Almost Perfect (Fool's Gold #2)(40)

She helped Tyler carry his armload of books into the house. He’d picked out several he thought Abby might like, which Liz appreciated. After sending him to his room to play computer games for an hour, she called Melissa and Abby into the living room.

The two girls sat on the sofa. They looked impossibly young, she thought, wishing things had been different for them. However much she might currently hate her own life, what Abby and Melissa were feeling was ten times worse. They were just kids who didn’t deserve what had happened to them.

She sat on the coffee table in front of the couch and leaned toward the girls.

“I’m going to fix up the house,” she began. “Your dad started a lot of projects, but I don’t know how to finish them. So unless one of you is holding out some secret contractor knowledge, I’ll be hiring a team to finish the work.”

Melissa looked wary, but Abby smiled. “I can help.”

“I’m sure you can.”

“What happens after the house is finished?” Melissa asked.

Not the question Liz wanted to answer. “We’re going back to San Francisco.”

Melissa and Abby exchanged a look. Tears filled Abby’s eyes while Melissa started shaking her head.

“No, we’re not,” she announced. “We’re staying here. We live here.”

“I know it will be hard,” Liz began.

“It doesn’t have to be.” Melissa stood up. Her face was red, her eyes bright with tears she blinked away. “We’ll run away. We don’t need you.”

Abby stood, too, then leaned into Liz who hugged her close.

“I’m sorry,” Liz murmured into her hair, hanging on tight. “I’m sorry.”

“W-what does Dad say?” Abby asked in a whisper.

“That you’re going to stay with me.”

Abby raised her head. “He doesn’t want us, does he? No one wants us.”

“I want you,” Liz assured, wishing she had the power to take away their pain and make them feel safe. “No matter what, we’ll be together. Your dad being in prison isn’t about you. It’s about him. If he wasn’t there, he’d still be here.”

“With us. Where we belong,” Melissa snapped. “In our house. You’re going to sell it, aren’t you? And take all the money.”

Liz continued to hold Abby, but turned her attention to the teenager. “I’m going to fix it up. Then the three of us will sit down with a real estate agent and discuss the benefits of renting it versus selling outright. Either way the money will go into trust for both of you. For when you’re older. This isn’t about taking anything from you and I think you know that.”

“You’re taking away everything,” Melissa said, losing her battle with the tears. They spilled down her cheeks. She brushed them away and glared at Liz. “You can’t do this to us.”

“Tyler and I can’t stay here. San Francisco isn’t so far away. You’ll be able to visit your friends.”

“How?” Melissa asked.

“Tyler will be coming back to see his dad. You can come with him. I’m not trying to make this worse. We need to settle in to being a family. I want that. You girls are important to me.”

“I’m not going,” Melissa said, crossing her arms over her chest. “You can’t make me.”

Abby stared at Liz. “I want to be with you.”

Liz kissed her forehead. “I’m glad. I want you to keep in touch with your friends. We’ll work on that. Okay?”

Abby nodded.

“She’s lying,” Melissa told her sister. “She doesn’t care about us at all.”

“If she didn’t care, she’d just leave,” Abby noted, still holding on to Liz. “Like Bettina did. We don’t have a choice. There’s no one else.”

The simple words spoken with the wisdom of a child, broke Liz’s heart. No eleven-year-old should have to be so keenly aware of life’s unpleasant realities. Tyler was the same age and he didn’t know anything about how the dark side of the world operated.

“I want to make it work,” Liz reiterated to Melissa.

“I’m not leaving,” Melissa told her and walked out.

“She’ll get over it,” Abby said, stepping back. “It’ll take a while, but she will. She was scared when we were alone before.”

“Weren’t you?”

“Yeah, but I had someone taking care of me. She didn’t have anyone.”

“I’m sorry,” Liz apologized. “I wish I’d known about you before.”

“Me, too.”

AFTER LUNCH, THE FOUR OF THEM went to the community pool. They found a cool spot in the shade. Liz leaned against a tree, opened her laptop and prayed for inspiration. Technically her deadline was generous enough that she wasn’t exactly behind. Not yet. But give it another few weeks and she would feel the panic.

While her computer booted up, she gazed around the pool, taking in the other mothers and kids. Most of them seemed to know each other. One of the blessings—and curses—of small-town life.

She turned her attention to Tyler, spotting him easily from years of practice, then finding Melissa and Abby. Their red hair made them stand out in the crowd. A good thing, she told herself. After the morning she’d had, she was due for a break or two.