An exaggerated, Texas-sized sigh sounded from the step-monster. “Here we go again.”
Ignoring her, Meg pleaded, “I’ll sign whatever you need, do whatever job you’d like me to do, and I’ll stick to it. No matter what it is. I promise.”
“Oh, you’ll sign a contract, huh?” Her father laughed and ran a hand through his thick white hair. “Like that’s going to change anything. The answer is no, Megan!”
Ben spoke up. “She’s apologized, Dad. And she has a point. You did give her the crap jobs after Haley was born. I could really use Megan’s computer skills at the clinic.”
Thank you, Ben!
Dad replied, “I couldn’t give her jobs with any real responsibility because she was breastfeeding every damn time I turned around. She’s made her bed and needs to lie in it for a change. We all agreed after she left last time that no one hires her ever again.”
What? They’d all gone behind her back and ganged up on her? It wasn’t like she was an alcoholic who needed an intervention, for God’s sake. And it would have been nice if at least one of her siblings had cared enough to mention it to her. What was she going to do?
While picking at the paint splatter on her hands, Meg searched for the words to get out of the hole she’d dug for herself. She wouldn’t get any help from her brothers or sister. Dad held Ben’s massive student loans over his head, forcing him to be the town doctor in exchange for paying them off. Casey, devastated after her ex left her with emptied bank accounts, needed the high-paying hotel job to support her kids—not to mention how much she’d always craved their father’s approval. And Ryan? Meg’s theory was he wouldn’t leave town because the only woman he’d ever loved, Sarah, had married another man. One who, when he drank, turned hot-tempered and mean. Ryan stayed to protect her.
But still. A phone call would have been nice.
Alone in her battle, she had no choice. She was going to have to tell them. “After I lost my last position, I looked for other work in Denver but no one would hire me because I’ve changed jobs too many times.” It killed her to tell them that. But she wouldn’t blame it on Haley’s asthma. It’d just give her dad another opportunity to tell her how stupid she’d been to get pregnant without a husband. But Haley came first. Always. No matter if it cost her jobs.
Digging deeper and giving up all of the little remaining pride she still possessed, she begged. “Please, Dad? Haley’s father has reappeared. I’m afraid he’ll want to be part of her life. He’s a rich and powerful software developer and I’m unemployed. He’d win a custody battle in a heartbeat if that’s his plan. I’m willing to clean rooms if I have to.”
Casey gasped. “It was one thing to withhold his name, Meg, but you should’ve trusted me enough to talk about this. You know how I’ve battled with Tomas for the boys.” The hurt and concern in her sister’s eyes cut straight into Meg’s heart. “We can’t lose Hal—”
“That’s enough, Casey. And dammit, Megan!” Numbskull whimpered at her father’s raised voice. The veins in Dad’s neck puffed and his face turned red as he growled, “You’re going to have to figure things out on your own for a change. This is what happens when you sleep around and get yourself knocked up!”
And there it was. It didn’t matter that she’d once loved Josh and that Haley had shown her a whole new kind of love between a parent and child she didn’t even know existed.
Numbskull sauntered over and laid his big head in her lap, letting out a long, been-there-done-that sigh. Sadly, her only ally in the room was a big goofy mutt.
Appreciating the pooch’s loyalty, she rewarded him with a dual ear rub while her brain raced for a solution.
Her sister was the only one remotely capable of changing Dad’s mind. “Come on, Casey. You know I can run the hotel as well as you can. You said so yourself when I took over while you were on your honeymoon.”
Before Casey could answer, her father said, “No. Maybe the threat of losing the one thing you seem to care about is what it’s finally going to take to wake you up. This meeting is over!”
“Not so fast, Mitchell.” Grandma raised a hand to silence any protest her son might make. “Megan, you think you can run a hotel as well as Casey? Then it’s time you prove it.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’ve owned your other grandparents’ house since you were eight years old. They left it to you when they died.”
Dad growled through gritted teeth. “Mother, that’s enough!”