Full Circle (16 page)

She shrugged. Sweat poured off her body, and she wheezed.

“Elisa, go inside. It’s blazing hot out here. You’re going to have a stroke.”

“I have things to—”

“Go.” He nudged her toward the door. Reluctantly, she sat in the kitchen, and he poured her a large glass of water while she wiped her moist skin with a towel. “Now tell me what’s going on.”

“Nothing’s going on. I’m in the way here. Justin and Laura have a family to take care of, and Justin and
you
need to get your customers back. No one needs to be worrying about poor Elisa and how she’s going to screw up next. If I haven’t already screwed up the clinic.”

“What are you talking about? You haven’t done anything to hurt the clinic.”

“Liam, come on. Do you think people would care what you and I were doing together if they didn’t already have it out for me? I got pregnant and dumped as a teenager and the gossipmongers in this town thrive on that kind of soap-opera drama.”

He should tell her what the real problem was. He needed to tell her, before she heard it from someone in the produce aisle. After all, people were avoiding the clinic because they didn’t like
him
, the doctor without ethics. But he didn’t really want to talk about Kelly when his time with Elisa was swiftly running out.

Finding another job would be difficult, but doable. If only she knew how impossible it was going to be find another woman like her.

Elisa tossed the damp towel into the sink and rose from the table. “I’ve got to take a shower. It’ll only take a minute, if you want to stay. You can hang out in here or watch TV or whatever.”

She patted his shoulder and disappeared upstairs, preoccupied with her plans. Liam looked down at the table and ran his finger over a crack in the Formica.

He hadn’t yet figured out how he would deal with saying goodbye to her in September. How could he possibly do it sooner than that?

A wave of bittersweet need washed over him and he headed toward the staircase. Elisa might not appreciate his appearance in her bathroom, but he barely gave that a moment’s thought. If she was leaving, she’d leave with a memory of him imprinted on her mind.

He found the bathroom at the top of the stairs, to the right. She’d left the door cracked to let out steam, and he smiled at the idea of bringing some in.

The mirror was coated in fog. He peeled off his clothes and approached the curtain. She sure liked her showers hot. Today, so did he.

Just then, the water shut off. He blinked, his plan momentarily derailed. But he brushed off his disappointment. He could make love to her as easily outside the shower as he could inside of it.

She pulled back the curtain and emitted a small gasp when she saw him standing there.

“I thought we didn’t want to make the rumors worse,” she said. She held a towel to her chest, but her gaze roamed his body.

“Your curtains are closed. No one is watching.” He wrapped his arms around her and helped her out of the tub, tugging away the towel and tossing it aside. He drew his hands over her silky, sweet-smelling skin. “I need you.”

More than he had ever needed anything in his life. She led him to her bedroom, and the sight of her walking nude in front of him was all it took to get his heart racing and his body ready to do whatever she asked.

They lay side by side on the sheets, a heated tangle of arms and legs. He couldn’t stop kissing her, his urgency growing with each touch. She moaned his name, and he pushed his hands into her hair, wanting so much to bury himself inside her before they were too far away from each other to do this. But he didn’t want to rush, not when they had so little time left together. Besides, he hadn’t yet touched and pleased her in all the ways he wanted to.

He kissed her neck, then her breast, then moved atop her and ran his hands over her torso, tracing her abdomen with his lips. She clutched at his head but didn’t ask him to stop, so he kept going until he found the soft place where she ached for his attention, then laved it on her until she cried out.

He caressed her until her body stopped shivering, and he heard her whisper.

“Liam.” She touched his chin and directed his gaze to a scar a few inches below her navel. “That’s where our baby was born.”

Cesarean. On top of everything else that happened during what had to be a moment of pure hell, she’d had surgery. Who had held her hand? Helped her recover? Her family, he guessed. She and Laura seemed close. But it wasn’t the same. She’d needed him.

His breath ragged, he put his finger on the faded line on her skin. “I should have been there.”

She cupped his face and drew him up so his body was aligned with hers. “You’re here now. That’s what matters.”

