Megan's Hero (The Callahans of Texas Book #3): A Novel (8 page)

“That’s how we lured her to Callahan Crossing,” said Jenna. “She came to set up the museum, and Chance convinced her to stay.”

“And I’m very glad I did. I don’t miss the city one bit.”

Sue drove slowly past the lovely old home. “I’m so thankful this part of town wasn’t hit by the fire.”

“I saw that on the news,” said Megan. “It looked terrible.”

“It was. But we’re coming back. Sixty homes have been rebuilt, and more are under construction. Chance’s company has done about half of them. Out-of-town companies have built some, and church groups from all over Texas have provided material and labor for others. If you aren’t too tired after we stop at the grocery store, we’ll make a loop through the part of town that was hit.” She made another turn and immediately pulled into the Miller’s Grocery parking lot. “Do you feel like going in? Or do you want us to just pick up your iron pills?”

“I’d like to go in. It will be nice to move around. I got a little bored walking up and down the hall.” Megan wasn’t about to let them buy the pills. Unless they cost more than she had.

Inside the store, Jenna grabbed a cart and went with Megan to the pharmacy section. Sue and Emily also took carts and split up to do their shopping. Megan found that comforting. Will had mentioned a housekeeper, so she’d expected his mother to leave that chore to the hired help.

“Is there anything else you need?” asked Jenna. “Maybe something that was blown away? I’d be glad to pick it up for you.”

“No, thanks. I’m good. I just need the iron pills and a hair pick. Mine was sucked out of my purse.”

“I have one at home you can have. I tried a curly perm last summer, but I didn’t like it all that well. Nate didn’t either, though he was kind enough not to tell me until after it had grown out.” Jenna made a face. “But Zach thought it looked funny, like a clown’s hair, and he let me know right away.”

“Who’s Zach?” Megan put the bottle of supplements the doctor had recommended in the small top basket of the cart.

“Our little boy. He’s three and a half, but even last year he talked a lot and didn’t hold back his opinions.”

“I don’t know any toddlers who do.” Not that she was well acquainted with many little kids. There had been a couple in her apartment building and one of her clients had a two-year-old. “I don’t think tact is an inborn trait.”

“There are a few in my three- and four-year-old Sunday school class that make me wonder on occasion, but I think mostly they’re just shy. They don’t blurt out what they’re thinking like some of the other children, but if it’s one-on-one, they say whatever comes to mind.”

They moved around to the next aisle past the shampoo and stopped in front of the display of brushes, combs, and other hair accessories. There were two styles of hair picks. Either would cost almost four dollars with tax, making it a luxury she really couldn’t afford.

I hate this!
Megan glanced at Jenna’s smooth, layered hairstyle. “If you’re sure you don’t need the one you have at home, I’ll go with it.”

“It’s yours. I need to get some Goldfish for Zach and taco chips and salsa for Nate.” Jenna nodded to her left. “They’re over a few aisles. I have to get a big box of crackers and a couple of bags of chips because they’ll wind up sharing both. I’ve never seen two guys have as much fun eating a snack together.”

There were several people in the snack aisle, including one of Jenna’s friends, a young woman about the same age. “Lindsey, this is our friend Megan Smith from Austin.”

Lindsey glanced at the bruises on Megan’s arms, shifted slightly, putting her back to the others in the aisle, and mouthed “tornado?”

Jenna nodded. “Megan, this is Lindsey Moore, one of my best friends. You’ll see a lot of her. Her fiancé, Dalton Renfro, has been living on the ranch while he rebuilt the home he lost in the fire.”

Megan and Lindsey exchanged greetings, even as Megan considered the way Jenna had introduced her. She hadn’t missed the fact that a couple of other women had moved nearer as soon as Lindsey stopped to talk to Jenna. Under the guise of deciding between potato chips and cheese puffs, they were obviously eavesdropping. She wondered if, like Lindsey, they’d heard about what had happened to her. Or maybe people in this small town wanted to know everything about the Callahans.

Megan appreciated Jenna’s discretion in simply calling her a friend, though she used it in the loosest sense of the word. Mentioning Austin gave the busybodies a snippet of info so they would conclude that she was visiting the Callahans without really saying so.

“Is Dalton still moving tomorrow?” asked Jenna.

