Almost Perfect (Fool's Gold #2)(38)

Liz wandered back into the kitchen for more coffee, then headed for her computer. Maybe she could get in a couple of pages before Abby and Tyler returned.

Her timing was off. She’d barely clicked on her word processing program when her son flew into the house. He bounced onto the sofa next to her, then threw his arms around her.

“How are you?” she asked, hugging him back and kissing his forehead.

“Good. Dad had doughnuts and he only let me eat two. And I saw the new designs for a windmill. Dad says it’s going to be more energy efficient. And he really liked the card I gave him.”

Tyler continued to relive his morning in real time. Nearly every other sentence began with “Dad says.” Liz told herself this was all good news, even as she felt a little less important in her son’s life.

A fleeting emotion, she told herself. One that would pass.

“Then Dad said it was your fault that I don’t know him because you kept me from him. Dad says you were wrong not to let us be together.”

Liz nearly fell out of her chair. “Excuse me?” she asked.

Tyler’s eyes got big and he looked worried. “He wasn’t mad when he said it, Mom. Don’t be mad.”

Don’t be mad? Don’t be mad when she was doing everything she could to bring father and son together and Ethan was going behind her back, trying to make her look guilty? Had he bothered to mention how badly he’d treated her twelve years ago? Or the fact that she’d come back to tell him about his kid and his wife had been the one to keep them apart? Of course not.

“It’s fine, I was just surprised,” she said, forcing a smile. She glanced at her watch. “I thought we’d go to the pool later. And Montana wants me to bring you by the library to look at some new books they got in.”

His face brightened. “Can we go now?”

“Sure. Why don’t you tell Melissa, so she knows. And I want to make a quick call.”

“Okay.”

He raced upstairs. When she heard his feet thundering overhead, she picked up her cell and Ethan’s business card. She was put through to him immediately.

“We have to talk,” she said by way of greeting. “Now.”

He hesitated. “I have an appointment.”

“I don’t give a damn.”

“Okay. Starbucks in fifteen minutes?”

“Fine.” She hung up.

SHE LEFT TYLER WITH MONTANA at the library and promised to be back in half an hour. What she had to say wouldn’t take more than a few minutes.

Ethan was already sitting outside when she got there. An umbrella shaded him from the bright sun.

“What’s up?” he asked, looking tall and handsome and annoyingly confused. “You sounded upset.”

She ignored the way her body reacted to the sight of him, not wanting to remember what being with him had been like. Better that she remembered all the ways she’d killed him in her books. And the even more painful way she would kill him in the next one. It was what he deserved, the bastard.

“What were you thinking?” she began. “We’re supposed to be working together. At least that’s what you said. I’ll accept that you’re mad at me. Fine. But don’t you dare talk about me with my son. You had no right to tell him it was my fault that you and Tyler don’t know each other and that I was wrong to keep him from you. Do you think you’re helping your cause? Not only does it make me regret ever coming back, it makes me know I can’t trust you at all.”

His body tensed. “He told you.”

“Of course he told me. I’m his mother. He tells me everything.” She was fighting blinding fury. “Did it make you feel all manly to crap all over me in front of my kid?”

“No. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. We were talking about what he usually does in the summer and on his birthday and all I could think was how much I’d missed. I lost it.”

“Not much of an excuse,” she said, doing her best to keep her voice low. “Do you think you can come between Tyler and me?”

“No. That’s not what I was trying to do.” He stared into her eyes. “I swear, Liz, I’m sorry. I reacted. It was stupid.”

“You say that to me, but did you bother saying it to Tyler?” She waited. He shook his head. “Figures. You’re playing us, Ethan. And that’s a huge mistake. No one will win that game.”

“I’m not trying to come between you.”

She held his gaze. “You expect me to believe that?”

“Probably not.” He sucked in a breath. “I was mad.”

“You’re mad all the time.”

“I have a good reason.”

She leaned toward him. “Yes, you do. And you also know I’m not as much the devil as you first thought.”

“I’m sorry, Liz. I was an idiot,” he apologized, sounding as if he meant it.

It was easier to believe that rather than think he was deliberately trying to undermine her, but easier didn’t necessarily mean right.

“You want me punished,” she said, her voice quieter. “You need to get over that.”

He drew in a breath. “I know.”

ETHAN DID KNOW, BUT SOMETIMES it was damn hard not to react. He’d lost so much and even though it wasn’t all Liz’s fault, it was tough not to blame her.