Her circumstances were different from Haley's, but the underlying truth remained the same. What kind of person did she want to be?
An odd sense of-not peace, because there'd be no peace for her, not for a very long time. More a sense of rightness came over her. The experiences of the past three months had torn away the fabrications she'd shrouded herself in. She'd been so convinced she could never live up to the accomplishments of the rest of her family that she hadn't made a fair attempt at anything except nurturing her role as the family gadabout. If she'd ever risked building something for herself, she would also have risked failing in their eyes. By not risking anything, she couldn't set herself up for failure. That's what she'd believed, so that, in the end, she'd been left with nothing.
It was time she claimed the woman she wanted to be-a person willing to walk her own path in her own way without worrying how others judged her success or her failure, including those she loved. She needed to create her own vision of what she wanted her life to be and follow it to the end. She couldn't do that by hiding.
"Here's the thing . . ." she said. "What happened today . . . It's a little more complicated than it might seem."
"It seems pretty straightforward to me," her father said. "The guy's a pompous jerk."
"True. Unfortunately, that's not all he is . . ."
She told them everything, starting with the day she'd arrived. Halfway through her story, her father attacked the minibar, and a few minutes later, her mother joined him, but Meg kept going. She told them everything except how deeply she'd fallen in love with Ted. That was her story alone to sort out.
When she got to the end, she was standing by the window, her back to City Hall, while her parents sat side by side on the low couch. She made herself keep her chin up. "So you see, it's because of me that Ted lost his temper for the only time in his adult life and got in that fight. It's because of me that the town is going to lose millions of dollars of revenue and all those jobs."
Her parents exchanged long looks, full of meaning to each other but incomprehensible to her. They'd always communicated like this. Maybe that's why neither she nor her brothers were married. They wanted what their parents had and weren't willing to settle for less.
Ironically, that's what she'd started to believe she had with Ted. They'd gotten really good at reading each other's minds. Too bad she hadn't picked up on what she'd most needed to know about him. How much he loved Lucy.
Her father rose from the couch. "Let me get this straight . . . You kept Lucy from potentially destroying her life by marrying the wrong man. You supported yourself in a town full of nutty people hell-bent on making you the scapegoat for all their troubles. You weren't really the activities coordinator at that country club, but you worked hard at the job you did have. And you also managed to start your own small business on the side. Do I have that right?"
Her mother lifted one magnificent eyebrow. "You've forgotten to mention how long she was able to hold off that perverted blowhard."
"Yet she's the one who's apologizing?" Her father turned it into a question, and the Glitter Baby's famous gold-flecked eyes bored into her daughter's.
"For what, Meg?" she said. "Exactly what are you apologizing for?"
Their question left her speechless. Hadn't they been listening?
The model and the movie star waited patiently for her response. A lock of blond hair curled along her mother's cheek. Her father rubbed his hip, as if he were checking for one of the pearl-handled Colt revolvers he'd worn in his Bird Dog Caliber films. Meg started to respond. She even opened her mouth. But nothing came out because she couldn't think of a good answer.
Her mother tossed her hair. "Obviously, these Texans have brainwashed you."
They were right. The person she needed to apologize to was herself for not being wise enough to protect her heart.
"You can't stay here," her father said. "This isn't a good place for you."
In some ways, it had been a very good place, but she merely nodded. "My car's already packed. I'm sorry to run out on you after you came all this way, but you're right. I have to leave, and I'm going now."
Her mother switched to her no-nonsense voice. "We want you to come home. Take some time to regroup."
Her father slipped his arm around Meg's shoulders. "We've missed you, baby."
This was what she'd wanted since they'd kicked her out. A little security, a place to hole up while she sorted everything out. Her heart filled with love for them. "You're the best. Both of you. But I have to do this on my own."