Branded for You (16 page)

“He came to their restaurant a week ago Thursday and told them they had to make the balloon payment because he was going to file.” Tess held their mom and rubbed her back. “Mom, it’s okay.”

Thursday. Ryan had the talk with her parents the same day she’d met him.

“It’s not okay.” Margaret raised her head, her face tear-stained. She narrowed her gaze at Megan. “What was Ryan McBride doing here?”

“He’s the man I went camping with,” Megan said slowly.

Both Margaret’s and Tess’s eyes widened. “You went camping with him?”

“I didn’t know he was the one foreclosing on you.” Megan shook her head. “If I’d known, I would never have dated him.”

“You’ve been dating him?” Tess asked. “He would have known our parents’ names.”

“He was using you to get to us,” Margaret said with a fierce expression.

“He didn’t know anything about you.” Megan rubbed her palms on her jeans, her mind still whirling with confusion. “I didn’t tell him who my family was.”

“Oh, he knew,” Margaret said in a biting tone. “Why else would he have been going out with you?”

Megan felt like she’d been slapped. Her mother’s words cut deeply, as if Megan couldn’t attract a man like Ryan.

But had he known? Was that why he’d approached her?

“She didn’t mean it that way,” Tess said as their mother walked away from the nurse and started moving around the room as if lost.

“Yes, she did.” Megan looked from Tess to watch their mother. “You know she did.”

Tess didn’t say anything. What could she say?

As for Ryan, Megan didn’t know what to think or how to handle it. It didn’t seem real that he was the reason her father was in the hospital, the reason he’d had a heart attack. And that Ryan was the man trying to take their home away.

Tears backed up behind her eyes. She’d just had the most amazing weekend of her life. Had it all been a lie?

How could she see him anymore? She wouldn’t see him. Look what he’d done to her family.

She wanted to sit down, bury her face in her hands, and cry. The pain she felt in her heart was like she’d been stabbed with a knife and her mother had twisted the blade.

Another nurse walked into the room as she looked at Margaret. “Mr. Dyson is awake and wants to see you.”

Margaret headed for the door, her steps quick and rushed.

The nurse looked at Megan and Tess. “Are you both his daughters?”

“Yes,” Tess said and Megan nodded.

“He wants to see you, too.” The nurse opened the door for Margaret to walk through. “You can go in one at a time. You each can have five minutes, no more than that. He’s weak and we can’t risk exhausting him.” When Margaret was through the door, the nurse said, “I’ll be back for you when it’s your turn.”

The nurse who had been consoling their mother left, too. Megan rubbed her arms with both of her hands, trying to chase away a chill that wouldn’t leave her body.

Her mind bounced back and forth between the revelation that Ryan had been the one to cause her family distress, and the fact that her father could die.

Anger made her throb so hard it ached. How could he have been so horrible?

It didn’t jive with the man she’d gotten to know who had been so popular with almost everyone they’d come into contact with who knew him. The only one who hadn’t been cordial was the drunk who had been trying to start a fight with another man the night she and Ryan had gone out to dinner.

Could Ryan have approached her because he knew who she was? It didn’t make sense. What purpose would that have served?

And this weekend… Everything had been so real, so wonderful. She didn’t think Ryan had been faking any of it.

Yet a niggling of doubt kept knocking at her brain.

Doubt followed by anger over what he’d done to their family.

Even though it hadn’t been more than six or seven minutes since Margaret had walked out of the room, it seemed to take forever for her mother to return.

“He doesn’t look good.” Margaret’s eyes were glossy with tears. “Don’t mention that bastard being here, either one of you. And don’t tell him that you’ve been seeing him, Megan,” Margaret said as she looked accusingly at Megan. “He’s weak and that might kill him.”

“Of course not, Mom.” Tess spoke gently. “I’ll go next,” she said to Megan, then left with the nurse.

While Tess was in with their father, Megan paced the floor as her mother sat in a chair and sobbed. Every now and then Margaret would say words like, “It’s all that bastard’s fault,” and to Megan, “How could you have been seeing him? How could you do that to this family?”

