Adam turned back to me, and I noticed Liam slipping out of the room. I wasn’t sure if he was leaving in embarrassment or just to give Adam and me some privacy. A few months ago, I would have been sad to see how far we’d drifted apart. At this point, though, I barely gave him a second thought and just waited on what Adam was about to say.
“I have a question, Eliza. I hope you don’t think I am prying. If it’s too much to discuss right now, I can wait. Just say the word.”
I imagined the question. Why didn’t you tell me Liam was your ex? Why did you lie? You realize, don’t you, that we’re history as soon as you get better?
“Did I do something to upset you?”
“What?” I asked. This was not the accusation I expected.
“Your sister obviously thought so. But I thought we were doing good. Weren’t we? I mean, was I misreading this whole relationship?”
I thought of just dismissing the issue; he was here with me, wasn’t he? But I realized that I cared for him enough to give him the honesty that he so highly regarded. He had a right to defend his actions.
“I found out about Crystal.”
Adam stared blankly at me. “Who?”
So much for honesty! “Crystal! Your supposed ex-girlfriend! I saw her in your car on the freeway. And don’t even say it wasn’t your car. It had the bumper sticker and everything.” My voice trailed off. I was losing steam. My shoulder was hurting. Everything was hurting. And by the look on Adam’s face, my assumption left something to be desired.
He shook his head, smiled, and took my hand. “That was not my car and not Crystal. I sold my car, Eliza. I’m still friends with Crystal’s family, by way of my parents, anyway. Our families have lived next door to each other since elementary school. My mom told me that Crystal’s younger sister was going to move to college soon after she finished this last semester. Mom said that Crystal’s parents were looking to buy her sister an older car she could use while she was away. I had already been thinking about selling my car. I thought I’d mentioned it. That I was ready for a new car. I’m sure we talked about it. Remember, we talked about the Steinbeck Museum?”
I nodded.
“So finally her parents came out to San Diego to visit Crystal, who lives here with her husband and kids.” He lifted an eyebrow in my direction. “I met up with her parents when they were out here. The car was a surprise and their parents sent the girls shopping while they met up with me.”
“She looked just like Crystal in the picture.”
“She probably looks a lot like Crystal did at that age. They have that whole waifish blonde thing going on. I haven’t seen her in a few years. But I wonder why Crystal’s sister was driving. I know they were going to present it to her before they headed back home to Arizona, but I thought her folks said that she needed to learn how to drive a stick shift first. It’s been less than a week, and I’m kinda surprised they were letting her drive it.”
“She wasn’t driving,” I muttered. Admitted. “She was in the passenger seat. I couldn’t see the driver from where I was sitting. I was in a tow truck. I just assumed it was you because it was your car.”
“There ya go.”
“I’m sorry for assuming. I just saw a girl who looked like the girl in the picture, and she was in your car and my relationship with Liam was based on so many lies that I just reverted to the defensive.”
“Don’t you remember in my voicemail I said I had something to show you and that I could pick you up for our date? It was my new car that I wanted to show you.”
I blushed and was happy to be interrupted by a nurse, a freckled brunette, coming in to check my vitals. I waited for Adam to check her out. He never did, not even a side-glance. She said I was doing well, and he nodded to her politely as she left. Maybe I really was Adam’s type. Maybe Adam was really my man.
“I thought that call was for…geez…this sounds so silly now, after all you said…”
“How could that call be for anyone else? It was to your phone.”
“You didn’t mention my name, and it was right after I’d seen who I thought was Crystal in what I thought was your car. I thought you might have been calling Crystal back, but accidentally dialed my number.”
Adam pulled a chair up next to my bed. “I am not the cheating type, and even I know not to invite another girl to go along on a date I’ve been invited on. I’ve seen the sitcoms!”
I laughed and ached. “But I didn’t invite you on that date.”
