Susan Mallery Fool's Gold Series Volume One: Chasing Perfect\Almost Perfect\Sister of the Bride\Finding Perfect (35 page)

“Sure.”

The deputy pulled back the barricade. Charity slipped through the opening and ran to the starting line.

There was an actual line on the street, along with TV cameras, reporters and photographers, and the athletes.

Charity saw Josh at once. She called his name, but the sound was lost in the crowd. She looked at all the racers, and knew she couldn't simply walk into the middle of them and have a personal conversation.

The loudspeakers crackled, then she heard Marsha being introduced. There wasn't much time.

She took a step onto the street. At that moment, Josh turned and saw her.

He was wearing sunglasses, so she couldn't tell what he was thinking. Before she could decide what to do, he was already weaving his bike through the other competitors and moving toward her. She hurried toward him.

“We don't have much time,” she said, speaking quickly. “I know I'm distracting you, but I had to come and tell you I was wrong. I was wrong to tell you not to race, wrong to tell you I wouldn't be with you if you did. I love you, Josh. This is who you are. If you really love me and want to be with me, then I'm the happiest, luckiest woman alive.”

He took off his sunglasses and she saw the love burning in his eyes. “You mean that?”

“Of course. I'll go anywhere, just as long as we can be together.” She glanced toward the start line. “You'd better get ready to race.”

“What if I don't win?” he asked.

“Then you'll keep trying until you do.”

He bent down and kissed her. “I do love you, Charity.”

“I love you, too.”

He returned to the pack. She stepped back and seconds later a gun went off. The race had begun.

* * *

P
IA JOINED
C
HARITY AS
they watched as much of the race as they could. The sun rose in the sky, the day got warmer and Charity began to worry.

“Do you think he's drinking enough?” she asked her friend. “It's really hot.”

“He's fine. He's a trained athlete. Come have a taco. You'll feel better.”

“I can't eat while Josh is racing.”

“You think going hungry will help him?”

“Maybe.”

Pia sighed. “Save me from ever being in love. It makes people stupid.”

Charity grinned. “It's worth it,” she promised.

“Like I believe that.”

When the course took the riders up the mountain, Charity and Pia went back toward the park to wait for the final leg of the race. Her ID got them in close to the finish line. She paced restlessly, wanting to know how Josh was doing, hoping he was kicking butt.

He needed this win, she thought, seeing the truth of it now. Not to have another trophy, but because he had something to prove to himself.

A gasp from the crowd told her that the lead riders had been spotted. Charity ran down to the edge of the street. She leaned as far forward as she could and watched.

A lone man on a bike rounded a corner. He was going as fast as the wind, pedaling easily, as if nothing about the race had bothered him. As if this was what he was born to do.

Even with him wearing a helmet and dark glasses, she recognized him and screamed his name.

His head came up.

She waved, laughing, waiting for him to go zooming past her. Instead he slowed, then came to stop right in front of her.

“What are you doing?” she demanded, as he put his foot on the asphalt. She pointed to the finish line, a scant hundred yards away. “Go.”

People around them started screaming. Josh ignored them all.

He pulled off his glasses. “How you doing?”

“Josh! This isn't funny. Move.” She glanced over his shoulder, knowing the other racers would appear at any second. “Just finish. You can win. Then we'll talk.”

“We can talk now.”

She shrieked. “No! I said I was wrong. I said I loved you. What more do you want?”

“You,” he said. “For always.”

“Yes, yes. You can have that. Now go. Cross the finish line. It's right there. Can't you see it? Hurry.”

“You'll marry me?”

The man next to her turned. “For God's sake, lady. Marry him already.”

“I'll marry you,” she told Josh. “We'll figure it out. Your racing career.”

“I don't want to race, Charity. I meant what I said. I just needed to bury a few ghosts.”

She saw two riders round the corner.

“Go!” she yelled. “You have to go
now.
”

He slipped on his sunglasses. “You told me you didn't care if I won.”

“I was wrong! I've said it five billion times. Now would you please go win this race so we can get on with our lives?”

“Sure.”

With that, he pushed off.

Charity didn't even breathe as he picked up speed, then crossed the finish line with seconds to spare.

The crowd exploded into cheers and laughter. Charity tried to make her way to Josh, but there were too many people between them. So she waited while someone popped bottles of champagne and the reporters asked their questions. She watched Josh be the center of the universe.

Then she heard something strange. A few feet away a woman turned and yelled, “Where's Charity? Pass it on.”

The man behind her called out the same thing and it continued until the man in front of her looked over his shoulder. “You Charity?”

She nodded.

“Got her,” he yelled. “Come on, honey. Get up there with Josh. He's waiting for you.”

She was passed through the crowd until she found herself standing in front of Josh. He held a huge trophy in one hand and wrapped his other arm around her.

“Finally,” he said. He turned back to the reporters. “Okay, guys. Ask away.”

“Quite the comeback, Josh. You training for the Tour de France?”

“No. I'm done. This was a one-time race for me.” He kissed the top of Charity's head, and held her closer. “My life is here.”

She wrapped her arms around his waist and felt her
love for him grow until she couldn't contain it. “You can race if you want. We'll work something out.”

He stared into her eyes and smiled. “No. I want to run the racing school and be with you. You're my home, Charity. You're where I belong.”

“I belong with you, too,” she told him.

“Which is really good, because I'm not letting you go.”

