Liz's Luck [Appledale 2] (Siren Publishing Classic) (6 page)

Ethan glared at Logan. He was so tempted to pick Liz up and take her upstairs to her bedroom. Her defiance and snappy remarks provoked and aroused him. He had plenty of ways to make her shut her sassy mouth.

“Listen, Deputy, my head hurts and I’m freezing. I think we are done here for the night. Just do your job and get this guy before he costs me a fortune in window repairs,” she said firmly, stomping off away from him. She was very upset with Ethan still and wasn’t in the mood to deal with his attitude.

Ryan came back, holding Lacy against him looking very pale and sick. “You’re staying with us tonight, Liz,” Ryan said firmly. ”I won’t take no for an answer.”

Before she could protest Lacy looked at her and pleaded with her. “Please, Liz, I’m scared for you and I don’t want you to be alone.”

Liz sighed and agreed. She didn’t want to stay alone anyway.

Ethan felt relieved that at least for tonight Liz would be protected. Tomorrow he would try to talk to Liz and apologize. He was realizing he had been wrong to judge Liz. He hadn’t stopped thinking or dreaming about her since the Halloween party and he had to know once and for all if something could develop between them or not.

“Shush, people, talk quietly.” Lacy groaned, leaning her head on her hands. She sat at the diner, trying to drink coffee even though her stomach protested at the thought.

Stella was standing next to them listening to Liz’s account of what had happened last night. She patted Lacy’s back soothingly. “Poor Lacy, you and Liz had quite the exciting night, I hear.”

Liz frowned and nodded, drinking her coffee and thinking about yesterday. What a day it had been, from her argument with Ethan to the break-in at her store. She now had to deal with a possible stalker. Her days were getting better and better. What happened to peace and goodwill and all that? Didn’t stalkers take a break for Christmas?

Ryan had dropped Lacy and Liz off at the diner before going to work. After finishing her coffee, Liz would walk over to her store and open up. She had been telling Stella all about their crazy night.

“I can’t believe someone in this town would do that to you, Liz. Everyone likes you,” Stella observed, shaking her head in confusion and looking concerned. “What are you going do? Maybe you should close for a few days and give Ryan and the guys a chance to catch this crazy guy.”

Liz shook her head then regretted it when her head hurt. “Ryan promised to get this creep soon and the deputies are driving by often to check on me. I’ll be okay, Stella. This creep is not ruining my business. I’ve worked too hard to build it up.”

Ally came out of the kitchen with aspirin for Lacy, who had stayed quiet. She chuckled when she saw Lacy leaning her head on the counter and groaning. “Put me out of my misery, Ally, please and I’ll never drink again.”

Ally laughed softly and made her take the aspirin with her coffee. “I’d have a headache, too, if I got an hour-long lecture on the dangers of drinking first thing in the morning.”

Stella laughed out loud then lowered her voice when Lacy winced. “Sorry, I take it Ryan is not too pleased with your little party. Wish I could’ve been there.”

Lacy mumbled something that sounded like “no.”

“I got a good hangover remedy for you girls. Raw eggs, Tabasco sauce, and Alka-Seltzer in a blender with some cold coffee. Works every time,” Henry, Ally’s assistant cook and longtime friend offered, rubbing his hands together and looking eager to make his hangover cure.

Liz got up in a hurry, finishing her coffee. “Thanks, Henry, but I feel better already. Got to get to work. It’s a busy season for me.”

“Coward,” Lacy muttered under her breath so Henry wouldn’t hear her while Stella and Ally laughed.

Liz just smiled and waved and left out the door before Henry made his concoction.

* * * *

The morning passed slowly. A few customers wandered in doing Christmas shopping despite the dropping temperatures. At lunchtime Gary walked in. “Good morning, Elizabeth,” he said cheerfully, looking perfect as always. She wondered if he even owned jeans and T-shirts.

“Gary, what are you doing here?” she asked with a sigh. She really wasn’t in the right frame of mind to deal with Gary, not today. She was tired and her head hurt.

“I’m on lunch,” he answered, leaning on her counter and giving her a charming smile. “It’s been a very busy week at the bank with the holiday season, but I made time for you.”

