Call Me Irresistible (Wynette, Texas #5)(113)

It was strange to see Ted Beaudine look so vulnerable. She pressed her lips to the undamaged corner of his mouth and hurried to the car that her ever-thoughtful parents had left for her. As she drove away, she allowed herself one last glance in the rearview mirror.

He stood in the middle of the road, watching her leave. Behind him, the vast wasteland of the landfill extended as far as the eye could see.





Chapter Twenty-One


M eg cleaned up in the bathroom at the Chevron station on the highway, wiping away the worst of the dirt and covering up her tear streaks. She dug into the suitcase she'd wedged into the small restroom for her boho top, a clean pair of jeans to hid the scratches on her legs, and a gauzy green scarf to conceal the beard burn on her neck. Since the first time they'd made love, she'd wanted him to be so overcome by passion that he'd lose his legendary control. It had finally happened, but not in the way she'd dreamed.



       
         
       
        

She let herself in through the service entrance at the inn. Birdie would never permit guests as famous as her parents to stay anywhere but the recently renamed Presidential Suite, and she climbed the back stairs to the top floor. Each step was an exercise in willpower. From the very beginning, she'd gotten it all wrong with Ted. She hadn't believed he'd loved Lucy, but he'd loved her then, and he still loved her now. Meg was nothing more than his rebound girl, his temporary walk on the wild side.

She couldn't let herself give in to the pain, not when she was about to face such an excruciating reunion   with her parents. She couldn't think about Ted, or her uncertain future, or the wreckage she'd be leaving behind when she drove away from Wynette.

Her mother answered the door of the suite. She still wore the tailored platinum tunic top and slim-legged pants she'd had on at the landfill. Ironically, her fashion model mother cared little about clothes, but she dutifully dressed in the exquisite outfits her brother Michel made for her.

In the background, Meg's father stopped pacing. She gave them both an unsteady smile. "You could have told me you were coming."

"We wanted to surprise you," her father said dryly.

Her mother took her by the elbows, gave her a long, hard look, then pulled her close. As Meg sank into that familiar embrace, she forgot for a moment that she was a full-grown woman. If only her parents were clueless and demanding, her life would be a lot less guilt-ridden, and she wouldn't have to expend so much energy pretending she didn't care about their good opinion.

She felt her mother's hand in her hair. "Are you all right, sweetheart?"

She swallowed her tears. "I've been better, but considering that train wreck you witnessed, I can't complain."

Her father took over the embrace, squeezing her tight, then giving her a light smack on the rear, just as he'd done since she was a little girl.

"Tell us everything," her mother said when he finally let her go. "How did you get tangled up with that awful man?"

"Dad's fault," Meg managed. "Spencer Skipjack is a celebrity worshiper, and I was the closest he could get to the mighty Jake."

"You have no idea how much I want to rip that bastard apart," the mighty Jake said.

That was a scary thought, considering her father was a Vietnam vet, and what he hadn't learned in the Mekong Delta, he'd picked up making movies involving every form of weaponry from samurai swords to AK-47s.

Her mother made a vague gesture toward her state-of-the-art phone. "I've already started digging. I haven't uncovered anything yet, but I will. A snake like that always leaves a slimy trail." 

Their anger didn't surprise her, but where was their disappointment at having witnessed their oldest child once again at the center of a mess?

Her father returned to pacing the carpet. "He's not going to get away with this."

"It's only a matter of time before his sins catch up with him," her mother said.

They didn't understand the implications of what they'd witnessed. They didn't have a clue how important the golf resort was to the town or the part Meg had played in destroying that promise. All they'd seen was a slimeball insulting their beloved daughter, and a gallant younger man avenging her honor. Meg had been given a gift from heaven. Not even Dallie and Francesca seemed to have enlightened them on the drive back to the inn. If she got her parents out of town quickly enough, they'd never hear about the part she'd played in all of this.

And then she remembered the words she'd spoken to Haley . . . how you act in the next few minutes will dictate the person you're going to be from now on.