Two Rings, One Heart. Martha Mason

      Zack grinned wickedly at his mother as he changed the radio station. “Don’t be too long or I’ll just have to leave you here!”

      Inside the building Megan found the owner, Mr. Carlyle, and waited for him to finish a phone conversation. He was a nice-looking man in his mid-fifties. She knew he owned several large properties in the area and was quite wealthy.

      Mr. Carlyle glanced over the proposal, wrote a deposit check and handed it to her. They had met on a previous occasion at the work site. She had been in coveralls and had had her hair up in a cap, he recalled.

      “Thank you. We’ll start work on Monday,” she said, then turned to leave.

      Mr. Carlyle followed her outside. “Why don’t you explain the layout to me one more time?” he said, halting her progress.

      Megan pointed out where the trees, shrubs and grass would be planted. “It will be beautiful. I guarantee you’ll be satisfied. We also offer lawn care, snow removal and seasonal flower planting. If you’re interested, give us a call,” she said, handing him her business brochure.

      “Ms. Whitney, I think it would be nice if we closed this deal by going out to dinner. To celebrate,” he suggested.

      “I’m sorry, Mr. Carlyle, I can’t. My son is waiting for me,” she said politely.

      He glanced at the van. “He’s a big boy. Drop him at home, change into something nice, and meet me later.”

      “I also have a little daughter waiting for me to come home and spend some time with her,” she said, trying to gently refuse his offer.

      “It might be fun,” he said, raising his eyebrows.

      “Mr. Carlyle, I’m married,” she said, glancing at his left hand, seeing that he was wearing a wedding ring.

      “So am I. What difference does that make? We’re just going out to have a little fun, not make a lifetime commitment,” he said laughing.

      Megan didn’t like the way this conversation was going and she intended to close it. “My crew will start working on Monday, if that suits you?”

      As he stared at her without answering, she realized that he was waiting for her to back away or show some sign of submission. When she didn’t, he verbally attacked her.

      “The way I hear it, your husband hasn’t been around for years. And when he was, he was a no-good drunk! Why are you being faithful to him?”

      Megan twirled her engagement ring around her finger—something she always did when she was unsettled. Mr. Carlyle was a prominent businessman. He could do her a lot of good, or a lot of harm. Lord, help me to gracefully extract myself from this situation. Don’t let him push it too far.

      “I hear you’re an exceptional businesswoman, Ms. Whitney, or may I call you Megan? How are you at negotiations?” he asked, letting her know he was implying more than business.

      Megan thought before she spoke. “I have a thriving business.”

      “Why don’t you go out to dinner with me? Maybe we can negotiate another deal,” he said suggestively. “You must be lonely and need a little companionship.”

      “Mr. Carlyle, I’m not sure what you’re suggesting, but I have a pretty good idea. I have two children and I believe I need to set an example for them. To go out with you would be inappropriate, since I’m married,” she stated.

      “Ms. Whitney, there are ways around such concerns. I’m sure your children would understand you going out for a business dinner,” he said persuasively.

      “Is that all it would be?” Megan asked boldly.

      “It can be whatever you want it to be.” He grinned smugly. “No one will ever know, but us.”

      Megan held out the check to him. “Maybe you’d better take this back.”

      “What’s the problem?” He seemed baffled. “We go out and have a little fun. I give you a few good customers. Nobody gets hurt and we all get what we want”

      “Doesn’t it bother you to break the promises you made to your wife before God?” she asked and waited for him to answer. She honestly wanted to know.

      “All that happened a long time ago. We’ve both changed. And who knows if God is even there or cares?” he said carelessly.

      “So you’re telling me that the vows you made to your wife and God no longer matter. You’re free to do whatever you wish. Who changed the rules?” she asked.

      He glared at her angrily.

      “You know, if you keep this up, one of these days you’re going to go home and she’s not going to be there. Maybe you should take your wife out to dinner. She may not wait forever,” Megan said evenly.

      “I don’t want to hear this. Especially not from you,” he said hotly. “Who are you to preach to me, anyway? You probably ran the poor guy off, after you drove him to drink!”

      Megan steadied herself after the assault of cruel words. Then she offered him the deposit check once again.

      “No! Keep it. If you’re that straight, I know you’ll do the job right. Business, you understand,” he said sarcastically.

      Megan strode to the van quickly, before some of the harsh words that were reeling through her head could come spewing out. “Let’s go home,” she said quietly. Zack started the van. He had watched enough to guess what had transpired. He drove away giving the guy a dirty look.

      When they got back to the flower shop, Megan immediately began working. Ted Garrett, her assistant, looked at Zack concerned. He knew Megan always asked how things had been while she was out, or at least said “hi.”

      “Mr. Carlyle wanted a date,” Zack explained, irritated.

      “Oh! Did we lose the job?” he asked cheerfully, having worked with Mr. Carlyle types before.

      “No! But I nearly lost my cool,” Megan said, turning crimson at the thought of the encounter. “He thought I was going to sleep with him!”

      “You should have slugged him and told him to keep the job,” Ted said, chuckling. “We have enough business without him.”

      “Don’t think that idea didn’t cross my mind,” she admitted. “We don’t get big jobs like that very often. We can’t afford to just throw them away. Besides, I know you’re looking forward to digging those holes for the trees he ordered,” she teased.

      By the time they locked the shop, Megan was her usual self again. Zack playfully draped his arm around his mother’s shoulder as they walked across the yard to the old farmhouse. “I’m proud of you, Mom. You were something else.”

      “I’m proud of you, too. I suppose you’ll be wanting to take the truck out,” she said, pulling out a shiny new set of keys and dangling them before him.

      Zack grinned. “How’d you guess?”

      “Mothers just know these things,” she said, tossing him the keys.

      Zack hugged her neck, then dashed inside ahead of her.

      “Cool!” said Jess, looking at the picture on her brother’s license. “When are you going to take me out?”

      When he didn’t answer, she turned to her mother. “Gran wants to know if she can pick me up after school tomorrow. We’re going shopping and to a movie. Can I spend the night with her?” Jess clamored.

      Megan smiled at her daughter’s pretty face. To a ten-year-old girl, a trip to the mall with an overindulgent grandmother was heaven. “I guess so.”

      Zack showed his grandmother his license. She squinted at the picture and smiled at him with approval. “Good job!”

      “Thanks for coming over, Ruth,”