Call Me Irresistible (Wynette, Texas #5)(100)

"Not yet. Help me out. I'm a little shaky."

Haley came toward the bank. "You shouldn't swim here by yourself."

"Believe me, I won't be doing it again. It was stupid." A sharp stone bit into the ball of her foot, and she winced. "Here, give me your hand."

With Haley's help, she made it up onto the riverbank. She was dripping and naked except for her panties, and her teeth wouldn't stop chattering. She grabbed the towel she'd brought with her and sank down onto the sun-heated rock. "I don't know what I'd have done if you hadn't shown up."

Haley looked toward the path. "Are you going to call the police?"

"Do you really think anybody wants to take Spence on right now?"

Haley rubbed her elbow. "What about Ted? Are you going to tell him?"

Meg imagined the consequences of doing just that and didn't like what she saw. But she also wasn't keeping this to herself. She rubbed her hair with the towel, then balled it up. "I'll call in sick at work for the next few days and make sure Spence can't find me. But as soon as that bastard's down payment is in the bank, I'm telling Ted exactly what happened. A few other people, too. They need to know how ruthless Spence can be." She clutched the towel. "For now, keep it to yourself, okay?"

"I wonder what Spence would have done if I hadn't shown up?"

"I don't want to think about it." Meg grabbed her T-shirt from the ground and pulled it on, but she couldn't make herself touch the bra he'd held. "I don't know what stroke of luck brought you here today, but I sure am glad. What did you want?"

Haley twitched, as if the question startled her. "I was- I don't know." Color flooded her face beneath her makeup. "I was driving, and I thought you might want to . . . go get burgers or something."

Meg's hands stalled on the hem of her T-shirt. "Everybody knows I'm staying at Skeet's. How did you find me here?"

"What difference does it make?" She spun around and headed for the path.

"Wait!"

But Haley didn't wait, and her reaction was so extreme, so out of proportion to their conversation, that Meg was taken aback. Then everything clicked into place.

Her chest constricted. She shoved her feet into her flip-flops and ran after her. She took the shortcut through the cemetery instead of following the path. Her flip-flops slapped her heels, and weeds grabbed her still-damp legs. She reached the front of the church just as Haley ran around from the back, and she blocked her path. "Stop right there! I want to talk to you." 

"Get out of my way!"

Haley tried to get past her, but Meg wouldn't let her. "You knew I was here because you followed me. Just like Spence did."

"You don't know what you're talking about. Let me go!"

Meg tightened her grip. "It was you."

"Stop it!"

Haley tried to free her arm, but Meg held fast as water dripped icy fingers down the back of her neck. "All this time. You're the one who broke into the church. You're the one who sent that letter and threw the rock at my car. All along. It was you."

Haley's chest heaved. "I don't- I don't know what you're talking about."

Meg's damp T-shirt clung to her skin, and goose bumps broke out on her arms. She felt sick. "I thought we were friends."

Her words cut something loose inside Haley. She jerked her arm away, and her sneer distorted her mouth. "Friends! Yeah, you were a friend, all right."

The wind picked up. An animal scuttled in the brush. Meg finally understood. "This is because of Ted . . ."

Haley's face crumpled with fury. "You told me you weren't in love with him. You told me you were just saying that to get rid of Spence. And I believed you. I was so stupid. I believed you until that night I saw you together."

The night Meg and Ted had made love at the church and Meg had seen those headlights. Her stomach twisted. "You spied on us."

"I didn't spy!" Haley cried. "It wasn't like that! I was driving around, and I saw Ted's truck go by. He'd been out of town, and I wanted to talk to him."

"So you followed him here."

She shook her head, the movement jerky. "I didn't know where he was going. I just wanted to talk to him."

"And you accomplished that by spying on us through the window."

Tears of rage spilled over her lids. "You lied to me! You told me it was all fake!"

"I didn't lie. That's the way it started out. But things changed, and I sure as hell wasn't going to make a big announcement about it." Meg regarded her with disgust. "I can't believe you did those things to me. Do you have any idea how it felt?"

Haley swiped at her nose with the back of her hand. "I didn't hurt you. I only wanted you to go away. "