“Sure you did,” he explained, flipping open his cell phone. “I saved your message so I could make sure to remember the right time and all.” He dialed his voicemail and handed me the phone.
I listened. I knew it would have sounded like me to anyone else. She said she was Eliza, and asked to meet Adam in Coronado at the Greek café at the ferry landing. I closed the phone. “You should save that for the police. That’s Cleo. She was setting you up.”
He took back his cell phone, his face turning pale. “She set me up to be there so she could hit me? So she could kill me?”
I sighed. How could Cleo have gotten so out of control? What happened to her fear of crashing? And her love of her cars? Not to mention her tendency to do the right thing in every situation.
“If you hadn’t been there, Eliza…”
“Good thing you called me.”
“Good thing you came. Even after thinking I was supposed to be on a date with another woman. For heaven’s sake, Eliza, why did you even come?”
I was about to dash this new relationship to a bloody death upon the rocks of honesty. “I wanted to catch you with Crystal. I’m sorry.”
Adam regained his composure just as I noticed the nurse and doctor standing outside the door. They moved in and the nurse took my vital signs again. The doctor looked at my chart. She told me what bones had been set, what to expect, what pain medications she would prescribe and that they planned on releasing me the next day if I continued to do well. She said I probably felt much worse than I actually was.
When they left, Adam followed them for a moment, and I heard him asking if he could take me home, or if they needed a next of kin or something. “I plan on taking care of her, and her family is not available. So is that okay? I don’t want her to have to stay here just because no one’s here to take her home.” They explained that I was an adult and could check myself out. And that certainly he could take me home if I approved.
When he walked back into the room, he said, “I think I need to stop watching sitcoms and hospital dramas.” He laughed and sat back down. “Do you mind if I take you home, or do you want me to call your roommate?”
“I’d love it if you could take me home.”
“Good, then it’s a done deal.”
I lowered my eyes. “I thought I’d died or something.”
“It probably feels that way with your broken bones and all. Eliza, you must tell me why you pushed me out of the way when you thought I was cheating on you. Please. You should’ve just let me get hit. Or just shouted to warn me. But you risked your life. When you thought I was there to meet another woman.”
I shrugged, “I was really mad, but—”
“But when you saw me in danger, your instinct and some emotion in you caused you to jump out in front of a speeding Corvette to get me out of the way.”
“But I didn’t want to die for you.”
“But you might have, and you took that chance. Why?”
“I don’t know. I guess, when it came down to it, I was giving you the benefit of the doubt. I still cared for you.”
“I told you before that my relationship with Crystal was based on lies, and how honesty was so important to me.” Adam sighed and looked down. “I don’t like to talk about it, Eliza. It’s just really hurtful and hard to talk about.”
I touched his arm. He didn’t have to tell me. I didn’t care anymore. I just didn’t want to see him hurting so badly. “Don’t worry about it, then.”
“No, I want you to know
what she did that tore me away, so you can believe once and for all that I am indeed torn away. She aborted our baby, Eliza. Without telling me she was even pregnant until after it was over. Now, I know it was legally her choice and that I had no say in it. But it was my baby, too, and now I have to live with the fact that I have a dead child I couldn’t save. It was over between us after that, to say the least.”
I didn’t begin to know how to respond. I thought about his dramatic response to my white lie about Liam. I thought about how open he’d been with how he felt about me. I thought about when he’d said he wanted a completely honest relationship. No wonder. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Don’t say anything, Eliza. Nothing you can say will take away what happened. Everyone has something they have to live with. Your dad’s death. My baby that won’t ever be born. And now your sister with this side of her you never knew existed. I don’t want our pasts to get in the way of our future. It affects us, but shouldn’t freeze us.”
I only nodded, trying to push through the news.
“You need to rest, Eliza. I’ll leave you alone for now. I am going to phone work and let them know I’m all right.”
“Okay. Hey, what day is it?”
“Thursday afternoon. Do you want me to call your work?”
