Kyle didn’t come out of the bedroom in the morning and Megan felt both relieved and concerned. She went to the bedroom door and knocked on it to see if there was something he needed.
“What?” he answered gruffly.
“Do you want some breakfast?” Megan asked, “coffee, something?”
“I’ll let you know when I do,” Kyle responded.
Megan walked away, prepared breakfast for Mallory and they ate together. One of Mallory’s friend’s mothers then came by to pick Mallory up for a play date. She’d be gone for the day and Megan was relieved. She had no idea what to expect and didn’t want Mallory around for it.
The phone rang a few minutes after Mallory left. It was Megan’s mother.
“How’s he doing? What’s happening?” her mother demanded. “There’s a story in the paper that he’s returned.”
“I guess he’s okay,” said Megan quietly. “He hasn’t come out of the bedroom yet.”
“Dear me,” said her mother. “Have you called the doctor?”
“Not yet,” said Megan.
“You have to,” her mother insisted.
“I’m waiting to hear from Peter,” Megan said. “He told me he’d give me instructions about how to proceed. There are legal issues here, too. The county spent a lot searching for Kyle.”
“That’s what the paper said,” her mother agreed. Then she paused for a long time.
“What?” asked Megan.
“Megan,” her mother started slowly. “That other man -.” She couldn’t go on, was at a loss for words.
“Hunter,” Megan said clearly, without reservation.
“The one you’ve been spending so much time with,” her mother spoke haltingly. “Is he still around? Is it a good idea?”
Megan’s heart skipped a beat. They’d never actually spoken about him before.
“Why do you ask?” said Megan.
“Angela called me first thing this morning,” said her mother. “She’s incredibly worried about you.”
“Angela always worries about everything,” said Megan.
“Don’t make light of this,” her mother responded. “Angela’s happier now, spending lots of time with Peter these days. It’s good for her.”
That caught Megan by surprise. “Really?” she said.
“But it’s you I’m worried about,” her mother went on. “You don’t really know a thing about that workman.”
“Please don’t call him a workman!”
“Well, who is he then?”
“His name is Hunter Clay Borden,” Megan announced definitively, “and I love him with all my heart.”
Her mother gasped. “You don’t know what you’re talking about, Megan,” she finally said.
“I know what I feel. I know who he is.”
“But Kyle is home now,” her mother’s voice rose. “He’s your husband, the father of your child.”
“I don’t know who Kyle is anymore,” Megan replied.
“Megan,” her mother demanded, “get a grip!”
“A grip on what?” Megan flared up.
“Grow up, get a grip on life. Do what’s right. You have Mallory to think about, too.”
Megan wanted to tell her mother how much Mallory loved Hunter, but there was no need to defend herself. There were still too many questions left unanswered and it was all too much for now.
“I love you, Megan,” her mother said then, from out of nowhere. “I’m on your side. I always have been. I want you to be happy.”
“You do?” Now Megan grew silent. It had been years since her mother said that to her. Her words meant the world to her now, much more than Megan would have ever imagined.
“I love you, too, mom,” Megan responded. “Please don’t worry about me, trust me. I’m a strong woman now.”
“I’m trying to trust you,” her mother’s voice caught, almost in tears, “I really am.”
“Thank you,” said Megan.
The conversation with her mother took Megan by surprise. She sat down a moment to absorb it. It had been years since she felt close to her mother, or family for that matter. When important things happened, she’d always felt out on a limb, alone.
The phone rang again. It would probably go on this way for days, Megan thought. There was so much to be handled, so many people out there who wanted to know more.
This time it was Peter. “How’s it going?” he started out.
“No news to report,” said Megan.
“Well, I have news,” Peter said, in a strange tone that felt threatening.
“What kind of news?” asked Megan, her heart starting to beat.
“Sit down, Megan,” Peter continued.
“I am sitting down,” she said, in a suddenly childlike tone.
“I’ve been researching the information Kyle gave us all night.”
“I have to take him to the doctor immediately?” Megan burst out scared. “He’s sicker than we realized?”
“Not at all. Just be quiet and listen. Officer Doting and I spent the night tracking this information down. In his interview Kyle mentioned something about Seattle and another email account he had under a different name.”
“Oh my God,” Megan felt nervous.
“We got it out of him under pressure,” Peter added.
“I see,” Megan said.
“So, we tracked down his story, finally. There’s nothing to it. No amnesia. He’s been spending this past year on the West Coast, with a young Russian woman he met over the web.”
Megan felt the blood drain from her face as Peter spoke.
“What are you talking about?” she was breathless.
