Chapter Five #3
in the vindictive blue eyes. The look shocked Meggie and she swallowed the hard lump forming in her throat.
It didn’t matter to Jill whom she was hurting, or what her lies would do to the relationship between Meggie and her father.
That sparked a burning anger within Meggie. She had always had a problem with her temper, though now she was able to control
it more.
Jill gave a gasping cry of hurt and surprise as Meggie began quickly tugging the tiny curlers from the blonde hairs.
“Ouch!” Jill’s hands flew to her head, but Meggie kept going, knowing she was pulling firmly but not that hard.
“I may have plenty of things wrong with me but my ears aren’t one of them. I abhor liars,” she said, yanking out one curler
after another. “I dislike them so much I refuse to have anything to do with them and that includes giving perms.”
“Stop! These curlers hurt and you’re ruining the perm!”
“Good,” Meggie returned, “maybe then you’ll understand what your lies do to others.” Within seconds the blonde hair was free,
falling about the pale face in wet ringlets. Jill’s shoulders began to shake.
Forcibly, Meggie’s fingers closed over the chin, raising it to look into her eyes. “Do you think you’re fooling anyone with
your lies? Do you?” she demanded.
Numbly Jill shook her head. Tears were brimming in the blue depths.
The show of emotion didn’t stop Meggie. “Do you think you’re going to impress me by making up all these untruths? You’re not.”
She inhaled deeply at the look of shock in Jill’s pale features.
“I hate you.” Each word was spat with intensity as Jill stood in front of Meggie, small hands clenched at her side.
It had been a long time since Meggie had allowed her temper to rage like this. “Go ahead and hate me, but I’ll always like
you.”
With a dignity that surprised Meggie, Jill walked across the room. “I won’t bother you again,” she said in a choked whisper
and slipped through the door.
Meggie’s fingers were trembling as she placed a hand over her mouth. Her legs didn’t feel steady as she pulled out a chair
and sat down. Closing her eyes did little to relieve the throbbing ache that was building at her temple.
“Stupid Meggie,” she muttered brokenly. Again and again she’d wrestled with her temper. Her father claimed it was the Irish
blood that flowed in her veins, but that was only an excuse and a flimsy one at best. So much for showing Jill and Quinn an
example of Christian love, God’s love.
A half-hour later, Meggie didn’t feel any better. She knew the only thing that would ease this knot of tension in her stomach
was to apologize to Jill and attempt to undo some of the damage.
She paused, praying for wisdom and strength before picking up the phone. Quinn answered.
“I’m sorry to bother you,” she said awkwardly. “But can I talk to Jill for a minute?”
“Jill?” he returned after a short pause. “I thought she was with you.”
“No.” A sinking sensation came over Meggie. “We had a fight and I . . . I told her to . . . oh, Quinn, where could she be?”
A grimness sounded in his voice. “I wouldn’t worry. When something troubles Jill, she usually runs to her grandmother. I’ll
phone Hariette and get back to you.”
Meggie paced the floor waiting for the phone to ring. The second it sounded, she jerked it off the hook. “Yes?”
“Hariette hasn’t heard from her.”
“Oh no, I was afraid of something like this. She’s run away and it’s my fault,” Meggie said in a tortured whisper.
“I’ll be right over.”
The dial tone buzzed in her ear; still Meggie continued to hold the phone, her mind racing through channels that were too
frightening to investigate.
The sharp rap at the door broke Meggie from the fearful stupor and she bolted upright and opened the door.
“What happened?” he demanded. “What did you say to her?”
Meggie blinked back tears and shook her head. “I lost my temper, I told her the lies weren’t fooling me. Jill said she hated
me. I pulled the curlers out of her hair. . . .” She didn’t finish, hanging her head, unwilling to see the look of contempt
in his eyes. She could feel the heat flooding color up her neck and face. It was difficult to breathe, to think.
“She must have decided to walk back to Hariette’s,” Quinn murmured thoughtfully.
Meggie gasped as she looked out the window. The storm had broken and the rain was coming down in angry torrents, sheet after
sheet pelting the earth with a vengeance. “I’ll never forgive myself if anything happens to her.” She rushed to the closet
and grabbed a jacket. “We’ve got to find her.”
Quinn took the car keys from his pants pocket and nodded, a pinched look about his mouth.
Driving around, up and down every block proved pointless. No one was out in the storm, even the streets were deserted. Visibility
was extremely poor and Meggie strained her eyes as the windshield wipers beat furiously against the front window.
“There,” she cried, pointing to a park bench in a small grassy area off one of the side streets.
Quinn leaned forward, squinting. “That’s not her.”
“I’m going to look.” Even before he could protest, Meggie was out of the car. She gasped at the force of the rain as it hit
her. The bitter wind whipped the coat from her body and she struggled with the sash at the waist. But the thin material offered
little protection and she was soaked to the skin almost immediately. Unconcerned, Meggie raced across the streets to the small
park. But Quinn was right; whoever, or whatever, had been there was gone.
Her head down, Meggie made her way back to Quinn, but when she came to the sidewalk where she’d left the car, he too was gone.
She looked around helplessly and shivered. Rivulets of rain rolled down her back; her clothes were plastered to her body.
She was blocks from the apartment and there was no one in sight.