Happy New Life (13 page)

Tramp was eagerly jumping on them when they walked into the house.

Liz patted him down. He didn’t like anyone being upset. Countless
times, Tramp had come to Hayes’ or Liz’s side when they were upset.

Many times over the course of the year, she had questioned her move to
Grandberry Falls, but Tramp always was there to lick her back to reality.

“Now you know.” Jenna sat down on the bench in the kitchen.

Cole’s spot,
Liz sighed.

Liz let Jenna gather her composure while she fixed a pot of coffee and
put cookies in the oven.

“I know that the last thing you want to do is relive what happened with
Dan, but I need to know. I need you to tell me everything.” She still couldn’t
believe it had been Cole.

The agility brochures Cole had brought over fell to the floor as she
grabbed the tissue box off the edge of the counter.

“Why, Liz? Are you in love with him?” There was a fear in Jenna’s eyes
that Liz never seen before.

The idea of telling Jenna the truth scared her, but she needed to be
honest. If that meant losing her best friend and lover, well, she was willing
to take the risk.

“Yes Jenna.” Her memories of him were pure and clear. “I am in love
with him.”

A look of disgust crept across Jenna’s face. “You are in love? How
could you fall into the arms of a murderous drunk? How could you lay next to a
man who killed two innocent people,” her voice dripped with hatred.

Liz was almost too scared to answer her.

“He isn’t the person you describe. He has been so kind to Hayes, Tramp
and, for that matter, me. I have never seen him drink a drop or even noticed it
on his breath.” Liz wanted her to understand.

She had to question herself.

Could I be wrong?

Had her gut and feelings mislead her? As much as she wanted to hate
him, she couldn’t.

“My best friend, sleeping with the enemy.” She slowly turned her head
and growled, “I thought you were my best friend.”

“I am. I asked you several times to tell me and you never would.”

“I told you that I thought you would come around.” Jenna said.

“Please, Jenna. Help me understand the type of person Cole Michaels
really is.” Liz wanted to hear the entire story. She needed to move on.

Jenna recalled the busy morning of the accident.

“Cole and Dan became friends in college. I introduced him to Sarah. She
was my childhood friend. We had gone on many double dates together.” She
paused. “He moved to Grandberry Falls and opened his clinic after veterinary
school. Sarah was so happy. After I had Samantha, we went on vacation with them.
Cole was a drinker. You know---we’d get together and have a few drinks.”

The more Jenna talked, the man she was describing sounded less like the
Cole Liz knew. Everyone in town embraced him. Even Hazel, Jenna’s mom, didn’t
have anything bad to say about him.

Something just didn’t add up.

“Sarah called to tell me that Cole had been bellied up to the bar at
The Thirsty Turtle all night and she was going to go get him. She wanted to
bring him over here for a mini-intervention.” Jenna stopped to take a drink of
her coffee.

Her thoughts filtered back to the day she’d met him. All the people
crowded around him in The Trembling Cup were patting him on the back, laughing.

She closed her eyes.

She could still hear the laughter coming from the crowd. She remembered
wanting to know who was in the middle of them.

Jenna continued, “I hadn’t gone to the store and we didn’t want
Samantha here for the intervention. Dan drove her to mom’s farm and stopped by
The Buy and Fly to grab a container of coffee.” Jenna started to cry all over
again. “I can’t believe I didn’t have any coffee. Stupid coffee.” Jenna’s
voiced trailed off.

“Oh, Jenna.” Liz buried her head in Jenna’s neck and began to cry with
her friend. “Thank you for telling me.”

They sat there in silence, holding each other. Liz replayed the story
over in her head, trying to imagine the Cole that she knew was drunk and
reckless—she couldn’t.

“Who is Sarah?”

“He never told you?” The glare came back into her eyes. “He couldn’t
even let her legacy live on. Unbelievable.” Jenna shook her head. “Sarah is his
beautiful and faithful wife. He married my best friend. He killed my best
friend.”

Liz recalled the part of the story where Jenna said something about
double dating and vacation, but had been completely focused on Cole being the
drunk driver.

Liz got up.

