Megan glanced at him, then followed his eyes to where Kat was bobbing her head back and forth, somewhat like a chicken, while thrusting one flattened hand in front and another in back. To Megan, Kat looked like a dork – a loveable dork, but a dork nonetheless. ‘Yeah, amazing.’
Then, seeing Ryan dancing just as crazily as her sister, Megan couldn’t help but laugh. He really didn’t care what he looked like, as he mimicked their movements. Suddenly, the three dancers conferred among themselves, only to hurry into a straight line, one behind the other, with Ryan in front. Standing so their bodies couldn’t be seen, Sasha and Kat wiggled their arms to the side to make Ryan look as if he had tentacles, as they occasionally poked their heads out on either side.
‘You seem to be enjoying yourself,’ Vincent said. ‘Vacation going well so far?’
‘Kat told you about what is going on, huh?’ Megan’s laughter died some.
‘Oh?’ The sound was unconvincing.
‘Don’t bother. I know she’s in on this little scheme, just as I know you had nothing to do with it.’ Megan sighed.
‘Kat loves you, you know. She thinks Ryan can make you happy. That is why she did it.’
‘It’s not her place to decide, is it?’ Megan took another drink from her beer, needing to change the subject. There was nothing Vincent could say to make her feel better about the situation. ‘I tell you what, if I get dragged to another museum I’ll gag – mountain folk, miners, dinosaurs, airplanes. Enough is enough. Besides, at the rate we’re sightseeing, Zoe is going to miss all the fun.’ The last word was drawled out and dripping with sarcasm.
‘I don’t know about that. If your mother keeps pushing to drive the four-hundred-mile scenic loop, I think there will be plenty of fun for everyone.’ Vincent chuckled.
‘Yeah, I’d hate for Zoe to miss out on the twenty-hour car ride Mom will turn that adventure into. And, between Ryan and Kat, it might even be longer if they keep stopping us to take pictures.’
Vincent gave her a wry look. ‘As opposed to me holding us up so I can examine bug specimens.’
‘Doesn’t count.’
‘And why is that?’
Megan grinned. ‘Because you’re sitting right here and we’re bitching about the people who aren’t sitting right here.’
‘Ah, I see. So you won’t talk about my bugs and I won’t mention how I think your idea of climbing straight up the side of a mountain only to jump off a perfectly good ledge into unknown waters is a horrific way to spend an afternoon.’
‘Exactly.’ Megan took another drink of her beer, finishing the bottle. She leant over, setting it down on the deck next to her other empty ones.
Ryan moved to the back of the line and now Kat was the leader as the others’ arms fluttered from behind her, turning her into some mythical creature with wiggling tentacles. Unable to help herself as the song ended, Megan tossed back her head and laughed. ‘What do you say, Dr Richmond? Should we go show them how it’s done?’
‘Mm, one moment.’ He grabbed his wineglass and drank the liquid down fast. ‘OK, I might just be drunk enough now.’
‘Hey Ya’ started, an odd contrast to the older music they’d been listening to.
‘Come here, bug man,’ Kat ordered, crooking her fingers at him. ‘Come dance with your wife.’
‘Anything you say, my butterfly.’ Vincent instantly went to Kat, grabbing her into his arms and lifting her off the ground. His dancing was reminiscent of a cross between a Tango and the Lambada.
‘I always hear this song, but don’t know who sings it,’ Sasha said, taking Ryan’s hand and using it to twirl herself around.
‘They don’t teach you pop culture in college?’ Ryan gave Sasha an expression of mock horror.
‘Outkast,’ Megan answered, getting their attention. At their stunned look, she said, ‘What? I listen to music. I’m hip. I know what’s going down.’
‘Oh, yeah, Miss Law and Order, you’re real groovy,’ Sasha teased.
‘Shut up and dance with me,’ Megan ordered. Cutting in, she grabbed Sasha’s hand and began wiggling about the deck in what she knew to be an outrageous excuse for dancing. She did it on purpose, knowing if she were to seriously try it would be disastrous.
Sasha spun her around and Megan found herself twirled into Ryan’s arms. She inhaled a deep breath, instantly pushing back. He grabbed her hand, automatically drawing her forwards so she was once more within reach of his embrace. Sasha put her hands in the air and skipped around the two couples, clearly not caring that she didn’t have a partner.