* * *

E
THAN
H
ENDRIX WATCHED
his best friend kiss the girl. It had taken Josh long enough, but he'd finally found what he'd always been looking for. Pleased, Ethan turned away to head back to his office.

Life was nothing if not interesting, he thought as he took a single step. Then something bright and red caught his eye. A color of hair he hadn't seen in a long time.

He turned to get a second look. To be sure. Then he swore softly.

Liz was back.

ALMOST PERFECT

SUSAN MALLERY

CHAPTER ONE

L
IZ
S
UTTON HAD ALWAYS KNOWN
the past would come back and bite her in the butt—she just hadn't known it was going to happen today.

Her morning had started normally enough, with getting her son on the bus to school, then going down the hall to her home office, where she wrote five fairly decent pages before stopping for some serious pacing, followed by deleting three of the last five pages. She was figuring out who to murder in the first chapter of her new book, not to mention how he or she would be murdered. Was decapitation just too predictable? Luckily her assistant knocked on her door, sparing her from making a decision.

“Sorry to interrupt,” Peggy said, frowning slightly as she held out a piece of paper. “But I thought you'd want to read this.”

Liz took the single sheet. It was an e-mail, sent to her Web site. There was a link there for fans to get in touch with her. Peggy handled most of the e-mails, but every now and then she found something she didn't know what to do with.

“A crazed stalker type?” Liz asked, pathetically grateful for the interruption. When the writing was slow, even a death threat was more thrilling than the current work in progress.

“Not exactly. She says she's your niece.”

Niece?

Liz scanned the sheet.

* * *

Dear Aunt Liz,

My name is Melissa Sutton. My dad is your brother Roy. I'm fourteen years old and my sister Abby is eleven. A few months ago, our dad went to prison. His new wife, our stepmom, said she would take care of us, but she changed her mind and left. I thought Abby and me would be fine. I'm really mature for my age. My teachers say that all the time.

She's been gone a while now and I'm really scared. I haven't told Abby because she's still a kid, but I don't know if we can make it. I don't want to tell Dad what happened because he really liked Bettina and he'll be sad she didn't wait for him.

So I thought maybe you could help. I know we haven't met before, but I've read all your books and I really like them.

Hope to hear from you soon. Your niece, Melissa.

P.S. I'm using the computer at the library, so you can't e-mail me back. But here's our phone number. Even though the lights are off, the phone still works at home.

P.P.S. We're living in your old house in Fool's Gold.

* * *

Liz read the e-mail a second time, trying to get the words to make sense. Roy was back in Fool's Gold. Or at least he had been, before heading off to prison.

She hadn't seen her brother in nearly eighteen years. He was a lot older and had left the summer she'd turned twelve. She'd never heard from him again. Apparently he'd married a couple of times and had kids. Daughters. Girls who were living alone in a house that had been run-down and disgusting twelve years ago. She doubted there had been many improvements since.

Questions tumbled through her brain. Questions about her brother and why he'd returned to Fool's Gold after being gone so long. Why he was in prison and what on earth was she supposed to do with two nieces she'd never met?

She glanced at her watch. It was barely eleven. As it was Tyler's last day before summer vacation, he was getting out at twelve-thirty. If she got the car packed in time, they could leave directly from his school and be in Fool's Gold in about four hours.

“I need to deal with this,” Liz told her assistant, as she wrote an address on a piece of paper. “Call the electric company in Fool's Gold and get the power turned back on. They should take a credit card for payment. Do the same with the other utilities. I'll call the girls and let them know I'm coming.”

“Are they really your nieces?” Peggy asked.

“I guess. I haven't seen my brother since I was their age, but I can't let them stay there alone.” She shook
her head, determining what else had to be done. Her next book wouldn't be published until the fall, so she didn't have to worry about publicity and book tours. She could work on her new story anywhere she had her laptop. At least that was the theory.

“I don't know how long we'll be gone,” she continued. “I'm guessing it will take a couple of weeks to get everything straightened out.”

Peggy stared at her. “Just like that?”

“What do you mean?”

“Aren't you going to think about it? Most people would hesitate. You don't even know these girls.”

True, Liz thought. But what choice did she have? “They're kids, by themselves, and they're family. I have to do something.”

“Which is just like you,” Peggy said. “You leap in and do what you think is right which is admirable. But not always smart.”

“Someone has to take care of this.” Besides, she'd grown up having to take care of things. Her mother hadn't bothered. “With luck, I won't be gone too long.”

“Don't worry either way. I can handle things here.”

Liz forced a smile. “I know you can. I'm going to pack and then get Tyler. We'll drive to Fool's Gold today.”

“Maybe it will be nice to go home.”

Liz did her best to look normal. “Sure. Okay, I'll call the girls.”

She waited until Peggy left before picking up the phone. She dialed the familiar number, then let it ring
eight times before hanging up. No answer. Of course, it was a weekday. The girls were probably still in school. She would try again later, from her cell.

She had to pack for herself and her son, phone a few friends and let them know she would be gone for a couple weeks, e-mail her editor and agent to tell them the same. Logistics, she thought as she collected the notes she'd made on her current novel. She was good at logistics. The ability to plan and deal with problems was part of the reason she enjoyed writing her detective mystery series. She'd always been good at the work. It was the rest of life that caused her to stumble time after time.

“Introspection later,” she murmured aloud. “Action now.”