by Sophie Gunn
Lizzie looked out her bedroom window, her heart fluttering. Tay had been keeping his distance since Ethan had reappeared, so she was surprised to see the bottom half of him sticking out from under the hood of her old, dead Toyota in the driveway. Dune sat at the toolbox by his feet.
She tried to control her excitement at seeing him. They still hadn’t talked about the money or what had happened to it. They hadn’t talked about what had happened on the road to New York. Or on the way back.
“Bye, I’m gone!” Paige sang. “Have fun, you two.”
“It’s too early for the bus,” Lizzie said, suddenly not wanting to be alone with Tay. What if he had come back to tell her he was leaving?
“Dad’s taking me,” Paige said.
A horn honked. Lizzie came downstairs and there was Ethan outside waiting in his Volvo. He honked again and she cringed. Was he trying to summon Judy Roth to witness this new wrinkle in their odd life?
Ethan waved from the driver’s seat. He and Paige had spent every minute of her last days of vacation on the slopes. Paige was trying to teach him to board. He was trying to talk her into skiing. Lizzie was thrilled that they were getting along so well. Nervous, but thrilled. It was clear that Paige and Ethan shared a love of being daredevils. And a love of the cold.
Lizzie went out onto the porch to wave good-bye, and she stopped dead.
No, it couldn’t be.
But it was.
A white cat was in Ethan’s car, its paws on the passenger-side door.
Tay had stopped what he was doing and was staring at the Volvo, too. He dropped his oily rag. He, Dune, Paige, and Lizzie got to the Volvo at the same time. Ethan lowered White’s window. “Howdy, gang.”
Lizzie was speechless.
“Nice cat,” Tay said. Dune was barking with joy.
Tay reached his hand out for White, but she pulled back as if she’d never seen him before in her life.
“Isn’t she a beauty? I found her last night, mewing around my car. She wouldn’t take no for an answer. And I don’t even like cats,” Ethan explained as Paige moved the cat aside and climbed into the car. “She won’t stay at the hotel. She goes nuts. So I have to take her with me everywhere.”
Tay nodded. “Don’t worry. At the rate you’re going, I bet she’ll be gone pretty soon.”
Ethan looked confused.
“Ignore them, Ethan. Let’s go,” Paige said.
Tay and Lizzie waved as they drove off.
“How about that?”
“Hope he gets rid of the beast quicker than I did,” Tay said.
Lizzie followed Tay back to her broken-down car. She had come outside without a coat, and the cold air was biting through her fleece nightshirt. “What are you doing?” she asked. It was too cold to be outside, working on a car. She wrapped her arms around herself.
“I think it’s about time you had your own car,” he said. He took off his jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders. “Stop relying on everyone like you always do.”
“I rely on no one,” she began, until she realized that he was teasing her. She pulled his coat tight around her, inhaling his aroma, which warmed her even more than the coat. “So are you fixing my car because you’re leaving and you feel sorry for me?”
“Nope. I’m doing this because I’m staying.”
“Tay! Really? Why?”
“Because you love me.” He came to her. “And I love you. So we’ll forgive each other and it’ll all work out if we make the effort to stick around and keep on working stuff out. That’s what people who love each other do. In fact, that’s what people do in general. If you don’t you end up all alone, thinking that you’re perfect and everyone else sucks when really, we’re all just careening around, out of control, trying to do as little damage as we can. Some of us get lucky, others not. You can’t take life personally. So let’s get on with it.” He slid his hands under the coat and pulled her to him.
His words hung in the air between them. “What happened to the shaking, sweating guy I left freezing by his truck in the middle of that accident scene on a snowy road on the way to Meeks Peak? What happened to the guy who was terrified of Candy?”
“You liked that guy?” He pulled her closer and let his lips brush her cheek.
“He was kind of cute, actually,” she said, closing her eyes, enjoying the warmth of his breath as he held her close.
“Well, he split along with White. It’s a long story. Took months. Wanna hear it?”
