A Trusting Heart (11 page)

“How’s my beautiful, wonderful, perfect mother doing this evening? I hope you had a good time?” Trevor asked hopefully, praying that his mom had come through for him. After discussing the ins and outs of the dating scene with his mother over lunch, he had been sure that she felt comfortable going on a double date with him. He had flat out promised her there would be no emotional bonding and absolutely no physical contact between her and any date Megan could scratch up.

Cora smiled sympathetically at her son. He looked exactly like he had as a little boy right before he opened his birthday presents. So blissfully expectant. Boy was he in for a surprise.

“Yes, before you pop, you have a date this Saturday.”

Trevor laughed out loud with happiness and picked up his petite mother and whirled her around the yard, not caring what the neighbors were making of the spectacle.

“Trevor Riley, you put me down this instant! That’s not the only news I have for you. You can wipe that grin off your face because you have some serious competition to deal with.”

Trevor frowned and lowered his mother to the ground, feeling all of his triumph melt away. Competition? He crushed the competition in the business world. But, in his personal life, that was another matter all together.

Cora winced at the defeated look on her son’s face and took him by the hand as she had when he was a little boy and led him inside the house.

“Honey, you better sit down for this.”

Trevor’s shoulders slumped even further as he collapsed on his mother’s couch. He was ready for the worst.

Cora stood in front of her son, and looked him straight in the eyes.

“Sweetie, Dylan Carlisle is planning on divorcing his wife and picking things up with Megan where they left off eight years ago. But don’t feel too bad, you do have a date with her this Saturday.”

“Dylan! No, I can’t believe this,” Trevor shouted.

Cora patted her son on the shoulder before sitting down in her rocking chair. She told him everything Megan had related to her about the situation.

“I can’t stand that jerk. If you could have seen the way he treated her when they were together, you would know. And what did Megan say? Did you get the impression she was still in love with him?”

“Honestly? I really don’t know. I do know that she feels so guilty about what happened eight years ago, she may be willing to do almost anything to make it up to him. Don’t worry, though. She told me she was absolutely going to stay away from him while he’s still married to Taffie. She’s a good girl. But after the divorce is final, your guess is as good as mine. We’ve been taking things way too slow here, Trev. You’ve got to speed this up if you want your girl. If you ask me, you have approximately two months to get that ring on her finger. Dylan has a huge advantage. He has a past with her and he has her guilt. All you have is me.”

Trevor groaned before grabbing his cell phone. He pushed the button for Blaine and waited two seconds before the connection was made.

“Blaine. You’ve got a date Saturday night . . . No, this isn’t your bonus for the year, but if you impress everyone with how debonair you can be, I promise you that your bonus will be much larger than usual . . . Just meet me at my mom’s house and then we’ll all drive over together . . . Yeah, she has an Excursion . . . Oh, and see what you can pick up. My mom wants opera, but I’d rather go to a play. Check around.”

Trevor hung up the phone and caught his mother’s eye.

“If she doesn’t fall in love with me Saturday, then it’s going to be an uphill battle the whole way.”

Cora clicked her tongue and shook her head. Her son was in for an eye opener. Love wasn’t a business deal. It was a complete gamble.

“I couldn’t stand your father on our first date,” she informed him.

Trevor groaned again.

Sixteen

DO I LOOK ALL right, Meg?”

Megan turned around to see her sister standing in her bedroom doorway. Her shoulder-length brown hair was up in a twist with tendrils of hair framing her thin, expressive face. The dress was loose and flowing, hiding the fact that she needed to gain at least fifteen pounds. Her cheekbones stuck out about a mile, but her eyes were sparkling with excitement and anticipation. She looked radiant.

“Linette, you know you’re gorgeous. You’re not the problem here, I am. I seem to have forgotten how to apply eyeliner.”

Linette rolled her perfectly made-up eyes and walked over to join her sister in front of the mirror. She wiped the smudged eyeliner off expertly and grabbed the tube of liquid eyeliner instead. She applied it as if Megan were a canvas.

“There. Now you look better than me and my date will probably be staring at you all night.”

Megan tried not to blink as she let the liner dry, but couldn’t help sticking her tongue out.

