by Liz Schulte
I shook my head. She stood up and walked around the bed, climbing in on the other side. “It all started in a bar…”
****
By the next morning Mom was gone and Baker talked nonstop about the concert he went to as we threw our stuff into the backseat before saying goodbye to Maggie.
“Sorry I was emotional last night,” I told her.
“I didn’t even notice,” she said with a wink. “You okay?”
I nodded. Talking to my mom had definitely helped. I still wasn’t sure I would ever be normal or even know what that meant, but I had her and Dad and even Baker, which was a lot more than most people had.
“But he might have.” Maggie nudged me and I turned to see Fisher once again shuffling past the house.
I headed his way. “Wait up,” I called out and he stopped but didn’t turn toward me. When I got to him the words stuck in my throat again, but I kept going. “I’m sorry I ran away. It’s complicated.”
He looked over at me. “You were pretty scared.”
I nodded. “I sometimes get panic attacks.”
A worried line creased between his brows. “Are you okay?”
I nodded. “It wasn’t your fault,” I said soft enough that Baker hopefully couldn’t hear.
His left shoulder lifted in a half-hearted shrug. “I’m used to it.”
I stepped close enough to him I could touch him if I wanted to—though I still wasn’t positive that I did. “That’s not something you should be used to.” I stood on my tiptoes and kissed his cheek, surprising both of us. “I misjudged you, Fisher.”
A goofy grin spread over his face. “I didn’t misjudge you at all.”
It was my turn to smile. “See you around?”
“Definitely.”
He opened the car door for me as I climbed in. Baker got in the other side and gave him the guy nod. “Hey, man.”
“Hey,” Fisher said.
Baker sized him up for a moment then looked at me with a frown. “Time to go, sis.”
Fisher closed the door and stepped away as we backed down the driveway. When we were back on the highway, headed for home, Baker looked over at me. “So, you like that guy?”
“I don’t know. Maybe. “
“Hmmm.” He watched the cars go by for a moment before a mischievous grin popped up. “You flipped your lid last night, huh? Totally freaked out on that poor guy from what I hear.”
“Shut up, Baker.”
He laughed. “You know what I think?”
“Better question: do I care?”
He leaned his seat all the way back and propped his feet up on the dashboard. “I think you’re going to be okay.”
I glanced over at him. It always came unexpectedly, but when Baker wanted to, he could be so sweet. “Do you ever wonder what mom and dad were really like before us?”
He opened one eye and looked at me—so much like dad. “Probably lame.”
And then other times, he was perfectly hopeless. But he was right about one thing. Whatever I decided to do, I’d be just fine because I had them—all of them.
MANY AUTHORS CLAIM to have known their calling from a young age. Liz Schulte, however, didn’t always want to be an author. In fact, she had no clue. Liz wanted to be a veterinarian, then she wanted to be a lawyer, then she wanted to be a criminal profiler. In a valiant effort to keep from becoming Walter Mitty, Liz put pen to paper and began writing her first novel. It was at that moment she realized this is what she was meant to do. As a scribe she could be all of those things and so much more.
When Liz isn’t writing or on social networks she is inflicting movie quotes and trivia on people, reading, traveling, and hanging out with friends and family. Liz is a Midwest girl through and through, though she would be perfectly happy never having to shovel her driveway again. She has a love for all things spooky, supernatural, and snarky. Her favorite authors range from Edgar Allen Poe to Joseph Heller to Jane Austen to Jim Butcher and everything in between.
Liz would love to hear from you
Please stop by and visit at any of the below mentioned networks:
http://www.LizSchulte.com
https://www.facebook.com/liz.schulte
http://twitter.com/lizschulte
http://www.pinterest.com/liz_schulte/
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4755336.Liz_Schulte
Or sign up for her newsletter
http://lizschulte.us4.list-manage1.com/subscribe?u=b24d896a4369244959d216887&id=a525d7447f
Check out more books by Liz:
URBAN FANTASY/PARANORMAL ROMANCE
The Guardian Trilogy:
Secrets
Choices
Consequences
The Jinn Trilogy:
Ember
Inferno
Vestige
Easy Bake Coven
Hungry, Hungry Hoodoo
Pickup Styx
Tiddly Jinx
MYSTERY
Dark Corners
Dark Passing
The Ninth Floor
ANTHOLOGIES
Naughty or Nice Christmas Anthology (Ella Reynolds Christmas short story)
Christmas Yet to Come (Baker Christmas short story)
SHORT STORIES
Be Light (A Guardian Trilogy Short Story)
Snow and Mistletoe (A Guardian Trilogy Short Story)
Sweet Little Lies (A Sekhmet Short Story)
Without a Map (A Jinn Trilogy Short Story)
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
About the Author
More books by Liz