Evolving Dreams (New Beginnings Series) (17 page)

No one noticed her presence, being engrossed in the game and non-stop trash talk, so she decided to sit on the deck steps and just enjoy the show. She guessed she’d probably been sitting there only five or ten minutes before Charley caught a glimpse of her out of the corner of his eye.

“Hey Meg! It’s a good thing you’re here. Our team is down a player. Come on!”

She laughed, “You don’t want
me
on your team. You’re better off being a player down.”

At the sound of Charley calling her name all play and trash talk had stopped. Trace tossed the ball over to Javier and started jogging toward her, a smile blooming over his face.

Meg put her hand up. “Stop right there! You guys finish your game. Don’t let me interrupt.”

He kept coming. “You’re not interrupting. Is she, guys?” He shot a pointed look in their direction. “Game’s over.”

She shook her head. “That is truly a shame. I was
so
enjoying the view.” She laughed as he pulled her up and gave her a sandy hug.

All the other guys good naturedly headed toward the house, making noises about how late it had gotten and how their wives/girlfriends would be getting off work soon so they’d better get going. They trooped up the steps to retrieve their shoes off the deck, Sonny and Charley each stopping to kiss her on the cheek. Then they were gone.

“I feel really bad for breaking up your game. Looks like you’ve all been enjoying your day off,” she added as she bent to start picking up the few beer cans left strewn around the deck. “I’m kind of surprised you decided to spend it all together. Aren’t you sick of one another after the last couple of weeks?”

Trace took the cans out of her hands and headed to the door with her following. “That’s the weird thing. We don’t get sick of each other.” He dropped the cans into the recycling bin in the kitchen and grinned over at her. “But I have to say . . . I’m not sorry to see them go.”

Meg grinned back. “I took the afternoon off. Have to work tomorrow afternoon, though. I guess I should have given you a heads-up.”

“No . . . I like surprises. Surprises are good. Did you have anything particular in mind?”

“I’m thinking we should go out for pizza and then have our movie night.” She paused to dig around in her huge handbag, pulling out two DVD cases with a flourish. “Voila!
The Dirty Dozen
. . . and . . .
The Postman Always Rings Twice
.”

His eyes lit up. “Awesome!” He walked over to peek into her handbag. “Did you bring the JujyFruits?”

“No. We’ll stop for the refreshments after dinner. I thought you might like to pick out your own.”

“Great! Do you mind waiting ‘til I get cleaned up?”

“Not at all. It’s still early. I’ll just hang out.” Just then her cell phone rang. “See? I’m already occupied.”

Trace took off down the hall while she answered her phone. “Hi, Mom!”

“Hi, sweetie. Just wanted to check on you and see how you’re doing today. I was hoping I’d catch you during your break time.”

Meg rolled her eyes. “Mom, I’m fine.” Sheila had been checking on her everyday—sometimes twice a day when she thought Meg sounded depressed—ever since the breakup with Sean. “I’m having a great day . . . in fact, I’m taking the afternoon off.”

“That’s good,” Sheila said doubtfully. “What are you doing with your afternoon off? I hope you’re not off by yourself somewhere.”

“No, I’m here with Trace. We’re going to an early dinner and we rented some movies.”

“Oh, that sounds fun!” Sheila gushed, relieved that Meg and Trace were spending more time together. She still had hopes of Meg falling in love and settling down somewhere. Even if that somewhere might be so far away from the rest of the family. “Well, I won’t keep you.”

“That’s okay. I’m waiting for Trace to get cleaned up and ready to go out, so I have time. Is Daddy there?”

Sheila put Doug on the phone, “Hi, Meg. How’s my girl?”

“I’m good. Guess what movie I’m going to be watching tonight?”

“Knowing you, it’s a chick flick.”

She laughed, wondering where he’d ever heard that expression. “Nope . . .
The Dirty Dozen
.”

“Who are you and what have you done with my Meg?” he demanded.