“Looks like the woman lured him there. We found a trail of their emails. Kyle brought her the money he got from his brother. He actually even sent some of it on up ahead.”
“How many emails?” Megan asked in a daze.
“If you want to read them, I can get them for you,” said Peter. “Ralph’s hesitant about it, though.”
Megan did and did not want to read them.
“Not yet, not now,” she said. “What’s the gist of them, though?”
“Kyle wrote that he was miserable with you,” Peter said simply, like a cop reporting an everyday detail.
“Miserable?” Megan’s eyes opened. “I had no idea.”
“Neither did anyone else,” said Peter. “You want me to give all this to you straight?”
“Of course I do,” said Megan.
“You can handle it?” Peter asked.
“Not only can I handle it, it’s making me stronger,” Megan gathered herself together. “It’s terrible when you know something, and don’t know it at the same time. It scrambles your brains. You don’t know what you’re doing, think you’re the one who’s nuts.”
“Okay,” Peter went on, “You’re right. You’re a different woman than the one I knew before Kyle disappeared.”
“Yes, I am,” said Megan, knowing she wouldn’t have been so without Hunter.
“Kyle was planning his escape from you for a long time.”
Megan swallowed hard. “What was so terrible about our marriage?” she asked, suddenly shaky again.
Peter couldn’t bring himself to say anything further.
“You’ll have to read the emails yourself,” he said.
“They build a case against me?” asked Megan.
“If you ask me,” said Peter, “they’re the ramblings of a distorted mind.”
“My God,” breathed Megan. “What about the amnesia?”
“Looks like he just made it up when he decided to return. A convenient cover that he thought would go over.”
“Thank you, Peter,” said Megan trembling.
“For what?” he asked.
“For everything.”
The two of them fell silent then.
“Look, I’ll always be your friend,” Peter said.
“I appreciate that,” said Megan. “You’re a fine man.”
“You’re pretty terrific yourself,” he said.
“Thank you,” said Megan. “What do I do about Kyle from here?”
“Just give things some time now to settle down. Then, the two of you can talk things over. If you want to leave him, I have all these emails. Any court will grant you a divorce.”
“Thank you,” whispered Megan again.
“I advise you to stay away from that other guy, though.”
“Why?” Megan asked outright.
“Stay away from him for now,” Peter repeated. “You don’t want to complicate matters. And you don’t know who he really is. Lay low, take it easy. Or else the reporters will find out about him and tell the world. No need to make this a sordid story. Let the town welcome Kyle home. Let him get his feet back under him, get working again.”
Megan was dumbfounded. “Let the town welcome him home?”
“After all, Kyle didn’t murder anyone. He ran out on his family for a little over a year. I’m not saying it’s a good thing, but at least the guy deserves a chance to re-build his life. It doesn’t have to be with you, but after all, you share a child. Give him a chance to be her dad again. Okay, he made a rotten mistake. . doesn’t mean you want to feed him to the dogs.”
Megan listened. When had she ever fed anyone to the dogs? If anything the opposite had happened.
“If you listen to me it will work in the long run for you,” Peter said. “Think about the long run. You can build your own life later with someone else.”
“Peter, you missed your calling. You should have been the Pastor in town,” Megan said.
Peter laughed. “The Pastor’s has heard all about this,” he said. “If you ask me, he’ll say something about it in his sermon this Sunday.”
At the moment Megan had no interest in what the Pastor had to say.
“I hope you’ll be there,” Peter said. “It’s the right time for you to make an appearance.”
Make an appearance? That wasn’t why Megan went to church, so the town could see her there.
“He’s hasn’t contacted me at all,” said Megan, “not once, during any of this.”
“Don’t get stuck on the fine points, Megan,” Peter answered quickly. “Keep in touch. Call me later. Let me know how things are going.”
“I will, and by the way, I hear you’re seeing Angela.” Megan couldn’t resist mentioning it.
“Yes,” Peter said, taken aback for a moment. “What difference does it make?”
“I just wanted to say that I’m happy for the both of you and am wishing you guys the very best.”
“Thanks,” said Peter, lightly, and hung up.
Megan was happy about Peter and Angela and also stunned to have learned the truth about Kyle. There was a strange relief in it too, though. The truth had a way of undoing knots, giving a person ground to stand on, she thought.
“Who was that you were talking to?” Kyle was standing in the doorway.
Megan jumped. She hadn’t seen him come in. He’d slinked in quietly, like a cat. It was all she could do to look at him now.
“I was talking to Peter,” she said.
Kyle walked in a few steps closer, holding a cup of coffee in his hand.
“Pretty good coffee,” Kyle said, a little smile creeping over his face like it used to.