Once again, Megan didn’t try to defend herself, she just took what was thrown at her. She did her best not to let her mother slice through her with words. She’d grown up with the verbal abuse and had married someone who had done the same thing.

She’d thought Ryan was different, that he would never hurt her. But he couldn’t be the man she’d thought he was if he could do something like this to her family when they were hurting so badly for money. He could have worked something out with them, but instead he was foreclosing on their home.

Tess returned and walked into the room. Her eyes were red but dry, as if she was forcing back tears. She didn’t say anything, just went to their mother and brought her into her arms.

The nurse held the door open for Megan. She looked back at her mother and sister, then followed the nurse out the door.

Her stomach twisted as they walked from the waiting room, down a hall, and through a pair of doors that led to the ICU. The journey seemed so long even though it wasn’t that far.

The antiseptic smell of the hospital and the sounds of beeps on monitors surrounded her. The nurse led her past a nurse’s station to a room with windows, but the curtains were drawn.

“No more than five minutes,” the nurse reminded her. “I’ll come and get you when your time is up. But if he seems to get worse, I’ll be waiting outside.”

Megan nodded and walked into the room. She fought back tears the moment she saw her father. She didn’t want him to see her crying—she needed to be strong for him.

The man who’d always seemed so big to her now looked shrunken and pale against a backdrop of monitors and machines. One of them showed his heartbeat. She didn’t know anything about heart monitors beyond what she’d seen on TV, but to her his heartbeat seemed weak.

She walked toward him, noticing that his breathing seemed shallow and he made a wheezing sound.

“Megan.” He held up the hand with the IV in it and gestured to her to come closer. Her feet felt so heavy, her body stiff as she went to him.

When she reached his side, she slipped her hand into his. “Hi, Dad,” she said, barely able to get the words out. “How are you doing?” she said, then added, “Other than the fact that you had a heart attack and you’re in the hospital.”

He gave an attempt at a smile. “I’m not going to last much longer.”

“Don’t say that.” It was harder to fight back tears now and she had to bite the inside of her lip. When she could talk without her voice wavering, she said, “You’re going to be okay, Dad.”

His throat worked as he swallowed. “I want to say a few things to you.”

She held his hand in both of hers. “I can tell that you need to rest. Then we can talk.”

“I haven’t been the best father to you, Megan.” He winced as he spoke, as if he’d felt a stab of pain. He focused on her again. “I want you to know how proud of you I am. You’re a beautiful woman and I should never have been so hard on you.”

Prickles covered Megan from head to toe. Her father had never told her he was proud of her. Ever.

“Trust your judgment,” her father said. “I’ve always second guessed you and I shouldn’t have. You have had good judgment throughout your life. I just needed to let go sooner but I guess I was always afraid to.”

He continued, “Throughout your life I’ve been hard on you,” he said, his voice weak. “But I’ve wanted the best for you.”

A tear leaked down her cheek. She didn’t know what to say.

“I shouldn’t have let your mother be so hard on you.” He looked sad. “Between the two of us, things probably weren’t easy for you in our household.”

“Don’t worry about anything right now.” She gripped his hand. “You need to get better.”

He wheezed before he said, “I want you to know that I love you, Megan.”

Another tear rolled down her face. “I love you, Dad.”

He closed his eyes like it was too difficult for him to continue talking.

She squeezed his hand. “Get some rest.”

Just as she started to walk away, something started blaring. Her heart jerked. She looked at the monitor and saw that he had flatlined. She sucked in her breath, feeling like her own heart stopped at the same moment.

The nurse rushed in and checked the monitor then called for assistance. Megan felt like cotton was in her ears and she couldn’t hear as fear went through her.

Someone took hold of her arm and spoke, a nurse, but Megan couldn’t grasp what she was saying. The nurse spoke louder and Megan barely heard, “We need you out.”

She was escorted out of her father’s room while nurses and a doctor rushed in.

Megan was taken back to the waiting area. As soon as she walked through the door, Margaret and Tess looked at her with fear in their expressions.

It must have been on her face because Tess rushed to her. “Dad? Is he okay?”

