Perfect, he thought as he climbed into the truck and started the evening. It was turning into the perfect evening for him, and he was ready to be at the party, catching up with his buddies, and maybe even with Lizzie as well.
He let his mind think about her on the short drive out to the party. About the ways she had changed over the summer, and also about the ways she hadn’t. No matter what came her way, he noticed, whether it be popularity, or a sudden stunning body, she still had that same sweet personality. Not that she was a pushover. He thought about the way her eyes could light with fire when he’d pushed her too far, and he knew that she could definitely hold her own when pushed enough. Hell, he’d watched her hold her own for years as the school dork and she hadn’t done half bad for herself then.
There was something different about her. Something that attracted him to her no matter what the time or the place. She could be a thousand miles away from him, or more, like she was this summer, and he still thought about her. Couldn’t get her out of his mind for more than a few hours at a time. She’d somehow even worked her way into his dreams at night. The only place he hadn’t managed to find her was in his arms, but he hoped to remedy that sometime soon.
There were cars and trucks everywhere when he pulled into the dirt drive that led back to the party. Apparently the close call win had boosted the party ratings, and people were ready to let lose after their nerves had been on end all night. He knew he sure was ready.
He managed to slip behind the crowd unnoticed and wove his way up to Colin, Bud, and Hank before too many party-goers flocked to his side. He caught the wide grins of his three best-friends as they heard the shrill high-pitched cheers of a group of girls running up to Payton. They all made smoochy-faces at him behind the girls’ backs and then rolled their eyes. But Payton was kind and introduced the girls to his friends too, and for a while the girls were content to stand around and chat with them as well. That is, until they realized the star of the hour had slipped away from the group and had disappeared into the night.
Payton grabbed a drink from one of the coolers and wove his way through the crowd, pausing occasionally to say hello to a friend. He saw Grace’s flame hair illuminated by the lights of one of the sets of KC lights on a pickup truck and headed her way, knowing where Grace was, Lizzie wasn’t far away. He felt an odd sense of disappointment when he noted she wasn’t with Grace, though.
“Hey, Grace.” Grace turned to face him, and smiled.
“Well, hey, stranger. How was Texas?”
“She told you I went to Texas, huh?” Grace giggled and flipped her long red hair behind her shoulder.
“Of course, sugar. We tell each other everything, if you know what I mean.” She paused to wink, and yes, Payton was pretty sure he knew what she meant.
“Well then, since you know everything about her, can you tell me where she’s gone off to?”
“Tell you where who’s gone off to?” That sweet, silky voice he would have known anywhere came from behind him, and he turned with a smile on his face.
“Hey… you.” He held his smile in check, but barely. Beside the girl who had taken up residence in every one of his thoughts, was Brett Faulkner, the punter for Valley View’s football team. He would have been fine if he hadn’t noticed they were holding hands and standing pretty close together. Instead, he felt his stomach churn and the first big punch of loss that he had felt in a long time hit him square in the gut.
“Hey, Payton!” Lizzie broke the connection between her and Brett and ran to give him a hug. It was quick, over before he knew it had started, but still it took him back.
“So, who’s your friend, Liz?”
“Oh,” she paused to giggle. “Sorry, I’ve lost my manners. Payton Cartwright, meet Brett Faulkner. Brett this is Payton. Brett and I met at the beginning of the summer. He goes to Valley View.” She noted that they didn’t shake hands, and they half grunted a hello, but she put that behind her and moved on with the conversation.
“You played great tonight, by the way.” She smiled at him, a quick flash of her teeth that went straight through him.
“Thanks. We barely pulled that out in the end.”
“How was Texas?” She watched him with eyes he could have sworn grew greener over the summer. Suddenly he felt cramped and suffocated. He didn’t want to be standing there talking to her, watching her body do things to him that made him want to groan, while she snuggled up next to this guy she was obviously dating.
