by Amy Lillard
“She’s not even been gone for a week,” he pointed out.
Mallory looked down at her plate. “It seems longer.”
It did. But he thought it was just him. And Bethie Grace McGee.
The afternoon had been spectacular. The best and he’d hated to leave. In turn, he’d been riddled with guilt that he would have rather spent the rest of the afternoon in Bethie Grace’s warm embrace instead of watching his daughter mope around the house.
If he was honest with himself, there was a chunk of his heart Bethie Grace would never give back. As much as his brain told him to steer clear of her, his heart was drawn to her. But they were adults now. They knew the score. All they could have were stolen moments. And he’d take all of those he could get regardless that every time he was near her another piece of his heart became hers.
He rarely dated, and when he had an itch to scratch, he headed to San Antonio to women who wanted exactly what he did—pleasure with no strings attached. He never went with any of the women in Loveless for fear Mallory would find out and be hurt. Seeing Bethie Grace while she was in town would be a challenge, but he was determined to keep the two halves of his life separate. She might have his heart, but he wouldn’t let her have a piece of Mallory’s for her collection.
He cleared his throat. “Is that all you have on your mind?”
She nodded her head, but her eyes were focused on a spot somewhere to his left, a sure sign that she was lying. He opened his mouth to call her out on it then changed his mind. Rosie was always telling him that he hovered over her too much, that he didn’t give her enough room. He tried, really he did, but it was just so hard to sit back and watch her grow up way too fast for his liking.
“May I be excused?” She tossed her napkin on the table and stood before he even had a chance to answer.
“What about dinner?” He nodded his head toward her nearly untouched food.
“I’m not hungry.”
What would a good dad do? “Is all of your homework done?”
She rolled her eyes. “Yes, Dad.”
He decided to let that one slide. Pick your battles, Carmichael. Everyone was a little on edge right now. Rosie was gone for who knew how long, Bethie Grace had come back to town, and Mal had a bad case of the summertime blues, ready to be out of school and roaming the town trying to live up to her old man’s reputation. “This isn’t about that boy is it?”
“He has a name, Dad.”
“You are too young to date.”
She shifted from one foot to the other and blew her bangs out of her face. “Meeting at the movies is hardly a date.”
“It’s exactly a date.”
She growled under her breath, her last free sass before he was shutting her down. Why hadn’t anyone told him that when the teen years started his precious baby would turn into a hormonal wreck?
“Destiny’s mom is letting her go.”
“I’m not Destiny’s mom.” Wait. That wasn’t precisely the comeback he had intended. “No means no, Mallory Jane.”
“Fine. Can I be excused now?”
He gave her a quick nod. “You’re excused.”
Without another word she turned on her heel and flounced from the room.
Heaven help him, she was growing up too fast. She was already moody, growing more sullen by the day. He had no idea what he was going to do with her when she turned sixteen.
****
Rain fell for most of Tuesday. There were still boxes upon boxes that had to be cleaned through, and she hadn’t finished her work in the attic. Yet she couldn’t get herself to do anything but curl up in the swing on the front porch and simply watch it rain.
Travis had shown up looking none the worse for wear after whatever he’d been up to. Elizabeth wasn’t sure what she expected, but Travis Macabee was in his early twenties, way too young to be fighting so many demons.
He introduced himself and got to work. At the rate he was going, he’d be done by the end of the week. Once the charity truck came, and she figured out exactly where she was going to ship the six boxes of keepsakes, she would make her plans to leave. It was time to go to back to California. The idea should have made her happy, but it didn’t. Maybe it was the rain, but she knew the truth. It was JD Carmichael.
She looked up at the gray skies. The rain had stopped, but the dreary was still there, evident in the misty clouds and in the sad droop of the tail belonging to the dog ambling up her drive.
“Hey, pooch.”
The dog raised her sad brown eyes to look at Elizabeth, then quickly lowered them.
She wasn’t wearing a collar and was soaked to the bone.
“Who do you belong to?” Elizabeth hadn’t seen the dog around before, but in all honesty she hadn’t been looking. She had been caught up in sorting through her grandmother’s life and wondering where JD would fit into hers.
Elizabeth shook the thought away as she gathered up the remains of her sandwich and started toward the edge of the porch. The dog immediately shied away.
“It’s okay,” she crooned as she set half of her ham and cheese on the bottom step, then retreated back to the corner of the porch.
The dog whined and came forward, sniffing at the food before wolfing it down in one bite. She raised her eyes to Elizabeth looking even sadder than before.
“I know how you feel, sister.”
The dog wagged her tail, and Elizabeth smiled. Perhaps today wasn’t all bad.
As if to prove her thoughts, her phone rang. Elizabeth dropped back into the swing and checked the screen. It wasn’t the bank about her loan for the restaurant, but her brother Nathan. Even better. With a quick swipe she answered it. “Hi, Nate.”
“Lizzie.” His voice had never sounded better. “How’s life in Cowtown?”
“Fine.” She picked at a spot on the knee of her jeans. She didn’t want to get into all that right now.
