Lizzie thought about digging in her heels and demanding to know, but decided against it since she was more than a little curious about where he was taking her. She followed their route in her mind as he led her up the front steps of the school, but then he twisted and turned her around so many times that she lost her direction after about the third change in direction.
He talked to her, as well, in an attempt to help her loose her direction. He discussed the plans the PTA had for the football team’s booster club, and how many times the team had practiced the new plays for the game next Friday night.
After what was probably only five minutes but seemed thirty to Lizzie’s lost mind, he brought her to a standstill. She could smell his aftershave, woodsy and masculine, mixing with the scent of floor polish and something faintly reminiscent of pizza and possibly even sloppy joe’s.
Lizzie could feel Payton’s strong body close to her as he shifted to remove the bandana. He paused, though, before he took it off, and she wondered what had stopped him. Then she felt his lips brush hers, unexpected but warm and welcome. She stiffened slightly from the surprise kiss, but relaxing into him as he wrapped his sturdy arms around her. Lizzie let out a little whimper as she felt one of his hands come up to caress her neck then softly, sensually travel down her body, lingering with the softest touch on one of her breasts until it puckered with the visible evidence of her arousal.
Another little whimper of appreciation escaped her lips followed by a groan when he lifted his lips from hers and pulled himself away. Though it was fairly dark around them, she still blinked her eyes when he removed the bandana.
She was standing next to a table big enough for two people to sit, covered with a white linen tablecloth and silver candelabra that illuminated the room. Red rose petals were strewn across the top of the cloth and two white wooden folding chairs. Little votive candles and flowers were placed strategically around what Lizzie finally grasped was Dixie’s renovated cafeteria.
“What’s all this for?” She raised her hand to gesture at the table.
“For you.” He bent slightly at the waist in a bow and brought the hand he still held up to his lips. “Welcome to the Ritz.”
“This isn’t the Ritz,” she whispered skeptically.
She had to give him points for guts, though, when he looked around the room and back to her. “No, it’s not. But that doesn’t really matter. All I really care about is right here beside me.”
She regarded him momentarily with a disbelieving look then gave him a little grin like he hadn’t seen since they were young kids. “You mean that?”
He bent to kiss the tip of her nose. “Absolutely. Now come on, sit down and let’s eat before the food gets cold.” He held out a chair for her then took the one next to her. “Excuse me just a minute.” Lizzie watched as Payton ducked beneath the tablecloth. She was beginning to wonder what he was up to when she heard a muffled curse word as he smacked his head against the bottom of the table, and saw him reappear with a box in his hand.
“Dinner is served, madam.” He laid the flat pizza box on the table and grinned across at her. Lizzie laughed.
“Dang, and here I was thinking you were about to do something kinky to me while you were down there.” Lizzie laughed again when he paused with a slice of pizza mid-way to his mouth and blinked, once then twice.
“I’m willing to oblige any fantasy that you had in mind.”
“Maybe later, Tarzan. Let’s dig in to this divine piece of culinary art first.”
He put a piece of pepperoni pizza on her plate before serving himself a slice, waiting until she took the first bite so he could dig in as well. Lizzie watched him as he nearly devoured an entire slice in one bite. “Hungry?”
His mouth was full of food so he winked at her instead of answering and kept chewing.
“You know, as a doctor, I can’t really recommend cramming your face so full of food. You could choke.”
He swallowed. “Well, doc, that’s just tough now, isn’t it?”
She shrugged and continued eating. “Do you remember the first time you brought me here on a date?” The memory formed in her head as she watched him nod.
It was a few nights after Payton had taken her to the barn party. He’d asked her to come to dinner with him and she had agreed. She assumed it would be a typical run-of-the-mill dinner date- well, as long as you discounted the fact that it was with, oh my gosh, Payton Cartwright. Instead, he’d handed her an old bandana similar to the one he’d handed her tonight, and asked her to put it on. When he removed it they were standing in the middle of Dixie’s old cafeteria next to a table not unlike the one where they currently sat.