Fresh air filled her lungs and Megan couldn’t help but lift her arms to her sides, taking deep breaths. Ryan touched her cheek, a light skimming movement. He looked as if he might try kissing her, so she dropped her arms and began mimicking some of Sasha’s dance moves.
Vincent and Kat moved fluidly together, as if sensing each other’s body, knowing without words what the other would do. Megan wasn’t so confident with Ryan. They didn’t instinctively know each other’s next move. So, when they danced, it reflected the newness of their relationship in each halted movement, each hesitant touch.
If Ryan felt the awkwardness, he didn’t let on. Megan tried to look into his eyes, without appearing to gaze up into them. Being with him, in Montana, with no mysteries piling up on her desk to be solved, felt strange. She didn’t feel like herself, not her normal, put-together, take-charge self. Here, it was easy to pretend this wasn’t her life. She was someone else, someone free of responsibility and consequence. It had been a lifetime since she’d felt . . .
A flash illuminated Ryan’s face. Megan blinked, seeing spots along the side of her vision. She frowned, shaking her head as if she could recapture the drunken insight she’d been having. Since she’d felt . . . ? Damn. It was gone and Megan was left with a feeling of something important she couldn’t quite reach waiting on the edge of her mind.
Beatrice made a loud noise of joyous contentment. ‘Ah, look at you all. If only my Sasha had someone to dance with.’
‘Ugh, Mom, get Megan settled first, then work on the other two before you get to me.’ Sasha didn’t stop dancing.
‘Smile for the camera!’ Beatrice called.
‘Mom,’ Kat scolded as she ran towards their mother. ‘Be careful with that, please.’
‘What? Oh, I only dropped it that one time.’ Beatrice sighed as Kat jerked the camera out of her hands.
‘And broke an eight-hundred-dollar lens I’d spent months selling my blood to get,’ Kat answered. ‘I gave enough plasma to save the entire state of New York.’
‘I can’t believe you’re still using that one on her,’ Megan said to Kat. Ryan’s arm was still along her side, holding her near him, but not too close. It had become like that over the last few days. She hadn’t noticed the exact moment that he’d started touching her without direct passion, but it felt normal that he did. ‘You got it used for fifty dollars at a police auction.’
‘Megan!’ Kat gasped, her eyes wide in mock distress, as if to ask, ‘How could you rat me out like that?’
‘Katarina Matthews, er, Richmond,’ her mother scolded, remembering her married name at the last second. ‘You may be grown, but I’m still your mother and I can ground you if I want. I can’t believe you made me think . . . Oh!’
‘Ha ha,’ Megan taunted playfully. Sasha giggled. Ryan’s grip tightened on Megan’s hip and, though she refused to look at him, she was very aware of every place their bodies touched. ‘Kat’s in trouble. Kat’s in trouble.’
Sasha joined in the singsong chanting and Megan used it as an excuse to artfully pull away from Ryan’s hold. As soon as she did, she wondered why she had. Her skin missed his heat. Who was she kidding? She missed him holding her.
‘Kat’s in trouble. Kat’s in trouble,’ Sasha and Megan repeated, their voices growing in volume.
‘Shut up!’ Kat yelled, reminding Megan of when they were kids. ‘Shut up or I’ll tell Ryan that you came to my house looking for a sexy designer gown to wear for him while we were here!’
Megan’s chanting died mid-sentence and Sasha’s voice tapered off soon after.
‘Megs?’ Sasha gasped, covering her mouth like a naughty child.
Megan’s jaw dropped and she eyed Kat in shock. How could her sister have said that? And in front of Ryan? ‘I . . . I . . . No, but, I . . .’
Kat nodded, pursing her lips tightly together. ‘Not so loud-mouthy now, are you?’
‘But, I . . .’ Megan looked helplessly at her mother. How could she use the ‘Mom wanted her to dress up so they could go to a nice restaurant’ excuse with her mother standing right there, able to deny her claim? She felt the eyes of her family on her, of Ryan, as they waited for her to speak.
Her mind raced with panicked thoughts. Omigod, Ryan will think I wanted him to be here. That I was excited to be with him. Hurry, think of something quick.
