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“Then what the hell was that?” Charles flailed his hand toward the house. “What was all of that in there? I thought you were my friend!”
“I am!” Dallas yelled, his body trembling. “But you’ve had everything that I never had! Can’t you see? I came from nothing, Charles! My father was a sharecropper! I scraped my way to the top and I couldn’t have done it without your help.” He let out a deep breath in defeat. “I guess I wanted to prove to you that I was worthy of it.” Dallas bit his lower lip as tears came to his eyes. Then he glanced over at Charles, lowering his voice. “I guess I don’t want people to see me for who my family is, either. I want people to see me for whoIam, and not where I came from, too.” Dallas turned away so Charles wouldn’t see his shame. “And yes, Charles, we’re friends. In fact, you’re probably my only friend.” He turned around and their eyes met. “Your friendship has meant the world to me, and I hope I haven’t lost it.”
Charles took a step closer and placed his hand on his shoulder. “No, of course not. Just please, don’t ever do that again. Just as you don’t want people to judge you for your family, neither do I.”
Dallas nodded. “I owe you an apology, Charles.” Dallas smirked without humor. “You may not believe me after my behavior in there, but I’ve always liked you for who you are and not for your wealth or your family.”
Charles smiled. “In college when you stood with me, shoulder to shoulder against those bullies, I’ve liked you since. You didn’t know me from Adam, yet you stood with me. It told me a lot about your character.” He placed a hand on his shoulder. “Dallas, I hope you know that your wealth, or lack of it, never meant anything to me.”
“I know. That’s one of the things I’ve always liked about you.” Dallas sighed. “I guess I was just jealous of it, though. Youhad everything handed to you, but didn’t want it. And here I’ve had to struggle for everything I’ve ever had.”
Charles let out a deep breath. “I guess I’ve been jealous of you, too. You worked hard and made yourself who you are.”
“You helped me—”
“No,” Charles corrected. “All I did was to give you a start. What you did with it was your doing. As you know, I’ve helped other people before and lost money. But I never stopped believing in people and wanting to help them.” Charles placed his hand on Dallas’s shoulder. “Dallas, I’d always bet on you.” He pulled him in for a manly hug. When he pulled back, he asked, “Now, can we get past this? You’re one of the only true friends I’ve ever had.”
Dallas smiled. “Yes, of course.” Then he turned to Megan. “I’m so sorry. You’re right and it’ll never happen again.” He took her hands into his. “But just to let you know, I may have married for status, but I’m glad it was you.”
Megan gave him a weak smile. “Let’s go inside.” Her voice cracked, filled with emotion.
Dallas nodded. But as they walked inside, he hoped that Megan could forgive him just as Charles had. But somehow, he knew it wasn’t going to be that easy.
Chapter 7
Megan
When they walked in, Megan noticed that a few people glanced over at them with wide eyes. Some gave them weak smiles. Everyone else hadn’t noticed that anything had happened out of the norm.
“I’m sorry,” Megan said to Wyatt, who was still standing near the door. “I felt faint, and Dallas and Charles were kind enough to walk me out.”
Wyatt smiled. “I’m glad you’re feeling better, Mrs. King.” He looked up at Dallas and smiled.
“I think I’m in the mood to dance now.” Charles looked down at Megan. “Would you do me the honor?” One corner of his lips curled into a smile, and he whispered to both Megan and Charles, “I thought it might help. We don’t want to give the gossips any more fat to chew.”
Megan looked around and a few people were watching. She looked up at Dallas. He smiled and inclined his head slightly. “I’d be delighted, Charles.” Then she took his arm and let him lead her out onto the dance floor, while Dallas spoke with Wyatt.
“Thank you, Mr. Whitfield.” Megan looked around and smiled as if nothing were amiss. “I’m sorry about what happened… with Dallas.”
Charles smiled. “For one thing, please call me Charles. For another thing, he meant no harm.”
Megan lifted her eyebrows. “You’ve been friends for a while?”
He nodded. “Since college.” Charles let out a deep breath. “To make a long story short, some bullies attacked me in college when Dallas came along. He stood beside me and, together, we fought them off.” Charles chuckled at the memory. “When everything was said and done, we were beaten and bloody, but we were still standing. We’ve been friends ever since.”
Megan smiled as Charles guided her around the dance floor. “That’s amazing.” The story had shed a bit more light on Dallas, helping her to see what kind of man he really was inside.
Charles nodded. “I owe him everything.”
“You care very much for him, don’t you?” Megan looked into Charles’s eyes.
Charles grinned. “He’s my very best friend and I’d do anything for him.” He let out a deep breath, as if trying to find the right words. “Despite what he did tonight, he’s the only one who ever liked me for who I am and not for my family.”
“But you helped him, right?”
“Yes, I did. But Dallas never asked. I offered.” He let out a deep breath. “When I saw what kind of person he was inside, and how hard he was working to make a better life for himself, I said to myself, ‘Now, that’s a man I can work with.’ And I’ve been working with him since.”
Megan nodded, understanding. She could see that Dallas was a very complex man. A moment later the music came to an end and she and Charles clapped. “Thank you for the dance.”