“Yes. He and Chance are doing the final walk-through this afternoon, but Dalton has already checked everything.” Lindsey smiled proudly. “Since he basically built the first house himself, he knows what problems to look for.”

“Chance and his crew don’t make many mistakes.”

“The only things he’s found were a few nicks in the paint and one missing outlet cover.”

“I know he’ll be glad to get back to his own place, but we’ve enjoyed having him at the ranch.” Jenna looked at Megan. “He was in the same class as Chance and Nate. They’ve been good friends forever.”

Megan wondered if he was Peg Renfro’s son but decided to wait and ask Jenna later. No sense bringing up the hospital in front of the other women. One of them was already leaning around Lindsey, trying to get a better look at her. “When is your wedding?”

“June eighteenth. Less than a month away.”

Jenna laughed. “Barely.”

“Okay, only two days less, but now I can start saying weeks instead of months. So far everything has fallen into place, except Dalton won’t tell me where we’re going on the honeymoon. He wants it to be a surprise.” She giggled and leaned a little closer to Jenna and Megan, lowering her voice. “He just said to bring my swimsuit, suntan lotion, and a light jacket.”

“Maybe a cruise?”

“I hope not. He knows that doesn’t appeal to me. Every week he drops another hint, mainly what I should take. I might have it figured out by the wedding. I’d better run so I can take my groceries home and get back to the bank. It’s nice to meet you, Megan.”

“You too.” Megan scooted the cart over so another lady could move past. There really was enough room, but the woman was looking for something on the shelves and not paying a lot of attention to where she was going.

They picked up the chips and salsa then went down the cracker aisle for the biggest box of Goldfish in the store. “Is Dalton Peg Renfro’s son?”

“Yes. Was she your nurse?”

“In the ER. I really like her.”

“We do too. I don’t have any experience with her as a nurse, but I hear she’s good.”

“She was with me. Kind but no nonsense. I like that.”

Next came a bag of Dove chocolates, a package of oatmeal cookies, and one of chocolate chip cookies from the bakery. “I’d better pick up some healthy food too, or this will be totally classified as a junk food run. Nate and I both have a sweet tooth. I do a lot of my own baking, so I can cut down on the fat and sugar a bit, but I don’t always have the time.”

“I’m guessing you both work hard enough that you burn up the calories.”

“We do. I may have to be more careful when Zach gets bigger, but he keeps me hopping now. Is there anything special you want while we’re here in the bakery? I’m being sorely tempted by one of those doughnuts with chocolate icing.”

Megan’s mouth watered as she surveyed the display case. “They do look good.”

“Then let’s indulge. I’ll get some for Mom and Emily too.”

Megan nodded. She really should offer to buy them or at least her own, but that would be foolishness. She figured Jenna knew it. Besides, the doctor said she needed to gain some weight.

Jenna bagged up the treats and grinned at Megan when she set them in the cart. “We’ll pick up some of those little cartons of milk to go with them.”

They found Sue and Emily in line at the checkout. When Jenna told them about the doughnuts, Emily ran back to the bakery for an assortment so they could take them to Chance and his construction crew.

Soon they were driving through the part of town ravaged by the wildfire eighteen months earlier. Most blocks contained at least one or two new homes. A few blocks were almost filled with new houses.

There were dozens of empty lots with bare dirt and weeds. On some, concrete or paved driveways indicated that a house had once been there. It was hard to tell on others if they had ever been occupied. The handful that held FEMA trailers often had a house in some stage of construction beside them, sometimes with a crew working. There were still some large trees scattered about, their trunks blackened but the limbs full of summer leaves.

Sue explained that they’d lost ninety-eight homes in town and two in the country, including their friend Dalton’s. Several businesses and other buildings, along with the cotton gin, also burned or were so badly damaged they had to be torn down.

“It started southwest of town. The firefighters couldn’t establish a fire line until that night. Dub and the boys are members of our volunteer fire department and were right in the thick of it. Until the wind died down, all they could do was make sure everyone was evacuated. It was heartbreaking for them to have to let so many homes and businesses burn.”

“That must have been frightening for you.” Megan had followed the news reports on TV. She couldn’t imagine having someone she cared about fighting the monster blaze, much less practically your whole family.

“It was. I prayed constantly and tried not to look scared because of Zach. Jenna was in town when it first hit, and Zach was home with me, so it was even more important to try to make things seem normal until she got home.” She slowed the car as they approached a busy construction site.

