Chapter 10

Megan

Megan headed into the bank to wait for Dallas. When she had seen him face off with the gang, her heart had leapt into her throat. The only thing she could think of was that she couldn't lose him. Not like that.

She was so proud of Dallas for standing his ground against the gang, but scared for his safety, too. After the gang went to the hotel, the only thing she could do was to hold him. She had been so scared that the outlaws would shoot him down, especially after they found out that Dallas had killed their brothers. But, luckily, the sheriff and Colton had arrived just in time.

By the way that Dallas's men and the other men in the town stood up for him, Megan could tell that everyone cared for him, and not just because he was the richest man in town. No, all of them genuinely cared about him. Megan had a feeling that, in this town, having money didn't mean as much to the people as one's integrity.

Outside, Dallas's guards stepped aside, and her heart fluttered when he walked through the door. Even though other people needed his attention, he crossed the room to her in a few short strides and pulled her into his arms. "I'm so glad you're safe." When he pulled back, he pushed away a strand of her hair, gazing into her eyes. "I've been thinking about it and I'm so sorry about how I behaved at the party—"

"Shh," she cooed, gently pressing a finger to his lips. "It's okay."

"I don't know what I'd do if anything happened to you." He let out a deep breath, gazing deeply into her eyes. "Did they hurt you at all?"

Megan shook her head. "No, I'm fine." She nodded toward Jake. "Before you came out, Jake was looking out for me."

Dallas nodded as he glanced over at Jake, still standing outside. "I'll tell you what." Dallas walked her toward a long wooden bench against the right wall. "Let me take you to dinner. I would take you to the restaurant here in Whiskey River, but with the gang hanging around outside the hotel, I don't want to put you in harm's way. So, how about I take you to Laramie?"

Megan's eyebrows rose. "For dinner?"

Dallas nodded as if traveling all the way to Laramie for dinner was the most normal thing in the world. "Sure. Why not?"

Megan let out a deep breath. "It's getting a bit late, but I have an idea." A smile lit her lips. "Let me take care of it."

He arched an eyebrow, smiling.

"I'll have everything ready when ye get home." Megan quickly kissed his cheek, suddenly excited. She rushed toward the door.

"Megan, wait." Dallas motioned for one of his men to come over. "Milo, would you mind guarding Megan? Stay with her and see to it that she gets home safely."

The tall, muscular man nodded. "I'll keep her safe. Don't worry."

"Thank you." Dallas turned back to Megan and held her shoulders. "Please, stay safe. I don't know what I'd do if something happened to you."

Megan blushed as he tenderly kissed her forehead. "I will. You stay safe, too."

He nodded and held her hand for as long as possible as she walked away.

Megan rushed out and headed toward the General Store. Milo kept a safe distance as he followed her, continually checking their surroundings until she walked inside.

"Hello, Mrs. King!" a woman greeted her as she walked in, her brown hair pulled tightly into a severe bun, making her pointed nose more prominent. Megan recognized her as the woman who had pulled her into the bank, and she also remembered seeing her at the ball. "My name is Mrs. Carson. My husband and I own this store. And if there's anything you need—"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, there is," she replied in a rush. "I'm making a picnic dinner tonight for Mr. King and meself. Can ye help me?"

"Why, of course!" Mrs. Carson chirped. "What would you like to make for him?"

Megan told the woman what she needed, and Mrs. Carson set about helping her gather the items. Megan felt bad for having to charge the items to Dallas's account, but she felt that since they were married, she had better start getting used to such things.

When she had gathered everything she needed, Mrs. Carson placed the items into bags and then Milo helped her carry them out.

Mrs. Carson stood in the doorway, watching and waving after Megan when she left. "Have fun tonight! And come again!"

Megan gave Mrs. Carson one last wave over her shoulder and then turned to Milo. "Would ye mind taking me home?"

"Not at all, miss." He lowered the step to the buggy that Jake drove her in and helped her up. "That's what I'm here for."

"Thank you." Megan nodded her thanks as they placed the bags behind the seat. She was excited to finally be able to do something for Dallas. He was always spending money on her and lavishing her with gifts. She hoped that she could return his kindness and do something for him, no matter how small.

***

When they arrived at the ranch, Milo insisted on waiting outside, saying it was a pretty day and he wanted to take in the sunshine. But Megan knew that he wanted to keep an eye out for intruders.