“If anyone is caught staring at me, it’s usually because I have something in my teeth.”

“What a joke. Here I am, Art Deco standing next to the Mona Lisa. What are you complaining about? You’re beautiful; you always have been and you always will be.”

Megan frowned critically at her reflection in the mirror, not believing it for a second.

“Whatever. I’m the one Mom had to get the contacts for, bleach and perm my hair, and take to the tanning salon twice a week. Mom never tried to turn you into a Barbie doll. You already were one.”

The two sisters laughed at their reflections as Megan reached for a tube of cranberry lipstick. Linette’s mouth began to droop as her old and relentless insecurities reared up again in the form of memories.

“Mom just knew I was hopeless. Besides, I knew in my heart I would never have big hair like yours. There was no reason to try. You better hurry, though. Cora will be here with our dates in about fifteen minutes. I’ll bet you a million dollars she’s right on time.”

Megan smacked her lips and shook her head, making her hair fall more naturally. She would just have to do. She tilted her head to the side and really looked at herself. Was Linette right? Did she really look okay? She had gone from caring too much about her looks to not caring enough probably. It was only Linette’s artistic touch that had her looking so well. The results weren’t half bad if she did say so herself. And the green silk dress didn’t hurt either.
Thank you, Mom. Maybe you gave me two things; my life and this dress. Wait—three things. You gave me a great sister.

“All right, I’m ready. And as long as we’re betting, I’ll bet you she’s at least five minutes early.”

The two girls looked over at the clock and laughed as they heard the doorbell ring. Megan felt a little zing of adrenaline shoot through her system as she walked calmly towards her front door. It had been a long time since she had been nervous about a date. She just hoped Cora wasn’t going to be too disappointed when things didn’t work out. They never did.

Megan ushered Cora in and a young man she didn’t know.

She secretly hoped he was her date. He looked like a Greek sculpture she had seen once in a museum. His face had definitely been sculpted by a master. She caught herself staring so hard at the young man, she almost forgot about the other mystery man. As he stepped through the door, she felt her stomach drop to the floor.

“Trevor?”

Trevor smiled optimistically and held out his hand to shake hers. When she didn’t offer her own, he patted her left shoulder awkwardly instead.

“What are you doing here?” Megan demanded softly. Trevor cleared his throat, looking towards Cora, as if she could help him.

“I’m Cora’s son, Megan. I’m your date for the night.” Megan turned to have his statement verified by Cora. This was too much of a coincidence. This was too much, period.

“Is this your way of getting your five thousand dollar dance? You didn’t have to go through the charade of having your mother put her house up for sale. I can’t believe you did this. Don’t you have better things to do?”

Megan said the words to Trevor, but she was looking at Cora the whole time. She felt completely betrayed. She had believed Cora was her friend. Cora was nothing but a front for her son. How completely manipulative. How sick!

Cora walked uncertainly over to Megan’s side and laid a hand on her shoulder. “Megan, sweetie, don’t take it like this. We didn’t mean to hurt you. I just wanted to get to know you better. Everything is real. You are my realtor. My house is for sale and I am your friend. Trevor does happen to be my son and, yes, he does happen to be interested in you. Is that so wrong?”

Megan glanced at Linette for support, but wasn’t surprised to find her sister and her gorgeous date in a corner, talking quietly. If only she could switch dates.

“Fine. Let’s go,” Megan mumbled in exasperation.

She grabbed her purse and walked out the front door, leaving everyone else to follow. She was so furious, she could spit. Right at Trevor. The nerve of him. If he had liked her so much, then he should have asked her out in high school, for heaven’s sake. Even though she had been dating Dylan, he could have at least tried. Well, he had missed his chance. And to think of all the manipulating he had done to get here. It reminded her of her parents. Sick. Sick. Sick.

“Megan, maybe we should talk before we all go out?” Megan turned to see Trevor standing a few feet away from her, looking slightly ill. The last time she had seen him had been in a darkened ballroom. Outside in the light of day, he was even more handsome.

“Sorry, no time. We have to go pick up Drew, your mother’s date. He’s expecting us right about now, as a matter of fact.”