When she didn’t reply he kept on talking. “I heard from Stanley you had some problems with a vandal. That’s just awful. I have a Christmas party at work tomorrow night. Come with me so we can have time to talk. Stella will be there,” he offered gallantly, as if offering her the world.

Liz looked at him. The man was persistent, that was for sure. He obviously had not heard the word no very often. It would be easy to say yes to one more date, but she didn’t want to encourage him.

“Gary, I’m sorry. You are a nice man,” Liz lied, but she didn’t like to hurt people’s feelings. “I don’t think it’ll work between us, so maybe you need to put your efforts into someone else,” Liz said softly. He may be self-centered but she would do her best to be polite as her parents had taught her to be.

He looked puzzled as if she had lost her mind. “Of course we will work out. We both have money and sophistication. There is no one else in this pokey little town like us. We belong together. Darling, you are Roger Daniels’s daughter and my family owns the bank. I don’t understand why you are being so stubborn. We could go far together. If you insist on having a hobby, then you can open up your little boutique in any city.”

Did he just say her store was a hobby? Liz took a deep, calming breath, feeling her headache come back with full force. “Gary, I have made up my mind already. I love it this town and I’m not moving.”

His mouth tightened with aggravation. “Fine, you are obviously upset so I will leave for now, but this isn’t over!” he said angrily and walked out the door, slamming it hard, and Liz winced at the loud sound.

It was all too much for her to handle. This whole week had been awful. She felt the tears coming out of her eyes, and then it was as if a floodgate opened and she started sobbing openly. Even if a customer walked in she didn’t think she would be able to stop. Liz could no longer hold all her feelings in. Was there any man out there that would ever be able to love her, not because of her dad and his money, but just for her? She wasn’t a bad person. She thought of herself as attractive and kind to others, but how did others see her? It hurt so much, the problems with Ethan and Gary and all the trouble with the store. She had been holding in all her emotions, trying to be strong, but she couldn’t any longer. She needed time alone to gather her senses back together. She closed the store midday and went upstairs. She put her pajamas on, turned off all the lights, and took her phone off the hook in case Gary tried calling. She put the covers over her head and blocked out the world.

* * * *

Liz felt refreshed and ready to deal with her life again by the next day. She had slept the whole day away yesterday and now she felt restored.. Ethan White was not meant to be hers and the sooner she accepted it the better off she’d be. She needed to forget all about him, no matter how she longed for him. She’d concentrate on her business and her friends. She was okay with that now. Liz was finally able to reach her dad and she told him about the attempted break-ins and he suggested she put up security cameras and an alarm. He gave her the number to a reliable company from St. Louis willing to travel to Appledale and install it, so Liz agreed. As it was, her insurance rate was going to go up. She couldn’t afford any more attempts. No more wishing for things that weren’t going to happen. Love and romance were not in the cards for her.

Liz drove to the community hall to meet Lacy for the first self-defense class a few days later. Ryan had picked Sunday because most businesses were closed on that day. Liz was excited about relearning some techniques and anxious to start. She may have forgotten some moves but she had always enjoyed the physical activity and the confidence she had gotten from the lessons. It was a good way to get rid of her frustrations. She was already wearing some comfortable yoga pants and a loose white T-shirt. She walked in the building and found Lacy right away dressed similarly to her. Lacy was standing there talking to Ethan, and she turned toward Liz and waved.

“Hi, I’m so glad you came,” Lacy said, hugging her. She hadn’t seen Liz in a few days. Business was busy for Liz, and Lacy was taking care of last-minute details for her wedding in two weeks.

“I am, too.” Liz looked around and saw a variety of people, men and women of different ages and a few teens, too. “Wow, what a turnout!”

“Lacy is just excited to say ‘I told you so’ to me,” Ryan said, walking up to them with a smile. “I honestly didn’t think this many people would be interested but I was wrong. We’re dividing the classes into beginners and advanced. Ethan will be teaching advanced. If more show up I’ll get Gabe in here to help.”