She pulled him closer and kissed him, urging him inside her. At some point, when he was too spent and happy to know how much time had passed, Elisa settled next to him and laid her head on his chest. “Justin said that something bad happened to you.”

Liam closed his eyes, now spent and distraught. “I’m guessing you’d like to know what it is.”

“If you want to talk about it.”

He never
wanted
to talk about it, but she’d find out sooner or later, especially given that he was currently the talk of the town. He’d rather she hear it from him.

“Something happened at school, long after you left. Remember Kelly Black?”

She propped herself up on one elbow to look at him. “Wasn’t her dad on the Board of Trustees or something? Spoiled rotten, if I remember correctly.”

“You do. And quite the party girl when her daddy wasn’t looking.”

A few years had passed, but his mind could still read the headlines plain as day. He’d been front page news in the school newspaper. Hell, in the
city’s
newspaper. Thankfully, social networking hadn’t been as widespread back in those days, or the whole world might have pegged him as a rapist.

“At the start of my senior year, I went to a party and ended up hanging out with her. I happened to be the unlucky one who was the last guy she remembered before she found out she was pregnant. So I was first on her mind.”

Elisa’s fearful gaze raked his, so he quickly clarified, “Not by me. I didn’t do anything with her. I saw how drunk she was getting and left her in a bedroom to sleep. Someone else ended up in there later. Apparently, she was terrified of hurting her and her father’s perfect reputations, so rather than admit she’d been too drunk to use protection or even know who she’d been with, she cried rape. And pinned it on me.”

Elisa’s grip on him tightened. She stared at him in horror. The memory still made him sick. “I was in my dorm studying for an exam when the cops showed up at the door. They had me in handcuffs so fast—”

He took a breath. Recounting the miserable tale filled him with rage. He’d spent days in jail, living like a criminal and falling behind in his classes while the whole school and anyone who watched the local news pegged him as a sexual predator. All thanks to the scheming of a woman he’d never touched, barely even knew, and her power-hungry, unethical father. Liam sure as hell would set a better example for his children than that.

“How could they do that? Without proof?” Elisa’s voice brought him back to the present and made him feel worlds better.

He gave her a sad smile. “They had their proof. Word of a powerful man’s daughter, and dozens of people at the party had seen us go upstairs together. There was no reason for them
not
to believe something bad hadn’t happened up there. Except for what I said, and that didn’t seem to count at all.

“Anyway, I suspect her father knew what was really going on. When he was told that a DNA test would have to be done on the baby to prove it was mine, and Kelly refused, they agreed to drop the charges.”

The media had bothered—just for a minute—to report that he’d been falsely accused. It was amazing how much more coverage they’d given him while Kelly was playing the victim. But at least he’d been cleared, and he had legal papers to prove it. Maybe he could publish those in the Windy Flats Tribune and get the town off his back.

He released a deep sigh. “That’s the main reason I have to leave. It isn’t just about us. People around here found out I was arrested, and why. They don’t think I’m innocent.”

Elisa gaped at him, tears in her eyes. “I can’t believe anyone would do that to you.”

Neither could he, even after all this time. He squeezed her more tightly. “Some people are just rotten.”

“Yeah. Kelly and Brett would have made a good pair.”

“I’m sure you’re right.”

They were quiet for a moment. Liam’s chest hurt when he thought of the sorry people he and Elisa had gone through to get to each other. Why were they so insistent that a relationship wouldn’t work? People did the long-distance thing all the time. And since he was no longer staying in Windy Flats—though admittedly, not by choice—she wouldn’t have to worry about getting stuck there. In fact, there wasn’t any reason at all that he couldn’t look for a new job in Nashville.

“Do you want me to go with you this weekend?” he asked, a spark of hope igniting inside him. “I’ll be happy to help you get settled.”

Guilt filled her eyes. “I appreciate that, but no. I should go alone. I need to get used to the way things are going to be.”

So much for hope.

He hadn’t thought it possible after the story he’d just told, but even more pain built up inside him. It wasn’t the distance keeping them apart. She didn’t want his help, he could see that by the way she looked at him. She didn’t even want his presence. Not anywhere near her new life.