It took a bit of convincing, but Jacques let her use the kitchen, once Megan explained what she wanted to do. After she unpacked the groceries, Megan hurried about the kitchen, and set to work cooking, mixing, and mashing.

Intrigued, Mrs. Daly sat down at the counter to watch. "I would offer ye me help, but it looks as if ye have everything under control." She watched for a bit, and then asked, "What are ye makin'?"

Megan smiled as she cut the potatoes. "Some traditional Irish fare. Cottage Pie, Irish Soda Bread, and Gur cake for dessert. I hope Dallas likes it."

Mrs. Daly smiled. "I'm sure he will. And if he doesn't, then ye and I will eat it. It smells delicious."

Megan looked up and smiled. "I'll save ye some."

Mrs. Daly shook her head. "No, that won't be necessary. Just promise me that ye'll share yer recipes with me."

Megan smiled. "Only if ye'll share yers with me."

Mrs. Daly laughed. "Of course. I'd love to."

From the way Mrs. Daly was watching her, Megan could tell that the woman really enjoyed cooking. They spent the next hour talking about recipes as Megan bustled about the kitchen, preparing the special meal, while Mrs. Daly stayed out of the way.

When everything was baking, Megan started cleaning up the mess.

"I'll take care of that, madame." Mrs. Daly shooed her out of the kitchen. "Now, ye go get ready. Ye want to look yer best when yer husband gets here. Ye don't want to keep Mr. King waitin'."

"Oh, I couldn't do that—"

"Yes, ye kin." Mrs. Daly took the dish towel out of her hands. "Now, go get ready and leave the cleanin' to me."

Megan pulled her in for a quick hug. "Thank ye, Mrs. Daly. I won' be forgettin' this."

Megan hurried up the stairs as quickly as she could, washed her hands and face, and then changed into a light lavender dress with little blue rosebuds. She pulled her hair up into curls, but didn't bother with a hat, since she was at home. Then she pinched her cheeks, just enough to give her color.

Satisfied, she hurried down the stairs and assembled everything into a picnic basket that Mrs. Daly had set out for her. She heard voices, and when she looked out, Milo, Dallas, and Charles were talking outside.

When she heard Megan gasp, Mrs. Daly placed a hand on her back and whispered. "Don't worry. He just arrived."

Megan gave her a smile. "I left some in the kitchen fer ye and Mr. Daly." She pulled the older woman in for a hug. "I hope ye like it."

Mrs. Daly pulled back. "Ye didn't have to do that." She leaned in conspiratorially. "But I'm glad ye did."

Megan laughed. "Thank you, Mrs. Daly. We won' be long."

"Never ye mind that! Ye just have fun." Mrs. Daly headed into the kitchen.

Dallas looked up and his eyes brightened when Megan walked outside with the picnic basket over her arm. He took her hand and raised it to his lips. "You look gorgeous."

Megan blushed. "Are you ready?" Then she looked over at Charles and Milo. "I hope ye don't mind if I steal me husband fer a bit."

Milo took a step back and Charles smiled. "No, not at all. I may have Jacques make some for me, too. It smells delicious."

"I made it, but there should be enough in the kitchen for you and for Mr. and Mrs. Daly." Megan smiled. "I made plenty."

"I'm glad you did." Charles smiled as he walked up onto the porch and tipped his hat. "Have fun!" Then he headed into the house.

Dallas smiled as he offered her his arm and nodded toward Milo.

Milo tipped his hat and then headed toward the bunkhouse.

"Will you be okay?" Bill asked, looking down from atop the carriage.

"Yes, we'll be fine." Dallas smiled as he gave the horse a gentle pat. "Take the rest of the day off."

Bill gave him an uneasy smile as he nodded. "Well, if you're sure…."

"I am." A smile lit Dallas's lips. "Don't worry. We're staying on the property."

Bill smiled a bit easier this time and tipped his hat. "Have fun and be careful." Bill drove the carriage toward the back, leaving the two-seater buggy behind for Dallas and Megan.

"So, where would you like to go?" Dallas asked. "On our property, of course. I don't want to take you too far."

"Do you know a place where we can watch the sunset?"

A broad smile spread across his lips. "As a matter of fact, I do. I have just the right place in mind." He offered her his hand and helped her into the buggy. Then he walked around and slid in beside her.

"So, what brought you to New York?" he asked as he drove.

A faraway look came into her eyes as she watched the sky fill with color. "When Liam and I came to America, we landed in New York, and we stayed there… until I came here."