“Thanks,” Megan answered.
“And what did Peter say, that you should rush me to the doctor?”
Megan stood up, face to face with him then. He seemed so sure of himself, so arrogant and glib. She wanted to bring reality in, burst his bubble.
“No, not at all. Peter told me that your story about amnesia didn’t hold up.”
Kyle got pale. “What do you mean?”
“He said they were investigating all night long. You’d mentioned something about Seattle - and that did it. They found out about the young Russian woman you’ve been living with on the West Coast.”
Kyle’s hands started shaking so hard Megan thought his coffee cup would crash on the floor, spill the coffee, splatter her very best porcelain.
“They found about Anastasia?” Kyle was sideswiped.
“Is that’s her name?” Megan asked, floored that Kyle would just say it like that. He wasn’t denying anything.
“I must have mentioned something during the interview,” he said, in a strange tone. “I was exhausted, they made me nervous, didn’t let up. There was undo pressure!”
That might be true, but it was only half the story, though. Megan thought how people needed to be found out, wanted the truth, couldn’t live without it.
“Is that her name?” Megan repeated insistent. She needed to hear him say it again.
“Yes, Anastasia,” Kyle breathed, his eyes clouding over. He was still in love with her, Megan realized. But it made no difference, she couldn’t care less.
Kyle took a few steps closer then.
Megan backed away.
“Don’t be afraid of me, Megan,” he said quietly then, “I missed you, too.”
“Missed me?” More lies and maneuvering, Megan thought.
“Believe it or not, it’s true,” Kyle said.” I missed you, and I’m sorry. The bitch was only after my money. She got what she wanted, and when it ran out -.”
“She had no more use for you!” said Megan.
Kyle looked surprised. “How did you know?”
What did he think, that she was a numbskull? Maybe she had been those years they were together, but everything was different now.
“I guess it’s convenient to miss me, when you have no other place to go,” Megan said, bitterly. “No, I missed you the whole time,” Kyle sounded sad. “And I missed Mallory too. Where is she?”
“She’s playing at her friends,” said Megan, having no intention of telling him anything else about her.
“Megan, I wasn’t in my right mind,” Kyle walked right up close to her then, cornering her, so she couldn’t move away. “I said I was sorry. And I am.”
“That doesn’t do it, Kyle,” Megan said. “You don’t walk in, say you’re sorry and everything is fine.”
“You’ve got to give me another chance!”
Megan had no desire to have anything to do with him ever again.
This wasn’t sitting well with Kyle, though. His jaw protruded.
“I demand that you give me another chance!” he exclaimed.
“First I’ll read those emails you and Anastasia wrote to each other,” said Megan. “The ones where you said how miserable our marriage was.”
“How the hell do you know about that?” he was stung.
“It’s common knowledge,” said Megan.
“That’s my personal correspondence,” Kyle was getting agitated again.
“Nothing’s personal when there’s a missing person case, and tons of money and man hours are spent!”
“Peter told you about the emails?” Kyle’s teeth were grinding.
“I told you, it’s common knowledge,” Megan snapped. “And I suggest you find someplace else in Tom’s River to stay.”
Kyle grabbed her arm then. “This is my house and I’m not leaving it.”
“You already did,” said Megan, trying to wrest her arm away.
He yanked it harder.
Megan cried out in pain.
“That hurts doesn’t it? Kyle asked, “ his face growing redder. “You want it to hurt more and more?”
“Get the hell out of here,” Megan yelled.
He lifted his hand and slapped her across her face, hard.
Megan reeled backwards, her face stinging, filled with pain, stunned.
“How dare you?”
She turned and ran to the front door, but Kyle came after her, grabbing her waist, pinning her to the wall, pressing up against her.
“You think you’re getting away from me? You’re not, you get that?” he was breathing hard.
Megan tried to wrestle away, and let out a piercing cry as she heard a car pulling up in the driveway. Thankfully, someone was coming, just in time.
“Someone’s here!” she breathed.
“Get rid of them,” Kyle’s voice sounded slurred.
Megan saw Hunter running to the front door, pushing it open, bursting in. Horrified, he grabbed her out of Kyle’s grip, pushed him backwards, then grabbed his shoulders and shook him hard. Then Hunter let go, threw Kyle down on the floor like a rag doll, put his foot on his chest, and held him there.
Kyle let out daunting moans that ripped through the room like a trapped animal, calling for help.
“Son of a bitch,” Hunter growled, “you touch her one more time and you’ll be splattered all over the place.”
Megan became more and more frightened. “It’s enough, it’s enough,” she begged.
“Call the police,” Hunter said to Megan.