It was difficult—devastating—to believe, but even after the incredible moments they’d shared over the summer, she was the same Elisa Haley who had liked him “as a friend”…who came to him when she needed comfort or distraction or seduction, but in the end, preferred the company of someone else.

Screeching tires sounded from outside, followed by a terrified scream. They looked at each other and jumped out of bed. Liam threw his clothes on and peered around Elisa’s curtains.

Heidi Dale stood in the middle of the road, still screaming, her hands on her face. Rainbow’s tiny body lay motionless at her feet.

“Oh shit.” Liam ran outside, with Elisa calling that she’d be right behind him.

Heidi was hysterical when he got to her. He issued dirty looks to the growing group of people standing in his way, then knelt on the street to administer first aid and prayed the dog was still alive.

Rainbow’s chest moved slightly in and out, which relieved him. But there could be internal injuries. Elisa rushed to his side, and a rumble rolled through the crowd. Everyone standing there had seen him come running from her house, but that was too bad. They had bigger problems.

“I need some things from my car,” he told Elisa. “Take a look at Rainbow and see what we can do.”

She nodded. He bolted for his car, parked over in Elisa’s driveway. After he gathered the emergency supplies he always carried with him in case of situations like this, he turned and saw her carefully roll the dog onto its right side.

“My baby!” Heidi cried. “What are you doing? Don’t hurt her!”

A few people made ignorant comments about Elisa’s qualifications, but Justin wasn’t around to help and she was doing exactly what she should, so Liam let her work as he made his way back across the street. No doubt she’d learned a lot during her years working at the clinic, and he hadn’t forgotten how excited she’d been about veterinary medicine when he first met her at the university. This experience would be good for her. Maybe it would make her remember what she really wanted.

Which he already knew wasn’t him.

He stopped next to her and watched while she examined Rainbow’s eyes and gums, which were still pink. A good sign. Two of her legs looked injured and possibly broken, though he didn’t see any active bleeding.

“Just her legs,” Elisa said. “We can’t know anything else without doing a scan.”

Liam agreed. He reached to wrap the dog and get her back to the clinic, but he stopped when Heidi opened her mouth to comment. He couldn’t do anything without her consent.

No doubt she’d intended to say something rude and refuse his help, but fear clouded her eyes when she glanced at Rainbow. She pressed her lips together, looking guilty.

Elisa stepped closer to her and spoke quietly, but firmly. “Your dog can be saved, but we have to act fast. Justin’s at the hospital and I’m nowhere near qualified to do surgery. So if you want Rainbow to walk again or even continue breathing, I suggest you put aside your issues and let him work.”

Tears glistened in Heidi’s eyes. With a brief nod, she stepped aside.

Elisa stood at the window and watched a couple of airplanes roll over the tarmac. In a few minutes, her plane would arrive and carry her to Nashville, her new beginning. A place offering her a job that her brother didn’t give her and a place to live that her parents didn’t own. A town where no one knew about the bad decisions she had made before.

Most importantly, a place where she wouldn’t have any reason to think about how much she had lost. She planned to spend the weekend hunting for an apartment and, with any luck, signing a lease. If she had time left, she’d shop for office-appropriate clothing. Her stomach ached and she bounced on her toes. She couldn’t stand to wait any longer than she already had. She just wanted to
go
.

“Pane!”

Elisa blinked. At her feet stood a little girl, two or three years old, pointing to the window with a big grin on her face.

“Yes, that’s a plane.” A woman standing nearby flashed Elisa a friendly smile and took the girl’s hand. “Let’s go find Daddy.”

The woman led the girl across the gate area to a dark-haired man reading in one of the chairs. He closed his magazine and hugged his daughter, who promptly jumped into his lap. The family was dressed in shorts and sandals. They looked like they were going on vacation.

A lump rose in Elisa’s throat. She had never been on such a trip. She hadn’t gone anywhere since she’d returned to Windy Flats after her first year of college. Even though she had the money socked away in her savings account, she’d saved every bit of it for this moment, when she would finally get a “real” job and leave. Nothing else had ever been important to her.