Branded for You (3 page)

Ryan and Megan walked outside of the cool exhibit hall and into the bright sunshine. They were closer now to the carnival side of the fairgrounds and the music was much louder. The yellow grass was worn down from hundreds of people trampling it.

“Up for a ride on the Ferris wheel?” Ryan asked as they came to a stop.

She shook her head. “I’m scared to death of them. Anything but that.”

“All right.” The corner of his mouth quirked. “I take that to mean you don’t mind going on other rides.”

She returned his smile. “Well, maybe not anything.”

Chapter 3

Megan and Ryan walked through the gate and into the melee of the carnival. As they strolled down the midway, brilliant colors, flashing lights, the shouts of carnies, and the clang and bang of games assaulted her senses. The crowd jostled them and it was almost too loud for them to hear each other talk.

Ryan took her by the hand, catching her off guard, and drew her out of the crowd. His hand was big and warm around hers as they came to a stop in front of the milk bottle game. To either side and across the top of the yellow and red striped awning hung stuffed brown monkeys and black gorillas of all sizes. The largest was a gorilla holding a half-peeled banana.

“Want to knock down a few bottles?” Ryan asked as he let Megan’s hand slip from his.

“Sure.” She smiled as she found herself wishing he were still holding her hand.

He dug in his pocket and pulled out a couple of ones and gave them to the carnie manning the game. The young man handed Ryan three balls.

“You first.” Ryan gave one ball to Megan.

She took it, feeling a little self-conscious as she threw the ball. She missed the three metal milk bottles by a good six inches.

He smiled. “Give it another try.”

She took another ball from Ryan and shook her head. “I never said I knew how to throw.”

This time the ball brushed by one of the bottles, causing it to rock, but not enough to knock any of them down. She threw the third ball and missed the bottles entirely once again.

“Good try.” Ryan handed the carnie more cash, and the young man in turn gave Ryan another three balls.

He set the balls on the wood barrier in front of them, then took one of the balls and pitched it hard at the milk bottles. The bottles scattered and she grinned up at him. He pitched the next two balls and nailed two more stacks of bottles, winning a small prize.

Instead of taking the prize, Ryan paid for more balls. He never missed and kept upgrading his prizes until he’d won the biggest prize, the huge gorilla with the banana. Megan hadn’t realized a crowd had gathered until the people started applauding and congratulating Ryan.

The carnie took the gorilla down and gave the enormous stuffed animal to Ryan who in turn handed it to Megan.

She laughed as she embraced the gorilla. “No one has ever won a stuffed animal for me before.”

 “I’ll carry it for you.” Ryan took the gorilla from her and held it under one arm.

“You must have been on your high school baseball team,” she said as they moved past a crowded shooting gallery.

He gave a nod. “I was an outfielder.”

“Baseball is one sport I actually like.” She sidestepped an empty popcorn carton. “My favorite team has been the San Francisco Giants ever since I was a little girl and we saw a game when we visited the city.”

“The Diamondbacks are my team,” Ryan said. “I’m also a Dodgers fan from way back, before Arizona had a team.”

“Looks like we’ve got a little competition already between us.” She gave him a teasing look. “Considering both the Giants and the Diamondbacks are fighting for first place in the National League.”

“We’ll have to come up with a good wager,” he said.

She raised her brows. “Now that’s thinking ahead. The playoffs are almost a month from now and we’ve just met.”

He shrugged. “I have a good feeling about you. My feelings are rarely wrong.”

A tingling sensation went through her belly at the fact that he was thinking that far ahead and she’d just met him, and she couldn’t think of anything to say.

He saved her by asking, “How about something to eat?”

In all of the fun spending time with Ryan, she’d forgotten she was hungry. “That sounds great.”

He bought them corndogs and sodas, and a churro each. They continued talking as they walked and it wasn’t long before the food was gone. When they finished, he bought a cone of cotton candy. “No fair is complete without cotton candy,” he said as he pulled at some of the pink and blue sticky stuff.

“What about siblings?” she asked.

He put it in his mouth. “Four brothers.” Ryan crouched as a little boy ran straight toward him. “And a whole lot of cousins,” he added before he caught the boy by the shoulders. “Hold on, pardner. Where’s your mama?”

