Price of Past Miracles Ch. 04

Most of Megan Richards' dreams for the future had been shattered... the only one that remained in tact was her dream to use her talents in Hollywood some day... one way or another. She was every bit as talented as her mother, Diana, and she'd always thought her slightly superior intellect had come from her father... Her Daddy, Charles, was a highly intelligent and rational man, but she'd not inherited her smarts from him... except maybe by osmosis.

Her biological father, Thomas Seldon, was also very intelligent and a logical thinker as well as a very brave and confidant man, from whom she must have gained her inherent self-confidence. Megan had always wondered why her mother still doubted herself and her talent at times, and she'd learned why when her mother finally revealed her painful checkered past to her.

She'd been especially surprised when her mother told her about the weekend affair she'd had with The Duke, John Wayne, back in 1954... although it had explained a lot about why her mother was always dragging her to see his movies! Megan had almost dismissed that story as a fantasy until her Dad confirmed it was real and produced invitations they'd received from him over the years to most of his movie premieres, some of which they'd attended.

Megan remembered meeting The Duke at one of the premieres... in June of 1969, she and Charlie had also been invited to seeTrue Grit and both of them had loved the movie. She had fully identified with the character of Mattie Ross... a confident and strongly independent tomboy avenging the murder of her father. Megan had grown up as somewhat of a tomboy and that was the last summer she'd felt like one because the following summer was when her body had blossomed dramatically...

She and Charlie had enthusiastically told Mr. Wayne how much they'd enjoyed the movie and he'd seemed genuinely happy to hear their praise. She'd also mentioned to The Duke how big a fan of his her mother had always been and she recalled the slightly sad smile he'd given her when he replied that he'd always been a big fan of hers, too. Megan remembered wondering briefly what he'd meant by that until he changed the subject quickly by remarking to her Daddy that he'd better keep his eye on his little girl because he was sure she was going to turn out to be as beautiful as her mother...

Megan had been accepted to and was going to attend Northwestern University because she'd read what an impressive performing arts program they had. She figured that would be the school to help her discover which of her talents she would find most rewarding to pursue, both personally and financially.

So, instead of spending most of the summer with Brad as she had planned, she was going to the movie studios answering open audition calls. She was also making a little money on the side as a demo and backup recording singer for a couple of the music companies who'd called upon her the past couple of years after some of the execs had caught her high school musical performances.

A couple of the recording companies had talked to her parents about the possibility of signing her to a contract. Her parents had left the decision up to her, saying they'd support whatever she wanted to do, but they would not let her make all the decisions regarding her career until she was at least twenty-one. Megan had almost jumped at it until she started looking at the problems some kids her age went through when they suddenly became rich and famous and she understood why her parents had wanted to stay involved. In the end, she'd decided she just wasn't ready for instant celebrity... She was confident that when she was ready to pursue the stars in her eyes, fame would come...

She and Brad had mostly been avoiding each other for several weeks. Barbie was giving her updates every so often, telling her that Brad was keeping busy getting ready to leave in less than a week to begin practice for the football team at the Air Force Academy in Colorado. The fact that his father was a highly regarded FBI agent and a decorated World War II hero in Marine Intelligence, along with a letter of recommendation from Megan's grandfather, a retired Air Force Colonel with high level security clearances, and Brad's high scores on the ASVAB tests as well as his good academic record had virtually assured his appointment to The Academy. Brad had stars in his eyes as well... his goal was to train as a jet pilot and eventually work his way into the astronaut program...

Megan swallowed a lump in her throat as she recalled how she and Brad had joked that even though their goals were so different, they were also similar in some ways... They had worried at times that their career goals would lead them in such opposite directions that they'd never be able to work out how to share their lives together. But they'd both felt so confident that their love was real and when the time was right, things would've all come together. She was beginning to see that it was just another sign that they'd been ignoring in their need to believe that how they felt about each other was real and right...

