Her cell phone rang again, and she turned it off with one hand.
She realized after a moment that she could always go to the little house in Coral Gables. She had the lease until the end of the month, and some of her furniture and belongings were still in the house.
Her mind made up she turned the car west.
A short time later, when she reached her former home, she let herself in kicked off her sandals and turned her phone back on.
The screen on her cell flashed information on several missed calls from Stephen. Cynically, she wondered what explanation he'd come up with this time.
Then she searched for and found Anna’s number. When her sister-in-law picked up. she said. "Anna, it's Megan."
"Hi! I was just about to go get Jade—"
"Listen, would you mind keeping her until tomorrow?"
"Of course I don't mind." Anna responded. "Well just run by the Garrison Grand on the way home and pick up some stuff for her from your suite."
Like Stephen. Megan knew. Parker and Anna maintained a suite at the Garrison Grand for personal use.
"Thanks." Megan said, relief making her relax. "I left some clothes over there when Jade got a tour of her father’s hotel."
The father who had just proved once again he was a lying, cheating, untrustworthy rat.
"You and Stephen want the evening to yourselves, hmm?" Anna asked teasingly.
"Something like that." Megan heard her voice wobble. "Just tell Jade I love her and I’ll see her tomorrow."
"Is something wrong?" Anna asked, her voice suddenly tinged with worry. "You sound a little strange."
Sudden, unexpected tears clogged her throat. Damn it. Shed thought she had this under control.
"Everything's fine." she managed. "See you tomorrow."
After disconnecting, she looked around.
She was beginning to rethink her idea of staying in Coral Gables tonight. It might not be the first place Stephen thought to look for her but it might occur to him if he reflected on it a bit.
With that thought, she strode purposely into her former bedroom and gathered up some clothes. She packed an ancient overnight bag.
She needed to ponder what to do she thought, feeling sick to her stomach. This time, it would be hard for her to cut and run. She and Stephen were married, and there was a three-year-old child involved.
She knew he'd come after her—because of Jade, of course.
She couldn't believe she'd opened her heart to him again. The jerk.
She swung her overnight bag off the bed with more violence than necessary. The philandering snake.
This time, though, she decided her reaction would be different—not only because it had to be but because she wanted it to be.
She walked toward the front door.
She wasn't going to be a passive victim. She wasn't meekly going away.
Outside, she locked up the house, tossed her overnight bag into the car and got behind the wheel.
Jaw set she knew exactly where she was going. First steps first.
She was checking into one of the Garrison Grands rival hotels. It was just too bad the Hotel Victoria wasn't open yet.
Chapter Twelve
By the time Stephen got to the marinas parking lot. Megan was gone. Annoyed with himself for letting Tiffany slow him down, he whipped out his cell to try to reach Megan by phone.
When she didn't pick up then or on subsequent calls, he held out slim hope the reason was because she was driving. More likely, she'd drawn her own conclusions about the scenario that had apparently played out before her eyes.
He swore under his breath. He had to find her and fix this situation. He knew appearances were damning, but he had to convince her of the truth.
Just the thought she might walk away from him again made him nearly break out in a sweat.
He strode to his car which was parked nearby. He was willing to do this the hard way—by process of elimination.
First, he headed to the most likely place he'd find her—his estate near South beach.
When he didn't find her there, he grimly headed back out to his car. He decided to check his suite at the Garrison Grand next.
Before pulling out of his drive, however, he called Anna. It occurred to him Megan wouldn't do anything without making sure Jade was taken care of. Parker’s wife might therefore be able to give him some leads.
When his sister-in-law picked up. he said. "Hi. Anna. Is Jade with you?"
"Yes. she's right here. I just got back from picking her up."
At least he knew where Jade was. Stephen thought, some of his tension easing. "Is Megan there?"
There was a pause on the line, and he could practically see Anna frowning.
"I thought she was with you." his sister-in-law said.
"There's been a...misunderstanding. Has she tried to contact you?"
"As a matter of fact, she did—"
Stephen's hand tightened on the phone.
"—but she didn't say where she was. She asked if I could keep Jade until tomorrow. Of course I said it was okay. I just stopped by your suite at the Garrison Grand on the way home and picked up some clothes for Jade."
Damn. Still, now he knew Megan wasn't at the hotel.
"Thanks. Anna." he said. “I’lll be in touch. Give Jade a kiss for me."
"You know." Anna put in. "Megan said nearly the same thing when I talked to her. She wanted me to tell Jade she loved her."
At least Stephen thought, there was one thing he and his wife agreed on at the moment. They were united in their love and concern for Jade.
"Are you sure everything is all right?" Anna asked.
"It will be soon." Stephen assured her.
When he ended the call, he sat and gazed down his driveway for a moment.
Now he knew Megan wasn't at the Garrison Grand, he was at loose ends. He'd covered the most logical bases, and Megan wasn't answering her phone.
He squinted into the distance, then realized there was one place he hadn't tried yet.
After turning the key in the ignition, he pulled away from the house and headed to Coral Gables.
Megan woke up disoriented.
She was in a strange room. A hotel room.
Then the drama of the previous evening came rushing back, and along with it the queasy feeling there was no way to fix what was wrong with her life.
It was a feeling she’d had once before, when she’d found herself pregnant and alone, having realized the father of her child thought of her as nothing more than a fling.
Luckily, she’d found a hotel room yesterday. With the impending storm, there had been a number of last-minute cancellations of weekend reservations.