Almost Perfect (Fool's Gold #2)(87)

Abby nodded. “Can’t we stay here? I like it here. I feel safe. I have friends and Melissa has friends. Tyler likes it, too. Everybody wants to stay here but you.”

Talk about a kick in the stomach.

The worst of it was, Abby told the truth. Everyone did want to stay here. It would make things easier for Tyler and Ethan. Technically, Liz could work anywhere. The town accepted her—with the occasional dig at her choices. But they’d also come to her rescue. She had a past here, and while that wasn’t necessarily a good thing, maybe it was something she couldn’t escape. Maybe she should stop trying.

But staying meant facing Ethan and now that she was willing to accept what seemed like her fate, she could also be honest. At first leaving had been about not belonging, but later she’d wanted to go to get away from him. Being around him when she loved him was like living with an open wound.

“We’ll be really, really good,” Abby promised.

Liz wrapped her other arm around the girl. “You’re already that. I know it would mean a lot to both of you if we stayed here. I guess…” She drew in a breath. “I guess we can do that.”

Abby sat up and beamed at her. “Really?”

Liz nodded.

“I can’t believe it. Are we going to live in this house? If we do, you need a real bed and we need another bedroom. Or do you want me and Melissa to share? We can. She won’t like it, but I don’t mind.”

Liz hadn’t gotten that far. Given the choice, she would prefer a house without so many memories. “Moving might be easier.”

“We can move. We’ll help pack.” Abby threw both her arms around Liz and hung on. “Thank you so much, Liz. I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

Abby rose and spun in a circle, her bright red hair flying around her face. “I’m so happy! We’re staying. We’re staying!”

Liz reached for her cell phone and handed it to the girl. “Why don’t you text your sister and tell her?”

“Can I? Thanks. I will. This is the best.”

Liz wondered how long it would take Abby to wind down enough to sleep. Staying in Fool’s Gold. Who would have thought? When Ethan returned Tyler, she would tell them both. Then Ethan could take back his stupid, thoughtless, practical proposal. The town was small enough that she and Ethan could co-parent their son. He could spend equal time with each of them. That should satisfy Ethan and the judge.

It was, she told herself, the right thing to do.

ETHAN STOOD IN TYLER’S ROOM at his house and watched his son sleep. After a morning of bike riding and afternoon of failing to get peanut butter cookies to bake right and an evening of watching the first two Harry Potter movies back to back, Tyler had fallen asleep on the sofa.

Now, as he stared at his son, he felt a warmth in his chest. Love was there. Real love, born of time and frustration and a sense of being a complete failure as a dad, but still wanting to get it right. Tyler was everything he’d wanted his son to be—and he wasn’t easy. He got the latter from his mother.

Ethan stepped out of the room and went downstairs. In the quiet living room, he sank onto the couch and tried to figure out what he was going to do next.

He missed Liz.

He hadn’t realized how much he’d gotten used to having her in his life until she was gone. He missed talking to her, seeing her, having her smile at him. He missed her in his bed, but that was the least of it. While he would want her until the day he died, the ache inside him wasn’t just about getting laid. It was about having a conversation, hearing her laugh, watching her with Tyler and Melissa and Abby.

He wanted her in his life. He wanted her to be his family.

He wasn’t the only one. Tyler had gone from being mad at his mom to talking about her all the time. Today he’d regularly counted down the number of hours until he saw her again. Both of them had learned a lesson in the past few days. Which was probably the point.

Tyler had learned to show his mother a little more respect and Ethan had learned that Liz was everything to him. His eyes sank closed as he realized he loved her.

What should have been a stellar moment in his life made him instead want to put a fist through the wall. He loved Liz. He loved her. And instead of making her feel like a princess, instead of promising to love and adore her forever, he’d offered marriage as a practical solution.

“Oh, crap.”

He rolled onto his side, his face in the cushion. Talk about stupid.

He lay there, mentally beating himself up, then straightened. Fine. He’d screwed up. He would fix it. There had to be a way. Liz was a great woman—and he would fight for her. Figure out how to do it right. How to be the man she deserved. She’d loved him once, maybe she could again. Everything wasn’t lost.

He understood what she didn’t like about Fool’s Gold. While he didn’t like the idea of leaving everything behind, it didn’t have to be like that. He could run his business from San Francisco. Make a few trips in a week. Maybe they could have a second house here and spend summers in town. That would be a good compromise. Liz wasn’t looking to make him miserable. She would meet him halfway.

As long as she was willing to give him another chance.

She had to, he told himself. He would convince her. Somehow he would show her that they belonged together.

The decision made, he rose and started for the front door. Halfway across the porch, he stopped. Showing up at her house in the middle of the night probably wasn’t smart. Nor was leaving Tyler home alone. So Ethan would wait. He could come up with a plan and this time, he would get it right.