Rumor Has It

by Leela Lou Dahlin

  She could feel the smile on her face grow huge, and she wondered if she was going to be able to contain herself watching this epic reunion. He headed for the door, stopping to face her when he got to the kitchen entrance.

  “Well, as long as it’s not any long-lost relatives of mine, we’re good,” he said as he disappeared into the other room to answer the knock.

  Her heart dropped into her stomach at his words. Did he just say what I think he said? Maybe she should have found out a little more about their estrangement. What had she done? The fog of happiness from thinking about a reunion with her mother dissipated, and she thought about it from his perspective. This might not go the way she’d imagined it going.

  She followed him into the front room, trying to find a way to fix this, but it was all going so fast, and she felt like her mouth was full of peanut butter. She opened her mouth right as he opened the door.

  Carol Prescott stood at the front door with a large bag, a photo album, and a guarded smile. She looked so hopeful, Raina wanted this situation to be everything the woman had dreamed of in a reunion with her son, but she had a feeling all hell was about to break loose—and then she looked at Liam’s face. This definitely wasn’t going to be the Kodak moment she had thought it would be. That fantasy was going to be a far cry from reality.

  It was like freeze frame. No one moved…no one spoke. The atmosphere swirled with confusion, hurt, and betrayal. Raina didn’t want to believe she’d been this dumb. Why hadn’t she gotten more information? She’d heard Carol’s side of the story, but she should have talked to Liam about it too. There was just so much going on with them that they didn’t have the friendly talks they’d had before. Not that they would’ve talked about this anyway, but now they were both more cautious about what they said to each other.

  “Come in,” she said to Carol just to get the party started. If there were going to be fireworks, they should at least get it off the front porch.

  Carol walked into the room, and Raina watched the two stare at each other. One with anger and one with hopeful expectation.

  “Would you like to get something to eat?” she asked hopefully.

  “No.” That firmly quiet and deadly voice came from Liam. Apparently the shock he suffered had eased, and he was ready to rule.

  “Raina, did you invite this woman to my home?”

  She’d been hoping they could have a nice breakfast and then she would leave and they’d get together, but she knew she wasn’t going to avoid paying the piper. “It’s your mother. She wanted to tell you what happened to her. She showed up at my door the other day and told me she wanted to spend some time with you. I thought it would be a good idea to do it over breakfast.”

  “So without asking me…hell, even telling me she was coming, you invited her here to have a mom-and-son-reunion breakfast.”

  “I thought I would surprise you.” Her voice sounded small even to her own ears.

  “This is the reason I don’t let people too close to me. They always push things on me that I don’t want, but I thought you were different.”

  “That’s not what this was. I’m sorry, Liam. I never knew your mother had to leave. When we talked, I assumed she was dead, so when I met her and she told me what happened, I thought you’d be happy to see her.”

  His eyes narrowed as they fixed on her, and she was afraid. Not that he would physically hurt her, but she could see the pain in his eyes, and she had no doubt that some was going to come her way.

  “I guess I can see where you were coming from,” he said, and she felt like a weight was lifted from her shoulders. “Get your things and leave now.”

  “What?” She turned to him to make him understand what had happened and why she’d done this.

  “I have no room for people who want to manipulate me and don’t care enough about my thoughts about a situation before foisting it off on me. I thought you knew me, but apparently you don’t. What we had is over, Raina. It’s time for you to go.” His words were said with no emotion, just calm detachment. It was like he didn’t care about her at all.

  “All right, Liam. I’ll talk to you a little later.”

  “There’s no need to call me.”

  That took Raina by surprise a little. “What do you mean? We’re still friends, right?” That sprung out before she could stop it.

  “What I mean is that I am done with you on all levels. This is not negotiable.”

  She picked up her purse and made her way to the door. She looked at Liam. “You are probably upset. I understand.”

  “Don’t mistake my past actions with you with how your future treatment will be. I said I’m done, and I mean it.”

  “So, what, you hate me now? Come on, we’ve been through too much for that. We can get through this and be friends.”

  “I don’t have a lot of friends, as you know, and there is a reason for that. People always are trying to change you or make you do something different. Being with you was great. I had a good time, and so did you, but now it’s over.”

  He looked like another person, not the man who showed concern for her safety and liked to watch movies with her. He looked cold and hard and hateful.

  “I’ll leave now, but I know that when you think this through, you’re going to change your mind.”

  She made her way through the door and glanced back at him. He wore the expression of a little lost boy, but his words hurt with adult strength.

  “That’s what all the women think, but they’ve all been wrong. Haven’t they?” Then he closed the door in her face.

  She stood on the other side of the door, trying to come to grips with what had happened. She had wanted to get him to reunite with his mother, and now she was the one on the outside looking in.

  He couldn’t possibly mean they were over—but she’d seen that look before and had pitied the woman who was the recipient of that cold demeanor. She was one of those women now. How could this happen? She had no one to blame but herself. She might have been a bit too ambitious for the reunion and their romantic relationship, but they were great friends, and she wasn’t going to give up on that. She just had to think about how to make this right.