“Matt, I told you to stay with me.” A pretty redheaded woman scooped the boy up into her arms. “Thank you, Ryan.”

“Giving your mama a hard time?” Ryan straightened and tugged on the little boy’s earlobe and the boy shook his head. To the woman Ryan said, “Carrie, this is Megan Wilder.” He turned to Megan. “The ornery boy’s mama is my cousin, Carrie Parks.”

“Hi.” Megan gave Carrie a smile.

The woman returned the smile. “Great to meet you.” She turned to Ryan. “I’ve got to run. Jack has Cindy and they’ve been waiting for us by one of the ticket booths. Matt busted loose before we could get to them. I was afraid he’d manage to get lost in the middle of the crowd before I could stop him.”

“We’ll have to play ball sometime.” Ryan ruffled Matt’s hair before he looked up at the boy’s mom. “See you around, Carrie.”

As Carrie carried Matt away and vanished in the midst of the crowded carnival, Ryan and Megan continued walking along the midway to the closest ticket booth. He went up to the little window and purchased a handful of tickets from the carnie.

“Sure you don’t want to go on the Ferris wheel?” Ryan said with a grin as he turned back to her.

Megan gave a big nod. “Absolutely positive.”

“How about the Zipper?” He pointed toward the huge oblong ride that turned and had baskets spinning all around it and people screaming with both laughter and terror. Amusement was in his gaze.

“Are you crazy?” She shook her head. “Nuh-uh. Nothing that turns upside down.”

“The Tilt-a-Whirl.” They stopped by the red spinning seats that looked like giant apples that went around in a big circle.

She bit the inside of her lip for a moment. “Okay. That one looks safe enough.”

He took her hand and tugged her toward the ride. “Let’s go.”

They waited in line and he settled his arm around her shoulders. “Don’t look so nervous.”

“Ha.” She met his gaze. “What if I throw up on you?”

“Lots of babies in the family so I’m used to it.” He gave her a grin then nodded in the direction of two dunking booths. “If you do, we’ll just have to get a little wet.”

She laughed as she saw someone getting dunked. “Now that could be fun.”

When it was their turn to get on the ride, they climbed into one of the huge apple-shaped seats and strapped in. There was a wheel in front of them.

“That makes it spin, doesn’t it,” she said dubiously.

“Yep.” He grasped it. “Think you can handle it?”

“We’ll find out.” She held onto the wheel, too.

The ride started moving and Megan gasped as the apple started turning and gliding up and down. Ryan turned the wheel and the apple began spinning.

Megan squealed with laughter as she was thrown against Ryan from the force of the movement. Then he was sliding over her way, pinning her against the side of the apple. Back and forth they slid into each other and she found herself giggling so hard she was out of breath by the time the ride ended.

They climbed out of the ride when the apple came to a stop and she was a little wobbly on her feet. He took her hand and they walked down the steps to the gate that led outside of the ride’s barrier.

Instead of another ride, they went through the House of Horrors. She couldn’t help crying out the first time a creature jumped out and startled her, but then she found herself laughing with Ryan at the spook house’s corny special effects.

Daylight waned and the carnival lights lit up the night. They headed away from the midway.

“There’s a country western dance here at the fairgrounds tomorrow tonight,” Ryan said as they walked toward the parking lot. “I’d like to take you.”

They came to a stop beside her Toyota and she looked up at him. He was handsome in a sexy, hardworking cowboy kind of way. She’d enjoyed spending the afternoon and part of the evening with him, enjoyed it a lot.

She smiled. “I’d like that.”

“Why don’t I pick you up at seven for dinner?” he said. “I’ll take you out for Mexican food and then the dance.”

“I’ll meet you there,” she hurried to say. She wasn’t ready to introduce him to her family. “Which restaurant?”

“Maria’s,” he said. “No better Mexican food in the southwest,” he said.

She was glad he didn’t pressure her to let him pick her up. “I’ll be there at seven.”

“All right,” he said with a smile. “Are you sure you don’t want me to pick you up?”

She nodded. “I have some things to take care of before dinner.”

His voice was softer as he stepped in closer. “I’d like to kiss you good night, Megan.”

Her belly flip-flopped. The way he was looking at her made her feel as if she was one of the hottest, sexiest women on earth.