Confused, she aimlessly walked around the kitchen, bending down briefly
to pat Tramp.

Tramp loved Cole.

“That man killed his wife and his best friend. He went to prison, lost
his vet business, and is now back living his life as if nothing happened. He
walks around this town, going in and out of restaurants and teaches obedience
classes leaving his past behind. He should’ve been put to death.

Liz felt like she was going to be sick. She let this man into her son’s
life, her bed, and worst of all…her heart.

Jenna looked like a rag
doll when she peeled herself off the bench.

“Liz, I’m going to go.
I’m exhausted.” She looked up with puffy eyes. “I never wanted you to get hurt.
I guess I never realized how close you two were.”

Light specs created an
illusion of a person sitting in the leather chair. Liz rubbed her eyes, trying
to get them adjusted to the light.

“It’s not your eyes.”
Cole’s voice boomed into the thin air across the room. The light came on to
show that her eyes hadn’t been deceiving her.

All the anger, pain, and
sick feelings came back to Liz as her mind flooded with memories of the night
before. “Get out. Hayes will be home soon and I don’t want to have to tell him
that you’re a murderer!”

“I couldn’t leave behind
what we had. I can’t sleep tonight without telling you how sorry I am that I
got you wrapped up into this mess.” There was sadness in his eyes.

“What we had was sex. It
was nothing. We had nothing.” Liz bolted toward the bedroom door, opened it, and
walked away to let him leave on his own. She knew if she had stayed in the
room, she would not have been able to control her anger.

“Liz, I’m not leaving
until you talk to me.” Cole’s voice was muffled by the door.

“I have nothing to say to
you.”

She could hear him pacing
back and forth in front of her bedroom door.

“Liz, I am not leaving.”

She felt like he didn’t
deserve a response. She had no energy to talk with him about this. It was late.
She had a headache, not only in her head, but in her family room.

SIXTEEN

“An older
sister is a friend and defender - a listener, conspirator, a counselor and a
sharer of delights. And sorrows too.”

~Pam Brown

Liz kept her distance
from Jenna the rest of the week. She buried herself in work and took on more clients
than she should have. Jenna called a few times to check on the status of the
benefit, but there was nothing to report. The benefit came together just like
the pieces of a puzzle.

Cole had not tried to
contact her and she hadn’t run into him in town. She avoided all the places he
might be. She decided to put obedience classes for Tramp on hold until after
the New Year. She planned to just walk Tramp and continue to use the commands
she knew. She even went to the library to pick up an obedience book.

Christmas was just as
low-keyed as the week before. Hayes was excited to have his cousins over to his
new house. Dinner was delicious.

“What’s going on with
you?” Kristen put a stack of dishes in the sink.

Grabbing one dish at a
time, Liz soaked it and then scrubbed it. She handed each clean one to Kristen
who stood waiting with a clean towel.

“What do you mean?” Liz
didn’t want her family to know anything about her life.

It would only give them
more ammunition when they told her she had made a mistake moving to Grandberry
Falls.

“I can tell. Everything
spotless. You look all put together.”

Liz looked at Kristen
like she was crazy. “Do I always look sloppy?”

“No. You look like you
did when you were about to tell us that you were getting a divorce. You’re distant,
like you’re trying to put a show on for your family.” Kristen sat the towel
next to the sink. “You also have that nervous laugh.”

Liz placed both hands on
the edge of the sink. She braced herself. She couldn’t believe she was about to
tell Kristen about Cole.

“Kristen, I’m in love.”

“That’s great sis!”
Kristen looked surprised.

After the divorce, her
family worried about her. She didn’t let anyone see her upset. She didn’t talk
about it. She took the divorce in stride. They didn’t know about the break-downs
in her room after she’d put Hayes to bed.

“No, Kristen. It’s not
great. It’s bad. Real bad.” Liz gulped for air.

“Why? Don’t tell me he’s
married.” Kristen snickered, but stopped when Liz didn’t join in the batter.
“Oh my God, Liz. Tell me he isn’t married.”

“Worse. A murderer.” Her
misery was so acute that it was a physical pain.