As Sue parked across the street out of the way, Megan watched two men put up sheeting on the sides of the roofed and framed house. She’d worked with a builder in Austin, a small contractor who built one thing at a time. This crew worked well together, no effort wasted. Unlike most of the other new homes, this was a two-story.

She shifted her attention to the tall, muscular, dark-haired man standing in front of a pickup, a set of plans spread out on the hood. When he spotted Sue’s car, a wide grin lit his face, and he rolled up the drawings. Even if she hadn’t seen him at the wreck the day before, he resembled Will enough that she would have known they were brothers.

They got out of the car, and a pickup pulled up behind them. Megan was surprised to see Nate. She turned to Jenna with a bemused smile. “Does your husband have a built-in radar for sweets?”

Jenna laughed. “Not quite. He was in town, so I sent him a text that we had goodies and were stopping by the job site.” Will came zipping around the corner, parked behind Nate, and hopped out of his truck. “Looks like he passed on the message.”

Chance walked up, gave Emily a quick kiss, and greeted everyone. “Party time.”

“The word got out,” Nate said with a grin as he and Will joined them. He slipped his arm around Jenna’s waist and gave her a squeeze. “You know we never turn down an opportunity for food and the company of pretty ladies.”

Chance turned to Megan. “I’m Chance. Nice to finally meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too. Thank you for searching high and low for my belongings yesterday. Thank you too, Nate. It’s wonderful to have clean clothes.”

Will took a step closer, drawing her gaze. “They suit you better than mud. You clean up good, Miz Smith,” he drawled, a glint of admiration in his eyes.

“Thanks. I agree, mud isn’t my style.” She was glad she’d taken the time to put on makeup.

When Jenna handed Chance the big box of doughnuts, he hollered at his crew to take a break. Then she gathered up the smaller bag of chocolate ones and the milk for the ladies. “Sorry, guys, we didn’t buy drinks for everyone.”

“There’s a case of water in the back of my truck if anybody wants some,” said Chance. He set the doughnut box on a stack of lumber.

Will fell in step beside Megan as they moved toward the house. “How are you feeling?”

“Pretty good. I have some sore spots but nothing too bad. They’ll be gone in a day or two.”

“Did you find the pills Cindy wanted you to get?”

“Yes. They had them at the grocery store like she said.” As they maneuvered around a pile of scrap lumber, Will cupped her elbow. She enjoyed his gentle touch, but at the same time she was a little annoyed that Mr. Macho thought she wasn’t capable of dodging broken boards. “I’m okay. I worked with a builder so I’m used to walking around job sites.”

“Were you pregnant then?” They were on clear ground, and he dropped his hand.

“No, but what does that have to do with it?”

His smile held a trace of mischief. “Center of gravity? Seeing where you put your feet?”

Megan stopped, rested her hands on her hips, and attempted to glare at him. Not easy to do when she was about to laugh. “I’m not that big!”

“No, you aren’t. But can you see your feet?”

She looked down. No feet. Just a round stomach in a loose top. She burst out laughing and held out one foot. “I can still see when I take a step.”

“Yeah, but I made you laugh.” He lowered his voice and leaned slightly toward her. “And that’s a sweet sound.”

Oh, he was a charmer, but in an endearing way. “There you go, being Mr. Nice Guy again.”

He just grinned. “We’d better grab a doughnut before the guys eat them all.”

“Not a problem for me. Jenna bought us ladies some of our own. I’m going to enjoy every bite.”

A little later, as she was licking the last bit of chocolate off her fingers, she looked up and caught Will watching her. His tender expression took her breath away. He nodded toward the big box of sweets. “There are still some left. Help yourself.”

“Thanks, but I’m good. Don’t want a sugar overload.” She glanced around to see if anyone was watching them. Thankfully, they were busy chatting with the carpenters.

Maybe she was just paranoid, but she didn’t think a wealthy mama would be too keen on her son looking at her that way. Even nice rich people had expectations for their children, and they didn’t include getting involved with poor white trash.

She’d worked hard to rise above that stigma, but it clung to her like stink on a skunk. No matter what she did, she still came from a long line of crooks and drunks. People who looked for what they deemed an easy buck and who seldom did an honest day’s work. If the Callahans learned of her background, they’d think she was just like her mother’s family and out to get whatever she could.