Liz's Luck [Appledale 2] (Siren Publishing Classic) (7 page)

Ethan looked into Liz’s eyes. They were such a deep blue in color and her lashes were long and dark. It would be easy to get lost in them. Her feelings always showed in her eyes. Liz was making excuses to not talk to him and he couldn’t blame her. He had been a judgmental ass and he felt bad about it. He wanted her physically but he still wasn’t sure if they would have anything else in common. He was past the age where sex was enough to start a relationship, but he had to try or he’d always wonder.

Liz smiled but it didn’t reach her eyes. She threw her empty water bottle away and stood up, packing her gym bag and putting her jacket on. “You’ve already made up your mind about me, Ethan. I am not your type, remember? I’m snobby and too fragile for you. If you want a one-night stand go find Melissa. I think she’s very interested and the exact opposite of me.”

“I’m trying to apologize here, and you are not making it easy,” he replied angrily and started to say more but was interrupted by a student asking questions about a certain move. Liz took the opportunity to leave without waiting to hear anymore. She just wanted to go home and shower and go to bed. Being around Ethan was hard on her libido. Her body wanted him still. She didn’t think she could handle being just friends with Ethan. It would drive her crazy trying to keep her hands off of him. She’d be acting like Melissa and that would be tacky. It would be easier if she just stayed away from Ethan completely. Maybe someday she would meet the right man for her. She had to have hope.

Liz said her good-byes to Lacy and Ryan. It was cold and dark, and Liz was glad she parked close to the building. It would snow soon and she couldn’t wait. She loved Christmas. Not just the lights and decorations but people were nicer at this time of year, too. She turned her radio station to one that was playing Christmas music, enjoying singing along to it.

The streets were dark and quiet even though it wasn’t late. In Chicago there was always traffic and lights from the many businesses. When she first moved here she found the dark, empty streets eerie, but now it didn’t bother her. She looked behind her and saw a car driving behind her, blinding her vision with bright lights.

“Turn it down, jerk,” Liz muttered as the car got real close to her rear bumper. Suddenly, Liz felt a bump and her car swerved. She tightened her hands on the steering wheel so she could control her car better, when she felt another bump and she swerved toward a tree and hit it before she could stop. Her head jerked forward and she hit it on the steering wheel and blacked out.

* * * *

Liz snapped out of her daze with a wince. Her forehead hurt and when she put her hand up to it she knew she wasn’t bleeding. Then she remembered what happened and she looked around, scared. She could see nothing but darkness. Whoever it was didn’t stick around to check on her. With shaky hands she reached in her purse for her cell phone. Who should she call? She couldn’t bring Stella out in the cold and dark. Would Ryan and Lacy be home or at the community hall still?

She moved her legs. They were achy but she didn’t feel any pain, so she knew she wasn’t seriously hurt. She was too scared and cold to get out of the car.

She called the station and gave a sign of relief when Gabe Wilson answered the phone. She told him she had a minor accident but wasn’t hurt and gave him the location.

“Don’t bother Lacy either, Gabe. She’ll spend all night worrying. I’ll tell her tomorrow.” She made him promise.

“Or Ethan?” he asked drolly.

Liz snorted. “Ethan wouldn’t care but he’d probably lecture me, so just get here without bringing the whole gang, okay?”

Gabe chuckled at her grouchy attitude. “Yes, ma’am.”

He arrived a few minutes later and looked at her car and scowled. “This looks like more than a fender bender, Liz. And you have a big bump on your head.”

Liz touched her forehead. “It’s nothing, Gabe, a little bump.” She explained what had happened and how she couldn’t see anything because the headlights had been so bright.

“This is getting serious, Liz. If it was a simple accident they would have stayed to help,” Gabe observed, still frowning at her. “This is more serious now than a few broken windows at your store. This is a personal vendetta. I don’t like the feel of this.”

Liz’s shoulders slumped. It was cold and late and she was exhausted. The way her life had been going lately, she didn’t think she would ever complain about life being too boring. “I know, Gabe, and I am so confused. I don’t have enemies. I’ve had words with Ethan and Gary lately and that’s it. Ethan wouldn’t do this. He is too noble and straightforward. As for Gary, I barely know him but he is so vain that it doesn’t seem possible he would do anything that would dirty his suit.”

