by Jacie Floyd
Liam called, too, but she couldn’t bring herself to talk to him. When her voicemail buzzed, her eyes filled with tears as she listened to his message.
“Hey, babe. What a mess, huh? I know we need to talk, and you deserve an explanation, but first, I’m taking Leah to her aunt’s house in St. Louis. We snuck away from her parents, so keep that on the down-low, okay? Her psycho dad thinks a good whipping’s the cure for all evil, and I couldn’t leave her at his mercy. Now that he thinks she’s ‘sinned’, no telling what he’ll do. It’ll be the middle of the night before I get back, so I’ll see you first thing in the morning. Don’t believe everything you hear, and remember, I lo—”
She closed the message before the false words ripped her apart. Turning off the phone, she threw it across the room, earning a woof from Ziggy.
Dad stomped in, poured himself a scotch, lowered himself in his recliner, and glared at her.
She shivered under her quilt. “If you’re planning to lecture me, please don’t.”
He grunted and sipped his drink. “It’ll keep ’til later.”
“I’m sorry about everything.”
Pushing his hand through his hair, he sighed again. “There’s not a day goes by that I don’t miss your mother, but this is one of the times when I don’t feel up to the task of being a single parent. I’m certain she would have known the right thing to say or do, but I’ve got nothin’.”
If she hadn’t been so miserable herself, she would’ve felt sorry for him. “I guess they don’t have a day like today in the parenting books.”
“They sure as hell don’t.”
They settled into an uncomfortable silence until her curiosity got too much for her. “What happened after I left?”
“Not much. Leah clammed up and wouldn’t say more. Her father kept yelling at her and until she flat passed out. I never did like that bastard. Those holier-than-thou freaks are the worst kind. Liam asked to borrow Zach’s car, so he could take Leah home. Watkins kept throwing out threats until Liam picked her up and left. The jerk turned on me for a while, but I told him to stuff it. Since it wasn’t nearly so much fun for him to brow-beat a grown adult who talked back, Noreen and the Reverend got on their high-horse and left. I figured anybody who felt entitled to a party after that would be more comfortable without me there, so I left Mick in charge and I took off, too.”
“That’s one graduation party that won’t soon be forgotten.”
His chuckle was strained, but at least he tried. His phone rang, he looked at the screen and frowned as he answered, paused, then listened. “No, I haven’t seen them.” More listening. “I highly doubt it.” He looked at Jillian. “Have you seen Liam and Jillian since you left the lake house?”
“No.” She ducked her chin behind her quilt. She hoped he didn’t ask if she knew where they were. No matter how mad she was at Liam, she didn’t want more harm to come to Leah.
Ending the call, he sipped his drink, and worked the recliner mechanism to lean back and raise up the footrest. “This was a bad day for you, but you’ll get over it. What’s really a damn shame is the way Liam’s life has been screwed up. Rampaging hormones have gotten kids in trouble for centuries, but I hoped he was too smart for that trap.” He fortified himself with another slug of scotch. “Here’s a topic I should have brought up sooner. It would have been embarrassing for both of us, but I could have had one of the ladies talk to you about it.” He winced as he said, “Whatever you and Liam have been doing, I hope you’re using protection.”
“Always.” Which was another thing. Liam was adamant about that. Always had been. Why would he be careful with her and not with someone else? Had it been the fault of a defective condom, or what? She couldn’t bear the thought of him with another girl. Her eyes welled up again. “I thought he loved me.”
“I thought so, too, Princess. I thought he had your best interest at heart or I would have banned him from the house and sent you to boarding school.”
“I can’t stand the idea of facing him. Of facing anyone. The whole town knows what we were doing when you all arrived. If they don’t know already, they’ll know by bedtime. Every gossip in town is having a field day with this one.”
“Just hold your head up, look them in the eye, and dare them to say anything. People may want the down-and-dirty details, but they don’t welcome a confrontation. You haven’t done anything wrong.”
