It Had to Be Him(88)

He laid his big hands on her shoulders, gently turning her around to face him. “I’m sorry, Meg. For every single lie I’ve told you. I’ll never lie to you again. But we have a deal. I get to stay until the end of summer.”

“The only thing I’ve ever asked of you was not to lie to me. So our deal is null and void. We’re done. I want you out of my house and out of Anderson Butte.”

“If I could have told you the truth I would have.” He slowly slid his hands from her shoulders and took a step back. “I love you, Meg. But I’ll move my and Eric’s things out of the lodge. And I’ll take the dogs.” He turned to leave.

She called out to his retreating back. “Eric and the dogs can stay. I’ll sign whatever papers I have to for his guardianship.”

He stopped walking and faced her. “What about Haley? I need to be part of her life.”

Meg bit her lip, struggling to hold it together. How was Haley going to react to all of this? She loved Josh. “I don’t know yet. I have to think about that. But not right now. With my dad being arrested and now you being . . . it’s just too much at once. Just leave!”

Fighting back a sob, Meg went back inside the church to get the kids. Everyone was gone except for Zeke. “Where’d everyone go?”

“Your grandma took the kids to her house and said to take your time.”

Meg slumped down into the front pew and held her head in her hands. Zeke slipped beside her and sat quietly.

Every new so-called fact buzzed around inside her head, clashing with each of the lies Josh had told her. If she believed in signs, they’d all be pointing to the highway and back to Denver, away from Amber, the people in this town who judged her, her father, and away from Josh and his maze of lies.

“I can’t take much more, Zeke. It’s tempting to pack up and go.”

“I’d sure hate to see you leave. Especially now that the cat’s out of the bag about you being my favorite niece. You belong here, Meggy. And you deserve to be happy. I’ve never seen you happier than you’ve been with Josh these past few weeks.”

“You were my favorite uncle even before I knew you were my real one. But how can I live with a man like that? He’s a trained agent who can look me in the eye and sell me a pack of lies. How do I even know he’s telling me the truth now?”

“You don’t. And I guess you never will. If you want him, you’ll have to learn to let go of all your mistrust and give him the benefit of the doubt.” He gave her hand a quick squeeze and then stood. “I’ve got a carburetor calling my name. Take some time to cool off. Nothing has to be decided today. But if it matters to you, I still trust him.”

Zeke walked slowly down the long aisle and through the back doors. After they closed with a loud thud behind him, Meg sat alone in the silent church, afraid to ask what else could possibly go wrong in her life.



Josh drove around the lake to gather his things from the lodge. His knuckles whitened on the steering wheel. Fury, not only at the situation, but also at himself for failing, burned in his gut. She loved him, he’d seen it in her eyes. But maybe love wasn’t enough? Meg’s distrust of people already ran deep, and he hadn’t helped. Had he betrayed her trust one too many times?

He needed a new plan. But what could he say or do to fix what he’d done?

It might just take some time to win back Meg’s love, and he’d do whatever it took to keep Haley and Eric in his life. He’d not fail there.

When he pulled into the drive, Ryan waited on the front steps of Meg’s house.

Great. That’s all he needed.

“Watts filled me in.” Ryan stood and crossed his arms. “But I still have some questions, Granger.”

Josh nodded. “You can ask while I pack. Meg wants me out right away.”

“Can you blame her?”

“Nope.” He led the way to the master bedroom.

He grabbed his duffel from the closet and threw it on the bed. The letter he’d written to Meg the day he’d broken up with her was still taped to the bottom of the bag. Wouldn’t much matter after what happened earlier. Meg knew the truth now.

He ripped the envelope out and tossed it into the trash can by the door.

Ryan leaned against the wall, silently watching as Josh packed his things. He expected Ryan to lash out, but his voice was steady when he said, “Meg has a thing about people keeping the truth from her. She’d always wondered about our mother when she was a kid and hated when no one in town would talk about her. She didn’t understand they were keeping the promise they all made to my dad. No one wanted to risk retaliation.”