“Yeah, that would be great. They probably think I’ve been playing hooky.”
“No, they know what happened. I called your HR person. Liam had the number.”
“I appreciate that. Thanks.”
Adam planted a little kiss on the tip of my nose before exiting, and I began to relax. I decided to ask the nurse for some painkillers. I’d been enough of a hero. I didn’t need to suffer through the pain any longer. And besides, I had to contend with the pain of realizing what my sister had done. I wished my nurse could administer morphine for my soul.
The painkillers were stronger than I’d expected. This was no OTC aspirin I’d been given. It didn’t take long until the room blurred and pixilated. Thoughts of death, of Liam, of Adam, and of Cleo marched across my mind.
I began to sob, sending piercing pain throughout my body. I couldn’t stop. And I didn’t want to.
I deserved a good cry.
CHAPTER 19
The rain was pouring from the sky and inside my heart when I left the hospital. Adam held an umbrella over me while he wheeled me to his car, but that didn’t stop the rain from brushing against my face, hiding the tears I could not keep inside. Maybe it was the painkillers that distorted the world at this moment, or maybe it was the shattered life I was returning to, but the droplets falling from the sky were a visual symbol of what I was feeling. Sad, so sad.
I’d spoken to Liam on the phone this morning, and he’d said he would not be at the condo when I returned. He’d tried to forgive my part in his “accident,” but he couldn’t get it out of his mind. He wasn’t mad at me per se, but he felt we were eternally broken now. I told him that we’d been “eternally broken” for a long time, but I had stuck by him in the exact way that he was not sticking by me now.
Liam would stay at James’s apartment until the condo was sold. He made it clear that I could keep the condo if I wanted to buy him out.
“I want to start anew,” I’d explained this morning, holding the phone to my ear with my good arm while I sat up in the hospital bed. “Let’s sell it as soon as possible, pay off the loan, and split the profits.”
“Do you realize we’ll profit almost one hundred thousand dollars, Lizzy? In just a couple years. You can’t get that kind of return with any other investment.”
“Thinking about putting a down payment on a bachelor pad?”
“I’m not really a bachelor anymore. I liked James before the accident, and now I’ve seen how he really stuck by me, you know. That kind of person is, well, not the kind of person you just let go of.”
I thought of Adam, who’d spent hours and hours in the hospital with me, talking, playing cards, anything to take my mind off the situation. “So, you and James are thinking about getting a place together?”
“I’m going to move into his apartment for now. But we’re hoping to buy something soon. Together. Probably in the Hillcrest area, since it’s kinda close to both our jobs and the area’s very hip.”
“Can you call that realtor we spoke to when we were thinking of selling before?”
“Yeah, I’ll call today. Do you need a ride home?”
Liam’s offer was refreshing, as I was not expecting it. I was glad he’d put aside his uncomfortable feelings regarding the accident to come to my aid if I needed him to. “No, Liam, but I appreciate the offer. Adam’s coming in a few hours.”
“He’s a nice guy, Lizzy. We were talking in the room when you were unconscious. He likes you a lot. He said you were sharp and fun and gorgeous.”
“Gorgeous?”
“His words, I swear. You guys going to move in together?”
“I think I’m going to live alone,” I said, deciding it as the words came out of my mouth. Saying it aloud made me feel stronger. More decisive. And more sure of my choice. “Not even a roommate. And I don’t think I’m going to live with a boyfriend again. Not that it hasn’t been fun, Liam. But I’m not going to live with a man I’m not married to ever again. It kinda clouds things. Keeps you from seeing things that you might see otherwise, because you assume more of a commitment than you actually have. I shouldn’t be saying ‘you’ there, though. It kept me from seeing things I’d see otherwise. Anyway, I am looking forward to having a place of my own.”
* * *
Now that I was home, with Adam tucking a blanket over my legs and setting up a movie in the DVD player, I thought back on my assertion that I’d live alone. Had it been the painkillers that had given me such confidence in myself? Or was it just who I was becoming?