He didn’t know a thing about high school girls if he thought some of them wouldn’t love throwing tonight’s events in her face. “Haven’t I?”
He backed up and tried again. “Nothing worse than everyone else has done a time or two themselves.”
“Daddy, you know the people of the town hold me to a higher standard than everyone else.”
“You hold yourself to that standard, they don’t.”
“Yes, they do. Because they admire and respect you, they expect me to be worthy of being your daughter. Once when I complained about one of the old biddies sticking her nose in my business, Mama said it was because they expected me to set an example of being good and doing good. Boy, was that ever a burden, and now I’ve totally blown that. They’ll love dishing about the Sunnyside princess’s downfall.” Bitter tears spilled down her cheeks. She would have given anything to be able to talk to Mama about this. “Please don’t make me face them at church tomorrow. Not yet.”
“You’re going to have to face them sometime. In my experience, sooner is better than later.”
“Not always,” she said. “They’ll be buzzing about this for a few weeks, but then some new scandal will come along, and they’ll be on to that one. If I get out of town for a while, it will be over before I come back.”
He tapped his fingers against the rim of his glass. “Where would you go?”
Since the idea to get away had just popped into her head, she hadn’t considered a place yet. “Take a vacation? Florida? California? The Bahamas?”
He reached for his laptop. “Is Indianapolis far enough? You could drive there.”
“What would I do in Indianapolis?”
His fingers flew around the keyboard. “I’ve been looking into culinary schools for you, in case you want to do that after a couple of years at Illinois. Last week I got an email about an eight-week culinary course at IU-PUI. Maybe I can still get you enrolled in that. There was even a housing option.”
Culinary school was her eventual dream. Taking a culinary course wouldn’t be like running away. It would be like getting a jump-start on her career. She could justify that in her head all kinds of ways. “That would be perfect.”
“I’m not in favor of letting you run away from a problem,” he said, as he typed, “but after that scene I witnessed tonight, I like the idea of you getting away from Liam for a while. I always thought you should take a break from him instead of going off to college with him.”
She hardened her heart against the pain that threatened to cripple her. “I don’t think you have to worry about that anymore.”
“If you leave now, no telling where life will lead you. You may not be able to pick up the neat and tidy path we had planned for you when you get back. Are you willing to take that chance?”
Since all her plans had included Liam, that road was already blocked. Better for her to be away from Sunnyside so she didn’t have daily reminders. “As long as it includes you.” She got up and stood behind him, putting her arms around his neck as she looked over his shoulder at the online information. “You’re not throwing me out, cutting me off, or disowning me, right?”
“Of course not.” Turning his head, he kissed her cheek. “You’re my baby girl. The only one I have. Your life will always include me. I’ll always have your back.”
“Then see if I can get registered, so I can pack and get on the road.”
The corners of his mouth pulled into a frown. “Tonight?”
She knew Liam. Or thought she did. The boy she knew would try to sneak into her room before morning. She couldn’t take that c
hance. “Yep, tonight.”
Chapter Fourteen
Because he’d acted like a crazed idiot most of the time, Liam tried not to think about those days after Jillian left. With Bert’s help, she’d just disappeared. He tried not to resent it. In her place, he might have doubted him, too, but shouldn’t she have let him explain?
Apparently, he’d been so rattled when she left the lake house that he’d badly misjudged the situation. Since he knew he was innocent in the story, he assumed Jillian knew it, too. That she’d give him the benefit of the doubt. But she’d assumed his guilt from the start. And stupid idiot that he was, he hadn’t done anything to provide her with the facts or change her impression, assuming he’d have time to explain later.
But, no. She’d packed her clothes and left. Without her car or phone. Bert wouldn’t tell him where she was. Each time he showed up at their house, her father repeated the same lines. “She needs time to think, Liam. She doesn’t want to talk to you.”
“If she thinks I’m the father of Leah’s baby, she’s thinking the wrong things.”