Megan sighed heavily and pushed the dull ache inside her away as she pulled into a movie studio lot and parked the Chevy Monza that her parents had bought for her and Charlie to drive. She was answering another open audition call for older teenage girls for a bit part in a western movie that they were hoping to begin shooting soon. She'd have to let the studio know that she'd be leaving for college in less than a month, in case there were any delays in the shooting schedule.

As she was heading for the building that the guard at the entrance had directed her to, she heard someone calling her name behind her. She stopped dead in her tracks when she recognized the voice and turned around slowly to see her half-brother running up behind her. "What are you doing here?" she asked nervously.

Brad instantly saw the fear in her eyes and heard it in her voice and he knew it was a mistake to have made the spur-of-the moment decision to follow her when she passed him coming out of their street. But he had to see her at least once more before he left... it would be months before they saw each other again...

"I'm sorry, Megan... I just had to see for myself that you really are doing OK. I've been so worried about you. I thought Jonnie would be able to tell me how you're doing but he says he's hardly seen you since that night. And Barbie says all you do when she sees you is ask about me... So, I just wanted to know that you're going to be OK before I have to leave. I won't be around to look after you any more..."

"Goddamn it, Brad... I never asked you to look after me in the first place! But now I wish your weird need to look after me like a sister would've told you something and that you'd stayed the hell away from me! I can't handle the thought that you still feel the need to look out for me after what happened between us! Maybe some day I'll be all right with that, but right now... it's just too strange. So, please... just stay away from me and let me figure out how to handle this! I promise you... I will be fine... you don't need to worry about me!" she stated emphatically.

She paused and took a deep breath when she saw the pain in his eyes. "Oh, Brad... I know you'll always care about me, just like I will always care about you... and love each other... like family... but we can't let it be any more than that!!! And right now, the deeper feelings are still too close to the surface... and it may take more than just time and distance to make us let go of them! So I'm going to do whatever I have to do to let go and I want your promise that you'll do the same! OK?!!" she pleaded earnestly.

Brad looked down sadly and nodded. On impulse, she threw herself against him and hugged him and found herself wrapped in his steely embrace. Then she pushed herself out of his arms and backed away from him as she headed toward the corner of the building saying, "Good luck at The Academy, Brad... and don't you dare dream about me..." she added jokingly and then spun on her heel to run around the corner of the building out of sight before the sob that was threatening burst forth from her.

Megan only got a few feet before she ran into someone and she stepped sideways as she mumbled, "I'm so sorry," keeping her face down so they couldn't see how upset she was and just kept going. She ran into the building where auditions were being held and stopped inside to duck into a ladies room and burst into tears. She let herself cry for a few minutes and then blew her nose and splashed her face with water until she looked presentable and then headed toward the auditions.

***********

John Wayne didn't even have a chance to catch the girl who ran into him just as she came around the corner of the building he'd exited. He watched her as she rushed inside, noting that it looked like she was about to cry. It reminded him of another time a woman had run away from him about to burst into tears...

He sighed heavily and kept going around the corner of the building to see a young man standing there looking dejected and quickly surmised he was the reason the young woman was upset. The expression on the young man's face quickly changed from sadness and pain to embarrassment and then surprise as he realized who he was.

Brad rubbed his fingers quickly across his eyes to wipe away a few tears and then stuck out his hand and said, "Mr. Wayne, this is a surprise and a real honor to meet you. My father has often talked about what a nice man you are and he even named my youngest brother after you!" he said sincerely as they shook hands.

Wayne released his hand and raised his eyebrows. "Have I met your father, son?"

"Yes, sir... I'm Bradley Seldon. My father is..."

"Seldon..." Wayne interrupted him. "Your father must be FBI Agent Thomas Seldon. Yes... I know him... he's a good man. He and his partner... Charles Richards. Are they still partners?" he asked the young man when he noted a strange expression on his face.

