I frowned. “I had no idea. If there’s anything I can do to help June—”
“Meg’s moving home to help her mom out for awhile. June is planning on selling the house, so Meg plans to help her with that,” Lena let out in a rush as if she couldn’t say the words fast enough.
A gulf of silence stretched between us.
“Meg’s moving back to Southport?” I asked lamely. I tapped uselessly at the keyboard, not even seeing what I was typing.
“Yeah, she is. With Whit living in Paris, Meg is the closest. Mom offered for June to move in with her and dad, but you know June.”
“Stubborn as a mule,” I said, and Lena chuckled.
“Yeah. Apparently, June had a few choice words for Mom when she suggested it.”Pride meant a lot to the Galloways. Maybe too much.
“I’m sure she did.” Tap, tap, tap on the keyboard. “So…”
“So…” Lena peered at me closely. “She’s driving down from New York tomorrow.”
Tomorrow.
“Wow, that’s soon.” My throat felt dry. I lifted my coffee cup, but it was empty. Damn it.
“They’ve been going back and forth about it for a while. Meg wasn’t thrilled about the idea of coming back here, I guess.” Lena was chewing her lip again.
Meg had always been adamant about getting out. She felt Southport was too small, too confined. She didn’t feel the same sentimentality I did for our hometown. Meg had always been a force of nature. Southport couldn’t weather her storm.
“Well, I’m glad she’s helping her mom out.” It was all I could say. I wasn’t sure what Lena was expecting me to do. I didn’t want to think about Megor her coming back to Southport.
I started typing again. “Can you find the Cottrell file for me? I was trying to locate it last week, but it wasn’t in the filing cabinet.”
Lena didn’t budge. “When was the last time you spoke to Meg? It’s been years, right?”
I felt my jaw tense as I gritted my teeth hard enough to break a bone. Lena wasn’t cruel, but the question teetered on the edge of hateful. She knew exactly how long it had been since I spoke to Meghan.
“I hate you, Adam. I never want to see your face again!”
The echo of her voice pierced my brain like a thousand icepicks.
Even now, after all this time, the memory of her face that night twisted my guts.
I cleared my head and gave my sister a blank look. “I don’t really know. I haven’t kept track.”
Unlike my soon-to-be-ex-wife, I was a shitty liar.
And Lena wasn’t buying it. “Really? Didn’t you drive up to New York to see her after college? And what about at David’s funeral? I thought you would at least try to bury the hatchet then. What happened?”
I cleared my throat, finding it suddenly hard to swallow. “Nothing happened. I never spoke to her. It was hectic after the service, and I wasn’t able to touch base with her.”Touch base. As if she were a business colleague.“As for me driving to New York—yeah, I went up there for the weekend.” I cleared my throat. “But I never saw her.”
I wouldn’t tell Lena how I all but stalked Meg for the two days I was in town, trying to get up the nerve to talk to her. But I had pussied out. Not my finest hour.
Lena opened her mouth to speak again, but I cut her off. “I really need that Cottrell file. I’m wasting daylight here.” My cold tone shut down the conversation.
For once, my tenacious sister took the hint.
“Sure, I’ll go get it for you.” Her voice was disturbingly gentle as if I needed to be handled with kid gloves.
After she left, I stared at the computer screen but not seeing it.
Meghan Galloway was moving back to Southport.
Well, fuck.
Chapter 3
Meghan
“I can’t believe you’re leaving,” Damien complained, handing me the last bag. I shoved it into the tiny trunk of my Toyota Prius before slamming it shut.
I pulled a keyring from my pocket and handed it to my friend. “Here you go. Don’t forget the garbage disposal isn’t working, so don’t go pouring your Ramen down the sink.”
Damien rolled his eyes heavenward in exasperation. “I know. You’ve told me at least a dozen times.”
“And the bathroom fan only works if the light is on over the vanity. I don’t know why. The wiring is all messed up. Leon was supposed to have an electrician check it out three months ago, but surprise, surprise, he hasn’t gotten around to it. I’ll try and chase him down once I get settled, but you can always go and ask him about it.” I was babbling. My hand gripped the car door until my knuckles turned white. I needed to get on the road. But damn, I really didn’t want to.
Damien wrapped an arm around my shoulders, hugging me. “Meggie, darling, you’re not leaving me in charge of your infant. I think I can live in your apartment without burning the place down.” He fluttered his eyelashes. “Well, in theory.”