“Billy is nothing like you… or maybe he’s just like you… and that’s why I love him so much.”
The only thing she was certain of was that she just wanted her daddy to back off and leave her alone.
“You’ll get over it.” He tossed the photo into the trashcan.
Lizzie quickly grabbed up the photo clutching it to her breast.
“No, I won’t. I love Billy. I’m going to marry him and you’re just going to have to deal with it.”
“How about you deal with this. You want to marry Billy?” his handsome face contorted into a snarl.
“Yes I do and I will.”
“I’ll give you until Monday morning to pack up your things and get out of my house. You’re the up and coming realtor, go find your own place. Keep in mind that Billy won’t be working anywhere near this territory and he’ll never make the kind of money, or have the spot, I was building for him here.”
“Fine, I’ll start looking now.” Lizzie grabbed at one of the papers on her desk as a distraction.
“Give me your car keys.”
“Excuse me?”
Paul stood over her desk with his hand out and he was dead serious.
“Your car is in my name. I paid for it and I’ve been paying your insurance. I want my car back.”
“Okay.” She methodically took the key off the chain thinking all along that he wouldn’t really take away her car.
He pocketed the key.
“I forgot my purse at home. I don’t have any money with me to pay for cab fare.”
Her Daddy pulled out his wallet and tossed a one dollar bill onto the desk. “Take the bus or call your damn boyfriend for a ride.” He got to the door, stopped, and turned around with that stupid fake smile. “We’ll see how long Billy sticks around now that I’ve yanked the silver spoon right out of your mouth.”
“Billy and I will be just fine.”
“In your dreams, kiddo.”
He slammed the door shut and just like that walked right out of her life. At least she could finally stop fighting back the tears. It was a good thing she no longer had to answer the constantly ringing phone since she was too choked up to speak. Lizzie cried her way through a whole new box of tissue and then puked in the wastepaper basket because she was too embarrassed to try to make it to the bathroom.
Martha eased open the door. “Lizzie, I’m sorry to bother you, but there’s a Mr. Fletcher calling for you on line two and he said it’s important.”
“That’s okay, I’ll take it.”
Lizzie picked up the phone, hoping like crazy that her daddy hadn’t put Mr. Fletcher up to trying to get her to break up with Billy.
“Elizabeth, how’s the most beautiful girl in town?”
“Not too good.” She gulped back another flood of tears.
“I just wanted to let you know, I’m over at the ER with Billy getting him all patched up.”
“Is he going to be okay?”
“He’ll be just fine after a night of rest.”
William sounded so sure and soothing that for just a moment she believed that everything was going to work out just fine.
“I’m going to take him over to my room at The Dunhill Hotel. I believe it’s just down the street from where you work. I’ll leave a key for you at the front desk if you want to drop by and check on him while I’m in Greenville.”
“Thank you so much.”
“My pleasure, love.” She could feel his real smile glowing over the phone. “Don’t you worry one bit about your ornery old father, he’ll come around eventually.”
***
Lizzie raced through the pouring rain trying to dodge mud puddles. Not that her sprint did much good since she was soaked by the time she reached the fancy hotel. Without her ID, the uppity desk clerk refused to give her the key William had left for her. It’s a good thing he hadn’t been caught out in the storm because that man would have drowned considering the way he turned his nose up at her. Then he insisted on calling the room making her wait several minutes before Billy finally managed to get to the phone to verify that she wasn’t a ring rat stalker.
She flew into Billy's arms as soon as he opened the door, almost knocking him over in her haste to lose herself in his embrace.
“Don’t think I don’t want to be kissing on you,” he said collapsing back on the bed. “It’s just my entire face hurts.”
With one eye swollen closed and his lip busted wide open the splint on Billy’s nose was just about the only thing on his face that wasn’t a molten shade of purple. She reached out to touch his cheek and he cringed in pain. Here he was hurt so bad and instead of being strong she found herself bawling like a baby.
“Aw, don’t cry. It’s not that bad.” He squeezed her hand. “See? My arms still work. That’s about it though.”
“Next time just hit him back twice as hard as he hit you.”
“I’m hoping there won’t be a next time,” Billy said, before wiping a wet strand of hair out of her eyes. “You’re soaked. Did the top get stuck on your convertible?”
“Daddy took my car.” Lizzie gave in to another round of sobs. “He told me I have to move out of his house if I want to keep seeing you.”
“Lizzie, I promise you I’m going to make this right. Let’s go down to the courthouse in the morning and get married. Surely he’ll change his mind if he just knew how much we love each other.”
“I don’t want to do it that way. I want a real wedding in a church with Daddy there to give me away.”
“From the sound of things, he’s already given you away.” Billy hugged her, not caring if it hurt or if she got him soaking wet. “I’m going to take care of us. Go on and get out of those wet clothes. Take you a nice hot shower. This place has even got robes in the bathroom. After that we’ll sit down and figure out what we’re going to do.”