Brad frowned slightly at The Duke's comment. "Yes, sir... they're still... partners," he said quietly. "He and Uncle Charles have been partners and best friends since they met... there's nothing they wouldn't do for each other," he added sarcastically without even thinking.

Wayne noted his tone of voice and that his strange expression deepened and decided to change the subject. "So, young Bradley, what brought you to the movie studio today? Was it the young lady that ran into me in her haste to get away from you?" he asked teasingly.

Brad's frown turned sad as he nodded his head. "I was just trying to catch up to her and tell her goodbye before I leave for The Academy next week. It's been a little difficult for both of us the last several weeks... but I just couldn't leave without seeing her one last time..."

Wayne frowned with him. "Ah, yes... saying goodbye to someone you love is never easy. You say you're leaving for The Academy... which Academy is that?" Brad told him about his appointment and playing football and his plans to eventually become an astronaut, and The Duke commended him for his lofty aspirations. Then he added, "You know... if you really love her, things will eventually work out between you and the young lady..." He stopped abruptly when he saw tears filling the young man's sad hazel eyes.

Brad looked away and said hoarsely, "No... I'll always love Megan... but things can never work out between us..."

Wayne frowned harder and asked softly, "Did you say Megan?" When Brad nodded, he asked, "Was that Megan Richards you were saying goodbye to?" Brad nodded again. "Why can things never work out between the two of you, son?"

Brad closed his eyes and shook his head. "That I can't explain, sir. It's a much too long and too complicated story." He took a deep breath and swallowed the lump in his throat, opened his eyes and held his hand toward the kind older movie star. "Again, Mr. Wayne, it was a very great honor to meet you, but I must be going. I'll tell Aunt Dee that I ran into you and how kind you were to me and how well you're looking, and I'm sure that'll make her very happy. She's always been a big fan of yours! Goodbye, sir..." he said sincerely as he released their grip, turned around and jogged back to his car in the parking lot.

John Wayne realized as he watched Brad loping away that he'd referred to Diana as "Aunt Dee" and her husband as "Uncle Charles." He wondered if Brad and Megan had grown up thinking of each other as relatives and now they felt confused because their feelings for each other had deepened to something more...

He turned around and headed back into the studio building to find the daughter of the woman he'd never been able to forget. Maybe he could help the young woman realize that she should never give up on true love... And then maybe, unlike her mother, it wouldn't take her seventeen years to find her true love...

**********

Megan left the audition room with her head down, disappointed to learn that the production schedule on the movie was being delayed indefinitely because they were still in question as to whom the main star was going to be. They had mentioned that The Duke had expressed an interest in the role and the delay was because they were going into negotiations with him. She would like to have gotten a small part in a movie with John Wayne... she had come to admire the man greatly when her Dad told her of his great respect for him because of his love for her mother.

She stopped abruptly when she ran into a solid torso leaning against the wall just outside the door. "I'm so sorry... I seem to keep bumping into people today," she said hastily as she looked up into a face she instantly recognized. "Oh, my goodness, Mr. Wayne... I didn't realize you were there! Again, I'm so sorry!" she said sincerely. Then her eyes widened in surprise at his reply.

"It's perfectly all right, Megan. You are Megan Richards, aren't you?" he asked and she nodded in response. "I remember meeting you at the premiere forTrue Grit when you were only about this big," he indicated her short stature when she was just eleven with his hand at her shoulder. "I remember telling your Daddy that he'd better keep his eye on you because you were going to be beautiful when you grew up... and now I can see I was right!" he said gently as he put his hand on her chin.

He studied her features and could see her beautiful mother's face from her deep-set eyes and sparse lashes, her small nose and her lush lips. And her hair had the same thick, wavy texture but the color was a rich golden brown instead of shining yellow-gold like her mother's. But the color of her eyes seemed strange somehow...

