her hand trailed over my chest as she stepped over the threshold.

There was nothing for me to do but close the door behind her. I didn’t slam it, which I thought spoke well of my maturity, and I didn’t hover in the living room, on the other side of the front windows, like my dad used to do when I began dating and brought girls home to sit on the porch. I stalked back into the kitchen, pulled out a kitchen chair and sat down.

I had no idea who this Owen was, but he was obviously someone she knew from school. He’d mentioned going on a trip. Europe, with a doctor somebody, probably one of their professors, I thought. I wondered if Meghan would regret that instead of spending her months off partying through foreign countries and checking out all the art she’d studied, she’d been stuck here on a farm in Georgia, teaching sticky little kids how to draw and hanging out with a guy old enough—well, older. Grumpy, that was what she’d called me.

I’d let myself forget for a little while how different we were. When it was just us, out here on the farm, it was easy to see what we had in common and how well Meghan meshed with my life. But that wasn’t reality. Reality was her apartment in the city with Laura, classes and parties and the college world. It wasn’t meeting me at the end of the day, fishing by the river all night or sitting with me out on the porch. She’d told me from the beginning that this was just a fling. Just something temporary between two people who didn’t want strings attached. If I was hurt now, I had no one to blame but myself.

“Sam.” She leaned against the doorway to the kitchen, and she looked ... drained. Her eyes were tired, but she tried a smile that I knew was for my benefit only. “Sorry about that.”

I didn’t answer. I wasn’t sure I could speak without saying something I’d regret. Something that might be close to begging.

She crossed to sit in a chair across the table from me. “That was Owen. Well, you probably figured that out. Sorry I didn’t introduce you, but I was really shocked to see him. As you could probably tell.”

I swallowed over the lump in my throat. “You’re welcome to have friends come out here to visit you, Meghan. You know that. Or I hope you do.”

“Owen’s not really a friend. Or maybe ... well, I don’t know. Laura’s really my only friend at school. I know other people, but there’s no one I’d want to come out here. No one I care about. And Laura’s in North Carolina, you remember that.”

I nodded. Meghan mentioned Laura frequently, and I knew the two talked via cell quite a bit.

She took a deep breath. “I met Owen in freshman year, and I knew from the beginning that he had a crush on me. He was the one who always came by our dorm room or made sure he was at the same parties we went to. Laura always teased me that all I had to do was crook my finger and Owen would propose.”

When I nodded again, I felt like an idiot. But I knew there was nothing I needed to say here.

“I made sure we were just friends. I never encouraged him in any way or flirted. I didn’t want to hurt him. When he finally started dating someone else, I was thrilled. But then one night he got drunk and came to my apartment, and he told me the girl he was dating was just a substitute for me, that when I was ready, he’d drop her for me. I felt horrible. I didn’t know what to do. So for the longest time, I didn’t do anything.

“Then my dad got sick and I was back and forth to Florida all the time. When Daddy—died, I was there, and I stayed until the funeral, but then I had to go back to school. Joseph was staying with Mom, but I had exams. So I came back, and I was hurting so bad. I just wanted it to stop. I wanted anything that would make the pain go away. I went out that night, and I got drunk. I mean, really, really wasted. I drank until I couldn’t remember my own name ... and you can probably guess what happened next. Owen was there, and he found me crying in a corner. He took me home, and we ...” She dropped her forehead onto her arm so that her voice was muffled when she finished. “We had sex.”

I closed my eyes. I remembered that pain. I had done some fairly reprehensible things in the name of making it go away. I imagined Meghan, hurting and needing comfort, and I couldn’t blame her for what had happened.

“Honestly, I didn’t even remember it. I woke up with him looking down at me like we’d just had our wedding night. I couldn’t get away from him fast enough, and I tried to explain what had happened, but nothing’s ever gotten through to him. He keeps hanging around, no matter how many other guys I sleep with.” Her eyes flashed to me, worried. “He thinks in the end we’re going to end up together, so he’s willing to wait me out.”

“What did you tell him just now?” I understood this guy was hung up on her, but someone had to tell him to get lost. If Meghan couldn’t do it, I was happy to volunteer.

“I sat him down and told him that I was never going to be with him again. I told him that what had happened between us once was a huge mistake and that I couldn’t even remember it at all. I said he didn’t mean anything to me, that I only let him hang around me because I felt sorry for him.” She raised eyes to me that were brimming with misery. “I was cruel, and that’s the one thing I’ve always sworn I wouldn’t be. But I didn’t know what else to do.”

I couldn’t sit still anymore. I went around the table and knelt in front of her chair, pulling her to me. “You had to tell him. The guy’s living his life based on a lie, on the chance that you might someday change your mind. What you did was the kindest choice.” I stroked her hair. “Don’t beat yourself up. It’s going to be better in the long run.”

She shook against my shoulder, and I realized she was sobbing. “I’m a terrible person, Sam. You were right that day. I’m irresponsible and immature and I’m a bad friend.”

“Meghan, no.” I lifted her up, sat down in the chair and held her on my lap. “I was stupid. You’re one of the kindest, most mature people I know. Plus, you’re so full of joy and life, you make everyone around you happier. Hell, you even made me smile, right?”

She sniffed, loudly. “He was so upset when he left, Sam. What if he gets in an accident? What if—” She shuddered. “He wouldn’t do anything to himself, would he? Oh, God. I need to call Ziggy. He used to be his roommate. He needs to know.” She reached into her back pocket and pulled out her cell. I held her while she scrolled her contacts and hit a name. She spoke to the guy who answered for a few minutes, choking a few times as she explained what had happened.

After a short conversation, she hung up. “Ziggy’s going to text me when Owen gets back, and he won’t leave him alone until he seems okay. Those guys are idiots, but they’re good friends. I know Ziggy’ll watch out for him.”

I kissed the top of her head. “I’m sorry you had to do that.”

Meghan craned her neck around to look at me. “I’m sorry Owen ruined our hour alone. Ali should be here any minute now.”

I touched her cheek. “That’s okay. You couldn’t help it. And when Ali gets home, I think I’ll take the two of you over to Kenny’s for dinner, so you don’t have to cook or clean up.”

She narrowed her eyes. “You’re being awfully understanding. I thought you were going to be mad about missing out on the naked.”

“I might have been, except that I just remembered that Bridget is going to be gone all night. My sister’s a big girl. She can handle the idea of you being in my room with me.” I turned her face and kissed her. “We might not have had our hour, but we’ll have all night.”