“No. It’s too cold out here,” she said. But she didn’t move. “What? Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Nothing. You’re just beautiful, that’s all. I’m glad that everything worked out okay with Paige and Ethan.”
“It did. And Annie and Tommy made up, too. You were right. They needed to be together, without me muddling things up with all my problems. If we found your money, things would be perfect.”
“I love you, Lizzie Carpenter. Even with all your muddling problems.” He nuzzled her neck, kissed her earlobe, bit her lower lip.
“Come upstairs.”
He let her go. “Can’t. I’ve got to fix this car.”
“Tay Giovanni. I want you to come upstairs and make love to me. Now.”
“I don’t know. You always say the opposite of what you mean.”
“Not anymore I don’t,” she said. “Now I know what I want and I know how to get it. Come upstairs and get naked, Tay, or I’m going to rip your clothes off right here. And it’s much too cold for that.”
Tay slammed the hood, and they waved to Judy Roth and went inside.
The moment they got into the foyer, Tay knew that there wasn’t a chance they were going to make it upstairs.
He backed her against the door, his lips on hers, his body pressed against her. His hands flew everywhere on her as they sank to the floor together, entwined.
“God, Lizzie.” He could smell her shampoo, the oil on his hands, the wax she used to polish the wooden floors. He could taste her skin and her hair and her belly and her breasts. He felt every molecule of her and it wasn’t enough. He ripped off enough of her clothes to reach what he needed to reach and somehow managed to rip off most of his, too. The floor was cold and hard and he didn’t care, and from her moans, he got the impression that she didn’t care much either.
“This isn’t going to be gentle,” he warned her.
“Good,” she said. “I want to feel it. To feel you. All of you.”
She smiled and he kissed her smile and spread her legs and pushed himself inside her, savoring every single sweet inch.
“Lizzie, I owe you the world,” he said. Sweet Lord, she was so hot and wet and perfect. He moved inside her, and she opened herself to him.
“Lizzie?”
“Hmmm…”
“You know I never could have left you. Even if I’d tried.”
• • •
When they had recovered, they went upstairs and climbed into Lizzie’s bed and made love again, this time gently, slowly, and with all the care that she deserved.
“Call in sick,” he said. “For the next two weeks. In fact, quit.”
“I would, but my boyfriend is awfully careless with his money.”
He shrugged and lay back on the pillows. “I still don’t get it. Where could it be? Do you think Annie’s lying?”
“No way. It’s a mystery,” Lizzie said. “I honestly think everyone is telling the truth. Tommy will report it next week if the mystery isn’t solved. He’ll open a case, start an investigation.”
Tay pulled her close. “I think I’m ready to start my own investigation.” He let his hands slide down her body.
“You really don’t care about that money, do you?” Lizzie asked.
“Not now,” he said. “Now, all I care about is you.”
CHAPTER
57
Two days later, Lizzie looked out her window to see a For Sale sign on Judy Roth’s house across the street. The agent, listed in three-inch-high red
letters, was Jill Kennedy.
Lizzie stared at the sign for a long time. Then she threw on her shoes and coat and went across the street.
She didn’t have to knock. Judy saw her coming from her perch behind the curtains.
“Hello, dear.” Judy led her into the dark, dusty living room. It smelled moldy and musty. Lizzie realized that she hadn’t been inside Judy’s house since she was a kid selling Girl Scout cookies. Maybe she had just imagined it would be this way. “Sit. Please. Would you like some tea?”
Lizzie sat. “No. Thank you. So, you’re leaving?” She said each word loudly, enunciating every sound so she wouldn’t have to repeat herself.
“Going to the assisted-living place by the mall. It’s a dump, but I thought I better get there while I can still walk in.” She smiled. “No one walks out. Anyway, you don’t need me anymore. I’ve been waiting for years for you to get yourself independent, but now that you have, my job here is done.”
Lizzie wasn’t sure she’d heard her right. “Your job?”