“You never did tell me why you brought me to the school lunchroom instead of to an ordinary restaurant.”
He studied her across the table. “I wanted to impress you.”
She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, right. You, the invincible Payton Cartwright. Standing next to me was all the impressing I needed. You know it’s true.” She liked the way his eyes lit up with excitement. “Why did you really do it?”
He put down the rest of his unfinished pizza and reached out for her hand, waiting for her to put hers in his before he continued. “You had so many terrible memories of this lunchroom. How many times did you sit at that table by yourself and have the vegetable of the day thrown at you?”
“Is that a rhetorical question or do you want an exact count? I could give you one if you wanted it, you know.”
He laughed and stroked her hand with his thumb. “I’m sure you could, but that’s not the point. The point is… I don’t know why Lizzie, but I always felt this sick need to protect you from everything and everyone. Man, I couldn’t stand watching you suffer. I figured it was worth a shot at helping you forget all those bad memories, so I brought you here hoping that you and I, alone, on a date would help you erase everything else that had gone wrong in this place.”
She blinked then stared at him in bewilderment. “You were what… seventeen at the time? No seventeen year old hormone injected male in their right mind does anything that nice at that age.” His smile made her heart melt. “Well, except for you, apparently.”
She waited for him to add something, but he didn’t. It was awkward realizing after all this time that the guy she had worshipped above everyone else in her life had done something that thoughtful. “Thanks,” she said.
He merely winked at her.
Mid-way through her second slice, Lizzie paused. “You weren’t really going to take me cow-tipping, were you?” She liked the way his nose crinkled up when his little boy’s grin spread across his face and flamed out the laugh lines around his eyes.
“No, but it would have been fun to watch you trying to do it in that ridiculous pair of stilettos you’ve got on.” Lizzie looked down to study her feet then shot him her best expression of offense.
“There’s nothing wrong with a woman who knows her shoe fashion. You should be thankful you’ve got a friend like me to bring this town up to date on fashion accessories.”
“Well regardless of your level of fashion expertise you’ve got about two minutes to finish whatever you want of this pizza before our visitors polish it off for you.”
“Visitors?”
“Yeah.” Payton half-cocked his head to the side like a curious dog. “You didn’t think an evening that started with cow-tipping could be complete without visitors, did you?”
“Considering I thought you really had intended for us to go cow-tipping, I don’t think I’m the one to answer that question.”
“Hmm, well anyway, the evening’s just beginning. Are you finished with that pizza?”
“Yep.”
“Good. Now be a good girl and put that bandana back on for me.”
“Again?”
“What if I promise you great rewards later if you put it back on now?”
Lizzie made a show of thinking over her choice. “I guess.” She tied the bandana on a little too quickly to fool Payton,
however.
He led her through another maze of twists and turns, talking to her once again about random subjects just to throw her off the trail. Finally, he paused and removed the tattered old cloth from her eyes.
“We’ve arrived.”
There was a dim light overhead that illuminated the space around her. She realized she was standing in the center of Dixie’s basketball court, but she didn’t understand why there were balloons tied in groups all around the floor or why a silver disco ball hung from the ceiling. Still even more confusing was the stage that was set for a band that wasn’t there, and the dance floor that had been placed in front of the stage.
“What’s this supposed to be?” she questioned him, a little smile turning up the edges of her mouth as she swayed innocently from side to side.
“Prom.” He laughed at the surprise he saw in her eyes. This was a far cry from mucking through muddy fields to push cows over, he could tell.
“You brought me to Prom?”
“Well, we never did get to have our senior prom together. I always did regret that, and I sort of wanted to make it up to you.”
“But how did you do all this?”
“Let’s just say there are a few boys on my football team who prefer doing odd jobs for the coach rather than serving time in detention. Let’s not worry about them right now, though. I think our visitors should be arriving right about...now.”