“What is going on? Are
you in trouble?” Kristen took Liz by the shoulders and turned Liz to face her
directly.

“It’s nothing like that.”
Liz reassured Kristen.

Kristen sat with Liz,
drawing in every detail while Hayes kept their parents busy with all his new
gadgets.

Liz felt confident in
confiding to Kristen. She knew that her sister had her best interest at heart.

“Have you heard what he
has to say?” Kristen asked after hearing all of what Jenna had told Liz. “He
has to be hurting just as much as Jenna. He lost a wife and a best friend.”

“The problem is that he
never told me. All those times we were intimate and he never had the respect to
tell me.” Liz knew that Kristen didn’t have the answers she was seeking. “I
knew there was a secret and I still let my desires take over. I feel so dumb.”

“Jenna should’ve told
you. Aren’t you blaming her too?” Kristen made a great point. “She should’ve
told you the first day at the coffee shop. ‘That’s my husband’s best friend. He
killed him and his own wife.’”

Liz listened to Kristen.
The more she talked, the more sense she made. She did want to know Cole’s side
of the story. From that moment on, her relationships with Jenna and Cole would
never be the same.

“Mom, Jack just called
and wants me to come over and see his new puppy.” Hayes put his hands together
as if he was praying. “Please? He wants me to show him some commands like we do
with Tramp.”

Liz put her hand on his
head. “I don’t know buddy. It’s Christmas night and our family is here.
Besides, I bet Jack’s parents want to spend Christmas with him.”

“No. He asked me.” There
was a pleading look in his eyes. A pleading look she wasn’t good at saying no
to.

“Don’t stop him going on
our account.” Liz’s mom put her hands on Hayes’ shoulders. “We need to get back
to Cincinnati before dark.”

“Please?” Hayes bounced
up and down.

She didn’t want him to go
for selfish reasons. She didn’t want to be alone on Christmas night.

“We do have to get
going.” Kristen confirmed squeezing Liz’s hand.

“Okay, fine.” Liz gave in
holding up two fingers. “Two hours is plenty. Besides, I want to snuggle with
you tonight.”

That was all Hayes needed
to hear to rush her out the door.

Jack’s house wasn’t too
far from Cole’s house. And before she knew it, her car had a mind of its own.
Or so she wanted to believe.

Slowly she turned the car
into Cole’s gravel drive, hoping to see if there were any lights on. She
wondered if he had family, or someone to spend Christmas with.

She noticed the
out-of-state license plates on both of the cars parked in front of her. It was
Christmas. She was sure that he was celebrating with family.

She sat there for a
moment looking at the beautiful old sleigh sitting in front of the house. Two
of Cole’s horses were attached, waiting for someone to join them. Lights
twinkled along its side, giving it an old fashioned Christmas feel. Liz had
only seen sleighs like that in pictures in her fancy design magazines.

Quickly, she put the car
in reverse before anyone seen her.

“What am I doing here?”
She looked in the rear view mirror while backing up. “I don’t belong here.”

“Wait! Elizabeth, wait!”
Cole was waving her down from the porch.

Only her mother called
her Elizabeth.

She stopped the car and
got out. They stood face to face.

“Liz, I can’t believe you
are here. Please come in.” His gaze was as soft as a caress. “Merry Christmas.”

She swallowed hard,
trying to come up with an answer.

“I want your side of the
story.” She had an agenda. She needed answers.

“I will tell you my
story. But please, not tonight. It’s Christmas.” He placed his hands on her
arms and rubbed them up and down to warm her.

Her body tingled from the
contact. There was no doubt he had captured her heart and soul.

“I can’t stay. You have
company.” But she was entranced by the silent sadness in his eyes.

“It’s Sarah’s family. I’m
sure Jenna has told you all about Sarah,” Cole said. “I want you to meet them.
It’s our first Christmas together since the accident.” His voice trailed off.

What kind of people would
spend Christmas with the man who was responsible for the death of their sister?
Something just didn’t add up.

“Please come in. They all
know about you. . .us.” His hands brought her closer. “I need you.”

Without a word, she
followed him into the house. Her mind was screaming for her legs to stop, but
they continued to move forward.