Both her mother and father had sparkling grayish blue eyes, but Megan's were light hazel in color. He wondered how that was, especially when he recalled meeting her twin brother Charlie and seeing that his eyes were also exactly the same color as his parents.She must have inherited her eye color from another relative, like a grandparent or something... there was any number of explanations.

He smiled softly at her as he released her chin and said, "I can see why that young man was upset when you ran away from him..." He paused when she looked startled. "I was also the person you ran into outside earlier," he added as he chuckled.

Megan was flustered and she didn't want him thinking that she was already having trouble with love at such a young age, so she laughed nervously as she explained, "Oh, no... that was just my brother coming to tell me goodbye before he left for school, that's all!"

Wayne frowned in confusion and asked, "What?!! Bradley Seldon is your brother?!!"

Megan gasped and backed away from him a couple of steps. "Oh, God... I... I was just joking! I didn't realize you knew who Brad was! I hoped you would think he was Charlie!"

"Why would you want me to think that?" he asked softly. "Is it because you and Brad don't want anyone to know you're in love?" He was sure he was right when she burst into tears, burying her face in her hands. He put his arms around her and held her gently as she wept against his chest. When she started to calm down, he pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and gave it to her to wipe her face as he walked her over to a couple of chairs and sat them down.

Then he put his hand under her chin and looked into her sad hazel eyes and said, "I'm going to tell you the same thing I told Brad. If you really love him, things will eventually work out between you..." He stopped again when her eyes filled with tears the same way Brad's did when he said that and it suddenly hit him how similar their eyes were. His gaze narrowed as he stared at her. "You weren't joking when you said Brad was your brother..." She burst out crying again.

Megan knew he'd figured it out so she spilled the whole story to him and watched as his face became etched with sympathy. He didn't even flinch when she confessed that she and Brad had been intimate before they found out and he understood how that had made it even harder for them to let go now. He also told her that he could understand her parents' and Brad's parents' reluctance to tell them when they thought there was no need... it would probably only have confused them when they were younger.

She felt a little better when The Duke departed after he told her that, despite everything, he was certain that the only reason her parents had done that was out of their deep love for each other and their desperate desire to have children. He said he couldn't fault them for that because he loved his children and his greatest joy in life was being a father. Then he'd kissed her forehead and told her that he hoped the right "fella" for her would come along soon...

Megan smiled as she watched John Wayne sauntering away as she'd seen him do so many times in his movies... and she suddenly understood why her mother had fallen for him. He wasn't one of the most handsome men in the world but he was a very kind, gentle and understanding man. And even at his advanced age, he exuded masculine strength and a certain amount of virility... the very things about Jonnie North that had always made her so nervous. But she had started to realize the night everything fell apart for her and Brad that Jonnie was also very gentle and understanding...

She sighed, shook her head in confusion and started heading for her car as she remembered that she'd heard Jonnie's thoughts that night. She was lost in her own thoughts as she made her way toward the parking lot...

Why have I always feared the guy who's always wanted and was probably meant to be my soul mate?!! What strange forces have been working against me to keep me away from him?!! The same ones that are making it so damned hard for me to stop thinking about Brad... he's my half-brother for God's sake!!! Please, God... take these feelings away!!! Give me some sign as to what I'm supposed to do to make this stop...

"Are you OK, Meg?" Jonnie asked when he saw the strange expression on her face as she approached her car.

Megan jumped and gasped when she looked up and saw him leaning against the side of her white Monza. "What are you doing here, Jonnie?" she asked in confusion, wondering how he knew where to find her.

"I saw Brad just as he was turning in to your neighborhood and he told me where you were and that he wanted me to come wait for you because he thought you might need... someone... to talk to..." Jonnie's voice trailed off uncertainly when he saw her confused eyes suddenly widen in surprise and what he thought was fear... He sighed heavily, "Never mind, Meg... I guess you'll never be able to get over being scared of me..." he said regretfully as he pushed away from her car and started toward his Camaro.