Meg giggled, “I promise . . . it’s me!”

They talked for a few minutes more, Doug asking his standard questions.
“How’s the weather?” “What’re you paying for gas out there?” “Do you need any money?”
As if she’d had to ask him for money since before she’d graduated from college.

Sheila got back on the phone after Meg and Doug had talked for a while to give her the latest report Maura had gotten from her obstetrician, who she had seen just that morning. Some of it was a little TMI for Meg, but she was glad to be kept in the loop anyway. Just as they were beginning to sign off, Sheila’s voice changed into something more serious.

“Meg, honey . . . I wasn’t going to say anything, but I think you have a right to know. Claire Morgan called me this morning. She wanted to know if we had made our airline and hotel reservations yet . . . you know, for when we come out for the showcase. She was hoping to get reservations for her and Michael at the same hotel. Anyway . . . I told her I was a little surprised that they still planned on coming out and . . . Long story short—Sean hadn’t told them
anything
. They didn’t know about the breakup or the revised contract and showcase changes.”

Meg was rubbing her forehead as Trace came around the corner and walked back into the living room. “Oh, wow . . . that’s not good.”

“Claire said she hadn’t talked to Sean in a few weeks. He hasn’t been returning her calls. She just assumed he was so busy with the show he hadn’t had the time to call.”

“Well . . . I wonder what I should do. Should I call them?” Meg asked. She looked up at Trace who was watching her with concern.

Sheila said, “I think it’s between them and Sean. You shouldn’t feel obligated to fill them in.”

“Yeah, but do they blame me? Are they upset with me?”

Trace looked at her questioningly and mouthed
“What?”
She shook her head at him.

“Sweetie, just forget about it. Go enjoy your date with Trace. Maybe talk it over with him. It’s his family and maybe he’ll know better how to handle it. But you didn’t do this. Sean did.”

They finished their conversation and disconnected.

“What’s going on?” Trace asked.

“Apparently your parents didn’t know anything about this partnership dissolution. Your mom called mine and it came out this morning.” Meg sighed.

“Well, that explains why Mom didn’t mention it when I talked to her after I got back. I should probably expect a phone call in the not-too-distant future.”

Meg shrugged, “I guess Sean has been avoiding their calls. They haven’t heard from him in weeks.” She looked up at Trace. “Should we be worried? Maybe we should check on him. I haven’t been returning his calls either.”

“No,” Trace said sharply. “You don’t have to talk to him if you don’t want to. I’ll try to reach him tomorrow just to make sure he’s okay. I’ll check with Mom too, if she doesn’t call me first.” He shook his head. “What a mess.”

She stood up and looked at her watch. “It’s only four-thirtyish . . . but what do you say we go ahead and find some pizza?” She was determined that this news would not ruin their evening.

“Yeah, let’s do that. I’m starving . . . kicking butt on the football field takes a lot out of a guy.”

As they headed out the door, Meg asked, “You were winning, then?”

Trace laughed. “No, not at all.”

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

They didn’t have to drive
far to get to Trace’s favorite pizza parlor, Antonio’s. It was before five o’clock so the dining room was empty when they got there. They sat down side by side in a corner booth.

Meg asked, “Do you think if I ordered wine it would get here close enough to five so that the kitchen staff won’t talk?”

“Go for it,” Trace laughed. “I’ll order some too.”

After the waitress had taken their drink order, they set about debating pizza toppings. “Okay,” Meg said, as she looked at him soberly. “I can’t tell you how important this is. Ordering pizza for the first time together can tell us a lot about each other. This could make or break the relationship.”

“Are you serious?”

“Kind of,” she said. Then she leaned closer and whispered, “Not really.”

He smiled. “Whew! Okay . . . what’s on your perfect pizza?”

“Definitely sausage and mushroom. Then I can go from there. How about you?”

“Sausage is good . . . mushrooms are good . . .”