“It was fine. Sorry, I forgot I have somewhere I need to be.” And with that he walked away from the group.
Lizzie could recognize that male form from a mile away. She spotted him as she and Brett where walking through the crowd, working their way back to Grace, and she felt her palms begin to sweat just thinking about being close to him. She hadn’t seen him since he left for the summer, except for tonight as she watched him from the stands. She enjoyed watching him out on the field, but she had to admit, seeing him out from underneath all those pads, was another sight altogether.
She could hear him talking to Grace, that deep, rich voice that she heard in her dreams, as she edged closer to them, and suddenly she wished Brett, as nice as he may be, wasn’t standing beside her. She wished she hadn’t invited him to the post-game party after all. But he was attractive and so far a gentleman, and after she had convinced herself that waiting, hopelessly, for Payton to show her the time of day would be like waiting for her to win the lottery, she had agreed to be Brett’s girlfriend.
She held on to Brett’s hand tighter as she closed the final gap to Payton, and watched his face as he turned and saw her holding Brett’s hand. Was that shock on his face? She felt the first tug of satisfaction edge through her. She had somehow, miraculously, made Payton jealous? It couldn’t be.
But suddenly he was ending their conversation and walking away. She forced herself not to turn and watch him leave, even though she loved watching the way he carried himself when he walked. Instead, she looked up at Brett and then smiled at Grace, and waved as the other girls in their group came over to join them.
“Was that Payton I just saw?” Jade asked as she joined the group. She craned her neck to focus in on the form fading into the distance.
“Yep.”
“Where’s he off to?”
“I don’t know,” Grace commented. “He said something about needing to be somewhere.”
Lizzie couldn’t help but stifle a laugh at Jade’s obvious disappointment. She was almost glad she had Brett here with her tonight. Too many girls were jockeying for Payton’s attention these days, it seemed. Good thing she didn’t have to be one of them.
“Well, girls, we’re off. I was just coming back to say goodnight.”
“Goodnight?” Grace looked genuinely shocked. “But you’re going to miss all the toasts and stuff later on.”
“Sorry, Brett’s taking me home…” She left it at that, hoping at least Grace would catch her meaning.
Grace winked and gave her a hug. “Alright, doll. Have a good time. Call me tomorrow, ‘kay?”
“Sure thing.”
Payton trudged through the field behind the party, too mad to do anything but stomp around in a cow pasture, hoping he didn’t step in too many cow patties before his temper cooled. Brett Faulkner. Ugh. He could feel the bile rise up in his throat and he spat on the ground to try and push the taste away.
Why had she picked Brett Faulkner of all guys? Payton had met up with him plenty of times on the football field and knew enough about the guy to know he was up to no good. He had a reputation as being fast and pushy with the ladies, and something told him that Lizzie hadn’t gotten to know that side of Brett quite yet.
Something inside of him refused to believe that if Lizzie knew that side of him she would stick around. For that, at least, he was grateful.
He wanted so badly, too badly, to tell her, to try and warn her what this Brett guy was like. But deep inside he had a feeling that Lizzie would just shrug him off if
he said anything. God, what was this incessant need inside of him to constantly protect her from everything? He wished he knew, and he wished he knew how to stop it.
Why should it matter to him, in the least, he felt like screaming to the stars. But deep inside it did matter, and no matter how angry he was at her or the situation of the moment, there was nothing he could do to help.
For now, though, there was nothing he could do but stand back and watch, he thought angrily as he paced back and forth among the cows. That was the part that bothered him most of all. He knew what a creep Brett could be, and yet he had no power to make Lizzie the wiser. All he could do was step out of her way, and keep watch on her from the distance. When she fell, and he knew that sooner or later she would, he would be standing by to pick her up from the fall.
Chapter Eighteen
Payton’s tongue stuck out from between his lips as he scrunched his face in concentration. His hard muscles bunched and rippled, and he even cursed a little, but nothing seemed to make that last damn piece of tape go onto the package he had insisted on wrapping himself.