“So the job was a bit bigger than you imagined?”
“A bit.” She took a sip of her tea and looked over to where the dog had been standing. She was gone.
“Making some headway?”
“Some.”
“Then what’s wrong?”
How could she explain? Being in Texas had brought up so many memories. Elizabeth twisted a strand of hair around her finger.
“Elizabeth?”
“I’m here.”
“You want to talk about it?”
She sighed. “The attorney hired a contractor to get the house ready to sell.”
“Okay.” His voice clearly conveyed that he saw no problem with that.
“It’s JD Carmichael.”
“Oh.”
Yeah. Oh.
“Are you okay?” Nathan alone knew how heartbroken she had been when the family left Texas and the sheer devastation of JD’s betrayal.
“Yeah.”
“Tell me another one.”
Elizabeth sighed. “I can’t see where any of this is going. I mean, he lives here, and I don’t.”
“What ‘this?’” Nathan asked.
“Nothing.”
“Did you…? Elizabeth.”
“Don’t chastise me.” Her tone belonged to the teenager she had once been.
“I don’t want to see you get hurt again.”
Her skin still tingled with the memory of JD’s kiss. “It’s not like that.” She told Nathan the story of JD’s wife and how she had trapped him, then left when times got tough.
Her brother was quiet as she finished. So quiet she wondered if perhaps they had been disconnected. “Nathan?”
“I’ve got an idea,” he said. “You leave everything there and go back to Cali. When I’m done here, we’ll tackle me-maw’s house together. Give me two more weeks.”
She started shaking her head before he was halfway finished. “That’s sweet of you to offer, Nate, but I’m almost done.”
“And then what?”
“I guess I go home.” Home…Where was home? Where did she belong? California?
Loveless? Could she really call Texas home?
“The offer still stands,” he said. “If you change your mind…”
“I’ll let you know.”
She hung up the phone and laid her head against the back of the swing. She might be almost done, but there was still so much left to do. She had to square away all the boxes of keepers. The charity truck that would be arriving in a couple of days to take the bags upon bags of clothing and what-nots away.
And saying goodbye to JD.
How many times would she have to say goodbye to him before it meant forever?
Chapter Eight
She was a coward.
She shook her head at herself and went back to taping the boxes shut.
Late last night she had made the decision, and even in the light of day, it still seemed like a good one. She’d leave now. Before she got in over her head. She’d drive everything back to California. It was the perfect plan. She got up this morning, extended her contract for the rental, and started taping up the boxes. Once she loaded them into the car, she’d head out. Maybe tomorrow.
Make right; make do, her grandmother always said. Of course she was usually talking about a recipe or feeding the masses that always seemed to gather at her house for one event or another. But Elizabeth could see the wisdom in the words and how they applied to her life now. It was time to let go and move forward.
She patted the top of the last box she had taped and looked down the neat row of keepsakes. It was sad how such a brilliant life that her grandmother had led could be culled down to six boxes filled with the lives of the entire family. Well, six boxes and her grandfather’s trunk.
The charity truck was scheduled to pick up the clothes and knickknacks early next week and would pick up the furniture shortly after that.
There were a few pieces that Elizabeth knew were special: the sideboard in the dining room, the chifferobe in the downstairs bedroom off the kitchen, and the big iron bed in the attic, to name a few. She marked them all with special tags. The attorney assured her that he’d hire a driver to bring them to her in LA. Though with the new memories that bed had now she wasn’t sure it would ever make its way back out of storage.
“Elizabeth?” She turned as Travis came into the room, his white coveralls stained with the paint from a good many jobs. “I’m finished with the upstairs hallway. You said you needed me?”
She nodded and stood. Her legs tingled as the blood flowed back into them. “Yes.” She blinked back the dizzies and mentally reminded herself not to go all nostalgic while crouching down. “Can you help me get this trunk to my car?”
He looked skeptically from the large steamer to her small mid-sized rental.
“It’ll fit,” she assured him. “I measured it this morning.”
“Maybe we should call JD.”
What was it with everyone wanting JD Carmichael’s help? Could the town even run without the man? She didn’t want him involved in this. She needed to get out while the getting was good. She’d call him when she got back to California and explain. What would she tell him? That she loved him, and she had to leave before he took every last shred of her heart?
She clamped down on her wayward thoughts. “You and I can manage.” She ignored Travis’ doubtful expression and grabbed the metal handle on one end of the trunk. “Get that end,” she instructed.
Travis twisted his mouth into a look she assumed was protest, but he did as she asked.
Truthfully the old steamer was heavier than she anticipated, and she was huffing and sweating by the time they managed to lift it into the trunk of the car.
But they did it, and she smiled with satisfaction as she reached up to pull the lid down. It bounced off the top of the trunk and refused to close. Her smile froze.
“I told you it was too big.”
“Doesn’t matter. We’ll tie the lid down. It’ll be fine.” She hoped. But what if it rained? What if the wind caught the lid and caused damage to the car?
“You can’t drive it like that clear to California.”