Bert crossed his arms. “That’s between you and her.”
“Not if she won’t let me explain!”
On the fourth day, Bert said. “You don’t need to keep coming here. If she comes back, I’ll let you know.”
“Would you tell her to call me?”
“I’ll tell her you’d like for her to.”
And that had been that. Everybody was looking at him sideways, her friends and his. But the dynamics had changed since they’d graduated from high school. They were all getting on with their lives. He figured he’d better get on with his, too, while he waited for Jillian to come to her senses.
Without a better plan, he kept his head down and worked. All day, every day. The scholarship he’d earned was a full ride to the University of Illinois, but a little extra money never hurt. When he took the rare day off, he visited Leah in St. Louis. She was lonely, scared, and sick half the time. He felt pretty much the same but did what he could to keep her spirits up.
Any spare minute he had, he shot hoops with Zach and Jimbo to keep from going out of his mind. They didn’t bug him about what had happened, and they mostly avoided the sensitive subjects of Jillian and Leah. “Dude,” Zach said, when Liam returned the car the day after he took Leah to St. Louis. “A baby? You ready for that?”
“It’s not mine,” Liam said.
Zach nodded. “That’s what I figured.” At least somebody believed him.
Rachel and Maddie didn’t harass him, but if they knew Jillian’s whereabouts, they didn’t share the information. At the end of the summer, Natalie Zimmer came around to flirt with him. Not needing that kind of trouble, he turned her away. Rejection was all it took for her to taunt him with the fact that Jillian was in Paris and probably not coming back anytime soon.
“She’ll look good in Paris,” he’d said, pretending to be cool and unconcerned about the information. But as soon as she left, he hopped on his motorcycle and went straight to Jillian’s house. Instead of asking Bert how she was and where she was, he blurted out the latest information. “Jillian’s in Paris? Why’s she there?”
“Where’d you hear that?”
“You know what Sunnyside’s like. As soon as two people know a secret, everybody knows.”
Bert grunted and held the screen door open for Liam to enter. “You might as well come inside for this conversation.”
Taking a seat at the kitchen table where he’d been welcomed like family hundreds of times, Liam drummed his fingers as Bert took his time pouring two glasses of iced tea. Ziggy came over and dropped a ball at Liam’s feet. Not having the heart to play fetch, Liam rubbed the sheltie’s ears. Poor Ziggy. He’d been abandoned by Jillian, too. Liam got right to the point when Bert returned to the table. “Why’s she in Paris?”
Turning his mouth down on one side in the same way Jillian did while she considered how to best relay unwelcome news, Bert said, “She’s been taking culinary classes this summer, and the opportunity came up for her to work in a Paris restaurant with a friend.”
“Is she coming home to go to the University in the fall?”
“No.”
The dreaded answer hit him in the guts like a sucker punch. All their plans disappeared with the single word. She’d turned away from him without giving him a chance. If she’d just let him explain, she would have understood his predicament. If he could just get to her, talk to her, have her tell him directly that she was out of his life for good, then he’d be able to accept it. But this ending was so unfair. Everything between them remained unfinished. “I need to see her.”
Bert shook his head. “She doesn’t want to see you.”
Sensing Liam’s growing tension, Ziggy put his head on the jean-clad knee. “She doesn’t understand what happened.”
“Maybe she does, maybe she doesn’t.” Bert threw up his hands, signaling his refusal to debate the subject. “But think about this. You two have been the cutest couple around in this little sheltered town for five or six years now. What do you think the chances are that you’d stay together through college? When you’re out in the real world with pressures and temptations you can’t even imagine? My daughter has big plans for her life, and so do you. Someone with your potential can go anywhere you want. You’re as smart, clever, and ambitious as any eighteen-year-old I’ve ever seen.”
Normally, Liam would have swelled with pride at Bert’s assessment, but he remained wary, assuming a less positive observation was on the way.