“Dear, I’m glad you came over. I have something for you.”
To Lizzie’s amazement, she pulled out Annie’s diaper bag.
“I found this in your basement.”
“You what? Where?” Lizzie unzipped the bag. It was stuffed with cash. She was in a weird dream; that was it. She’d blink and wake up any second.
“I still have your spare key, dear. Your mother gave it to me ages ago when we used to water each other’s plants.”
“And you—?” It was hard to form questions when there was so much cash in her lap. She tried hard not to sniff it, then gave in.
It smelled good.
“Your mother was such a dear. We were such good friends. I do miss her terribly. Your father, too, even if he was awfully quiet. Lovely man.”
“So you—” Lizzie gave up. Judy Roth had lost her marbles. It happened to old people. But still: Judy Roth lurking in her basement? Stealing Tay’s cash?
“I promised your mother and father that I’d keep an eye on you. Make sure you did the right thing, you know. That’s why I make sure you do your leaves. That’s also why I took the money from your house.” She paused to sip her tea from a dainty china cup. “I always try to keep an eye on you and Annie. Of course, I didn’t know what she was up to at first. I just knew that something suspicious was going down.”
Did this little old gray-haired lady just say “going down”? “I think you’ve been watching too many police shows on television, Mrs. Roth.”
“Oh, call me Judy, dear. And maybe you’re right. But when I saw Annie sneak into your house that day—”
“Which day?”
“Oh, centuries ago. I don’t know exactly, dear. But after she left, and your young man left, I let myself in. I looked around a bit.”
Lizzie was growing exasperated. Could you throttle a senior citizen? “A bit? In my basement?” She sat on her hands.
“Oh, your mother and I used to joke about that girl stashing stuff all over the house. She was a hoarder, that one. Had a little trouble sharing, you know. Your mother told me all her best hiding spots. She used to check them for cigarettes and other teenage hijinks. I knew that if there wasn’t anything in the laundry chute, then the old stereo in the basement was the next-best place to look.”
“But I don’t understand. Why were you looking for anything in the first place?” Lizzie noticed that she was speaking normally, and that Judy was hearing her fine.
“Annie always was up to something sneaky. I love her dearly, but I’ve been so worried about her since the baby. She’d been so blue.” She paused and smiled. “Oh, don’t look at me like I’m an alien, dear. People think I’m feeble-minded because I’m old. But I’m not. I hear and see everything.”
Lizzie considered all the things she’d been shouting to Judy over the years. “Oh.”
“Patience Little, the head librarian, had given Annie that beautiful diaper bag. I was there the day she showed all the girls in the reading room. Annie carried it everywhere. Then, one day, after spending the evening at your house, it’s gone!”
“You notice what Annie carries into and out of my house?”
“Naturally. I try to keep out of your business, but I do notice. It’s so much more entertaining than solitaire.”
Lizzie let out a choked sound.
“Well, when Annie started carrying around that Wal-Mart diaper bag, I just wondered and wondered what had happened to her beautiful bag. And then, that day I was telling you about, when she just snuck right in and the basement light went on and then off and then she told your nice fence gentleman that she had gone in to get a sweater, which she never got. I just had to check it out.”
“And when you found the money, you just had to steal it?”
“Oh, no. I didn’t steal it. I just took it for safekeeping, dear. It’s all here.”
Lizzie was speechless.
“So, you make sure she gives this money right back to whom it belongs. Make sure she does the right thing, dear. I can’t watch out for you or Annie anymore. You’re on your own now. I think you can finally handle it now that you have a nice man to help you.”
“Mrs. Roth, I’ve been handling myself for years.”
“Of course you have, dear. Of course you have. And making a mess of it, haven’t you? I always suspected that you let your parents’ house fall to pieces because you felt bad about having it.”
“Excuse me?”
“Because you knew it came between you and Annie and you didn’t feel worthy of it. But now that you’re taking care of it, I feel that you understand it’s yours. And you can move on with your life. I’m very proud of you, dear. Now, I love talking to you, but I do have so much straightening to do. That Jill Kennedy thinks I need to get rid of some of my cats.”
