Linda Kay Silva - Delta Stevens 3 - Weathering the Storm (22 page)

“Outstanding,” Connie said, when Delta closed the car door. “You reeled him in like a pro. I could tell just by watching him. Hook, line, and proverbial sinker.”

Delta agreed. “We should be getting a call shortly. I don’t know where you got that membership card, but I think it saved the day.”

“No kidding.” Connie looked over at Delta, who writhed in her seat. “What are you doing?”

“Getting these damned nylons off,” Delta said as she wriggled and squirmed in her seat.

Connie jerked her head in the direction of a pick-up parked two cars away. “That’s not all you’re getting off.”

Looking up at the man in the truck, Delta cringed. “Yuck. That’s sick. Take me home so I can shower. I feel so...so...”

“Dirty?” Starting the engine, Connie laughed. “No desire to try the straight world? Just think, you could have your pick of any manly man in that place.”

Delta shuddered and made a sour face. “I’d rather eat elephant shit.”

Pacing back and forth, Delta glanced at the phone every other minute. It had been two hours since they’d left Kempt’s, and still no call from Sal. It was driving her crazy.

Just as she was beginning to bite her third nail off, she heard Megan’s key slip in the lock. Megan stood at the door with her purse under her arm, her long hair blowing to one side, and a drop dead aqua silk jumpsuit on.

“Hi.” Standing back so Megan could enter, Delta inhaled Megan’s Opium perfume as it followed her through the door.

“Hi, yourself.” Megan set her purse on the table and turned to kiss Delta lightly on the mouth.

“I thought you had a luncheon or something like that?”

Megan nodded and pulled Delta to the couch. “I did. I just cut it short because I think we need to talk.” Megan lightly touched Delta’s cheek with her fingertips. “I know I’ve been so busy carrying on with my new friends, I haven’t even made time for us.”

Delta shrugged and glanced over at the phone. Why did she choose this time to have this talk? “We’re both busy, Meg. That happens in relationships. I’m happy for you that you have new friends and new interests.”

“Exactly:
for
me, not
with
me. Delta, you and I are traveling in opposite directions. I don’t even feel as if we’re on the same path. I have a life at the university that you know nothing about.”

Delta inhaled deeply. “Like Elizabeth and Sherry?”

“That’s Terry, and yes, like them. This morning, I was sitting in the student union having coffee, and I realized that I’m not giving this relationship 100 percent, either. All this time, I’ve been pointing the finger at you, and here I am, zipping around doing hundreds of things without you.”

“But you enjoy doing them.” Delta was having a hard time concentrating on this conversation. What would she do if the phone rang? Answer it? Put Megan on hold? Suddenly, she could see that golden key sinking quickly to the ocean floor.

“Yes, I do. I’m enjoying life more than I ever have.”

Gazing into Megan’s face, something in Delta’s throat tightened. “There’s another agenda here, Megan, I can see it in your eyes. So why don’t we skip the preface. You want out?”

Megan took both of Delta’s hands in her own. “Not at all.”

“Then what?”

“I just think that maybe we both need some time away. Maybe each of us needs to examine her life apart from the other and see if we have what it really takes to do this relationship justice.”

Delta’s jaw clinched and she folded her arms across her chest. “I can do that without being apart from you. Damn it, Meg, I love you.”

“And I love you. But Amanda is right. Love isn’t enough. And neither of us are putting enough time or energy into maintaining our relationship. We’re going through the motions, that’s all.”

Delta couldn’t disagree with that, no matter how much it hurt to hear it—and boy, did it hurt. “So, now what?”

Megan reached down with one hand and pulled something out of her purse. “I’ve been giving you a hard time about your job. Well, I’ve been no better, honey. I dove into my school work and my new life at the university, and I haven’t paused long enough to see where I’m going. Well, this morning, I realized that I haven’t exactly been a shining partner, either. I haven’t given you everything you need. And you know why?”

Delta shook her head. She felt about five years old.

“Because I haven’t given
me
everything I need. I’ve spent the last eight years pleasing everyone but myself. Then, I get into this relationship and I’m still trying to please you. Well I can’t make anyone happy until I take care of me.”

“What needs are you talking about?”

“My need to grow. My need to experience the world without feeling like I have to ask permission.”

“I’ve never—”

“I know you haven’t. You’ve never done anything but be supportive. And I love you so much for that. But, Del, there are things I want to do that you can’t do with me because of your job. That’s nobody’s fault. It’s just the way it is.”

Delta tilted her head to the side, puzzled. “What is it you want to do?”

Megan handed Delta the university’s brochure for traveling abroad. “I want to go on that exchange with Liz and Terry.”

Delta stared at the pamphlet as if it might bite her. “You want to go to Costa Rica? Don’t you think leaving the country to find yourself is a little extreme?”

Megan laid the pamphlet next to Delta. “I want to travel, Delta. I want to see the world and see what I’ve been missing all these years. You had a chance to do that. I never have, but now I do. Now I can kill two birds with one stone by taking classes and doing an internship in Costa Rica. I can travel and go to school at the same time.”

Delta felt dizzy. In one instant, Megan had managed to bring her world crashing down around her. “Yo u . . . w a n t . . . t o . . . g o . . . t o . . . C o s t a Rica?”

Megan nodded. “It’s just for the quarter. Three months, that’s all.”

“That’s all?” Delta rose from the couch and paced over to where one of the cats was laying. “Three months? Megan, three months is forever! You want to travel to the boondocks for three months without me?”

“Can you go?”

“You know I can’t.”

“Exactly. You can’t doesn’t mean that I can’t. Honey, I really want to go. And it might just be the best thing for us.”

“Us?” Delta mocked laughter. “Us? There is no us if you just flit on down to Central America for three months. You’ve got to be kidding.”

