She held his gaze. “You expect me to believe that?”
“Probably not.” He sucked in a breath. “I was mad.”
“You’re mad all the time.”
“I have a good reason.”
She leaned toward him. “Yes, you do. And you also know I’m not as much the devil as you first thought.”
“I’m sorry, Liz. I was an idiot,” he apologized, sounding as if he meant it.
It was easier to believe that rather than think he was deliberately trying to undermine her, but easier didn’t necessarily mean right.
“You want me punished,” she said, her voice quieter. “You need to get over that.”
He drew in a breath. “I know.”
ETHAN
She stared at him, her green eyes flashing with anger, her mouth set with determination. She would take him on, if necessary. He wanted to say she couldn’t win, but he wasn’t sure that was true. She had eleven years’ worth of a relationship with Tyler. He’d known his kid all of two weeks.
Bitterness threatened, but he pushed it away. She was right-he had to think before he spoke.
“I’m sorry,” he repeated.
She sighed. “I guess I have to at least pretend to believe you.”
“You could try actually believing me.”
“Don’t push it.”
“I was wrong.”
“Yes, you were.” She shook her head. “Okay. I’ll do my best to let it go. Just don’t do that again. We have to work together. If we don’t, the person who gets hurt the most is Tyler. You’re everything he’s ever wanted. You don’t have to destroy me in order to make him love you.”
Ethan stiffened. “That’s not what I was doing.”
“Wasn’t it?”
He hesitated. “Maybe. This is really new for me. I’m reacting, rather than thinking.”
“I’m doing my best to understand that.”
She sounded as if she didn’t want to, which irritated him. Then he told himself it was time to stop being angry. Liz was right-they did have to work together.
“I’d better get back to the library,” she said. “I don’t want your sister thinking I’ve abandoned Tyler.”
He pushed to his feet, then grabbed her hand.
Her fingers were warm. Touching her reminded him of the last time they’d been together. Of how, despite everything, the passion was still there, lurking. Heating. Making him want in a way he hadn’t in a long time. There had been other women. He’d even gotten married. But there had been no one like Liz.
Something hot flared in her eyes. She gave him a brief smile. “You’re trouble. You know that, right?”
He grinned. “One of my best qualities.”
“A debate for another time.”
He thought about kissing her, about leaning in and tasting her again.
A complication neither of them needed, he told himself as she squeezed his fingers then walked away. There were still too many other issues to work through. But he wouldn’t say no to more alone time with her, he thought, watching her walk away.
“What was that all about?”
He turned and saw his mother walking toward him. She had a shopping bag in each hand.
He took the bags from her and set them on a chair. “Liz and I were talking about Tyler.”
His mother’s gaze sharpened as she studied his face. “Is that all? It looked like more to me. You’re not starting something with her, are you, Ethan? After what she did to you? To all of us?”
His reaction was instinctive. “Don’t worry. Liz doesn’t matter to me at all. There’s nothing between us.”
“It’s good to know that some things never change.”
But the words weren’t spoken by his mother. He turned to his right and saw Liz standing just behind him. Her expression was unreadable, but he saw a flash of pain in her eyes.
“In case I was wondering,” she added, picking up the keys she’d left on the table.
She turned on her heel and was gone.
CHAPTER NINE
LIZ WAS STILL SHAKING AS SHE climbed the three steps to the library. She told herself it didn’t matter. That Ethan had to say that to Denise. It wasn’t as if his mother was a fan. Besides, there wasn’t anything else to tell the woman. But in her gut, Liz felt just as dismissed and hurt as she had twelve years before-when Ethan had denied their relationship to all his friends.
She might have had a child with him, and slept with him and still be fighting feelings from the past, but the bottom line was, she couldn’t trust him. Not ever. He couldn’t escape his family name and reputation anymore than she could.
She reached for the front door and pulled it open. A woman with a stroller smiled. “Thanks for the help,” she said.
“You’re welcome.”
The twenty-something woman pushed the stroller through the door, then turned back.
“Are you Liz Sutton? I thought I recognized your picture from your books.”
Liz nodded cautiously.
The woman’s warm smile faded. “My sister went to high school with you. When she told me that you were the class slut, I didn’t want to believe her. But now that I’ve heard what you did to poor Ethan Hendrix, I know every word is true. I’ll never read your books again.”
Hit number three, Liz thought, standing in the sunlight, determined not to go inside until she was sure she wasn’t going to cry.
She told herself the young mother didn’t know her. That other people’s opinions had no meaning. That the truth was much less clear than most people realized. All of which was bullshit, she thought, finally stepping into the cool darkness of the library.
As soon as they got back to the house, she was getting out the phone book, she promised herself. She would get bids on fixing up the house and pay whatever premium was required to get the work done quickly. When the house was finished, she would take the girls and Tyler, return to San Francisco and never, ever come back to this hellhole.
THE ONLY BRIGHT SPOT IN AN otherwise hideous morning had been Montana’s enthusiasm over the book signing. Ethan’s sister had insisted on showing Liz the initial design for the posters and all the Internet postings. Montana swore people would drive into town from hundreds of miles away, just to meet Liz and have her sign books. Liz was less sure of her popularity, but it beat being verbally spit at by the locals.
She helped Tyler carry his armload of books into the house. He’d picked out several he thought Abby might like, which Liz appreciated. After sending him to his room to play computer games for an hour, she called Melissa and Abby into the living room.
The two girls sat on the sofa. They looked impossibly young, she thought, wishing things had been different for them. However much she might currently hate her own life, what Abby and Melissa were feeling was ten times worse. They were just kids who didn’t deserve what had happened to them.
She sat on the coffee table in front of the couch and leaned toward the girls.
“I’m going to fix up the house,” she began. “Your dad started a lot of projects, but I don’t know how to finish them. So unless one of you is holding out some secret contractor knowledge, I’ll be hiring a team to finish the work.”