  * * * *

  “Liam, I wanted to talk to you, but not at the expense of your friend. I know seeing me here has been a shock, but talking to her the other day told me a lot about the man you’ve been come. I have no right to be proud, but I am. She cares a lot about you, and—”

  “I’d like you to leave too. I don’t know what sob story you gave Rain—the woman who just left—but I’m a harder sell, and I don’t want to hear it.”

  The woman’s sigh was weary as she placed the items she brought on the living room end table. “I brought some pictures I’d saved of you, and I hoped we’d look through them and—”

  “Reminisce about the good old times…I don’t think so. Please collect your items and be on your way.”

  She pulled out a picture, left it on the table, and then took the remaining pictures and her large bag and walked out the door.

  “If you are not willing to hear me out, I understand that.”

  “Thanks for your understanding,” he said sarcastically.

  “But please don’t do this to Raina. She wanted to do something she thought would help you with closure. I didn’t tell her I’d seen you before and that the reunion might not be as happy as she was thinking it would be.”

  “I’ll take that into consideration,” he said more seriously, but he knew it wasn’t going to make a bit of difference. He’d let that woman into his life and into his heart, and she had betrayed him just like he knew she eventually would. He was so hurt he felt nauseated. He just wanted this woman to leave so he could just think.

  “No you won’t. You’re as stubborn as your mother, and that’s not a good thing. If someone does wrong by you, then the relationship is severed and they are banished from your life. I used to be that way, shoving people who cared about me away while I dealt with whatever I thought
was important. It all changes when you are the person who needs the forgiveness. You’ll find yourself alone without the people who love you and would be able to help you or at the very least comfort you throughout your trials. If nothing else, believe that and the fact that I’ve always loved you with all of my heart.”

  “You have a funny way of showing it.”

  “You would think so because you don’t want to know the whole story. So you can spend your life hating me for what you think happened.”

  “Or find out what happened and hate you for the truth?”

  “At least you’d know what happened. It’s up to you. I’m leaving tomorrow afternoon. You know where I am. I hope to see you before then.” She looked like she wanted to hug him, but she settled on a light squeeze to his arm, and he was grateful.

  She walked out the door and closed it with a gentleness he couldn’t fathom. His head was pounding, and he could feel his muscles tensing. There was something he needed to do, but he didn’t know what. He wanted to talk to someone, but he had no one, and that more than anything tore at his soul. Sinking down on his couch, he put his head in his hands as he contemplated the whole situation.

  He got up and walked to the bathroom. Maybe a splash of water on his face would prove this was a nightmare he could wake up from. The cold water felt good, but he definitely was awake.

  Walking back to the scene of his most recent nightmare, his eye caught the picture his mother had left on the table, and he felt drawn to take a look. A picture of him hugging the woman he’d loved most in the world before she walked out of his life. What he wanted to do was tell the little twerp hard times and sad days were on their way, but he’d make it. He’d been through the lonely times when he felt abandoned and like his heart was fractured when he was a child. He’d gotten through it then, and he could get through it now. Turning the picture over was a relief because it was painful looking at the happiness in the face of the little boy he’d once been.

  Chapter Ten

  The Fire Hydrant was just as festive as ever, but Raina couldn’t find it in her heart to be as happy. This last meeting of the minds was a celebration of sorts because these five people had really come together to help her and the fire department finish everything that needed to be done for the auction.

  Ethan seemed to be hovering, and she didn’t know what to do about that. She was somewhat happy he was sticking around because she felt like she was ready to fall apart. It wasn’t that Liam was hounding her or making angry faces at her—the truth was, he was acting very normal. Well, very normal for how he regularly treated women. He didn’t go out of his way to avoid her; he just treated her politely, as if she were any other woman he’d been with and was through with.

  He’d greeted her with a hello when he came in and then moved on to talk to his friends and allow the fire bunnies—that was what the firemen always called them—to flit and flutter around him. It would be better if he’d at least show he was angry, but that wasn’t his style. She used to think that he didn’t have feelings for anything, but now she’d changed her mind. She thought he felt deeply about a lot of things but made sure to keep his response beneath the surface.

  That was bad enough, but one of the things that left her breathless was how he could just leave the friendship behind. If he wanted to say he was done with the sex…that would hurt, but she would live with it. She shouldn’t have played with the friendship. It meant a lot to her. She knew it meant a lot to him as well. Maybe if she could just get him to hear her side of the story. Maybe he wouldn’t hate her or ignore her in his way.

  “What happened with you and Liam?” Ethan cut right to the heart of the situation.

  “What makes you think anything happened between us?”

  “He is a good friend and my lieutenant, so I spend quite a bit of time with him. He was happy for a bit, and I know you were the cause. The funny thing about it is Liam isn’t a possessive guy. About anything. He never has a favorite anything. He takes what’s available and is satisfied with it. Even women—I’d talk about a woman he was with, question him about her…no problem, he gave his blessing. But the moment I started talking about you, he would get silent or change the topic. I know that probably doesn’t seem like a lot to you, but for him it’s huge.”

