Truthful Lies by Heather Borger (best summer reads of all time .txt) 📕

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It had been almost a week without Meghan when Scott’s phone rang one evening. Hers was the last voice he expected to hear.

“Scott, don’t hang up. Please.”

He didn’t hang up, but he couldn’t find the voice to answer her, either. He had missed her so much.

“I’m with a friend I met while we were here. She’s been kind enough to help me out for a little. Can we get together to talk?”

He still couldn’t find his voice. Every emotion spilled out silently and every thought rushed through his mind. When Meghan left, she had gone directly to another of the camera men - Chris. Chris loved to brag daily to Scott and remind him about how he shouldn’t have been so pushy. Why wasn’t she with Chris any more? Or, was she lying again?

“Please?”


He couldn’t stand the pain in her voice. Her pleading was intolerable.

“Yeah. How about the coffee shop on Main St.?”

A brief silence was broken by her soft voice, “I was hoping to just come to your RV … now ... if that’s okay?”

He dropped his head into his free hand. “Yeah, okay. I’m here.” He hung up the phone, not sure if he was doing the right thing. But, he needed to see her again, that much he was sure of.

Meghan walked up to his door minutes later. She brushed her hair out of her eyes, knowing it wouldn’t change the way she looked enough to stop his reaction. She was right.

Scott opened his door when she knocked. Gasping at the sight of her bruised face and black eye, he pulled her inside, certain she had been in a horrible accident. He held her close not wanting to let go.

“What happened?”

“I’m not sure. I went to Chris’ after, well, you know. And, he was so welcoming. But, then I realized how much I missed you and when I told him, he got mad at me and tried to stop me from leaving. I was scared so I went to stay with one of the girls I met recently. I don’t even know why I came here now.”

“Please, stay. I’m sorry I got upset. We can work this out. I should never have made you leave the other night.”

“I don’t know. I just needed a safe place to stay for now.”

Scott tilted her face up to look at her. The same blue eyes he loved so much were now full of fear and uncertainty. “I’m not asking you to marry me again. Just give me another chance. I’ll take care of you. You don’t have to worry.” He leaned down to kiss her, but she pulled away.

“I’ll think about it.”

They didn’t talk much that night. Scott held her and wished he could persuade her to stay. She didn’t want to talk about it. In the morning she was gone again.

For the next two days, Scott didn’t go to work; he didn’t even leave his RV. He kept waiting for her to call. No one seemed to know where she was. Finally the morning of the third day, he got the phone call he had been waiting for. The local hospital was calling to tell him Meghan had been admitted yesterday morning. She was in serious condition with broken ribs, a punctured lung, and other minor injuries. She was asking to see him. He was the only person she gave them a phone number to call. He thanked them for calling and hung up the phone.

He placed his phone in silent mode so he wouldn’t feel the need to run and answer it every time the hospital called over the next few days. He had made up his mind. He was not going to see her.

A week and a half later, Scott drove his RV out of Alaska headed for a small town in Vermont he had never even heard of. For the first time in almost five years, Meghan’s small red car wasn’t being towed behind it. She never really loved him. She just needed to feel safe and secure.

Text: Copyright 2012 Heather M. Borger No part of this manuscript may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means - electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise - without written permission of the author.
Images: Heather M. Borger
Publication Date: 05-29-2012

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