she deserved it?
She explained further. “I told the police that Neil was under the impression that I’d come into the money through an inheritance. That was a lie, of course. He knew I’d embezzled it. He was involved from the start. But since there was no evidence against him, he was never charged with anything.” She quickly added, “I’m grateful that Tanner was there. After Ivy was born, he and Candy used to bring her to visit me. It wasn’t the same as seeing her every day, but it was better than not seeing her at all.” Meagan had battled her insecurities, clinging to the future, desperate to form a stronger bond with her child. “I’m trying to make up for lost time and be the best mom I can be. My baby girl is just the most amazing kid.”
Once again, Garrett didn’t say anything.
But she prattled on. “Tanner was nervous about taking her at first because he was single then. He didn’t become engaged until later. Of course now Ivy is really close to him and Candy. I even...” She stopped midsentence.
“You what?” he asked, prodding her to finish.
“Nothing.” She couldn’t bring herself to admit that she’d been so distraught and depressed in prison that she’d tried to talk Tanner and Candy into adopting Ivy. But thankfully they’d encouraged her to hold tight, knowing that she didn’t really want to give up her baby.
Garrett leaned back in his chair, watching her with a taut expression. Whatever he was thinking or feeling didn’t seem favorable.
She gazed across the desk at him. “I’m so sorry for what I did to you. And to your foster brothers.”
His expression didn’t change. “You already apologized at the sentencing.”
“I know. But I wanted to say it again. Here and now.”
She paused, a lump catching in her throat. “I was sorry at the sentencing, too, but I didn’t understand who I was then.” She was a different person today. Meagan had been to hell and back. “I’ve grown up. I’ve learned from my mistakes, and if I could take it back, I would.”
“Yes, but you can’t. What’s done is done.”
She sensed that he wasn’t talking about the money but the callous way he’d been treated as the entire scenario unfolded. As wrong as they were, she couldn’t explain her actions, not without delving into deeper issues, including her mixed-up attachment to him.
“You’re right,” she said. “I can’t change it.”
He nodded, and they both went quiet, the past stirring uncomfortably between them.
Then, after another beat of heart-shredding silence, she asked, “Why did you offer me this job?”
He shifted in his seat. “I stated the reason in the letter I sent to you. The same letter I submitted to the parole commission.”
“Yes, I know. You claimed that you wanted to give me a second chance. But you don’t seem like you really want to.”
“Truthfully, none of this was my idea. My mom suggested it. She’s the one who convinced me to hire you.”
“Your real mom or one of your foster moms?” Meagan knew that he’d once been a foster child. But she didn’t know much more than that.
“My real mom. She’s always been part of my life, even when she wasn’t able to take care of me. But that’s a whole other story.”
And one he seemed reluctant to share. “Why would your mom want to go to bat for me?”
“She saw you at the sentencing and felt bad for you, with the way you were crying and whatnot.”
“Was she the lady who was sitting next to you?” Now that Meagan thought about it, she recalled an older woman who could have been related to him.
“Yes, that was her. So, anyway, later on, when you were coming up for parole, she did a little research on you. I guess you could call it a background check of sorts. She was curious to know more about you, and that’s when she found out that you’d had a baby.”
“So this is because of Ivy?”
“Your child’s welfare is part of it.”
So what was the rest of it? she wondered. Apparently, there were a lot of things he wasn’t inclined to discuss. Regardless, she appreciated his mother’s support. Meagan’s mom had died a while back, and she missed her terribly. “Do you know that my mother is gone? That I lost her before any of this happened?”
“Yes.” He didn’t offer his condolences, but he spoke a little more softly. “It came up in the background check.”
She struggled to blink away her emotions. “Will you tell me how I can contact your mom? I’d like to thank her for convincing you to hire me.” Without this job, Meagan wouldn’t have gotten paroled. “Maybe I can send her a card or something?”
Garrett shook his head. “I’ll relay the message.”
Clearly, he didn’t want her associating with his mom, even if it was just to say thanks. But she could hardly blame him. Meagan was fresh out of prison, trying to prove that she could be trusted. She certainly wasn’t going to press the issue.
“We have a day care center and an after-school program here for the children of our employees,” he said, changing the subject.
“Is that something that will be available to Ivy?”
“Yes, absolutely. It’s free, so it won’t affect your income.” He removed a sheet of paper from his desk drawer and handed it to her. “Here’s more information about it. If you want to bring your daughter to the day care, just call them directly to arrange for her enrollment.”
“Thank you.” She folded the paper and slipped it into her purse. And when she glanced back up at Garrett, she noticed how intently he was gazing at her. Sometimes she used to wonder if he’d been as attracted to her as she’d been to him. If some of those confusing feelings had been mutual.
But none of that mattered now, she reminded herself. Meagan was only here to make a living and pay back the money she owed, not to rekindle her crush on Garrett.
“I’ll be a good employee,” she said, needing to reaffirm her intentions out loud. “I’ll work hard.”
A muscle in his jaw flexed. “I’m counting on it.”
Yes, of course. He was expecting her to toe the line. Her parole officer was expecting the same thing. So was Meagan’s family. She had a lot of people counting on her to make the right choices from now on.
She contemplated the position he’d offered her. “Can I ask you something?”
He nodded warily. Did he think her question was going to be personal?
She closed the latch on her purse, realizing that she’d left it open. Then she asked, “What made you decide on me being a stable hand? Is it because both of my brothers work in the horse industry, and you figured that I had knowledge of it, too?”
“That’s