“I’m not,” Megan said quietly. “I want to go. I need to go.”

“Then go!” Delta grabbed the door knob, swung the door open and gestured for Megan to leave.

Slowly rising, Megan walked over to the door, gently closed it, and turned to take Delta in her arms. “I’m not leaving you, Delta.”

Clutching Megan tightly, Delta buried her head in Megan’s neck. “It feels like it.”

“Well, I’m not. I’m doing something I’ve always wanted to do. It doesn’t mean the end of us.”

“It sure feels that way.”

Kissing Delta’s cheek, Megan gazed deeply into Delta’s eyes. “You want to bust your rear end to catch crooks, and I want to experience a side of life I’ve only dreamt about. Right now, those two things are mutually exclusive. So, let’s stop beating our heads together and just do what it is we both need to do.”

Delta tore her eyes away and glanced over at the quiet phone. The bottom line was that Megan was right. There were things they each wanted and needed to do which didn’t include the other and no amount of words and no expensive therapy could change that.

“You want me to send you off to Costa Rica with a smile on my face?”

Megan grinned. “You don’t have to smile. Actually, a few tears and `I’ll miss you’ would really make me happy.”

Returning to the couch, Delta picked up the flyer about Costa Rica and glanced at it. “Seems to me,” she said, handing the flyer to Megan, “that you get the better end of the deal. You get to sunbathe on the Caribbean, and I get to run around with pushers, pimps, and perverts. Somehow, that doesn’t seem quite fair.”

“I’ll bring back plenty of goodies.” Threading her arms around Delta’s waist, Megan nuzzled the back of her neck.

“There’s only one goody I want, and that’s you.” Turning in Megan’s arms, Delta kissed her long and passionately.

“Mmm. How about me with a golden tan?”

Delta smiled. “When do you leave?”

“I met with Professor McVeigh this morning to see if there were any openings.”

“And?”

“If I want to go on the same trip as Liz and Terry, I’ll have to leave in six days.”

Six days? Delta’s heart sank. “So soon? It doesn’t give me any time to get used to the idea of you being gone.”

“Would you ever get used to it?”

Delta grinned. Megan knew her so well. “No.”

“I didn’t think so. Look, I’ll be attending a university full time for the first month, then I get a part-time internship for the second month, and the third month I work full-time at the internship. It’s perfect for me.”

“And what kind of internship are you looking at? Banana picking? I mean, isn’t Costa Rica a third world country?”

Megan’s face softened. “That’s what the rest of the world thinks, but no, they’re not. It’s a beautiful country with friendly people and an excellent university.”

“So what’s your internship about then?”

“Paralegal.”

Delta was taken aback. How much of Megan’s life had she really missed these last few months? “Paralegal?”

Megan nodded. “After spending all those crazy hours with you and Connie, I’ve decided to try my hand at law. What did you think I was taking all those law and poli-sci classes for?”

“Paralegal, eh?”

“Has a nice ring to it, don’t you think? Megan Osbourne, paralegal par excellance.” Snuggling into Delta’s arms, Megan sighed heavily. “I’m coming back, you know. I don’t want you to think that I’m leaving for good. You can’t get rid of me that easily.”

Holding her closer, Delta kissed her forehead. “Wouldn’t ever want to.”

Turning in Delta’s arms, Megan’s face was a mask of seriousness. “You mean that?”

“Megan, I have loved you since the first moment we met. Believe it or not, I really do understand what’s going on with you. I wish you didn’t have to go thousands of miles away to do it, but if that’s what you have to do, then I’ll be as supportive as I can.”

“You won’t regret it.”

Delta’s smile faded. “I hope not. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“Do you know what you’d do with a new and improved me?” Megan kissed Delta’s chin, cheek, and neck.

“I think I could figure something out.” Lowering her mouth to Megan’s, Delta tasted every bit of her she could. “I love you, Megan Osbourne.”

“And I love you, my beautiful Storm.”

 “She’s going where?”

“Costa Rica.” Pulling her seat belt over her lap, Delta shrugged. “I should have seen it coming, but I guess I’ve been too wrapped up in my job.”

Reaching across the car and patting Delta’s leg, Connie gave her a sympathetic smile. “It was bound to happen, Del. At least Megan is smart enough to catch it now instead of five years down the road when you’re really invested.”

“Yeah, I guess so. It doesn’t make it hurt any less.” Staring out the window, Delta tried to ignore the ache in her heart.

“She’s doing the right thing, you’ll see. When Megan comes home, she’ll be ready for your relationship. She will have sown some wild oats and gotten that out of her system.”

“Well, it’s that sowing part that bothers me.” Just the thought of Megan with another woman or, god help her, a man, made Delta’s stomach turn.

“Don’t second-guess her on this, Del, or it will drive you crazy.”

“It already is.”

“Then accept it and let it go. Be grateful she was straight with you. Not many people would be so honest. She obviously trusts you enough to handle this. Give her the same respect.”

Turning from the window, Delta squinted at Connie. “Do you always have to be right about everything?”

Connie grinned. “That’s how I maintain my genius status. Besides, you might stop coming to me for advice if I was ever wrong.”

Delta’s grin matched Connie’s. “I wasn’t aware I had asked you for advice.”

“Sure you did. In a roundabout way. But seriously, Del, you’re going to be okay. It’s not like she’s leaving you alone. Gina and I will make sure you behave, brush your teeth, and eat well.”

“Thanks. I feel better already.” Shaking her head at Connie, Delta felt lighter than she had since Megan had told her. “You never cease to amaze me.”

“That’s what Gina says after sex. I’m something, aren’t I?”

Tossing her head back and laughing, Delta didn’t even try to respond. When Connie got like this, the best thing to do was to not egg her on.

“So where are we going now? I thought we needed to stay by the phones.”