"If you don't mind me asking, why was food so scarce in Ireland?" Dallas's eyebrows pulled together in concern. "But we don't have to talk about it, if you don't want to."

"There had been a great famine and food was hard to come by. Many people starved, me parents included." Megan looked out over the horizon, remembering. "In fact, me brother and I would have starved, too, if we hadn't moved to America."

Dallas nodded. "Why? Was there no work in Ireland?"

Megan shook her head. "No, and then we lost all of the potatoes, which was our primary source of food. Now, they ship in food to Ireland, but it's too expensive to buy."

Dallas sighed. "It's hard to believe that people in the world are starving while we live here in abundance."

Megan nodded in agreement. "But not everyone here in America lives in abundance. Liam and I didn't, but at least we always had food." She thought of her life now and how far she had come, even before she had met Dallas King. "Here in America, people work like dogs, but at least there is work to be had and money to be earned, no matter how little."

Dallas's head snapped up. "What do you mean?"

Megan let out a deep breath. "In New York, I worked in a factory fer very long hours, and the wages were next to nothin'."

Dallas lowered his voice. "Is that why you answered my advertisement for a mail-order bride?"

Megan shook her head, giving him a weak smile. "No, I made a promise to me brother… before he died."

He nodded, as if remembering that she had mentioned it before. "I know you said that he was defending your honor, but what happened exactly?"

She let out a deep breath. "He was attacked by Italians when he was walking me home from work late one night." She cleared her throat as a wave of emotion came over her. "As he was dying, he made me promise to live a better life, to find someone, get married, and have children." She sighed. "After he died, I knew I had to keep that promise and vowed never to go back to the factory again. That was when I saw yer advertisement in the paper and answered it."

Dallas gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "I'm glad you did."

A moment later, they came to a beautiful lake. It was cold out, but they both wore their coats. The sun was setting in the distance over the lake, sending shoots of orange, pink, and yellow across the bright blue sky. It was lovely. Dallas pulled the buggy to a stop under a tree, and then helped her out. The landscape took her breath away. Snow-capped mountains rose in the distance, as the valley below darkened, sending the trees into shadow.

"Oh, Dallas! It's beautiful!"

He smiled as he lifted the picnic basket from the carriage and helped her down. "I'm glad you like it. It's God's country. I thought that one day, our son could build a house here."

"Or our daughter." Megan blushed as she spread a tablecloth on the ground.

Dallas took her hand and helped her to sit down. She started unpacking the basket, laying out napkins that Mrs. Daly had set out for her, as well as the silverware.

"So, what did you make?" he asked, trying to look in the basket, but she shooed him away.

"Have patience." She set out everything, but it was still covered.

Dallas sat back and smiled. "Everything smells great… whatever it is you made."

Megan laughed. "I wanted to make ye a few traditional Irish dishes. Cottage pie, Irish soda bread, and Gur cake."

"It looks delicious," Dallas remarked as she handed him a plate of food.

She buttered a slice of bread and handed it to him.

"When did you have time to make all of this?" he asked in disbelief.

She shrugged. "It doesn't take as long as you think."

He took a bite of the cottage pie and moaned in delight. "This is delicious! Oh, my goodness! If you cook like this for me very much, they'll have to widen the door to get me in."

Megan chuckled, pleased with his reaction. "You'd better save room for dessert."

"Oh, I don't know. This tastes so good that I may eat the plate, too," he teased, and then took another bite of the Cottage Pie.

They laughed as they ate and by the time they were finished, Dallas had eaten most of the cottage pie, half of the loaf of bread, and most of the Gur cake—an Irish pastry with a dark brown sweet paste made of raisins and sugar. He moaned in delight as he tasted the flaky pastry. "You could open a bakery! This is delicious."

She smiled, glad that he liked it. When they were finished and everything was packed away, he slid his arm around her, and they turned their attention to the sunset.

"God's country," Megan echoed Dallas's previous sentiment.

He nodded. "Yes, it is."

"It feels so open up here. Like we're close to heaven."

"You like it?"

"Of all the places I've seen on this earth, this is one of the most beautiful."

He thought for a moment, and then asked, "Is it anything like Ireland?"

"Have you ever been there?"

Dallas shook his head. "No, but I'd love to go sometime. I've heard it's gorgeous. If we go, would you show me around?"

She nodded. "Yes, of course, but I'm not sure if I'd like to go back. After me parents died, it took Liam and I a while before we could leave." She watched the sunset and then asked, "What was your childhood like?"

