Branded for You(4)
“You what?” Bart’s features turned from pleasant to angry. “Those were mine.”
Megan shrugged and had the desire to laugh. “I told you at least ten times in the last seven months to get your stuff. You never bothered to come by. What was I supposed to do, deliver them to you?”
“You b—” he started.
“Get out of here, Bart.” Tess’s voice came from behind Megan, cutting off Bart’s sentence. “Megan doesn’t want anything to do with you.”
Bart ignored Tess. “You owe me for those clubs,” he snarled at Megan.
“You should have taken them with you when you left with that woman.” Megan hoped her features looked calm and didn’t show the churning anger inside her. “You didn’t, so, your loss.”
“Go buy yourself some new ones.” Tess came to stand beside Megan, arms folded across her chest. “And stop bothering Megan.”
“Get out of here.” Megan had to fight not to clench her hands into fists.
Bart looked like he was going to tear into her verbally like he used to. Instead, he turned and strode back to the car. He jerked the door open, climbed in and started the vehicle, then backed up the vehicle. The tires spun in the gravel as his car shot out of the driveway.
“I sure didn’t need that.” Megan sighed. The last thing she’d wanted imprinted in her mind before leaving New Mexico was her ex-husband’s snide features.
“Ignore him.” Tess took Megan by the arm. “Fart’s a loser. Come on in and we’ll give the place a once over.”
Tess drew Megan back into what had been her home and now was nothing but a shell. “It cracks me up every time you call him that,” Megan said
“Well he isn’t deserving of respect,” Tess said. “And besides, with all that awful cologne, the guy stinks, so it fits.”
Megan laughed. “Thanks Tess, I needed that. I need to just get him out of my mind.”
When they were finished making sure that everything was out of the house, Megan stood for a moment in the doorway as Tess and Jenny waited outside for her. Megan looked over the living room that now only had the cable from the satellite TV sticking out of the wall. The shutters were closed tight, no sunshine leaking in. The place looked stark and naked and felt as hollow as her heart.
Megan thought about the five years she’d spent in this house. She had wondered if she’d miss the place but as she looked over the empty living room and kitchen, she knew she wouldn’t.
She smiled to herself. Everything would be fine. Life was good and she had a new life just waiting for her to grab onto and hold on for the ride.
Chapter 2
Megan shaded her eyes with her hand and looked up at the Ferris wheel as it turned against the clear late September sky. A breeze brushed her cheeks as she watched the small figures in the colorful seats and she shivered, more from a memory than from the cool air.
Thoughts of the last time she had been on a Ferris wheel went through her mind. Her cousin had scared her to death by rocking the seat when they were stopped at the very top and she’d been so sure they were going to fall to their deaths. She hadn’t been on a Ferris wheel since.
She turned her attention toward the ticket booths where a steady flow of people entered the fairgrounds. Her sister and niece should be here at any time. Tess didn’t normally run so late.
It was a Thursday and Tess had planned to take the afternoon off from the restaurant. What was keeping her?
Megan wiped her palms on her jeans, brushing dust from them as her gaze drifted over the crowd at the Yavapai County Fair. People walked to and from the exhibit halls housing vegetables, jams, canned foods, arts and crafts, and any other number of homemade or homegrown items. The prizewinners were draped with blue, red, and white ribbons indicating the prize won, and the best of each class were pinned with champion purple rosettes.
Other people headed to the carnival side of the county fair from which a cacophony of sounds emanated. Smells of corndogs, cotton candy, fry bread, and popcorn drifted over from the carnival and she pressed a hand to her belly, which rumbled from hunger. She really needed to watch what she ate, but the carnival food smelled so good. Her hips would never forgive her but she wanted a churro in the worst way.
While she waited for Tess and Jenny, Megan wandered toward the livestock building to watch the 4-H kids handle sheep, calves, and hogs they’d raised for show. Many of the animals would be auctioned off sometime this weekend with the champions taking home the highest dollar amounts.
As she reached the livestock buildings she saw that the place was alive with 4-H’ers feeding and watering their animals and preparing them for show. People wandered up and down the straw strewn dirt aisles, admiring the livestock.