Lizzie’s eyes, which had been slowly adjusting to the dim light, could finally see the room around her. Every surface was covered with porcelain cats. A huge curiosity cabinet was stuffed with them. They pounced and licked and sat and slept everywhere. “I’m getting myself a real cat when I move. I always wanted one, but I didn’t want to upset your birds, Lizzie.”
Lizzie got up to go. The bag was heavy in her hands. She’d give it to Candy as soon as she could. “Thank you, Judy. I think. I think I also might know of a cat who needs a good home.”
“Oh, lovely! And you’re welcome, dear. It was the least I could do. For your dear mother, of course. I so miss her.”
“So do I, Judy. Believe me, so do I.”
Lizzie went home and called Tay to tell him about the money being found, but he said that Lizzie could take care of it; it had nothing to do with him anymore. So Lizzie called Candy and they met at the diner. She handed the money to a very surprised girl and explained everything as best she could.
Candy promised not to throw the money into a gorge. She was going to use it to stay in school and to take care of her baby.
Then Lizzie went to Jill Kennedy’s office. The lobby was covered in ornate Christmas decorations, a tree trimmed with tiny houses dominating the room. When Lizzie got close, she saw each house had a tiny For Sale sign in front with a dollar amount written on it in ornate red calligraphy. She recognized Judy Roth’s house near the top.
Lizzie smiled. Not bad money.
The perky receptionist escorted her to the back. Jill was on the phone in her tiny cubicle, her red pumps up on the desk. She motioned Lizzie into the guest chair.
When she hung up, she leaned forward. “Ready to sell?” she said. “I’ve got room on the tree.”
“Commissions. The true meaning of Christmas?”
“Exactly.”
“Never. Well sort of. Here’s what I want to do. I need you to tell me how.”
When she had explained it all, Jill slapped her hands together as if it were already a done deal. “No problem. I’ll set you up with someone good. Come on, we’ll have this done in an hour, tops.”
CHAPTER
58
&
nbsp; Lizzie knocked on Annie’s door. Annie’s shirt was covered with blotches of something green. “You’re just in time for lunch,” she said. “Mashed peas. Come in.”
Lizzie followed Annie into the kitchen. She was surprisingly nervous. Meghan was in her high chair, covered in smashed peas. “Good girl. They never do smash them enough at the factory, do they?” She picked Meghan’s spoon off the floor, blew on it, and put it back on the baby’s tray. “I got you a late Christmas present.” She handed Annie an envelope.
“What’s this?” She opened it. “No. What? Lizzie!”
“Take it. I want you to have it.”
Annie pulled out the check. “Two hundred thousand dollars? Did you find Tay’s money?”
Lizzie shook her head. “It’s half what the house is worth. I took out a mortgage.”
“Why?”
“Because it wasn’t right that I got everything. I’m sorry. We should have talked about it. Should have fixed it right away.”
Annie looked Lizzie right in the eye, then tore the check in two.
“What the hell?” Lizzie said.
“Hell!” Meghan cried.
“Ann, I wanted to make it right. Why’d you do that?”
“Because, dummy, didn’t you learn anything? You can’t make it up with money.”
“Are you saying that you won’t accept my apology? Annie? That’s just wrong.”
“I’m saying that we’re already even,” Annie said.
Lizzie waited for the explanation.
“You didn’t get everything. I was just too big an idiot to realize it.” They looked at each other across the table. “We’re even. Believe me. In fact, I think I got the better side of the deal.”
“Tommy?”
“Yep.”
“Yeah, I think you did,” Lizzie said.
“So you quit calling my husband whenever you need someone to butter your toast and I’ll stop wanting your house and we’ll be even.”
“What am I going to do with all that money you won’t take?” Lizzie asked. But before she had even finished forming the question she already knew the answer for what to do with at least some of it.