‘Megan?’ Ryan whispered softly. Or did she just imagine she’d heard his voice over the ending threads of the song. Her heart was pounding and everyone was staring at her. Even her father’s face appeared on the other side of the window, his figure outlined by the soft firelight inside the living room’s fireplace.
‘Yeah, well,’ Megan pointed at Kat through the sudden silence. ‘Kat’s pregnant! With a baby!’
Another song began, but Megan couldn’t process what it was over the soft almost whining melody. Stunned, she watched as her world seemed to spin and slow. Each expression was etched on her mind as she looked from face to face.
Kat gasped. ‘Megan!’
‘Butterfly?’ Vincent made a weak noise of hesitant excitement. ‘Kat, is it true? A baby?’
‘Yippee!’ Beatrice yelled, jumping up and down like a maniac. ‘Kat, sweetheart. Oh, I have to tell someone. Douglas, Douglas!’ Their mother ran into the cabin. ‘Douglas, hurry, I need to use the phone. I have to call someone.’
The deck exploded into a sea of chaos as everyone started talking at once.
‘Megan!’ Kat screeched.
‘Oh, butterfly, is it true?’ Vincent asked, pulling Kat to his chest with a happy smile. Her face became muffled in his chest and her hands lifted to weakly pat his arms as he rocked her back and forth.
‘Congratulations,’ Ryan said, going to shake Vincent’s hand. ‘This is wonderful news. I know you’ll both be wonderful parents.’
‘Damn it, Megan,’ Kat said. ‘How could you tell?’
‘Congrats, sis! I can’t believe I’m going to be an aunt.’ The music inside had stopped with the commotion, but Sasha did a little happy dance anyway.
‘Butterfly, what’s wrong? Don’t you want to have my baby?’ Vincent looked hurt.
‘No, yes, but yes, of course I want to have your baby,’ Kat assured him, torn between glaring at Megan and trying to comfort her worried husband.
Megan swallowed. She couldn’t believe she’d said that. Shaking, she didn’t move from her spot as she stared at Kat.
‘I need to speak with my daughter,’ Beatrice yelled into the phone so loud her voice carried outside. ‘I don’t care if she doesn’t have phone privileges. I don’t care if you are the US Navy, I’m her mother. I didn’t spend fifty hours in labour to be told by you I can’t talk to my daughter. This is a family emergency. Her name is Ella Matthews.’
‘Kat,’ Megan finally managed. ‘Oh, Kat.’
‘Megan, how did you even know?’ Kat stepped towards her.
‘I saw the pregnancy test this morning in the . . .’ Megan motioned weakly in the direction of the upstairs bedrooms. ‘Ryan was in our bathroom, so I . . . It was in the trash.’
‘Always playing the detective, aren’t you?’ Kat whispered, her eyes wide. ‘How could you tell them?’
Mortified by what she’d done, especially in light of Kat’s expression, Megan wasn’t sure what to do – a feeling she wasn’t too familiar with having. Kat’s anger, Megan could have handled, but the look of complete shock and utter disbelief was worse. Her sister looked as if she’d been betrayed and that betrayal was a light Megan had never seen in Kat’s eyes.
‘Kat . . .’ Megan tried to think of the right words.
‘It was
my
secret to tell,’ Kat said, so soft the others couldn’t hear.
Her sister turned her back on them and that’s when Megan realised the seconds had been drawn out, seeming longer than they had been as her guilt swam inside her. Vincent looked mildly worried, but the others didn’t seem to have a clue what was happening between Kat and Megan. There was more than what was being said in words. Kat was pissed off and doing her damnedest not to show it in front of everyone else.
Shaking her head, Kat forced a smile to her face as Vincent walked with her inside. Her expression was strained as Megan watched her through the window. Vincent shook Douglas’s hand excitedly. Sasha ran to open another bottle of wine. Beatrice continued arguing with whoever was on the other end of her phone call to Ella.
‘Huh,’ Ryan said softly. Megan turned to him, stunned to find him still with her on the balcony. He lifted Kat’s wineglass. ‘Cranberry juice.’
‘She wouldn’t drink, not with the baby.’ Megan turned back to the window, watching the scene inside. Her pregnant sister didn’t look at her. ‘Not Kat. She’d never harm another soul. It’s not in her. She’s not like me. She’s sweet.’