There. He had finished. He held the small square box wrapped in green and red Christmas paper back to survey. It wasn’t completely horrible, he told himself, and slapped a big, red, sticky-bottomed bow on top of the paper. Besides, it’s what’s inside that counts, he thought as he snatched his keys from the desk in his room and headed out to his truck.
He had seen it the other day when he was walking through the mall looking for Christmas gifts for his family. He hadn’t planned to buy Lizzie anything, especially since she still had that loser boyfriend Brett hanging around, but he’d seen it and known it was perfect for her. It was a simple, small, silver, choker chain, but he could picture her wearing it, and he had no choice but to purchase it for her.
He could picture her wearing it with that crimson red silk dress she had worn to the homecoming dance earlier in the year, and he punched the gas harder on his engine to flood the thought from his mind. He had watched her from a distance that evening, as he danced with Jade, his date for the night, and wished he could hold Lizzie in his arms.
Instead, he’d had to watch Brett hold her close and whisper things into her ear that made her giggle and blush. Ugh, he had wanted to walk over to them and rip her from his arms and haul her off somewhere that sleezeballs like Mr. Valley View couldn’t find her. But he hadn’t. He’d held his tongue, and amazingly, his temper, and the night had gone on as planned. If anything, Payton realized as he drove the last few blocks to her house, watching her dating Brett had only made him realize even more how much he really wished she were dating him.
He pulled up outside her house and quietly slipped the box on top of a card he had signed inside the mailbox. He didn’t want to disturb her. After all, he didn’t really have any decent excuse to leave her a Christmas present other than just because he wanted to. He would be too embarrassed to give it to her in person.
As he drove away, he wondered what her face would look like when she opened the gift. He could just about picture the way her eyes would light up, and that goofy grin that would spread across her face like it did when something really amused her. Well, regardless, he hoped she liked it even half as much as he thought she would.
“Did you hear something,” Grace asked, looking up from the last of Lizzie’s toe nails she had been painting.
“Hmm…Maybe. Sounded like a truck engine. Why, you expecting your rock star to come surprise you with a big, sloppy kiss on Christmas Eve?” Lizzie giggled and dodged the magazine Grace managed to hurl in her direction.
“Maybe. That could have been all I asked for from Santa for Christmas, you know.”
Lizzie rolled her eyes. “That’s really lame, Carrot. Really lame. Now seriously, did you hear something or not?”
“I don’t know…”
“Lizzie?” Both girls turned as her mother opened her bedroom door. “Lizzie, honey, this present came for you. It was in the mailbox when I went out to check it a few minutes ago.”
“Thanks, mom” She took the gift and the card and waited for her mom to close the door again before she studied them. There was a massive red bow stuck on top of a small box, hand wrapped in not the greatest of precision, in Christmas paper. The bow had to have been about two times too large for the box and gave the present a comical appearance. On the outside of the card was her first name only, printed in tiny, neat script writing, and underlined once with black ink.
She tore into the card, with Grace hanging over shoulder. “Is it from Brett? Is it?”
Lizzie shrugged her off. “I don’t know. Back off a minute and I’ll tell you.”
The card was simple, a black and white picture of snow falling and settling on the rolling pastures of farm land. A lone barn stood in the distance, along with an old farm house with smoke pouring from the chimney. It was blank on the inside except for the same tiny, neat script writing.
Merry Christmas. Thought of you when I saw this, and wanted you to have it.
-Payton.
Her eyes nearly popped from her head when she saw who had signed the card, and her heart instantly began to race. What was in the little box, she wondered, as she put the card down and began to rip into the paper surrounding the box. From some vague place in her periphery she heard Grace gasp when she read the card, and then together they sat in shock when she pulled the silver choker from its holder in the box.
