“I don’t have any paper,” she said.
He brushed a strand of hair from her face. “I’ll remember it.”
She had a hard time speaking but managed to stammer out her cell phone number.
“I’ll see you tomorrow night,” he said.
She nodded, having a hard time coming up with anything to say.
He waited until she was safely in her car and had started the vehicle before he walked away into the night.
Chapter 4
Megan shut the front door behind her with a solid thump as she entered her parents’ home. She set down the stuffed gorilla that Ryan had won for her at the fair and smiled as she stroked its fur. What a fun day she’d had with the tall, dark, and handsome cowboy.
And he’d asked her out for tomorrow night. A sense of giddiness and excitement made her steps light as she turned and walked in the direction of the kitchen. It wasn’t quite nine yet and she wondered if her parents were still up. Megan had considered changing her name back to Dyson from her married name, Wilder, but hadn’t made the decision yet. She wanted to talk to her parents about it.
She heard her father’s angry voice coming from the kitchen. “Got another notice in the mail.”
Megan frowned as she entered and saw both her parents looking upset.
Her mother, Margaret Dyson, was a tall, slender, striking woman who often reminded Megan of a TV mother from the fifties who always wore blouses, skirts, and heels. At least she didn’t wear pearls, too.
Margaret carried a chocolate Bundt cake to the table. The kitchen smelled of warm cake that made Megan’s mouth water.
“Wasn’t his coming by the restaurant today enough?” Margaret was saying. “What does the notice say?”
Paul Dyson, a balding man, stared at the folded paper he was holding and adjusted his glasses. “It says exactly what he told us. If we don’t make the payment by the next week, he’s going to start foreclosure proceedings.”
Margaret’s lips tightened as she set the cake on the table. “It’s not right. Not right at all.”
“Foreclosure?” Megan said with surprise. “Is everything all right?”
Margaret glanced at the kitchen doorway and saw Megan. “Have some cake, Megan.”
“I ate at the fair,” Megan said.
“You should watch what you eat, anyway.” Margaret looked disapprovingly at Megan. “You’ll never catch and keep a decent man if you don’t slim down. That Bart Wilder was not a decent man.”
The back of Megan’s neck burned. Her mother’s remarks had always hurt, but it was the way she’d been as long as Megan could remember. Her father could be just as cutting in his own way, so it hadn’t been easy growing up in the Dyson household. She was looking forward to moving back out on her own
“Margaret, it’s too soon after her divorce for Megan to be looking for a man.” Paul glanced at Megan. “God is not pleased when a man and woman are married before Him and they so lightly tear apart the sanctity of the union .”
Even though she wanted to defend herself, Megan chose to ignore the remarks, pulled a chair up to the table, and sat near her father. “What’s going on?”
Margaret set out two plates and forks on the table as Paul clenched the letter tighter. “A balloon payment is past due on the house,” he said. “The owner won’t work with us and we don’t have the cash. Everything we have is sunk into the restaurant.”
Megan’s jaw dropped. “You could lose the house?”
“Yes,” Margaret said as she started slicing into the cake.
Paul’s skin had taken on a ruddy hue and he rubbed his chest, appearing agitated. “We’ve asked the owner to work with us but he’s refused and is insisting on the whole amount.”
Megan squeezed her hand shut on the tabletop. “How much is it?”
Paul’s expression turned pained. “Twenty-five thousand,” he said and Megan sucked in her breath.
“Everything that we didn’t put into the restaurant we lost in the stock market,” Margaret said. “We have nothing but the restaurant now and it’s not bringing in enough.”
Megan let out her breath. “I wish I had the money to help. With the economy being so bad I used up most of my savings over the past couple of years. What I had left is pretty much gone after the move here.”
“Everything would have been perfectly fine if that Roger Meyer hadn’t spread rumors about the restaurant and if some reporter hadn’t written such a bad review. A false review. And then someone called the Health Department on us. Probably Meyer, too.” Margaret moved a plate of cake in front of Paul and took one for herself, her words tight and angry. “First Meyer sets out to ruin us and now this.”