Page 119 of Now That It's You
“Sounds good,” Meg said. “I just need a few minutes to regroup.”
Kate glanced at Amy, probably thinking Meg needed a helluva lot more than a few minutes to salvage this lame attempt at television stardom. “Try taking a few long breaths,” Kate suggested as she turned back to Meg.
“Or a shot of vodka,” Amy said helpfully.
Kate tipped her head toward the studio cabinets. “There’s a bottle right above the sink. You didn’t hear that from me.”
“Thanks.” Meg watched them walk off the stage. Releasing a breath, she wiped her sweaty palms down the front of her apron.
The makeup artists and light crew all dispersed in opposite directions, probably to snicker about her behind her back. Even the cameraman vanished, leaving his equipment set up near the front of the stage. Meg couldn’t blame them. If she didn’t feel like crying, she’d probably laugh at herself, too.
A commotion near the door of the empty auditorium caught Meg’s attention, and she squinted against the bright lights of the studio.
“I just need to talk to her,” someone was saying. “It will only take a few minutes.”
Kyle?
“Sir, you can’t go in there. Sir! They’re in the middle of taping.”
Meg turned to see him rushing toward the stage. His hair was disheveled and his green plaid shirt looked like he’d used it to dust the dashboard of his truck. His eyes were wild and his jaw was unshaven and he was the best damn thing she’d ever seen in her life.
“Meg,” he said, and she clutched the edge of the faux granite counter to keep from doing something dumb like reaching for him.
“Kyle.”
Good. She’d gotten that syllable out. Now what?
Kyle ran his hands through his hair as he looked around. “The attendant out front said you were on a break. You’ve been avoiding my calls all week, and obviously I haven’t been able to catch you at home.”
“I’ve been staying with my mom.” And she’d blocked his number on her phone, though it didn’t feel right to say that out loud.
She’d needed some space. Some time to sort through her thoughts. But seeing him now felt like cool water washing through her core.
“She needed company,” Meg said. “My mom, I mean. My dad’s been moving all his stuff out, so she needed moral support. I took Floyd to their place to keep Mom company.”
“That’s kind of you.” Kyle raked a hand through his hair. “Please, can I just have five minutes?”
Meg glanced around, waiting for someone to argue, but everyone had vanished. Even the security crew that had given him chase at first. It was just the two of them, for the first time since that night in her living room.
Meg swallowed, remembering his words in her ears. I never stopped loving you, Meg.
Even now?
“I just got off the phone with my mom,” he said. “She said she got the first check from the publisher and she told me the amount. I can’t even—” he raked his hands through his hair. “Did you have any idea how much money you’d agreed to give up?”
She nodded and gripped the edge of the soufflé bowl with both hands. “It was never about the money, Kyle.”
“I know that. It was about respecting your career and you as an artist.”
She nodded, taken aback by how quickly he understood. “That’s right.”
“But for me, it was about loyalty to family. To the brother I stabbed in the back. I know the split with Matt hurt you, too, but it was different for him.”
“Your mother told me,” Meg said softly. “About what Matt went through after the breakup. I landed on my feet, and Matt didn’t.”
His eyes went wide for an instant, and he didn’t say anything. He nodded once, his face still frozen in a look of shock and dismay.
“It’s okay,” she said. “You don’t have to tell me about it. I understand, though. About your loyalty to Matt. About why you felt like you owed it to him to have his back.”