Gabe chuckled at that comment and thought about Gary Peters. What if he hired someone? He would start looking into it before the situation worsened. “Listen, let me take you home and I’ll call a tow truck. Your front end is pretty smashed from hitting the tree. In the morning I will have to tell Ryan, okay?”

Liz nodded and got in Gabe’s jeep with a tired sigh and leaned her head back. Gabe had left the heat on, so it was very warm inside the vehicle. She just wanted to shower and go to bed. Tomorrow was another day where she could worry about somebody hating her and wanting to hurt her.

Gabe gave her a worried look as he drove. “What if you have a concussion? You’re not supposed to sleep. I should call Doc,” he said as he pulled in front of her building. Gabe picked up his cell phone and Liz put her hand on his wrist to stop him when suddenly someone knocked on the car window. She jumped and screeched in fright and looked up to see a very angry-looking Ethan at Gabe’s driver window.

Gabe rolled his window down and smiled. “Ethan, I’m so glad to see you.”

Ethan looked angrily at both of them. He had been waiting to talk to Liz for thirty minutes and was getting worried about her. When they pulled up he had anxiously walked over to the jeep and saw Liz holding Gabe’s hand, and then all he saw was red as his temper went into overdrive.

“Now I see why you didn’t want to talk to me at the hall. You had better things to do, huh?” he sneered at her. “What is your game, Liz?”

“Ethan, it’s not what you think.” Gabe tried to interrupt him but Ethan was too angry to listen.

“No? After you tried to get me to see that Liz was different than other women and I almost fell for it, you go for her? But she is no different than Diana or any of the loose women around here, is she?” he yelled at Gabe with scorn.

Liz gasped in shock and felt tears come to her eyes. It felt like he had just slapped her across the face. Liz was so shocked at his verbal attack that although she opened her mouth to protest nothing came out.

Ethan kept his eyes on her pale face, dismissing her tears as anger that her true colors had been found out just before she sank her claws into him. “Nothing to say, Liz? Sad that I discovered your lies so quickly?”

Gabe cut into Ethan’s tirade, his voice so cold and hard that it sent shivers up Liz’s spine. “You’d better stop before you embarrass yourself more than you already are.”

Ethan looked at Gabe, and Liz felt afraid that Ethan and Gabe would fight. “Good luck with this one, friend. She is a good deceiver.” He said the word friend with derision and walked away from them, getting in his vehicle and driving away with his tires squealing.

Liz sat there in pain, her heart turning to stone in her chest. She didn’t know what to say. She was so devastated at the words Ethan had spoken to them that she was speechless.

“What just happened?” Liz whispered, still crying.

Gabe wiped her tears and hugged her, patting her back. “A very jealous Ethan White just happened. I’ve never seen him act that way and we have been friends since childhood. He must really like you.”

“What are you crazy? Did you hear all that stuff he said and the way he looked at us with such hatred? For a moment I was really scared,” Liz replied. “My days just get better and better. I might not make it to New Year’s at this rate.”

Gabe chuckled softly, getting out of the car. “Come on, I will walk you upstairs and jump in front of the bullets if Ethan decides to come back and shoot at us.”

“Don’t even joke about that, Gabe,” Liz said, walking up the stairs with shaky legs. She unlocked her door and invited Gabe in while he called the tow truck for her. She made coffee for them and sat on the couch feeling achy from the physical exercise and the car accident.

“I should call Lacy,” Gabe offered one more time, looking worried when she groaned from an ache in her back.

Liz shook her head. “I know what a concussion feels like. I fell off a ladder at the store last year, and I was dizzy and the lights bothered me. Right now I am exhausted but only because I’ve had a rotten night, make that a rotten week. I’ll take some ibuprofen and go to bed.”

“Okay, I am working until 6:00 a.m., so call me or Logan if you need anything or if you feel scared. Gabe said with a gentle smile. “Don’t worry about Ethan. Tomorrow he will feel like an ass and you’d better make him get on his knees and beg forgiveness. He deserves to work for it.

