Kyle’s Bargain (27 page)

“I need to see you,” she told him. “We have to talk.”

Wednesday afternoon, Meg drove to Kyle’s parents’ home. Her
stomach twisted itself into knots on the way. She was taking a huge gamble with
her relationship with Kyle in doing this. But she’d lost her own parents
irrevocably a few years back so she knew too well what that loss meant. She
couldn’t bear to be the cause of a rift between Kyle and his father. At least
not until she’d done everything in her power to prevent or repair it.

Kyle might not appreciate it. He’d likely be angry and upset
with her. She just hoped he’d understand and forgive her for it.

They’d arranged for a time when only his father would be at
home. Walt Harrison met her at the door and invited her to come back to his
office. She declined coffee, tea or a stiffer drink then changed her mind when
he said they had a pitcher of iced tea in the fridge. She accepted a glass and
he poured one for himself as well.

Kyle’s father sat behind the huge desk in his office. A
computer sat on one side of it, a stack of papers on the other, but in between
was pristinely neat. He stared at her across the expanse of polished dark wood
when she took the chair on the other side, facing him.

“So,” Harrison said, “have you come to tell me how much it
will cost me to get you out of my son’s life?”

Meg drew a breath but didn’t say anything. She recognized
the technique. Go on the offensive, rouse her anger, take control of the
conversation and manipulate her emotions. She let the insult slide off her.
“No.” She paused a moment to let it sink in. “I’ve come to tell you what it’s
like to lose someone you love. I lost my parents several years ago and while
I’ve moved on now, it’s left a huge gaping hole in my life. One I still feel. I
hate to see the same thing happen to others. Especially when it doesn’t have to
be that way.”

“Are you threatening me?” he asked.

“Nope. It’s a warning. And it’s something I have no control
over, so I can’t threaten you with it. You’re doing it to yourself and only you
can stop it. If you don’t, you’re going to lose Kyle. He was furious about your
call to me, and if he hasn’t already, he’s going to have it out with you. I
suspect it will end up with him giving you the finger and saying he never wants
to talk to you again. If it hasn’t already.”

His eyebrows rose. “It hasn’t. I haven’t talked to him since
I talked to you. I’m just trying to look out for him.”

“Are you? Really?” She gave it a moment then continued.
“Either way he’s a grown man. Way old enough to make his own decisions. Old
enough to make his own mistakes, but also old enough to acknowledge them and
learn from them.” Meg stared at him hard. “I may be a mistake for Kyle too, but
I guarantee you I’m not the same mistake. And I’m going to do everything in my
power not to be a mistake. I love him and I want him to be happy.” Meg stopped
and drew a breath. “Honestly? I think we have that in common. That’s the only
reason I’m here today. I want him to be happy. He can do it without you.
We
can do it without you. But being estranged from his family will be a drag on
it.”

“You’re saying I should withdraw my objections to you and
make sure he gets his financing or I’m going to lose him?”

“Partly right. Withdraw your opposition to me. We’re going
to get married with or without your approval, so why not let it be with your
support? He’s your only son, but he’s a man, his own man. Acknowledge that and
be happy for him.”

“And his financing?”

“Forget it. At this point I doubt he’d let you help him
either way. Let it go for now. It isn’t going to pinch him for a while yet
anyway. Maybe down the road you two can work something out. Or maybe not. Let
it be his choice whether to let you help him. That’s the only thing you can do
for him on that score now.”

Walt Harrison stared at her for a couple of long minutes
while he rubbed his fingers up and down the outside of the iced tea glass. He
looked down at his desk then up at her again. “You’re right about one thing,”
he admitted. “You’re not going to be the same mistake as Rita was.”

“I hope I’m right about all of it,” Meg told him. “Including
the fact that your love for your son is greater than your pride.” She stood up.
“That’s all I have to say. The rest is up to you.” She sighed. “Now I have to
go deal with the fallout from this with Kyle.”

“He doesn’t know you came?”

“No.”

“I won’t tell him.”

“I have to,” Meg said. “He has a right to know I interfered
in his family business.”

“You really aren’t another Rita,” Harrison said.

“No, I’m not.”