She put in on immediately and went to the mirror to study it around her neck. It fit perfectly, and was simple, yet the most elegant piece of jewelry she had ever received as a gift. She didn’t know what to say. She had nothing to say, but she caught Grace’s look in the mirror, and it told her that her best friend understood every thought, every nuance, without her ever having to say a word. She was thankful she didn’t have to put her emotions into words just then.
Spring had arrived at last. The time of year when all things are new, the birds are singing, the flowers start blooming, and life is all filled with newness and happiness. Only problem was, Lizzie didn’t feel the least bit excited about the season on this particular afternoon. In fact, she felt particularly awful, and had left her house hoping that a walk through the park might clear her head and ease her thoughts.
Lizzie plopped down onto the park bench, wishing she had a tissue in her pocket. She couldn’t believe the horrible luck she was having today. First, failing her first test, ever, and now being dumped by her first boyfriend. She could feel the tears building up and she tried to fight them even though she knew it was useless. She just hoped no one she knew happened to be walking through the park when they finally decided to come streaming down.
Quickly glancing around and realizing there was nothing to use to mop up her tears when they came, she leaned back against the back of the bench and let her mind go free. Boys. They were so stupid. She hadn’t even really liked Brett, and yet here she sat blubbering over him like some love-struck idiot.
It wasn’t that. Of that she was sure. No, she was most definitely not love struck by him. She had seen enough of his lack in manners to realize his original show as a gentleman was just that: a show. But it was what he had said that made her heart break. Not for him, but for her.
At first Brett had been patient with her. He told her he would wait forever if she needed to, that he wouldn’t push into anything more physical than what she felt comfortable doing. But when weeks and then months had gone by with little more than kisses and the very occasional exploration into other areas, he had begun to get pushy, and rude.
Her suspicion of him being a genuine ass was officially confirmed when he’d called to break up. What kind of inconsiderate jerk called to break up? But then, he’d also had the nerve to laugh and say he’d found someone else who knew how to use her body for more than just a way to freeze men out.
Was she really cold and unlovable? She didn’t think so. What was the matter with wanting to hold out until the right person came along? Lizzie could feel th
e tears building, and this time she didn’t try to stop them. She could feel her defenses breaking down, and with it the tears began to fall, at first slow and sad, then harder and angrier.
Payton had been standing on the other side of a thick old oak tree for several minutes now, watching Lizzie from a distance. He had been making the cut through from the school to Hank’s house when he’d noticed a girl sitting on the park bench and she made his hormones do a double take. At first glance it was the pink spring sweater set and the blue jeans that attracted his attention, but then he’d realized it was Lizzie that he was checking out, and his heart as well had clicked into overdrive.
He was about to head her way to talk when he noticed that her face looked troubled, and he wasn’t sure if she would want any company or not. But now that he was watching huge tears fall from her eyes, and her body shake with those desperate attempts to rid herself of emotion, he felt like running over and pulling her into his arms.
He set his jaw, determined to find out who had hurt her and pummel them into the ground. He just couldn’t figure out why that no good boyfriend of hers hadn’t been around to do it instead of him. He was going to figure that out as well.
He stopped a few feet from her and took a deep breath to settle himself. “Lizzie?”
She jumped from her seat and quickly wiped the tears falling from her eyes. She tried to smile, but he could see her lower lip trembling and knew she was hurting really bad.
“Sit down, Liz. Tell me what happened.” She did as he commanded, and as soon as he sat beside her she threw her arms around him, nearly knocking the wind from his unprepared body.
His eyes widened in shock at the sudden embrace, and slowly, uncertainly placed his arms around her, lightly stroking her hair. He didn’t really care at that moment if she had ten boyfriends and they were all watching them. In his mind, something was wrong, and he was there to help her.
After a few minutes of calmly whispering to her he held her back a little so he could look into her eyes. The tears had stopped, he was thankful for that, but he could still see the turmoil in her eyes and the pain that was eating at her heart. Something strong and tight clenched around his own.
The Heart Will Lead You Home Page 17