“Go to college with a clean slate. Drink the beer, date the girls, have the fun college offers. If you and Jillian were meant to be, then so be it. I’m not saying it won’t happen in the future. I’m just saying it’s in both of your best interests to part ways for a while.”
There was a reason Bert was a successful businessman. He saw the big picture, had good leadership skills, could talk almost anyone into doing almost anything. He was used to pulling the strings here in Sunnyside, but Liam wasn’t getting on board with the program today. “What if I don’t want that?”
Bert gave him a measuring look. “What choice do you have?”
Facing the future without Jillian didn’t seem like any future at all. He had to figure out a way to see her. “I can go to Paris.”
Bert rubbed the back of his neck and studied the tabletop for a minute, before shaking his head. “Seems like a gigantic waste of time and money.”
Liam gulped, aware that it would cost all the money he’d saved this summer. “My time. My money.”
“I can’t help you with that.”
“All I want from you is an address.”
“Sorry, kid. Not gonna happen. I don’t think you showing up in Paris is the best thing for either one of you.”
Liam stared him down. Jillian’s dad. The town benefactor. One of Liam’s supporters before many other people believed in him. He’d always admired and respected him and usually took his advice, but… not today. “I have to do what I think’s right.” With a last pat for Ziggy, he pushed away from the table and left.
Maddie was his next stop. Jillian’s best friend. She’d always believed Jillian and Liam belonged together. He played on her sympathies. He left with the address. A round trip plane ticket was crazy expensive, but he bit the bullet and made the purchase.
A few days later, he stuffed his misgivings into his duffle with a change of clothes. He’d applied for a passport when Caleb joined the Army, making grand plans for the two brothers to meet in Europe sometime when Caleb had leave. This was a different kind of trip entirely. Jillian would either hear him out and come back with him, or she wouldn’t. It was a one-shot deal.
As he packed his toiletries, his grandmother poked her head inside his room. Worry lines creased her forehead. “Liam? Two guys in uniform are asking to see you.”
“Police uniforms?” His stomach clenched. With a dad like his, that was never good.
“Military.”
T
hen his heart clenched. He hit the stairs two at a time, but as soon as he saw the two men—one tall and black, one short and white—he knew what they wanted from their pristine formal dress uniforms and their solemn, sympathetic expressions. The one in the chaplain’s regalia spoke first. “William Gregory Bowman?”
Preparing for the worst, he straightened to his full, uncompromising height. “Yes, sir.”
“And this lady is…”
Gram stepped up. “Vera Bowman, his grandmother.”
“You should both have a seat.”
Liam helped Gram to the sofa and took the seat beside her.
Pops burst through the door with thirteen-year-old Missy a step behind. “I saw a government car pull in.” He removed his hat and wiped the sweat off his brow. “Is it…” His gaze turned from the officers to Liam, who nodded. The old man’s face crumpled as he perched on the arm of the couch by his wife.
Missy blanched and covered her mouth, Liam went to her and wrapped his arm around her scrawny shoulders.
“Are these also family members of Caleb Avery Bowman?” the chaplain asked.
“Yes, sir,” Liam said through stiff lips. “My grandfather and sister.”
“Would you like for them to be present for this conversation?”
“Yes, sir.”
“I regret to inform you that Private First-Class Caleb Avery Bowman was killed this morning in a skirmish near Parvin Province in Afghanistan. On behalf of the President, the Secretary of Defense, and the United States of America, I extend to you and your family the Army’s deepest sympathy on your loss.”
And for the second time that summer, Liam’s life exploded. He wouldn’t be going to Paris or anywhere else any time soon.
The news of Caleb’s death changed Liam’s life instantly. Even twelve years later he wondered what would have happened if Caleb hadn’t been killed. If Liam had gone to Paris. If Jillian had welcomed him with open arms. If all the subsequent decisions of his life weren’t colored by the devastation of Caleb’s death.