  “You must be seeing things that aren’t there. Liam and I are just friends.”

  “It doesn’t seem like it today. Something happened. He usually comes over to talk to me about something I already know or something that is pretty meaningless, just to get me away from you.” He looked at her and studied her. “There’s something going on, but you just don’t want to tell me.”

  “You’ve been playing with me by acting like you’re interested in me, haven’t you?”

  “I wouldn’t say playing with you, but I wanted him to see that now that you are available, he should make his move before you’re in another relationship and he goes off on his dating sprees. I don’t know if you’ve noticed or not, but since you broke up with Theo—good move, by the way—Liam hasn’t had as many dates as he usually does. Why do you think that is?” Ethan asked.

  She hoped he knew; she really didn’t want to talk about Liam and her predicament right now, but she sensed he felt the need to clear this up.

  “I don’t think that means anything. He probably gets tired of the beautiful bubbleheads he always dates.”

  “Or maybe it’s because he spends so much time at your house or hanging out with you.”

  “Between poker night with the guys and helping out with the fire-dog program, he doesn’t really have a lot of free time.” She took a deep breath and continued. “We’ve been together lately because of this project, but it’s going to be over in the next day or two, and he’ll be back to normal. I can almost promise that.” She wanted him to know he’d have his friend back very soon.

  “If you say so,” Ethan said with a smirk.

  She went off to find Liam and try to get him to talk to her. She didn’t want anyone to speculate about them, and she’d love to be back on friendly terms. She’d been wrong, she knew that, but she didn’t deserve to be banned from his life. She’d had enough of this treatment.

  She found him deep in a conversation with a beautiful woman. They were sitting innocently enough, but as she drew closer, she could see interest in her eyes and the intimacy of their gaze. Raina was being replaced right before her eyes. He looked at her as she drew near, and she could almost feel the warmth draining from his eyes, leaving an emotionless facade that made her want to lose the little bit of food she had managed to eat while they were all sitting in the rented room.

  “Can I help you, Raina?” Even the way he said her name was flat, empty, and made her desperate for them to end this.

  “I just needed to speak to you when you had a chance. I didn’t mean to interrupt your conversation.”

  The buxom blonde looked like a fifties pinup model and had confidence oozing out of her pores. She probably wasn’t intimidated by the thin, shapeless female who’d come over to talk to the man she was interested in.

  He looked back at blondie. “We’ll have to finish our conversation at another time.”

  “I’ll make sure we do.”

  She got up from her spot at the large table in the recesses of the room and sauntered off, putting an extra twist in her hips as she left. Raina followed the beautiful woman’s path across the bar until she couldn’t see her anymore because she didn’t think she would be able to watch him do it.

  “Raina.” His voice wasn’t loud, but it was sharp.

  She turned toward him, and he motioned for her to sit down. There was no smile or warmth in his face, and although she wanted to be happy he was speaking to her, she could feel the difference in the way he was responding to her.

  She stared at his profile, taking in the face she loved so much, and decided she needed to come out with the truth. She started quietly, hoping that would make him look at her.

  “I lied to you.”
r />   “What?”

  “When I came to you with the proposition for sex?”

  “Okay.” He was sitting there like she wasn’t important, like what she was saying didn’t matter. His fingers were frolicking with the water droplets that had collected on his beer glass, and his gaze was fixated on the condensation rolling down. Like he didn’t know her, like they hadn’t…

  “Don’t you want to know why?” That came out a bit louder as her frustration grew.

  “Why what?” He turned to look at her briefly but returned to what he was doing before their eyes could meet.

  “Why I lied to you?”

  “Not particularly.”

  Then she got it…this was what he did. How he coped. She’d seen him do this millions of times. Things she thought he would care about but he didn’t…or maybe he did. Either way, she had to get it off her chest and come clean about what had happened.

  “Theo asked me to marry him.” That at least got his attention.

  “Well, that should make you happy. It’s what you’ve always wanted, right? Now you can have the family you’ve always wanted. I told him to try again.”

  “You what? Wait…no. Not now. On my twenty-sixth birthday.”

  He looked confused, which was better than disinterested. “So, what, you wanted to be with me before you settled down with him?”

  “No. He knew about my plans and wanted to marry me, but he had a requirement.”

  He was still looking at her, which was encouraging even though his posture said I don’t give a damn. “And that was…come on, Raina, either you want to tell me or you don’t. I really don’t feel like pulling this out of you.”

  “I had to give you up.”

  She could see his surprise, even though he quickly hid it, so she continued.

  “That was the requirement. He said we could be married within the year and then start on kids, and I was happy. I was going to get what I’d always wanted: a husband and children to love me and for me to love.”

  “Why didn’t you do it? You could have had your dream. Why pull me into it?”