“I hope Kyle’s not too angry with you.”

“I hope not too.”

There would be a price to pay, Meg knew, and she didn’t look
forward to it. She called Kyle as soon as she got back to the store. He was in
a meeting but he got back to her half an hour later.

“I need to talk to you,” she told him. “As soon as possible.
I did something…”

“What? Are you okay? You sound upset.”

“I am, but I want to tell you in person. Can we meet for
dinner tonight?”

“I was going to ask you anyway.”

Her stomach stayed in an uproar for the rest of the
afternoon as she considered Kyle’s probable reaction.

To forestall questions, she told him about her friends’
plans to help out with the wedding and what they hoped to do. That topic got
them to the restaurant and seated at the table. Laurie’s school activities got
them through ordering their meals.

When the server had departed, Kyle stared at her, and said,
“Why don’t you get it off your chest?”

Meg shook her head. “After dinner, please.”

“Will you be able to eat?”

“I’m going to try.”

Kyle shrugged. “Okay. Did I tell you we’re getting some
positive press from that ‘Development with a Heart’ angle? There’ve been a
couple of nice write-ups in a couple of local business magazines. It should
help us later on.” They managed to talk about that through dinner.

Finally when the coffee and check came, Meg said, “I had a
talk with your father today.”

For a minute Kyle just sat there, looking at her before he
picked up the coffee and took a sip. “He called you again?” The tone was cold
and angry.

“No. I went to see him. My idea.”

He drew a breath. “You— Why?”

“Because I saw a train wreck in the making between the two
of you and I thought I could derail it.”

“You didn’t think you should ask me about it before you
went?”

Meg took a deep breath and struggled for control. She
wouldn’t cry in public. “I knew I should ask you, but I was also pretty sure
you’d tell me not to.”

“Would that have made a difference?”

“Yes, probably.”

“Probably.” He repeated the word in such a flat tone she
could hear the hurt behind it.

“Your father means well. I really think he does. He wants
you to be happy. He just has a sort of heavy-handed approach to taking care of
it.”

“Not to mention plain wrong and that he has no business
interfering in my life at all.”

“All that was mentioned this afternoon. The thing is, I
think he’s beginning to see it. Maybe even to understand.” Meg noted the way
Kyle’s hand tightened around the coffee cup. “The two of you are…too much
alike. When you butt heads, it’s hard for either of you to back away. But I
think he’s starting to realize what a mistake he’s made. Maybe he’ll back off
trying to run your life.”

“And what about you? Are you going to continue to try to
organize my life for me?”

Meg felt something twist in the region of her heart. “No. It
was a one-time deal. And I’m… I’m willing to pay the price for it.”

“What price is that? The end of what we had together?”

Knives stabbed into her chest. “I hope not. I hope you can
forgive me. I know that it violates the spirit of our relationship. I should
have at least discussed it with you before I did anything. I promise I’ll never
do anything like it again without consulting you first. Ever.”

He sighed and set down his coffee cup. “Let’s go.” Meg had
the impression his tension demanded he be moving, an idea confirmed when
instead of going to either his place or hers, he drove to a small park nearby.
The light had faded to twilight while they ate and now long shadows lay across
the paved walking path. For what seemed like a long time they didn’t say
anything. Kyle didn’t take her hand as he would have done the day before. This
was even worse than she’d anticipated.

The light faded until she could barely make out his face.
Finally, after far too long, he said, “This is… I’m not sure how to cope. I
feel betrayed. Manipulated. Just like… Like Rita might have done.”

“Odd, because your father said just the opposite. He said it
was something Rita would never have done.”

“Maybe not the same way,” he admitted. “But the same idea.
Just the opposite of the submission I asked for. That we agreed should be a
significant part of our relationship. Instead you bulled ahead with your own
agenda without consulting me or finding out how I felt about it. You know, if
it had been anything else but my family, it probably wouldn’t have mattered.
But this…”

Meg put a hand on his arm. “Kyle—”

He shook, either with the force of his anger or the effort
to control it.

She kept her hand in place. “I did it because I love you and
I want you to be happy.” She stopped in the path and held on to him, forcing
him to stop too. No one else was on the path at that time of day, but there was
always a chance someone could come along.