Dallas let out a deep breath. "My father drank… a lot… and was abusive. He was a wonderful man when he was sober, but when he was drinking, it was another story. If I did anything wrong, anything at all, I paid the price."

She nodded, understanding, her heart going out to him. "Is that why you've tried so hard to succeed?"

He nodded. "I came from nothing. As I said before, my father was a sharecropper and money was always tight. For Christmas, we were lucky if we got oranges or apples. My father was educated at home by his mother, and he never received a formal education. He worked hard his whole life, but we never went hungry." He saw the expression on her face, and then added, "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean anything—"

"It's okay. No offense taken." Megan let out a deep breath. "When we moved to New York, me brother and I had to sell everything we had before we left. Me parents never did that because they were afraid to travel alone with children. In fact, they went without food in order to feed us, and they paid the price. My parents always made sure we didn't go hungry, either." Megan thought for a minute. "I've always felt guilty about that."

"Don't." Dallas placed his hand on her cheek, forcing her to look at him. "Megan, it wasn't your fault. Your parents were just trying to take care of you."

She smiled, leaning into his hand. "Despite your father's faults, it sounds as if he took care of you, too. That's why he worked as a sharecropper. It was the only thing he knew."

Dallas nodded. "I never really thought of it that way." He released her hand and looked out over the lake at the setting sun, thinking.

"Dallas?"

"Yes?"

Megan sighed. "May I say something without ye getting mad?"

He nodded as one corner of his mouth lifted into a smile. "Yes, of course."

She curled her hand around his, holding it firmly in her own. "Dallas, ye don't have to prove anything to anyone. Ye're successful. Ye don't need to keep proving it. Ye don't have to prove anything to anyone but yerself… not even me."

"What do you mean?"

She bit her lower lip. "It seems to me that, somehow, ye feel ye need to prove yer worth. That yer're good enough. That yer're worthy." He looked away, but she placed a hand on his cheek, forcing him to look at her. "Dallas, ye're worthy of love."

A tear rolled down his cheek at her words. "I've never told this to anyone." He bit his lip as he gathered his thoughts. "I guess I never felt like I deserved it."

"Deserved what? Money? Success?"

He shook his head. "Love. I never felt like I deserved it." He let out a deep breath. "If my parents actually did love me, then why did my father beat me and why did my mother allow it? It must have been because I'm not perfect. I am… unlovable."

"Dallas, no one is perfect, and ye don' have to be." Megan looked into his eyes. "And of course ye deserve love! Ye're kind, compassionate, generous…. Ye just have to believe that yer're worthy and stop keeping people at arm's length." He tried to turn away, but she placed her hand on his other cheek, preventing him from looking away. "Ye have lots of people who would like to be yer friend. Ye just have to let them."

Tears streamed down his face. "But how? How do I do it… open myself up?"

"Just be yerself," she encouraged, looking into his eyes. "And when people start getting close, don't push them away… including me."

"I've pushed you away?"

She nodded. "Yes, ye have, and ye probably didn't even realize it." Megan thought for a minute and lowered her voice. "And Dallas, ye don't have to buy people's love or affection."

"No one cares about me." He said it as a fact, not as if he was feeling sorry for himself.

"Yes, they do!" A crease formed between her eyes. "I've seen the way the people at the bank look at ye. They would follow ye anywhere. Dallas, they respect ye. And I care about ye, too."

Every emotion flitted across his face as his eyes met hers. Then his lips descended upon hers, kissing her with a fierceness unlike anything she had felt before. It was a kiss filled with love and pain, as if he had been searching for something and had finally found it. Megan melted into his arms as he pulled her across his lap. Never breaking the kiss, he wrapped her in his arms as passion filled them both. Never before had she felt so loved, so accepted.

When he pulled back, he stroked the hair away from her face. She looked up into his eyes, his face cast in the golden glow of the sunset, adding to his already stunning golden good looks. As she ran her fingers through his light blond hair, she saw a side of him that she sensed he rarely showed anyone. At that moment, she could see a future with him. If she loved him enough, gave her heart to him, maybe it would be enough.

Or would it? If she gave him her heart, what would happen to her if he walked away? If it didn't work out? She had lost everyone she had ever loved. Could she lose him, too? Could her heart take it?

As they sat on the cliff's edge and watched the last of the sun's rays sink behind the mountains, she wondered if love would ever be enough.