Megan's Marriage

Travis waited until she looked at him before he leaned forward, his weight on his forearms resting on the table, and said, “I happened to run into Maribeth at the post office this morning.”

She eyed him for a moment, waiting for him to continue. When he didn’t, she prompted him with, “Did you?”

“She said y’all are having some problems.”

She made a mental note to have a long discussion with her youngest sister about not discussing private family matters with outsiders. Striving for nonchalance, Megan shrugged and studied the ice cubes floating in the amber liquid. “No more than anyone else around these parts. Looks like the drought’s about to do the whole county in.”

Megan made herself look at Travis, only then noticing that he’d removed his hat. Up close, his unusual eyes were even more noticeable, if possible, what with the stark contrast between their bright color and his tanned face.

“Megan—” he began, then paused, as though searching for words.

Megan knew that Travis had always had a way with words, so his hesitation surprised her. “What?” she finally asked.

“Maribeth says that since the new management took over at the bank, you don’t think they’re going to be willing to work with you on the mortgage payments anymore.”

She could feel her jaw tighten at more evidence of her sister’s loose-lipped ways. She took another drink of her tea before responding. “Maribeth has a big mouth,” she finally muttered through clenched teeth.

He placed his glass between his palms and rotated it around and around in a circle. “Megan, I know you have no use for me. I’m not certain why, exactly. I mean, I know I used to give you a bad time when we were kids, but that was all part of growing up. I never meant anything bad by my teasing. I always thought of us as friends, even if we haven’t seen much of each other in the past few years. I always thought that, if you ever needed anything, you’d know that I’d help you out in any way I could.”

She shot out of her chair, knocking it over on the floor. “Is that why you’re here? You think we’re some kind of neighborhood charity case? Is that it? Well, you couldn’t be-”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” he said, coming to his feet, his hands held out in front of him. “Damn, woman, do you have to go off like that over every little thing? What’s the matter with you, anyway? Why would you take offense at an honest offer of help?”

She could feel her face flaming, which didn’t help her temper in the slightest. “We don’t need your help. We’re doing just fine,” she muttered, picking up her chair and replacing it on its legs. She sank into the chair and grabbed her glass with both hands.

“C’mon, Megan, it’s me you’re talking to. Needing help isn’t anything to be ashamed of. We all need help at one time or the other.”

She looked up at him and knew she was making a complete fool of herself. Why didn’t that surprise her? She had never learned to act naturally around this man, not even when they were kids. “I’m sorry,” she muttered. “I’m just tired, that’s all. I didn’t mean to take it out on you.”

He sat down once again. “I know this is a tough time for you. I think you’ve done a hell of a job holding this family together. I just want you to know that I’m here to help you, if you’ll let me. I’ve got money just sitting in the bank, drawing interest. I figure you could use it to help get over this bump in the road. Let’s face it, we’re bound to get some rain sometime. Cattle prices will be coming up. I figure you could be using the money since I don’t need it right away.”

Megan couldn’t sit there any longer, facing him. She got up from the table and walked over to the counter, her back to him. Never had her temper made her so ashamed. It didn’t matter what Travis had done in the past, or how uncomfortable she felt around him. He had driven all the way out here to offer her a helping hand. And what had she done? Ignored him, left him standing in her dust, been rude and unsociable for no good reason.

It wasn’t his fault that his good looks had seemed to make his life so much easier, that his irresistible grin had made all the girls carry on about him in school, or that she had received a great deal of teasing because they lived near each other.

It wasn’t his fault that she didn’t like him.

She picked up the iced tea pitcher and brought it back to the table, filling both their glasses. “I’m sorry for being so rude,” she said, sitting down again. “It’s really very kind of you to offer to help.” Megan couldn’t make herself look into those eyes. Hadn’t they haunted enough of her dreams over the years without her being confronted with them now?

Travis leaned back in his chair and smiled at her in silent acknowledgment. “Dad tells me this new bank management team seems to be more concerned about their asset and liability reports than they are about the welfare of the people in the county. So you may be right about them,” he said.

“Can you blame them? With some of the banks in the state going under, it’s no wonder they’re concerned.”

“Have you spoken to them at all?”

She nodded.

“Did you offer to make interest only payments?”

“They aren’t willing to do anything but accept full payment of all money due or to foreclose. Those are my options.”

He muttered something under his breath that she couldn’t understand, which was probably just as well.

Megan straightened in her chair. “Why do you care?” she finally voiced the nagging question that had been gnawing at her throughout the conversation. “Travis, you know as well as I do that we aren’t friends. We’ve never been friends. It seems to me you probably expected me to fail. You never had a very good opinion of me, either, as I recall.”

He rubbed his jaw. “I guess you’re right. As far back as I can remember you’ve treated me like some piece of trash that was cluttering up your immediate area. I should be gloating about now that the high-and-mighty princess is taking a nosedive.”

“Exactly.”

They looked at each other for a long time without speaking. After several minutes of silence, Travis sighed. “I guess I deserved your haughty treatment, though, didn’t I? I used to treat you pretty badly—pulling your hair, grabbing your books, making fun of your friends…”

“You made it clear what you thought of me, that’s for sure.”

“Would it help to remind you that I’ve grown up a little since then?”

He gave her that heart-melting smile of his that had gotten him out of all kinds of trouble as a kid.

“No,” she said baldly.

“Oh.” He looked around the kitchen before meeting her steady gaze. “The thing is, I was really shaken when Maribeth told me what was happening with y’all. I’d lost touch with you since high school. I mean, all that stuff I did to you was years ago. I’ve been on the road for the past eight years.”

She knew that. He’d been two years ahead of her in school. She’d been sixteen the year he graduated. He’d been president of the student body, captain of the football team, homecoming king. By the time he’d graduated, he’d been driving to school for two years. So they were talking about behavior of more than ten years ago…almost half a lifetime.

“Will you let me help you, Megan? Please? Then I’ll know you’ve forgiven me for all that childish stuff I used to pull. I can’t stand by and watch you lose this place, not when I could help you. Surely you can understand that.”

She couldn’t believe she was having this conversation. Especially with Travis Kane, of all people. Of course she wasn’t going to accept his offer, but the very fact that he’d made it blew her away.

Her silence seemed to spur him on. “You’ve done a hell of a job, Megan…keeping everything going. You were just a kid when you took over here. The girls were still in grade school back then, weren’t they?”

“Yes.” She looked away, absently drawing designs in the moisture collecting on her glass.

“When is the mortgage due?”

She glanced back at him, grateful that he had changed the subject. “The first.”

“It’s paid annually?”

“Yeah.”

“It’s no time to try to sell stock.”

“Not at the current prices. Who knows if they’re ever coming up. Nobody seems to be eating beef these days, according to present market indicators. I’ve been hanging on, hoping the drop is only temporary. If I sold at today’s prices I’d lose everything I’ve invested in this herd.”

“So will you let me loan you the money?”

“I appreciate the offer, Travis. I mean that. It was kind of you to hang around today when I was being so—rude. But, in the long run, borrowing the money from you isn’t going to help. I would just owe another debt I couldn’t pay.” She rubbed her forehead where a headache was forming. “I’ve thought and thought about it. There’s just no way out of it, no reason to prolong any of this.” She forced herself to smile. “You know, it’s kinda funny when you think about it. Paddy O’Brien won this place in a card game more than a hundred years ago, closer to a hundred thirty-five.” She wondered if he knew that. “My illustrious ancestor was a riverboat gambler at the time. Didn’t know a thing about ranching.”

He didn’t seem particularly surprised, but then few families in the county had histories that weren’t known by all their neighbors.