As if on cue, the back entrance doors to the gym opened up and all of their friends dressed in prom dresses and suits sauntered into the room. They smiled at Lizzie and Payton, while Grace crossed the gym floor and slipped a corsage over Lizzie’s wrist and into place. Behind them, a group of men slipped soundlessly through the doors and up onto the stage where their instruments were waiting.
“Care to dance?” His brilliant green eyes sparkled in the light with something so sweet it made her heart ache. He held his arm out for her, his broad, thick fingered hand waiting to take hold of hers. Carefully, she placed her hand in his and let him lead her out onto the dance floor.
The band struck up a tune- one that was old, and slow, and lovely to hear while she danced so close to him. She could feel his body strong and sturdy beneath her and she closed her eyes letting him lead her wherever he chose. His heartbeat blended with the long, sweet notes of the music and his scent surrounded her along with the safety of his arms.
“I can’t believe you did this for me, Payton,” She whispered to him as one song played into the next. “You set all this up, brought all of our friends here, just for me?” Wordlessly, he nodded his head and ran one of his hands up and down the small of her back. She wasn’t sure why anyone would go to this much trouble just for one date with her, and it startled her to realize how much it truly meant that he had done it.
“Why? Why did you do all this?”
His eyes started to water a little, and for a second Lizzie was afraid that something was terribly wrong. Then he smiled down at her, a smile so full of love and affection that it stole the breath from her lungs, and she was helpless but to watch him in wonder. “Well, doc, it’s simple really.” He paused to twirl her and let her head fall back in a dip. “I love you.”
“Oh, yeah?” Lizzie’s smile reached from ear to ear.
The way he looked down at her made her giggle like a giddy school girl. “You know I do.” He bent to kiss her lips then moved on to nuzzle her neck. Lizzie tried to ignore the fact that all their friends were making kissy noises at them, and merely caused them to laugh when she peeked over Payton’s shoulder and stuck her tongue out at them.
Colin twirled Sellars around the dance floor and moved off to the makeshift drink stand singing, “Payton and Lizzie sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g...”. The rest of the gang cackled while one of the guys yelled, “Hey! Let’s go spike the punch and get everyone drunk.” They moved off to the bleachers to take a break leaving Payton and Lizzie alone on the dance floor.
“What about you?”
“What about me what?” She was giving him a hard time. She knew exactly what he was asking but it wasn’t often that Payton felt insecure, and she sort of enjoyed watching him squirm with uncertainty.
“Do you?” He paused when she arched a neatly waxed eyebrow at him in question. He swallowed. “Love me?”
“Oh! That.” She pulled back from him running her hands down from his neck to take hold of his hands. She made a show of studying her hands in his, the way her barely bronzed skin melded so well with his darkly tanned skin. Slowly she skimmed her eyes up his body to meet his worried, desperate gaze dead on.
She let her lips slowly fade in to a beaming smile. “Of course I love you, you goofball! I’ve been crazy about you since I was thirteen years old, did you think I’d change my mind now?”
She barely had time to finish before he scooped her up, pinning her to his well-defined body with his strong arms, almost squeezing the air out of her. Her feet were dangling a good two inches off the ground as he spun her in a furious circle in his excitement.
The gang sitting on the bleachers cheered. All except Hank who let out a comical little girl like fairy tale sigh. The others laughed, as did Payton and Lizzie. Grace, of course, smacked him hard on his arm.
“Now can we drink the spiked punch?” Bud asked, his bow tie undone and hanging loose around the collar of his white shirt.
Jade shot him a duh look. “No, we have to vote on Prom King and Queen first and then we can get drunk.”
“Gee, I wonder who the winners will be,” Summer threw in sarcastically.