“Oh, good. I was afraid the mushrooms might put you off. A lot of people don’t like them.”

“
Love
the mushrooms. How ‘bout we add some Canadian bacon and scallions?”

“Perfect. Anything else?” she asked.

“No, that’s enough for me.”

The waitress came back with their red wine and Trace ordered the pizza and salads. Just as she walked away his cell phone rang. He glanced down at the screen, looked up at Meg and raised his eyebrows. “It’s my mom.”

“Go ahead and answer it. I can go look at the jukebox to give you some privacy, if you want.”

He put his hand on her thigh. “No stay,” he said as he pushed the connect button. “Hi, Mom! How are you?” He said cheerily.

“Hi, Trace, honey. I’m okay. How about you?” Claire answered. “Am I catching you at a bad time?”

“No. Meg and I just ordered our pizza and we’re sitting here waiting for it.”

“Oh . . . Is Meg there? How is she?”

“Well, Mom, she’s doing okay . . . considering.”

Claire sounded subdued. “I just talked to her mother this morning and she said that Meg and Sean had dissolved the partnership. Do you know what’s going on? I’ve been trying to reach Sean, but haven’t been able to.”

Trace sighed, “Mom, here’s the truth . . . Sean walked into the SDDI and tried to throw Meg under the bus. He intended to dump her and replace her with his new girlfriend. I have no idea what’s going on in his mind.”

“I just can’t believe it. I can’t believe he would betray her that way.”

“Well, he did and it backfired on him.” Trace said in a hard voice. “I talked to him yesterday morning and . . . I don’t know what to tell you, Mom . . . I’m sure it’s this girl.”

“Have you met her?”

“Barely. I didn’t get a good feeling, I’ll tell you that. I think he’s letting her ruin his life,” he added.

Claire asked in a small voice, “How is Meg holding up? Is she upset?”

“I think so. But she’s working her butt off, trying to make sure she fulfills the contract.” He squeezed Meg’s hand. “I’m proud of her.”

“You two are getting close, huh? Is it serious, Trace?”

He looked into Meg’s eyes. “I can tell you I seriously like her. And I really don’t like the idea of her going away.”

Meg’s heart melted and she could hear Claire say over the phone, “Oh, Trace! I didn’t think I’d ever hear you talk about any girl that way. And the fact that it’s Meg . . . well, I just love her.”

The waitress came over with the salads and Meg quietly thanked her and asked for two glasses of water as well.

Claire said, “Your food is there. I’m going to let you go.”

“Okay, Mom. If I’m able to reach Sean I’ll let you know.”

“I feel bad . . . I spent our whole call talking about Sean . . . I really do want to catch up with you. I need to make sure you’re okay after this last deployment.”

“I’m fine, but we do need to catch up. I think Meg is working tomorrow afternoon so I’ll call you and we’ll have a nice long talk. Okay?”

“Okay, Trace . . . love you! Give Meg a hug for me.”

“I will. Love you too, Mom.” He disconnected the call.

Trace put his arm around Meg’s shoulders and squeezed her close. “That’s from my mom.”

Meg laughed. “Thanks for sticking up for me, Trace.”

He shook his head. “You haven’t done anything wrong.”

“She seemed upset. Sorry, but I couldn’t help but overhear her side of the conversation too.”

“Yeah, she is upset. I didn’t really know what to say to her.”

“You did fine.”

“Okay . . . enough of this. Let’s not talk about this anymore. This is
movie night
! Let’s eat, then we’ll go get our candy and head back to my house and get cozy. Okay?”

“Sounds great to me!” Meg said as she dug into her salad.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

The following week passed quickly. Meg and her showcase team worked long hours so that everyone would be ready for the big show on Friday night. She was pleased with how things were working out. Monte and Tatiana had driven down on Sunday. Monte, of course, had rehearsals, but both were pitching in, in whatever capacity they were needed. Everyone at the Institute was excited about the final performance.