“Are you all right?” Adam asked.
“I am, Adam. Thank you. For picking me up, for getting me all comfy here, for being here for me. For being you.”
“You’re sweet, Eliza. I’m glad to help. Can I get you something to eat that isn’t hospital food? Maybe a bowl of ice cream or some popcorn or…hey, I can make a mean grilled cheese sandwich.”
“I don’t think we have any of that stuff here. But thanks anyway.”
Adam pulled on his jacket and grabbed his umbrella. “Everything’s set up for the movie, and the remote is right next to you. Will you be okay if I run to the store for a minute? Get you some supplies?”
This was a man who wanted to take care of a woman. Of me. “That sounds great. I’d love a grilled cheese sandwich.”
Adam smiled and I melted. “I’ll be back soon. Here’s the phone, call me if you think of anything you need while I am at the grocery store. Or if you need me here, I’ll come back right away.”
As Adam closed the door behind himself, I thought I might have another cry. But while the rain continued outside with mind-numbing percussion, I realized that I didn’t need to cry anymore. I wanted to think about my future instead of worry about it. I didn’t have a sister to confide in or to ask advice from anymore, but I had a new confidence in myself as a courageous individual. If I could jump in front of a car to save someone’s life, I could face a new life. And now I had to deal with the drastic change in one of the people I loved most.
I don’t know the first thing about the legal system. How am I supposed to free Cleo? Then again, if Cleo really did all she’s been accused of doing, then am I supposed to be fighting for her release at all? Would a conviction mean that she’d get therapy she never received when Dad died?
Why hadn’t she said anything? Why did she pretend everything was fine?
Cleo wouldn’t have an answer for me, at least not until I spoke to her in person. And I wasn’t ready for that. I might never be ready emotionally, but I’d already decided I’d go to see her as soon as I was physically able.
And the rest of my life? It had all seemed so complicated before. Now, compared with the ordeal with Cleo, this would be the e
asy part.
I’d definitely quit my job and maybe even recommend Jane for it. I might take a part-time job at a bookstore. Or freelance as a reader for J Press. I’d rent an inexpensive apartment, which I could do if I was freelancing since I didn’t need to be near downtown. I would have my nest egg from the condo to supplement my income if needed.
And I’ll write. I’d finish my book. Maybe I’d get published. Maybe not. But I would do what I said I would do. I’d write.
Maybe I’d visit Mom in Botswana. I’d never even considered it before. I’d just assumed that she would come to me.
And Adam. He was as interested in me as I was in him. And he’d opened up to me with his most hurtful memory because he trusted me and because he wanted me to feel confident in trusting him.
By the time Adam returned, hands loaded down with grocery bags, I had just started the movie. I wasn’t even past the opening credits.
“I see you are really enjoying the DVD,” he joked, kissing me lightly on the lips before setting down the bags.
“I was thinking about a lot of stuff,” I explained, getting up gingerly to follow him into the kitchen, trying not to move my shoulder much.
He began unloading the bags of groceries, and I saw that he’d picked up much more than cheese and bread. Milk, PopTarts, apples, crackers, an olive medley, and three different kinds of cheese, among other treats.
“What’s all this?”
“Thought I’d stock you up so you don’t need to carry heavy bags until your collarbone heals. So, what have you been thinking about?” He continued to move food into the fridge and the cupboard.
“Liam and I are going to sell this condo, so I was thinking about what I’d do with my share of the profits, and where I’ll live. I think I’m going to quit my job.”
“You don’t like your job? I thought HR had said you could go back to your old position when they hired someone new.”
“To be honest, I’m a little burnt out on mystery. Too much of it in real life these days.”
“As long as you don’t get burnt out on romance…” Adam flashed me a smile, and popped a kiss on my lips as he set the milk in the fridge. “So, writing then?”
Best of Luck Elsewhere Page 23
