Almost Perfect

“Excuse me,” Liz said, her attention still on the bookstore.

“Liz?” a familiar and unwelcome voice asked. “Liz Sutton?”

Liz held in a groan as she turned and met Pia O’Brian’s surprised gaze. Pia who had taunted her daily all through high school. Pia who had mocked her clothes, her love of books, her reputation.

The woman next to Pia squealed. “Liz Sutton? I’m such a huge fan!”

Liz glanced at her, then wished she had stayed home. The squealer was one of Ethan’s sisters, although she had no idea which one. Not that it mattered. Whatever fanlike feelings his sister might have now would be squashed the second she found out about Tyler.

“Hi,” Liz said weakly, doing her best to smile when what she really wanted to do was run. She looked at Ethan’s sister. “I’m sorry, I know you’re one of Ethan’s sisters…”

“Montana.”

“I can’t believe you’re here,” Pia commented, still looking as stylish as ever. Her hair was a little shorter and she looked more twenty-something than teen-queen. Otherwise, she was as perfect as she’d been twelve years ago. “When did you get back? And aren’t you famous? What are you doing here?”

“She’s beyond famous,” Montana gushed. “I can’t believe it. I work at the library part-time. My boss is going to flip when I tell her you’re here.”

Montana was pretty and dark-haired with a sensual smile and a curvy body that made Liz feel just a little inadequate. She didn’t look anything like the stereotype of a quiet librarian.

“It’s a temp job,” Montana admitted, at Liz’s questioning look. “While I figure out what to do with my life. I actually have a degree in Broadcast Journalism. I went to L.A. to be in the news, but I couldn’t find a job beyond making coffee. Plus, it’s just too big-city there for me. I also work part-time at the paper. I do some reporting and…”

Montana reached for Pia and clutched her arm. “Oh, God! The book festival. Liz can be our headliner.” She turned her wide, dark eyes on Liz. “You have to say yes. I swear if I have to put out another display of easy crafts with twigs and branches, I’ll die. Or at the very least lose my sense of humor. You would be a huge draw. Everyone knows you locally, and we could get some real press. Don’t you think Liz would be great?”

“Sure,” Pia responded, studying Liz. “Assuming Liz wants to participate.”

“Of course she does.” Montana glanced at her. “Don’t you?”

“Liz is a big-time author,” Pia acknowledged, her expression unreadable. “New York Times bestsellers in hardcover. A little out of our league.”

Liz couldn’t tell if Pia was helping her or not.

Montana glanced at her watch and groaned. “Well, you can convince her because I have to be at the library in five minutes.” She grinned at Liz. “Welcome back. I love your books. We should get together and talk.”

And then Montana was hurrying away, leaving Liz alone with Pia.

Pia smiled. “Montana is the most enthusiastic person I know, and that’s saying something. While we’d love to have you sign at the festival, you were looking a little trapped. How about if I schedule time to give you my best pitch but I promise not to be offended if you refuse? Not that I won’t call your publicist and beg.”

Liz didn’t understand. Pia was being…nice. Pia was never nice. “I don’t know if I’ll still be in town,” Liz said slowly. “I’m not sure how long I’m staying.”

“You could come back for the signing. Make a weekend of it.” She laughed. “No pressure, I swear. So how are you? I haven’t seen you in forever. It’s been what? Eleven or twelve years since you were last here?”

“Something like that. You’re still in the neighborhood?” Liz did her best to make sure the question sounded as if she were interested rather than judging.

“They can’t get rid of me, although they keep trying.” Pia grinned. “Actually, except for college, I never left. Like Montana, I’m a small-town girl. Unlike her, I’ve found what I want to do.”

“I heard you plan all the festivals.”

“I’m Fool’s Gold’s party girl, and I mean that in the nicest way possible.”

It wasn’t anything Liz could have imagined the other woman doing. Pia had seemed more like someone who would marry well and join the ladies-who-lunch crowd.

“You look great,” Pia told her. “I’ve seen your pictures on the books, but they’re different. More, what? Formal?”

“Stern,” Liz admitted. “What I write requires me to look serious in my pictures.”

“You probably wouldn’t sell as many books if you appeared in taffeta and a pink boa.”

“Exactly.” Liz found herself relaxing a little. A lot of time had passed. Maybe they’d both changed and grown up. “Are you married?”

“No. I’ve never been very good at taking care of things. Although I’m looking after a cat for a friend and that seems to be going well.” Pia frowned. “At least I think it is. He hasn’t tried to kill me in my sleep and just last week he let me pet him. Well, it was more an accidental brush of my hand against his back, but we’re making progress. You?”

“I don’t have a cat.” Liz smiled. “Never married, either.”

“Really? But you’ve always been so beautiful. Back in high school, the guys practically killed themselves trying to get you to notice them. You left the rest of us semi-normal girls feeling like trolls. It was very depressing.”

Liz felt her smile fade as she stared at the other woman. “Is that what you thought? The guys wanted my attention?”

“Sure.”

Liz thought about the horrible comments, the gross come-ons, the snickers. How someone had spray-painted whore on her locker and one of the football players had claimed to have naked pictures of her that were for sale. The drunk carload of guys who had pulled up next to her while she’d been walking home from work late one Saturday night and had said between them they had twenty bucks. That should be enough for all of them to do her.

Pia laughed again. “You probably have to have extra security at your book signings to keep the love-crazed fans away. I think I would have liked being famous. Oh, well. In my next life.”

It was as if they were having completely different conversations, Liz thought, confused by Pia’s friendliness and seeming inability to remember the past with accuracy.

“There’s a group of us girls who get together,” Pia continued. “Sort of a girls’ night out. Or in, because we meet at someone’s house and drink a lot. It’s fun. I think you’d know a few people who come. We’d love to have you.” She pulled a business card out of her purse and turned it over, then grabbed a pen. “Give me your cell.”

Liz recited the numbers, still feeling as if she were having an out-of-body experience.

“It’s great you’re back,” Pia told her. “Let’s go to lunch or something and catch up. And think about that signing.”

The two women parted. Liz continued to walk toward the park by the lake. She was sure she looked completely normal on the outside, while on the inside, she was more than a little confused.

Pia O’Brian friendly? How was that possible? Liz did believe in a person’s ability to change, but she wasn’t sure she was ready to accept a full-blown miracle.

“I’VE NEVER HEARD OF THE Fool’s Gold Mountaineers,” Tyler told Ethan as they found their seats.

They were both carrying hotdogs and drinks. Ethan kept his eye on the boy to make sure Tyler didn’t trip, but the eleven-year-old didn’t seem to have any trouble navigating through the sparse crowd. They settled three rows up from the field, about a third of the way from home plate to first base.

“They’re a short season A league team,” Ethan said, then tugged on the brim of Tyler’s new scarlet baseball cap. “You know what that means?”

“They don’t play a long season?” Tyler asked with a grin.

“Very good. You’ve heard of Triple A and Double A minor league baseball, right?”

The boy took a bite out of his hotdog and nodded.

“This is another kind of minor league team. Their season runs from early June to early September. The opener was last week.”

“You go to a lot of games?”