Almost Perfect (Fool's Gold #2)(22)

“Stern,” Liz admitted. “What I write requires me to look serious in my pictures.”

“You probably wouldn’t sell as many books if you appeared in taffeta and a pink boa.”

“Exactly.” Liz found herself relaxing a little. A lot of time had passed. Maybe they’d both changed and grown up. “Are you married?”

“No. I’ve never been very good at taking care of things. Although I’m looking after a cat for a friend and that seems to be going well.” Pia frowned. “At least I think it is. He hasn’t tried to kill me in my sleep and just last week he let me pet him. Well, it was more an accidental brush of my hand against his back, but we’re making progress. You?”

“I don’t have a cat.” Liz smiled. “Never married, either.”

“Really? But you’ve always been so beautiful. Back in high school, the guys practically killed themselves trying to get you to notice them. You left the rest of us semi-normal girls feeling like trolls. It was very depressing.”

Liz felt her smile fade as she stared at the other woman. “Is that what you thought? The guys wanted my attention?”

“Sure.”

Liz thought about the horrible comments, the gross come-ons, the snickers. How someone had spray-painted whore on her locker and one of the football players had claimed to have naked pictures of her that were for sale. The drunk carload of guys who had pulled up next to her while she’d been walking home from work late one Saturday night and had said between them they had twenty bucks. That should be enough for all of them to do her.

Pia laughed again. “You probably have to have extra security at your book signings to keep the love-crazed fans away. I think I would have liked being famous. Oh, well. In my next life.”

It was as if they were having completely different conversations, Liz thought, confused by Pia’s friendliness and seeming inability to remember the past with accuracy.

“There’s a group of us girls who get together,” Pia continued. “Sort of a girls’ night out. Or in, because we meet at someone’s house and drink a lot. It’s fun. I think you’d know a few people who come. We’d love to have you.” She pulled a business card out of her purse and turned it over, then grabbed a pen. “Give me your cell.”

Liz recited the numbers, still feeling as if she were having an out-of-body experience.

“It’s great you’re back,” Pia told her. “Let’s go to lunch or something and catch up. And think about that signing.”

The two women parted. Liz continued to walk toward the park by the lake. She was sure she looked completely normal on the outside, while on the inside, she was more than a little confused.

Pia O’Brian friendly? How was that possible? Liz did believe in a person’s ability to change, but she wasn’t sure she was ready to accept a full-blown miracle.

“I’VE NEVER HEARD OF THE Fool’s Gold Mountaineers,” Tyler told Ethan as they found their seats.

They were both carrying hotdogs and drinks. Ethan kept his eye on the boy to make sure Tyler didn’t trip, but the eleven-year-old didn’t seem to have any trouble navigating through the sparse crowd. They settled three rows up from the field, about a third of the way from home plate to first base.

“They’re a short season A league team,” Ethan said, then tugged on the brim of Tyler’s new scarlet baseball cap. “You know what that means?”

“They don’t play a long season?” Tyler asked with a grin.

“Very good. You’ve heard of Triple A and Double A minor league baseball, right?”

The boy took a bite out of his hotdog and nodded.

“This is another kind of minor league team. Their season runs from early June to early September. The opener was last week.”

“You go to a lot of games?”

“I get here when I can.”

“Mom and me went to see the Giants play a few times. That was real fun. There were a lot more people than here.”

“Fool’s Gold is a lot smaller than San Francisco.”

Tyler picked up his drink. “Mom takes me to lots of stuff. Museums, which sound really bad, but sometimes are fun. We go to the children’s theater and we saw the Lion King musical twice.” He swallowed some of his soda. “I’m kinda old for Disney, but it was still pretty sweet.”

Ethan stared at his son and tried not to let himself think about all the years that had been lost. There was no win in that. He told himself to focus on this moment, and let the rest take care of itself.

At least Tyler seemed ready to accept him. Liz hadn’t turned her son against him—which he probably should appreciate. Of course if she hadn’t kept Tyler from him, it wouldn’t be an issue.

“Do you like school?” he asked.

“Uh-huh. I really like math. I’m good at it. Mom says I get that from you.” The boy frowned. “That’s so weird. I never knew who she meant when she said that. But now, I’ll know she means you.”

Tyler grinned, then took another bite of his hotdog.

“I’m good at sports, too,” he added, when he’d chewed and swallowed. “Mom says she’s a klutz.” He hesitated. “That means she’s not really coordinated.”

“Thanks.”