Billy was right, the shower and a room service supper did make a lot of difference. She tried pretending that nothing was wrong until he downed his pills with a shot of Jack and offered her a taste. She thought about what he’d said about Carol Ann drinking it straight and took the bottle. Before she swallowed she remembered the possible baby, her and Billy’s baby, that might be growing inside of her. That sent her running to the toilet with another round of vomiting.
He had dosed off by the time she made it back, so Lizzie decided to just let him sleep. There wouldn’t be any sense in worrying him until she knew for sure that she really was pregnant. He had enough on his mind with trying to find a new place to work. Maybe if he stopped wrestling and just found a job in Charlotte, then maybe her daddy would come around and they would all be happy. She didn’t care what line of work he decided on as long as he never had to leave her again.
Lizzie had just nodded off when the phone rang. Billy didn’t even move so she picked it up with a tentative hello.
“Who is this?” A woman’s anger seethed through the phone line. “Why are you answering Will’s phone?”
Lizzie knew right away it wasn’t Dinera so she said, “This is his daughter.” Not exactly a lie, since she was his goddaughter.
“Will doesn’t have a daughter.”
“Who is this?”
“Someone you don’t want to anger,” the woman replied, sounding just as snooty as that desk clerk.
Like Lizzie cared if she pissed off some desperate groupie. “William hasn’t gotten back from the show yet. He’s sharing a room with my fiancé.”
“And who would that be?”
“Billy Dalton.”
“You’re Paul Bryson’s daughter, aren’t you?”
“Not anymore.”
“My condolences,” she said with complete insincerity. “Unlike my William, your father hasn’t the faintest clue on how to treat a woman.”
Tell me about it.
Not that she was going to trash her Daddy to someone she didn’t know.
“Someone needs to inform him that the universe doesn’t revolve around his dick.”
&n
bsp; Would you like his home phone number?
Before Lizzie could come up with a real response the line went dead. Whatever, the exhaustion finally got the best of her.
She was out completely out of it when a door slammed and the room flooded with light.
“See, she’s with Billy.”
William stood over their bed with a girl who had to be close to Lizzie’s age. She was all legs and almost as tall as him. She wore a flowing emerald green cape that made her eyes stand out in contrast to her perfect pale complexion. Then there was that copper hair, shimmering in the light, falling all down her back in smooth ripples. Dinera was a beautiful woman, but this girl just took your breath away. It was like she captivated every particle of energy in the room and used it to her advantage.
“Now Dess, please go back to your room.”
“Our room.”
She spoke those two words with enough heat to make it clear that she was William’s mistress. This had to have been the person Lizzie had spoken to on the phone.
“I’ll join you after I speak with Billy and Elizabeth in private.”
“Don’t keep me waiting.”
She snaked an arm around him, demanding he kiss her. Like they needed any further proof of her hold over him.
“Now darling, if you will please excuse us,” William regained his composure and escorted her out the door.
“I do apologize for her behavior,” he said, sitting down on the other bed. “Elizabeth, I would appreciate it if that didn’t get back to Dinera.”
“Of course not,” Billy said for both of them since Lizzie was still too overwhelmed by that girl to pretend she never showed up like that. “As good as you’ve been to us. It’s forgotten.”
“You will find that everything you put out into the universe comes back to you times three.” William chuckled. “That’s a little something I learned from my two wicked witches."
Chapter 15
"Are you sure that you have enough money to get by while Billy’s in Japan with me?”
From the way Lizzie just nodded she made it perfectly clear that she wasn’t the least bit happy about William’s plan for Billy to go to Japan and then Australia for the next six weeks.
He didn’t want to leave her like that, but when William told them what kind of money he could make, Billy knew he had to go. If he watched every penny he would be able to come home with enough cash to marry Lizzie proper and get them started off comfortably in a new territory.
“If you need anything, anything at all while we’re gone, you call Dinera.”
“I’ll be okay.”
Damn right she was.
Billy planned to make sure of that. There wasn’t nothing he wouldn’t do for Lizzie.
She had gotten up long before dawn to take Billy’s car over to her house to get a change of clothes for work. He’d woke up to find her sitting at the table with William going over the classified section of the newspaper already looking for an apartment.
Yesterday she had been a teary eyed little girl. This morning she looked every bit the confident and successful business woman in what must have been one of her mother’s left behind dress suits.
“How about a New Orleans wedding? You know how Dinera loves to plan big shindigs and her rose garden is magnificent in the spring.”
Boy, did Lizzie’s eyes light up at that idea.
“Just go on a pick us out a date. I’ll be there.” Billy promised.
“If your Daddy doesn’t come to his senses, I’d be proud to walk you down the aisle. And don’t even worry about costs. It will be my treat right down to a honeymoon at the Pontchartrain Hotel.”
“You’re so sweet.” Lizzie finally rewarded William with a smile.
“Wealth means nothing without loved ones to share it with.” William stood, pressing a folded bill in Lizzie’s hand. “I’m sure you kids would like some alone time and I need to make a few calls before we get on the road.”
“I have some money in the bank and I just got a promotion at work. We’ll manage.” Lizzie tried to get William to take the money back but he wouldn’t hear of it.