“Well, Liz belongs in Ethan’s class. She’s taken self-defense classes in Chicago and has experience.” Lacy offered, winking at Liz helpfully.

“But I’m rusty. It’s been awhile,” Liz said quickly trying to get into Ryan’s class with Lacy. The last thing she wanted to do was spend an hour lusting over Ethan’s body.

“I’ll be in Ethan’s class,” Melissa Summers offered, interrupting their conversation and running her hands up Ethan’s chest. She owned the hair salon in town and dyed her hair regularly. This week it was bright red. She was dressed in tight shorts and a tank top showing off her ample cleavage. She was tall and well built. Just Ethan’s type, Liz thought jealously, watching the other woman flirt with Ethan. It made her angry to see Melissa touching him, but she had no rights over Ethan so she stayed silent.

Ethan removed Melissa’s hand from his chest and said in a firm voice. “This is a serious class, Melissa. If you’re here just to pick up men, go to Thorn’s with Emma and Lori.”

Melissa pouted, not taking him seriously. “But I am serious, Ethan. I need to learn to defend myself since I don’t have a big strong man to do it for me.”

Ryan sighed impatiently, tired of Melissa’s desire to cause trouble. “Melissa, I’ve known you since we were kids and I know you have no training so you’re in my class,” he told her firmly. “Quit playing around and go warm up with the others.”

“Fine.” Melissa pouted and walked away, winking at Ethan and swaying her hips so he would notice. “I’ll see you after class, Ethan.”

Lacy rolled her eyes and said seriously, “Can anyone say ‘easy’?”

Liz laughed loudly and Ryan shook his head, groaning at his fiancée and taking Lacy’s hand. “Okay, let’s get this class started before I lose complete control. I’m getting Logan in here to help control the females.”

Ethan laughed but pulled Liz’s arm so she wouldn’t follow Lacy. “All he’ll do is flirt with all of them and start fights. You’re in my class, Liz. We’ll start slow and see what you remember.” He didn’t give Liz a chance to argue with him. He called the class to attention and got started.

The class was small, with only Liz and four others, so Ethan was able to work individually with each of them.

After they warmed up he spoke to the class. “Tonight we will begin with the elbow strike. This is good to use when someone comes from behind to grab you. Mark, you be my partner.”

Mark Henderson walked up to Ethan. He was a mechanic at Dillon’s garage. He was smaller than Ethan in height, but he liked to work out so he had a muscular build similar to Ethan.

“When someone grabs you from behind you can use your elbow to hit their throat or nose. If you use all your strength, they will let you go and you can get away from them.”

Ethan demonstrated the move several times with Mark then looked at the small class. He paired up Liz with the only other female, an eighteen-year-old high school student, Lisa Smith. “Jack, you and Louis pair up,” he suggested to the two remaining men.

They started practicing their moves as he showed them. Ethan walked over to Liz and Lisa. “Try putting your hand in a fist, Lisa. Now take your other hand and hold your fist with it. Use the strength from both hands and elbow with all your might.”

Lisa did as he suggested. “Awesome.” She smiled when she succeeded. He showed them a few more variations then ended the class.

“Because Christmas is right around the corner, we will have the next class after the New Year. If you liked it, tell your friends about these classes.”

Once class was dismissed, Liz opened her bottle of water and sat down for a second. Ethan walked up to her smiling and holding his towel around his neck, showing off his impressive biceps. “Good job, Liz, I can see you have had training before.”

“Some in Chicago, but it’s been awhile. My dad insisted I know how to defend myself,” she said, feeling energized from the physical activity but sweaty. Sleep should come easy tonight, she hoped. It had been a rough week. Some nights she’d wake dreaming of Ethan and feeling so aroused it was hard to fall back to sleep so she would lay in bed daydreaming about him.

Ethan nodded. “I’m sorry for our argument the other day. Can we talk?”

“That’s okay,” Liz said, brushing off his apology, not wanting to hear “let’s be friends” again. “Maybe later, I’m beat.” She really didn’t think there was anything else to say but she didn’t want to argue either. If Melissa and her little group of followers overheard their conversation they would have a field day spreading it around town. They loved to spread gossip and cause drama.