58. Meg
58
MEG
H ave you ever run a marathon for your little sister’s school project with zero preparation, and finished it only because guilt would eat you up otherwise? And then woke up the next morning with aches in regions of your body you weren’t previously acquainted with?
That was me this cloudy but beautiful Monday morning. Minus the marathon.
There were two texts waiting for me on my phone.
Isabel: I know that donation was from you. Mother Clara says thank you. I love you, Meg. xoxoxo
And then the one from Byron. Cue the butterflies to do their thing.
Byron: Would have loved waking up with you this morning. I put in an offer on the Aurora. It would be our safe haven, yours and mine. And I’ll be changing the name.
I smiled.
Meg: So, I can look forward to more seasicking in the future. What will the new name be?
Byron: The Minx. What else.
Mimi was already up, and I was glad she wasn’t there to hear me groan and see me struggle out of bed as the (delicious) aches hit me all at once.
I hobbled to the bathroom, where Mimi and Mona posed in front of the mirror, doing their makeup and hair.
Must not look happy.
“Morning,” I grumbled, keeping up with my normal appearance.
Their gazes latched onto mine in the mirror.
“You look…weird,” Mimi said, eyes narrowed. “Doesn’t she look weird this morning?” she asked Mona.
Mona, ever the accomplice, nodded gravely. “Very weird.”
I squeezed between them with the urgency of someone avoiding an inquisition.
“I need to look nice today. Do you have like a cute outfit?” I asked Mimi.
Mimi smiled. “Don’t worry, sis. I got you. We’ll make you look like a million bucks.”
“Thanks,” I said.
Then she gasped. “Oh my God, is that a hickey???”
Shit. I was going to kill Byron. I begged him, no hickeys.
And then Mona did a double gasp and touched the other side of my neck. “Here’s another one! How many do you have?”
So, the interrogation began.
My only option was to gaslight them. “Those aren’t hickeys, I got bitten by something.”
Mona stopped doing her hair, her stare fixed on me. “Bitten by what?”
“A bug, what else?”
“Big bug,” Mona giggled. “I hope he’s cute.”
“Where were you this weekend?” Mimi asked.
“Nowhere,” I said.
“What did you do?” Mona asked.
“Nothing.”
“Who were you with?” Mimi asked.
“No one.”
They looked at each other. Super suspicious.
I started brushing my teeth to avoid answering more questions, but they talked right over me.
“Bet you it’s that barman.”
“I forgot about him. Yikes.”
“Yup, she can only go up from there.”
“Seriously, bye-bye Miata.”
Mimi had me squeeze into a white turtleneck wool dress that was a bit snug. It was plain, but lovely. Once again, my two fashion critics had me stand this way and that and talked like I wasn’t there.
“This dress is amazing,” Mona told Mimi. “It’s very body-hugging but not in a slutty way.”
Mimi shrugged. “It’s the only turtleneck I have, and she does have all those hickeys to hide.”
I rolled my eyes. “Told you I got bitten by a bug.”
Just then, Mom walked into the room, and when she saw me, her hand flew to her mouth.
“Oh Meg, you look so beautiful.”
My cheeks got hot. “Thank you, Mom.”
She held out a pair of pretty vintage earrings. They were a dangling cluster of blue stones and old silver. I put them on, and for some strange reason, I thought I saw Mom’s eyes glisten with tears.
“The car is here to pick you up,” she said. “Come, I’ll walk you down.”
My sisters and I said our goodbyes, and you bet there was one more reference to my hickeys and how pretty I looked in my turtleneck dress.
As Mom and I walked to the Navigator, she handed me a cooler bag. “Something for your afternoon coffee. I promised Byron a cake.”
I got this stupid lump in my throat, and I hugged her close. “Have I ever told you how ridiculously wonderful you are? And how lucky I am to have you as my mom?”
Then she really did get teary-eyed, and she hugged me tighter. “All I want is for you to be happy. I love you, baby. Enjoy your day.”
I heard a sniffle, and when I turned around, Letitia was standing at the back door of the Navigator, dabbing at her eyes. “You guys… Seriously.”
During the drive, Letitia gave me a look in the rearview mirror. “Didn’t take you for a turtleneck kind of girl.”
“My sister thought it was a good idea.”
“Hiding a hickey?”
“Two.”
“So, things are good with you and your man?”
“Hence the two hickeys. This love thing is weird, isn’t it?”
“Girl, you know it,” she chuckled knowingly. “It’s like trying to fold a fitted sheet. That’s how love goes.”
On my way to the office, I ran into Sophia. She looked me up and down and gasped. Not afraid to share all her findings with me.
“Meg! Como sei bella… so beautiful! Your face scintillante... sparkle?”
“Thank you, Sophia.”
“ Bastardo good now?”
“You know what, it turns out that was a misunderstanding and he’s a stand-up guy.”
She leaned in and jabbed me gently in the ribs. “He sent flowers, molte Fiori!”
“Say what now?”
“Many flowers. In your office. Come, I show.”
Sure enough, there was a bouquet of a trillion daisies on the table next to my couch. And a small card in a sealed envelope.
Thank you for saying yes,
Love, Quasi.
Well, this was certainly not helping to wipe the smile off my face, and hard as I tried to play it down, Sophia went all Italian and plucked a tear from her eye.
“What is your boyfriend’s name?” she asked.
I bit my smile. “His name is Quasi.”
Sophia’s phone dinged, and she read her text.
“I must go. Nelson calls. I see you later then.”
And with that, she was off like a whirlwind. I wanted to thank Byron for the daisies, but he was already deep in an early meeting with Roman. And speaking of Roman, it was time to get to his office for my and Byron’s meeting with him about the Castle Rock proposal.
Between my aching body and pretending to be indifferent toward the man I adored, the morning was off to a challenging start.
I stepped into Roman’s office, and credit where it was due—the Belmont brothers had impeccable manners. Both stood the moment I walked in.
“Gentlemen,” I said, barely acknowledging Byron. Because if I did more than that, I wasn’t sure my heart would stay in my chest.
“Morning, Megan,” he replied, voice smooth as glass. You had to admire his restraint, sounding that detached. But I didn’t miss the glint in his eye when his gaze skimmed over me, like he wanted to sweep me into his arms for the sort of hello poets write sonnets about.
Roman gave me a small, measured smile. “Hello, Meg. Please, have a seat.”
They waited until I sat down before sitting themselves. It was the kind of grace that made me realize I should probably brush up on basic etiquette. I had some catching up to do in that regard.
And then I saw it.
A massive photo, at least 10ft square, on the wall. It was Isabel, mid-arabesque in a scene from Giselle . She looked like she didn’t belong to this world.
My breath caught. Not because of how beautiful it was, but because Roman had put her on the wall like a cathedral window. It was suddenly, painfully clear that he would never let Isabel go. And without her, he would simply cease to exist.
Byron and I shared a subtle glance. He knew what I was thinking because he was thinking it too. A lot was riding on pulling our mission off without a hitch.
This wasn’t just a plan anymore. This was a fight for both Isabel's and Roman’s souls.