She ran to the phone, called, and they said they’d send a car in an instant.
“You getting me arrested, you bitch?” Kyle muttered, looking up at Megan, his eyes darting frantically over the room.
“I’m getting you out of the house,” Megan answered.
“And getting a restraining order, on top of that!” said Hunter. “There’s no way in this world you’re ever coming near this lady again.”
Megan and Hunter stared at each other then, stunned, relieved, and terrified of what was to come.
*
The police inspected the bruise marks on Megan and removed Kyle from the residence. She told them she’d come down to the station in a little while to file a report. Right now she needed to be alone.
After they left, she and Hunter stood together, not touching, just staring into each other’s eyes.
“He’s a complete psycho,” Hunter said, “he was going to rape you.”
“You came at the perfect moment,” Megan was shaking.
“I got your note,” he responded. “How long did you stay at my cabin last night?”
“Just a little while,” said Megan. “I missed you.”
“I missed you too,” he said slowly.
“Where were you last night, Hunter?” Megan couldn’t help but asking. She needed to know, had to have answers.
“I took a couple of days out of town,” Hunter responded. “Randy said I could have the time off and I went to explore some other places to live.”
“You were going to leave Tom’s River?” Megan’s eyes filled with tears.
“Hey, your husband was back with you. I had no idea what you were up against. What was I supposed to do?”
“You didn’t give me a chance to explain,” said Megan.
“He was back home, what’s to explain?”
“Kyle ran off to be with a young Russian woman on the West Coast,” Megan said. “When she threw him out, he came back. Our marriage is over.”
Hunter shook his head. “Slimy guy,” he said, “and dangerous.”
“I love you Hunter,” Megan couldn’t help but say.
“But you don’t trust me,” he shook his head slowly.
“You jump to conclusions,” said Megan.
“Without trust we don’t have a thing,” Hunter responded.
“You never gave me a chance, never told me about the restraining order and why,” Megan felt herself pleading.
“I couldn’t,” Hunter said softly. “Everything happened too fast.”
They went over to the couch and sat down close to each other. The feel of his body next to her calmed Megan as nothing in the world ever could. She longed to put her head down on his shoulder, but first had to hear what he had to say.
The phone rang again. She didn’t answer. All she wanted was to be with him.
“It’s true, there was a restraining order put on me,” Hunter started, “the woman I lived with in Upper Valley did it.”
“Why?” Megan asked quietly.
“That’s a question you never took time to ask before,” said Hunter.
“But I’m asking it now,” said Megan. “Doesn’t that count for something?”
Hunter’s eyes softened. “Of course it does. Okay, I was living with this woman in Upper Valley for more than a year. She had a problem with alcohol, but when we met she’d been sober two years. Anyway, during the time we were together, I got really close to her son. I took good care of him and the kid loved me, too.”
It was painful for Megan to hear this story, but she kept calm and showed no response.
“Little by little, she started drinking again,” Hunter went on. “I warned her to cut it out. She couldn’t, or wouldn’t. Pretty soon, she got rougher and rougher, first with the kid, then with me. There was no way I was going to let her hurt her boy, so I stepped in to stop her time and again. You can check this all out, there are records at the kid’s school. They’ll tell you how I brought him to school and picked him up, and all the complaints they wrote down about his mother.”
Megan felt horrified listening to this. How could she have ever doubted him?
“Things got worse,” Hunter went on, “I told her if it went on she’d lose her son. She began thinking I was going to get him taken away from her, put him in foster care. So, one day, drunk as hell, she struck out first and put a restraining order on me. She wanted to make it seem like I was someone who couldn’t be trusted.”
Megan’s eyes filled with tears.
“I only stayed as long as I did because I was worried about the boy. Actually, he’s been taken out of the home now, and is living with his grandmother. The restraining order on me means nothing. You actually think I’d hurt someone?”
Hunter looked at her out of his incredible eyes.
“When you didn’t trust me, it hurt like hell,” he said. “I could never be with someone like that.”
Megan’s heart tied into a knot.
“It wasn’t that I didn’t trust you,” she said. “It all came out of the blue. I didn’t know what to think. Peter scared me.”
“Our love has to be stronger than people like Peter. You’ve got to realize that there’s a world out there just waiting to tear us apart.”
“Oh my God,” Megan breathed. “Please forgive me. Our love is stronger than all of it and I’m so sorry you had to go through this.”
“Don’t be sorry about anything,” Hunter pulled her to him then. “Just stay close to me, forever.”
Megan melted into his arms as they held each other and let the hours of the day pass on their own. The people of Tom’s River could say what they liked, she thought. Nothing in the world could ever touch their love again.