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 pretty much it.” He squinted at her. “Why? Do you have reservations about the job? Because you told the parole commission that you were qualified for it.”
“My experience with horses was a long time ago, when I was a kid. I can still do the job, though. It won’t be a problem.”
He angled his head. “Are you sure?”
“I’m positive.” She would be feeding, grooming and saddling the animals, as well as cleaning and maintaining the stalls and equipment. “I know what it entails.” And she would bust her hump if she had to. “But I just thought I should tell you that my experience was limited to when I was younger.”
While she waited for him to respond, she tried not to get intimidated. Especially with how drawn to him she’d once been. And still was, she thought.
“All right,” he said. “I can give you a tour of the stables now if you’d like.”
“Thank you. That would be great. I’m looking forward to seeing them.”
He stood and removed his jacket, and her pulse zipped a bit too quickly. She needed to focus on her job and not on how he made her feel. She was going to work here, but she wasn’t going to fall for Garrett again. She’d hurt him—and herself—enough already.
* * *
The stables were located on a grass-topped hill that overlooked the resort, with brush-lined trails leading to the beach. There were public paths that went into the hills, and beyond those trails, even higher up, on a private and gated road, was Garrett’s house. This was his world, his sanctuary, and now he was lending it to a woman who’d played him for a fool.
According to his mother, he needed to forgive Meagan, to give her a chance to prove herself. Mom had all sorts of do-gooder reasons for believing it was the right thing to do.
Garrett had spent months thinking it through, and even now, he wasn’t sure why he’d given in. Maybe it was because somewhere deep down, he wanted to believe that Meagan was capable of being reformed. Or maybe it was because she had a child to care for, and Garrett had a soft spot for kids.
He just wished that his mom had never dragged him into this mess. But she didn’t know that he’d had romantic feelings for Meagan. No one knew, not even his foster brothers. To them, she was just someone who’d worked at their accountant’s office.
But, to Garrett, she was someone he’d wanted to explore on a deeper level. If she’d been single, he would have asked her out. But since she was tied up with Neil, he’d been careful not to overstep his bounds. Of course, he’d been hoping that she was on the verge of leaving her loser boyfriend, the jerk who’d made her cry on the phone that first day, giving Garrett a chance to dash in like the knight he’d imagined himself to be.
A knight who’d gotten his armor crushed.
As they entered the barn, he glanced over at her. She was as beautiful as he remembered, with her almond-shaped eyes and long silky hair. She did seem more mature, though, far less flighty than before. Prison had changed her. Motherhood, too, he supposed. But were those changes he could trust? She might have become more conniving over the years, more charming, more of a seductress. Her sweet little apologies could be an act, and a damned good one at that.
He intended to keep a close eye on her. There was no way he was going to let her screw him over again.
Garrett spotted Tom Lutz, the barn manager, and motioned for him to come over and meet Meagan. Tom was a friendly old cowboy, short and stocky, with a big bushy mustache like the