“My goddaughter deserves more than just getting by.”
Lizzie saw him to the door and said goodbye with a hug and polite peck on the cheek.
Closing the door behind William, she reached for her coat. “Well, I really should get to work.”
“Are you sure you can’t go in a little late? I really want to take you to pick out a ring.”
“We need to save our money. If it’s okay with you,” Lizzie opened up her purse, “I’d like to use Gran’s ring as my engagement ring.”
Lizzie pulled out a ring sporting a bigger diamond than Billy could ever afford. “She gave it to me after Grandpa's funeral when I was just a little girl.”
Billy took the ring and ignoring his aching rib, got down in front of her on bent knees. “Miss Elizabeth Bryson will you do me the honor of becoming Mrs. Billy Dalton?”
“Absolutely!”
Chapter 16
“Would you please stop sulking?” William adjusted the rearview mirror to where he could better see the mysterious Dess in the back seat of her Charger.
She responded by pulling out a nail file and sawing into her long fingernails, not even bothering to meet his eye.
Billy had offered to let her sit up front with him, but William wouldn’t hear of it. She had pouted all the way to Raleigh, filling the car with an icy silence. Two days later and she was still in a snit on the way to the airport.
William had thought it best for Billy to get some recovery time and not to make a scene in front of Mr. Crockett. So he’d stayed holed up at the motel through the Tuesday show at Dorton Arena and the Wednesday taping at WRAL.
The swelling had gone down to where Billy could almost see normally again and his rib must have just been bruised instead of cracked, because amazingly enough it wasn’t hurting nearly as bad.
“It’s for the best that I transfer your ticket to Billy. It’s not my fault that Dinera decided to hop on her broom and fly over for an international visit.”
“Do not besmirch my craft.”
“Stop it Dess. I’m not going to pick a fight with you.” William readjusted the mirror. “Does that mean I should just pull the car to the curb instead of having you see us to the gate?”
“Whatever.”
He pulled the car up to the drop off area, cutting the engine to turn around a face her. “It won’t be necessary to light any of those black candles on me while I’m gone.”
“We’ll see about that.”
You could tell by her tone that she was probably going to go straight home and work some kind of a spell on him. William was normally such a sensible man that Billy had a hard time believing that he obviously took the witch stuff as seriously as his women did.
“You’ll be wasting your wax. You know I can’t get it up for anyone but you.”
“Me and Dinera.”
“She’s my wife. Screwing her is part of my job description.”
***
Four hours later they had made it through changing planes in Newark and were way up in the sky cruising right along in first class. As usual, it was like William owned the joint. All the stewardesses were fussing over him and keeping their glasses full of Jack and Coke. A good thing since this was the first stamp on Billy’s passport and he had picked a doozy of a trip to make his in-air debut.
William screwed the cap off a medicine bottle and downed several small white pills, “Want one?” he asked.
“No, I already took mine.” Billy had dosed up on the painkillers from the ER visit so he was already good to go.
“You’re learning fast,” William said. “We lose a day on this flight and as soon as we hit Tokyo, it’s straight to the arena. It’s a rough tour, but Hasegawa always does right by me and it’s an escape from Dess’s drama.”
“She sure didn’t like you switching that ticket over to me.”
“She’ll have to
deal with it. I can’t risk having her anywhere near Dinera.”
“I appreciate all you’re doing for me and Lizzie.” Billy followed his lead in reclining the seat to kick back and try to get comfortable. “I just hope this doesn’t cause you any problems with Paul.”
“Don’t sweat it. I can deal with Paul.”
“Just so you know. He wants a run with the title so bad I’ve heard him talk of telling Dinera about your girl.”
“And how much Jack did he have in him to make such a threat?”
“Actually, I think he’s quit drinking since he’s got Carol Ann and his son to come home to.”
“Paul’s been jealous of me since our college days. My sophomore year I beat him clean for the NCAA title. The only loss he had his whole senior year. It got to him so bad he gave up on going to the Olympics and went ahead and turned pro.” William took a long drag on his drink. “He had it easy with his daddy already in the biz. I always had the boys trying to shoot on me, thinking they could hook a NCAA champion.”
“I can’t imagine anyone but Paul having the balls to try to shoot on you in the ring.”
“The first time we worked a match he took some unnecessary liberties with me so I hooked him. He wouldn’t tap until I popped his knee clean out of socket. After that no one ever tried me in the ring again.”
“I’ll bet. Do you think they will ever put the title on him?”
“I don’t have any problem dropping the strap to him. Hell, I’ll do it in Charlotte or Greensboro, right in his back yard, if he’ll do business the right way. Thing is, Paul’s problem is he’s such a mark for himself that I don’t think his ego could handle how the champ has to go into a territory and make the local star look good without killing his own heat.”
“You mean how you and Paul went an hour around the loop instead of you just beating him clean to keep the title?”
“Exactly, it’s an art. To me, it doesn’t matter who wins or loses as long as we work together and make money.”
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