Meg dropped to her knees, not caring who might see them. She
winced as stray bits of gravel dug in. “Please,” she begged. “I don’t want this
to destroy what we have between us. I don’t want it to change anything. I made
a mistake. A bad one. I hope you’ll forgive me and believe that I’ll never do
it again. Also, I hope you’ll punish me for it. In any way you think
appropriate. Please.”

He stood there for several long minutes while Meg’s heart
broke and then broke again. She honestly didn’t know if she could bear whatever
punishment he might impose, but it had to be less painful than the rending
agony of his coldness. “I… I’m scared just thinking about this, but if it would
restore things between us, I’d take what Lindy took when she hurt Rick.”

She felt his start. “You have no idea what you’d be
submitting to. Lindy’s a more experienced sub than you are.”

“I know. It doesn’t matter. I’ll do anything—anything!—to
restore our relationship. Please give me another chance.”

Hot tears burned as they slid down her cheeks.

For several minutes they remained there in the
near-darkness, Kyle standing, staring off into the distance as his breath
heaved in and out on harsh pants, Meg kneeling beside him, a beseeching hand
resting on his arm.

Finally Kyle sighed heavily and reached down to help Meg to
her feet. “I don’t know. I need to think about it. I wish Rick and Lindy were
here instead of on their honeymoon.”

“When will they be back?”

“Saturday, I think. I have their itinerary at home.”

“What do we do now?” Meg asked.

“I’m taking you home for now. I have some thinking to do.
I’ll call you when I’ve made up my mind.”

Meg drew in an unsteady breath. “Do you want your ring
back?”

“Not yet. I’ll let you know.”

Twists of pain stabbed into her stomach and chest but she
acknowledged the justice of it. “All right.”

He drove her home and waited in the car until she was back
inside instead of accompanying her in.

Laurie bounced out to meet her once she’d closed the door
behind her, but after a hug, she said, “What’s wrong, Meggie? You look sad.”

Meg sighed, not sure how much to tell her sister. “I am kind
of sad. Kyle and I had an argument and now we’re not happy with each other.”

“You’re not going to get married, then?” Laurie sounded
crushed.

“I don’t know. I think we’ll make it up and be happy again,
but I don’t know for sure.”

Laurie hugged her again. “I’ll still love you, Meggie.
Kyle’s really stupid if he doesn’t love you anymore.”

“I know, hon.” She squeezed her sister again. “I know.”

The next few days were probably the longest of her life. She
alternately railed at Kyle for his stupidity in not appreciating what she’d
done for him and kicked herself for doing something she knew would feel like a
betrayal to him. She braced herself for a life that would not include him, trying
to figure out how she could manage it now that she knew what it felt like to be
in love with and loved by the man of your dreams.

Meg lived in agony every minute, waiting for the phone call
and dreading what she’d hear him say when it came. She berated herself again
and again for not checking with him before she’d gone to see his father, even
though she knew he would’ve forbidden it if she had.

It got worse when Carla came down on Friday again and wanted
to talk about wedding preparations. Meg blamed her own lack of enthusiasm on a
headache and Carla agreed that she didn’t look well.

The waiting was worse on Saturday when she would normally be
looking forward to seeing Kyle in the evening. Until three o’clock that
afternoon she didn’t know what would happen.

The call came on the dot of three. Kyle didn’t identify
himself, knowing she’d recognize his voice, and he didn’t say hello or ask how
she was doing. Instead he just said, “If you’re still willing to try to repair
our relationship by accepting the penalty we discussed on Wednesday, be at my
house at eight o’clock this evening. Wear your plainest dress and a pair of
slip-on shoes. Nothing else. No underwear. No jewelry except the collar and
your engagement ring. Do not be late. Understand?”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Good. Be there.” He hung up the phone.

Meg’s stomach lurched and twisted again, but with a
combination of relief and fear. The time dragged. Laurie didn’t even pout when
Meg told her she’d be going over to Kyle’s house to see if they could resolve
their differences. Her sister just gave her a hug, and said, “You’ll be okay,
Meggie. He loves you, just like I do.”