“He flatlined.” Megan’s words stuck in her throat. “They’re working on him now.”

“No.” The word came out of Margaret on a sob as she sank into a chair. “Nooo.”

Megan and Tess waited on either side of their mother. Tess had her arm around Margaret and Megan held one of her hands.

It wasn’t much longer before a doctor came through the door, a grim look on his face.

Margaret got to her feet and Tess and Megan stood as well. “Tell me Paul is all right,” Margaret said as if demanding that the doctor give her good news.

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Dyson,” the doctor said. “His heart gave out. I’m afraid he’s gone.”

Margaret’s knees buckled but Tess and Megan caught her before she fell. Megan looked at her face and saw that her mother had fainted.

Megan felt numb as the doctor rushed to Margaret’s side. A nurse handed the doctor something that he put under Margaret’s nose, causing her to suck in her breath and open her eyes. She was helped into a chair and checked over as Tess and Megan watched.

Tess gripped Megan’s arm. “He’s really dead?”

Megan felt tears roll down her cheeks as she looked at her sister. “Yes. He’s gone.”

Tess broke down, crying in Megan’s arms. Megan closed her eyes, unable to believe her father was no longer with them.

Chapter 18

The night of their father’s death, Margaret checked out mentally. Five days later, she didn’t seem to be any better.

Megan had always thought of her mother as a strong person both emotionally and physically. She never expected Margaret to seem to vanish. She was there, but she wasn’t.

At the hospital, after their father had passed on, out of the three of them, Megan had been the most capable at that moment of dealing with the hospital and the paperwork. Tess tried to console their mother while they both cried. Margaret signed the papers wherever Megan told her to.

When they’d reached their parents’ house, Tess and Megan made their mother lie down in her bed. Margaret simply stared at the ceiling. She wouldn’t respond to anything they said.

After they’d put a blanket on Margaret and tucked it around her, Tess and Megan had done their best to console each other and check in on their mother from time to time.

Over the past few days, Megan had taken care funeral arrangements and Tess had handled the restaurant, closing it temporarily until their mother checked back into reality. If Margaret didn’t recover soon, Megan and Tess would have to decide what to do with the restaurant.

After working with her parents for years, Tess had experience running a restaurant, so she could take her mother’s place, but she would need a good cook and a waitress and would need to be able to pay them competitive wages. Tess and Megan needed to dig into the restaurant’s finances and get things straight before they opened the restaurant again.

 Then there was the foreclosure looming over them. But they would have to wait to deal with that.

Megan’s heart squeezed and her belly cramped as she thought about Ryan. The pain she’d felt over losing him had been almost more than she could bear. It was like something was tearing her apart inside, ripping her to shreds. She’d never thought it could hurt so much to love someone and lose him.

Love. No. It couldn’t be love.

But what else could be so powerful it nearly drove her to her knees?

He had called at least once a day, but she had ignored his calls and deleted his voice messages before listening to them. She deleted his text messages, too, but couldn’t avoid seeing parts of them, like “please let me explain,” and “I’m not letting you go that easily.”

Every time she saw a message from him the tears would start again. She had to struggle to keep it together.

A part of her wanted to text back or take the calls, but how could she? Not after all that he’d done. She just couldn’t.

The morning of the funeral, Jenny was again with Mrs. Webb while Tess and Megan tried to get prepared.

When they needed a moment to talk, Megan and Tess went into the kitchen to make some hot blackberry tea, something that had always soothed them in the past. Not that it would be able to make them feel better now, but it was a ritual that helped to calm them. They sat at the table drinking tea after offering Margaret some, but their mother was as unresponsive as she had been the day their father had died.

“How did you meet Ryan McBride?” Tess asked quietly as they sat at the table, catching Megan off guard.

She felt a twist in her belly at the mention of Ryan’s name. They hadn’t talked about him since everything else had happened. She remained quiet for a moment. She didn’t want to revisit anything but at the same time she wanted to talk about him.

The pain of her father’s loss, and of learning about Ryan’s actions contributing to the heart attack, made her chest hurt as if she was having a heart attack herself.