She didn’t add, but couldn’t help thinking, the sooner they left, the sooner she could get home. Trevor looked as if he could read her mind and turned a little greener.

The ride to Drew’s house was deathly quiet. Linette and her date, Blaine, had apparently caught on that something was very wrong and they kept silent. Drew was standing on the street curb with several red roses in his hand. All five of his kids peeking out the front window of his white colonial style house, grinning and waving. Megan’s face cracked into a smile as she saw that he’d had his hair cut and his suit looked as if it was freshly dry cleaned. Drew was obviously looking forward to tonight. Megan wished she were.

Drew climbed into the front seat next to Cora and smiled at everyone as introductions were made. Megan wished she and the other young people would disappear and leave Cora and Drew alone together. Drew deserved a wonderful night out, although she wasn’t sure he deserved Cora.

“These are for you, Cora. The first time I saw you, I knew red was your color.”

Cora turned an attractive shade of pink and reached over to take the roses. She looked them over carefully, smiling as she smelled them.

“You’re right. Thank you so much. I can’t remember the last time someone gave me roses.”

Everyone turned to stare at Trevor as his voice seemed to boom out from nowhere. “Sure you do, Mom. Wasn’t it when Dad found out you were pregnant with me?”

Megan gave Trevor a look that would have made most men wither. Trevor only looked slightly aggravated.

Drew’s smile lost some of its brightness as he turned to face Trevor.

“Your dad was a lucky man.”

Trevor grumbled something unintelligible and didn’t say another word as Cora drove to the restaurant she and Trevor had picked out for the evening. They had chosen La Caille, a very exclusive and very expensive French restaurant. Megan remembered having her wedding breakfast there. She and Linette exchanged queasy looks before following their dates inside. Eating here was going to bring back a lot of memories. She still remembered Dylan standing up and making a toast to her, while she had been composing her farewell letter to him in her mind.

The hostess showed them to their seats quickly, handing them each a menu. Megan made up her mind then and there: she was ordering anything and everything she wanted. She was going home with as many doggie bags as she could get out of him. Besides, he was a millionaire. He could handle it. Megan smiled savagely at the menu, planning what she would be eating for the next week. She and Linette would be eating in style tomorrow. And the next day. And the next.

Trevor felt his stomach flip-flop nervously and wondered if he was going to make it through dinner, let alone the play Blaine had picked out. He glanced at Megan to see if she still looked as coldly furious as she had ever since setting eyes on him. To his surprise, she looked like she was having fun. Maybe she had had a chance to think things through. Maybe she was even starting to see tonight as the romantic night he had planned it to be? Megan’s eyes passed over him for only a second, but the temperature change was immediate. She might be having fun thinking of dinner, but the only fun thing she wanted to do with him would probably include instruments of torture and death, probably.

“So, Blaine, what do you do for a living?”

Blaine looked away from Linette to focus on Megan’s question. He smiled charmingly at her and winked at Trevor.

“I guess you could say I’m Trevor’s slave. I’m at his beck and call night and day. Ain’t that right, boss?”

Trevor didn’t even have to look at Megan to gauge her reaction to Blaine’s teasing. He could already tell she believed Blaine’s outrageous statement. His mother was looking at Megan, however, and her expression looked hopelessly distraught.

“Remember that bonus we were talking about, Blaine? Why don’t you tell everyone here that you’re just kidding? We wouldn’t want anyone to take you seriously, would we?”

Blaine looked confused. “I wasn’t exactly kidding.”

Trevor stared furiously at Blaine, planning all the many ways he was going to make him suffer. After everything he had done for the ingrate!

“All right, slave, who sent you to Majorca last month, just because he felt like it?”

Blaine’s charming smile was swiftly back in place. “Did I say I minded being your slave?”

Linette and Drew laughed politely but still looked askance at him. This was a nightmare.

Megan chose Cora next. “So tell me, Cora, do you always orchestrate elaborate ways to get your son dates?”

Cora’s face turned white and she took a sip of water before looking at everyone at the table. Linette, Blaine, and Drew were looking at her expectantly, sensing the tension at the table. Megan’s tone had been pleasant, but her eyes looked as if she wanted to cry.