She met his gaze, her breath coming faster and her throat suddenly dry. “I’d like that,” she whispered.

He lowered his head, his mouth hovering over hers for a moment. Her heart rate picked up as he brushed his lips over hers. He pressed his mouth against hers and kissed her.

It was a slow, sensual kiss as his mouth moved over hers. When he drew away she wanted to grab him by the collar and yank him back toward her for a much longer kiss.

He brushed his thumb across her cheek. “What’s your phone number?”

“I don’t have any paper,” she said.

He brushed a strand of hair from her face. “I’ll remember it.”

She had a hard time speaking but managed to stammer out her cell phone number.

“I’ll see you tomorrow night,” he said.

She nodded, having a hard time coming up with anything to say.

He waited until she was safely in her car and had started the vehicle before he walked away into the night.

Chapter 4

Megan shut the front door behind her with a solid thump as she entered her parents’ home. She set down the stuffed gorilla that Ryan had won for her at the fair and smiled as she stroked its fur. What a fun day she’d had with the tall, dark, and handsome cowboy.

And he’d asked her out for tomorrow night. A sense of giddiness and excitement made her steps light as she turned and walked in the direction of the kitchen. It wasn’t quite nine yet and she wondered if her parents were still up. Megan had considered changing her name back to Dyson from her married name, Wilder, but hadn’t made the decision yet. She wanted to talk to her parents about it.

She heard her father’s angry voice coming from the kitchen. “Got another notice in the mail.”

Megan frowned as she entered and saw both her parents looking upset.

Her mother, Margaret Dyson, was a tall, slender, striking woman who often reminded Megan of a TV mother from the fifties who always wore blouses, skirts, and heels. At least she didn’t wear pearls, too.

Margaret carried a chocolate Bundt cake to the table. The kitchen smelled of warm cake that made Megan’s mouth water.

“Wasn’t his coming by the restaurant today enough?” Margaret was saying. “What does the notice say?”

Paul Dyson, a balding man, stared at the folded paper he was holding and adjusted his glasses. “It says exactly what he told us. If we don’t make the payment by the next week, he’s going to start foreclosure proceedings.”

Margaret’s lips tightened as she set the cake on the table. “It’s not right. Not right at all.”

“Foreclosure?” Megan said with surprise. “Is everything all right?”

Margaret glanced at the kitchen doorway and saw Megan. “Have some cake, Megan.”

“I ate at the fair,” Megan said.

“You should watch what you eat, anyway.” Margaret looked disapprovingly at Megan. “You’ll never catch and keep a decent man if you don’t slim down. That Bart Wilder was not a decent man.”

The back of Megan’s neck burned. Her mother’s remarks had always hurt, but it was the way she’d been as long as Megan could remember. Her father could be just as cutting in his own way, so it hadn’t been easy growing up in the Dyson household. She was looking forward to moving back out on her own

“Margaret, it’s too soon after her divorce for Megan to be looking for a man.” Paul glanced at Megan. “God is not pleased when a man and woman are married before Him and they so lightly tear apart the sanctity of the union.”

Even though she wanted to defend herself, Megan chose to ignore the remarks, pulled a chair up to the table, and sat near her father. “What’s going on?”

Margaret set out two plates and forks on the table as Paul clenched the letter tighter. “A balloon payment is past due on the house,” he said. “The owner won’t work with us and we don’t have the cash. Everything we have is sunk into the restaurant.”

Megan’s jaw dropped. “You could lose the house?”

“Yes,” Margaret said as she started slicing into the cake.

Paul’s skin had taken on a ruddy hue and he rubbed his chest, appearing agitated. “We’ve asked the owner to work with us but he’s refused and is insisting on the whole amount.”

Megan squeezed her hand shut on the tabletop. “How much is it?”

Paul’s expression turned pained. “Twenty-five thousand,” he said and Megan sucked in her breath.

“Everything that we didn’t put into the restaurant we lost in the stock market,” Margaret said. “We have nothing but the restaurant now and it’s not bringing in enough.”

Megan let out her breath. “I wish I had the money to help. With the economy being so bad I used up most of my savings over the past couple of years. What I had left is pretty much gone after the move here.”