Must be lonely living all alone like Mrs. Jenkins. No one to talk to before she went to sleep at night or when she woke in the morning. Meg had missed that after Josh left. It’d been nice to have that back. The great sex made it even better.
After the wheelbarrow was full, she dumped it along with the other weeds in back and then went to find Mrs. Jenkins. She had the puppy all set up with a bowl of water and a chew toy on her front porch.
“All done. You have a nice garden going, Mrs. Jenkins.” Meg put the wheelbarrow in the shed, then made her way back to the house. “We’ll get out of your way now.”
“Thank you for finishing up my weeding, Megan. I appreciate it, but you know, a simple apology goes a long way.”
“That would make a difference to you after all this time?”
“If you really meant it.”
Meg sat on the porch and let out a breath. “Looking back, I realize now why I acted out so much. It was meant for my dad. I never set out to cause everyone else so much misery, it just always seemed to turn out that way.” She stared into the woman’s rheumy eyes. “So I hope you’ll accept my apology for all the trouble my bad behavior caused you and the school, Mrs. Jenkins.”
“Wait until I tell Edna and Mable.” She slapped her knee and laughed. “They’re never going to believe those words came from your smart mouth. Apology accepted, Megan.” She picked up the pup. “And thank you for bringing me my new little Bella. I’m keeping her.”
That she might finally be forgiven by one of the Three Amigos sent an unexpected wave of relief through Meg. “Awesome. Going to the dinner?”
“Yep. I’ve got a crate to keep this little one out of trouble while I’m gone. But it looks like rain. We’ll probably end up eating supper in the gym again. Coach Wilson is going to hate that.”
Meg glanced at the gathering dark clouds above her head. “I’m sure Coach is already there, laying down that thick paper to protect his precious wood floor.”
“I imagine. Say, Amber asked me for some old photos and such the other day. She’s been asking everyone, so maybe she has something nice to entertain us with this year.”
Nice? Fat chance of that.
“Maybe.” Meg gathered up the basket and gave the pup one last pat. “See you later. And thanks, Mrs. Jenkins. For everything.”
Josh pushed Haley in the swing at the park as he waited for Eric to finish up at the dentist’s office. He stared into people’s faces as they strolled past the town square, looking for the person Watts promised to send during the celebration. The agent would be dressed as a tourist, casually window-shopping, scoping things out before they made their move.
Then he spotted her. Watts had done that on purpose, the bastard. Of all the agents in their department, he sent a woman Josh used to hook up with occasionally between missions before he’d met Meg.
Evans met his gaze and lifted her chin slightly in greeting before turning to stare at the display in the T-shirt shop’s window.
It was go time. Time to find out what was going to happen if Megan’s father was sent to jail, and how Meg would react when she learned of his role.
And there was Meg now, strolling toward them with a big smile on her face. She surprised him when she threw herself at him, wrapped her legs around his waist, and planted a noisy kiss on his mouth. “I found homes for both the pups and you’ll never believe what just happened!”
Josh glanced over Meg’s shoulder in time to spot Evans and the sneer on her face before she moved on to the next shop.
Meg grabbed his face with both hands, forcing his attention back to her. “Hey. You’ve got the ‘old Josh’ look on your face. What’s the matter?”
He forced a smile. “The ‘old Josh’ look? What’s that?” He needed to pull it together. Get his head in the game. He couldn’t afford to be responsible for blowing the one mission that would finally set him free.
“The look where you get all serious and distracted. Something wrong?”
Haley called out, “Push, Daddy!”
He sent Haley flying so high she giggled as Meg slid down his body. “I was just thinking it was taking Eric an awful long time. Maybe I’d better go check on him now that you’re here to watch Haley?”
“Okay.” Meg frowned like she didn’t believe him. But after giving Haley another push, a smile slowly lit Meg’s face. “Mrs. Jenkins took the other puppy. Tara will be glad to know. Tell her, will you?”
“Yep.” He gave her a quick kiss. “Be right back.”
Relief filled him as he turned to go check on Eric. Seemed Meg believed him after all. He was so damned tired of lying to her. Hopefully in a few days it’d all be done with and he could finally start his life over.