“Ok, let’s not vote. I mean, we all know who it is, anyway.” Sellars moved from her spot on the bleachers to take the microphone from the stage while the band took their break. “Attention, guys and gals,” she said in her best imitation of their old vice-principal, Mrs. Whitestone. “It’s time to announce this year’s Prom King and Queen. May I have the crowns please?” She put the mic to the side waiting for an imaginary someone to speak to her then said, “What’s that? We don’t have crowns? Alright then.” She shot a goofy smile out into the room then continued. “Drum roll please.” Colin who had taken a seat behind the drums started rattling off a drum roll. “And this year’s crowned royalty is... Payton Cartwright aaaaaannd Lizzie Benford.” All the gang cheered.
Lizzie wiped away fake tears and waved her hand in cupped beauty queen fashion until Payton grabbed her hand and yanked her up on the stage.
“Speech, speech, speech, speech!” Payton heard his friend’s chanting. He shot the guy’s a look that hushed them. When he took the microphone from Jade he hoped Lizzie wouldn’t see how shaky his hands had become.
He played it off like they really were in high school and he’d really just become the prom king. “Thank you, thank you.” He gave a mock bow. “I’d like to thank everyone who voted for me for such a prestigious award.”
The boo’s from the bleachers mainly came from Bud, but Payton shot them all a don’t ruin this moment look. “Oh, that wasn’t the speech y’all were wanting?”
“No!”
Payton looked from Lizzie, who was currently making fishy faces at him, to the gang, and back to Lizzie. “Well, maybe you were looking for something a little more like this.”
He held out his hand to the prom queen. “Come here, Lizzie.” She stopped making faces at him when she heard the serious note that popped into his voice, and stepped closer to him so he could take her hand in his. From the corner of his vision he saw a movement, and he knew that both his mom, and her parents had found his invitation to join them and were standing in the back of the gym out of Lizzie’s line of sight.
“You all know that I’ve waited a long, long time to be king with this wonderful queen.” He turned to Lizzie. “Lizzie, I poured my heart out to you once on paper, but I don’t think you were quite ready to read what I had to say. I’ve waited as long as I can, and tried my hardest to be a good boy. And now I want you to hear it again, this time in front of God and all our friends.” He took a s
teadying breath, and Lizzie could hear the gang from what seemed like a million miles away start to cheer him on.
“I looked a long time, sometimes when I didn’t even know that I was, trying to find the perfect place to call my home. Little by little I’ve found all the pieces to that particular puzzle. I found my town, I found my house, and I even found who I most want to be. It’s taken a while but I’ve gathered all the pieces to my life and my home. All except one.” He paused, his voice hitching a little with the emotion that he felt. Lizzie had gone wide eyed, and looked more than a little like she was scared to death. He winked at her in reassurance, and brushed his thumb gently across her cheek.
“I love you, Lizzie. I always have, I always will, and I want you to be a part of my life. You, my dear, are the final piece that I’ve been searching for, longing for, all of my life. Let me love you now, Liz. I believe in soul mates. Do you?”
She had that same wide eyed, shocked look that she’d given him all those years ago. She made a gurgle sound, as if she was choking on difficult words, and his heart froze. She was going to say no. Right there in front of everyone that mattered she was going to destroy him. She had waited all this time, lead him on to believe he was winning her heart, and now she was going to rub his face in it exactly the same way he had done her.
He bowed his head, defeated, and wished he couldn’t feel the ring he’d tucked into his pocket burning like acid into his skin. He turned to walk away from the stage, from her, although he didn’t know where he was going to go. That’s when he felt her hand lightly touch him on the shoulder.
He looked up, wishing he had the strength left just to look at her one last time and memorize the face of the woman who single handedly made him who he was, and had destroyed him all at the same time.
“Look at me.” She whispered. He couldn’t find the heart to do it. “Look at me,” She commanded again. Finally he raised his head, meeting her emerald eyes dead on.
“You want to know if I believe in soul mates?” He nodded, a little unsure. “From the first day I met you, saw you across that classroom at Dixie, I knew you were the one, the only one who would ever make me truly happy. I thought when we got together in high school that that was it: you and I would never be apart. Ever. And then I realized how wrong I was.”
The Heart Will Lead You Home Page 37