“I’ll trade cars in San Antonio.” She dusted her hands of the problem and directed Travis back to the house. No matter that San Antonio was nearly two hours out of the way and in the wrong direction. She had to take the car back there anyhow. “Now if you’d please help me get the rest of these boxes loaded in the back.”
He looked from the open trunk with the steamer sticking out and the other boxes piled on the porch. “I’m calling JD.”
Elizabeth slammed her hands on her hips. “I thought we covered this.”
Travis shook his head. “JD told me if you did anything stupid I should call him.” He started punching numbers into his cell phone as Elizabeth seethed.
“He said what?”
“To call if you did anything—”
“I heard you.” Elizabeth pushed past Travis as he continued to reach out to JD. She heaved a box and lugged it to the rental. She didn’t need JD, and it seemed she wouldn’t need Travis either. She was on her own.
She situated the box in the backseat and went back for another. Travis was no longer standing by the porch. Elizabeth sighed and lifted the next box on the stack. With a little prayer and a lot of luck, she might be able to get all the boxes into the car. Once she hit San Antonio she’d get something bigger and everything would be solved.
She was making her fourth trip to the car when a shiny black pickup pulled into the drive.
JD.
She stopped and braced herself for the wave of longing that washed over her. Well, that and her arms felt like pudding. Her back was cinched so tight she could hardly stand upright.
“What are you doing?” he asked before the truck stopped rolling.
“Packing the car.” She would not let him get to her. She would not let him get to her.
“I can see that much. Why?”
“I’m driving back to California.” She couldn’t call it home.
“You think you’re taking that tin can all the way to LA?” He nodded toward her tiny car. It hadn’t looked that small when she rented it.
“Give me one reason why I shouldn’t.”
“Because with the boxes piled that high in the back, you can’t see out the rear window.”
She was hoping for something else. Something more like, Because we have something special. This is our second chance, and I don’t want you to leave.
“I’m going to San Antonio first. I’ll rent a bigger car there.” She did her best to keep the disappointment out of her voice. This was the exact reason why she needed to leave. So she could quit dreaming about things that would never happen.
A small grunt escaped her as she hoisted up another box and started toward the car.
“Bethie Grace.”
She couldn’t see over the box.
“Elizabeth.”
She stopped when she ran into him.
“Put down the box.” Before she could either comply or protest, he took the box from her and set it on the hood of the rental. “Just stop. Why aren’t you just shipping this stuff to California?”
“I was afraid it would get damaged.” It sounded good anyway. A lot better than I have to get away from here before you break my heart in two.
“So you are going to drive instead.”
“Of course.” She nodded. “I planned to rent a bigger car in San Antonio. But then Travis.” As she said his name she looked back toward the house.
Travis stood in the front window, watching the two of them and drinking a Sprite like he hadn’t a care in the world. At least it was a soft drink.
JD looked from the car to the remaining boxes, then to the raised trunk lid. He shook his head. “I’ll tell you what; if you’ll wait until tomorrow, I’ll drive you to San Antonio in my truck. There’ll be plenty of room for everything, okay?”
Her heart fell. No I need you to stay. Or Please don’t go. Just Let me take you. “What about the rental?”
“You can drive it, and I’ll haul your boxes
.”
Reluctantly, she nodded. She couldn’t protest. It wasn’t like she had to ride with him or anything. Surely she could keep her head about her when they were in different vehicles.
“Travis,” JD yelled, motioning for the young man to come out of the house.
He opened the door and stuck his head out. “Yeah?”
“Change of plans,” JD said. “Help me get these back to the house.”
“Sure thing.” He shot Elizabeth a smile that was both apologetic and triumphant.
“Traitor,” she mumbled as he bounded down the stairs.
“Yes, ma’am,” was all he said before he and JD lugged the boxes back into the Victorian.
An hour later, Travis had gone upstairs to work on one of the bedrooms, and JD caught her in the kitchen. She heard his sure footsteps as he came closer, but didn’t realize how close till she turned from looking at the window to find him a heartbeat away.
“JD,” she breathed, her hands automatically fluttering to his chest. She pulled them back to her sides as he leaned in. Bracing on either side of her, he effectively penned her between him and the counter.
“What’s all this about?”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“Yeah, you do.”
Elizabeth shook her head. She bit her lip and forced her gaze to his. “I need to go.”
“Why?”
“Because of this.” She waved a hand between them.
“I thought this was pretty good.”
“You know what I mean. Where is this going?”
He took his hands from beside her, but still remained as close. “Why does this have to be going anywhere?”
“And just enjoy each other for now?”
He leaned in and captured her lips with his own. She felt the caress all the way to her toes. “What’s wrong with that?”
What indeed.
“Say you’ll stay a little longer.”
“Okay,” she whispered. “I’ll stay.” Then his mouth was teasing hers again. She had probably doomed herself to certain heartbreak, but when he held her in his arms, she tended to not be able to think of anything but him.
He tugged at the hem of her t-shirt, pushing it up as he ran his hands underneath.
Elizabeth sighed into his mouth, melting against him a little more.
