Stacking the Deck (A Betting on Romance Novel Book 2)(106)

Carter chewed his bottom lip then shrugged. Hell, what did he have to lose?





CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE

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LIZ RESOLUTELY PULLED the zipper shut on her suitcase. It was for the best, she told herself, as she set it next to the bed. Trish was right. She had no business dreaming of making a life in Sugar Falls—no business putting all the trappings of her June Cleaver fantasies into place—until she stopped letting life happen to her and started going after the life she wanted. And, it all started today. She had 36 hours before she had to be back in Chicago. It wasn’t enough time to take away the empty ache in her heart, but it was enough to check one thing off her list.

She turned resolutely toward the door. “No more shying away from life, Eddie. By the end of the year, the ‘Liz Never’ list will be no more.”

Eddie peered at her unblinkingly from the top of the dresser.

Her cell phone rang.

“Hello?”

“Oh, good. Glad I caught you. It’s Aunt Claire. I need you to do me a favor.”

“Actually, I’m leaving town earlier than expected. I was just on my way out—”

“Even better! You can give me a ride to the dedication. It starts at noon. I promised Ruth I’d be there and Trish isn’t answering her phone.”

“What dedication?”

“What do you mean, ‘what dedication’? The fountain! The Sugar Falls Commemorative Fountain! Where have you been?”

“Chicago?”

“Oh. Right. Well, it’s fixed now, and they’re having a re-dedication. Today. At noon. I promised Ruth I’d be there.”

“Aunt Claire. I don’t have a car. I returned it to the rental agency yesterday. My taxi will be here within the hour, and then I’m flying—”

“Perfect timing. You can drop me off on your way through town. I’d drive myself, but I haven’t been hydrating like I should and I had another dizzy spell this morning. If you really don’t want to, I suppose I could try driving...”

Liz blew out a breath. “No. No, I’ll give you a ride. Can you get home again?”

“I’m sure I’ll figure something out. See you in an hour?”

“Sure. See you then.”

Forty-five minutes later, Liz blinked back tears as the taxi pulled out of her driveway. She wouldn’t look back, she told herself. She wouldn’t second-guess herself anymore.

Anyway, it was better this way. She needed to move forward and stop thinking about what might have been. A home wasn’t a place, it was a state of mind, right?

And, Elizabeth Anne Beacon intended to put her house in order.

A faint, bittersweet smile curved her lips as she stared at the passing landscape. Soft-green leaf buds dotted the stark tree limbs. Before long, the branches would grow lush and heavy with summer foliage.

She loved this time of year. Loved the carpet of maple seeds that littered lawns and sidewalks. Loved the musky scent of spring rain, the nighttime melody of peepers as they searched for mates in roadside marshes.

Loved Carter McIntyre.

Oof. It always hit her like that, smack between the eyes when she was thinking about innocuous things like peepers or maple seeds. It was a gentler ache now, the empty space where her heart used to be. More of a hollowness instead of the stabbing pain of fresh rejection. There was nothing to be done about it anyway. Like Trish said, it was over.

Liz swallowed over the thickness in her throat.

She should have trusted her own judgment, should have ignored what everyone else said about him and listened to her heart. But it was too late. Whatever feelings Carter may have had for her had been killed by her own inability to trust and accept herself and take a leap with him.

She’d left him nine messages of apology not including hang-ups. He hadn’t called her back.

Liz reached out to roll down the window. Warm air blew onto her face, a sweet medley of earthy spring fragrances teasing her nostrils. Taking a deep breath, she pursed her lips. Some things were in her control. Some were not.

She glanced at the suitcase on the floor beside her and prepared to open the door for her aunt.




“DON’T ASK,” LIZ WARNED as Aunt Claire eyed her luggage for the umpteenth time since leaving her driveway.

“What makes you think I was going to say anything about the suitcase on the floor? Do I look like the type of woman to stick my nose into my grandniece’s personal affairs? Do I seem like the kind of old lady who’d stoop to being nosy about something like that? To questioning what young people knew about making smart decisions? Do I? Hmm?”

“In a word: Yes.”

“Well, if I’m already tried and convicted... where are you going?”

“Out of town.”

“I see.” Claire lips flattened in disapproval.

Liz hid a smile. “I don’t think you do.”

“I may be old, but I see perfectly. Now that Trish and Russ have decided to your folks’ house, you’re running away again. Just like when you smacked yourself unconscious and had that fight with Carter.”

“I’m not running away! This is different. If you must know, Trish is taking care of Eddie, and I’m going to New York for the weekend.”

“New York? Whatever is in New York?”