Liz smiled but didn’t comment on Ethan. It was too painful right now. “Thanks for all your help, Gabe. You are a good friend.”

“You’re welcome, sweetheart. Get some rest,” he said, closing the door behind him and making sure it was locked.

Liz showered and lay in bed, seeing Ethan’s angry face over and over until she finally fell into a restless sleep.

The ringing of the telephone woke her up the next morning. It was Lacy’s panicky voice. “You are so lucky I am at work and Ryan just told us what happened to you last night, girl!”

“I’m okay, Lacy, really. I didn’t want to worry you or bring you out in the cold and Gabe was wonderful,” Liz explained, yawning, and lay back on her pillows. She still felt tired. She had tossed and turned all night thinking about Ethan. Was Gabe right? Did Ethan really care about her? If she was going to fall in love then why couldn’t it go smoothly instead of the rocky road she was walking down, and she couldn’t deny it. Her feelings for Ethan White went deeper than physical attraction. Otherwise his words last night wouldn’t have broken her heart.

“So I’ve heard all the gossip from Logan already including Ethan’s horrible behavior. Should I go kick his ass for you?” Lacy offered gallantly. Ethan is a goner for Liz whether he admits it or not, Lacy thought with a smug smile. Lacy knew if Ethan didn’t have feelings for Liz, seeing her with Gabe wouldn’t have upset him so much.

Liz was tempted to let Lacy lecture Ethan, and Ethan would take it quietly. He was very fond of his boss’s future wife. “That’s okay. It seems I’ve got more serious things to worry about now since Logan told you everything.”

“How are you feeling? And be honest with me, Elizabeth Anne Daniels,” Lacy said, lowering her voice but Liz could hear the concern in Lacy’s voice.

Liz sat up and groaned and answered with honesty. “Sore, and sad that I have a stalker, a totaled car, and Ethan hates me, and I have to get up for work,” she stated all in one breath, feeling sorry for herself. She was entitled to one day of self-pity after all she had been through.

“I know.” Lacy sighed deeply, feeling empathy with her friend. Matters of the heart were not for the faint of heart, that was for sure. “I can’t fix all your problems, honey, but Stella and I have already decided you will not open the store today. Gossip spreads like wildfire here, so half the town already knows what happened to you and the other half will know by noon. You just put your comfy pjs on and watch TV and relax. After our shift is over we are coming over with food and movies.”

Liz smiled at all of Lacy’s orders. Her friend had a bossy streak a mile wide. “Yes, mother,” Liz replied teasingly and hung up the phone. She lay in bed for a few seconds and wondered if she should alert her parents to the stalker situation. Her dad would worry and lecture her about not having a bodyguard the way he did. He had always insisted she have a bodyguard like they did but Liz never wanted to live like that.

She was achy and her head hurt so she decided to take a long, hot shower and dressed in loose sweatpants and an old baggy Snoopy T-shirt that her mom would flip over if she saw Liz in it. Thinking of her mom made her want to cry because she missed her parents and wished they were closer. Liz called her mom’s cell and reached voice mail, same with her dad. She hung up feeling depressed and lonely.

Liz wandered over to the kitchen and made toast and coffee. She sat at her small kitchen table, looking out the window and wondering what to do. Who could want to scare and hurt her? She tried being nice to everyone and hadn’t made any enemies. The phone rang again so she answered it, hoping by some miracle it was her mom or dad. This time it was Ethan. “How are you, Liz?” he asked in his deep voice.

Liz wasn’t sure what to say to Ethan. She was still very angry and hurt. It was hard to believe that he even had called her. “I can’t argue with you right now, Ethan. I feel like shit.”

“I don’t want to argue with you, angel. I want to apologize again. This seems to be a habit, me taking my foot out of my mouth,” Ethan said softly. He is probably feeling bad now that he knows the truth, Liz thought to herself.

“Ethan, I just can’t right now,” Liz whispered with tears in her eyes. “Physically and emotionally I am a mess today and I plan on spending a stress-free day relaxing.”