“What’s going on?” he prompted.
“Well . . . so . . . I was wondering if you’d like to do something tonight.”
“Like?”
“I don’t know . . . we could go for a walk with Foxy and maybe pick up some dinner on the way back?”
“You know, that sounds exactly like something I need after my day. When do you want me over?”
“Whenever you can come. I’m home right now with nothing else to do.”
“Nothing?”
“Except relaxing like my doctor told me to.”
“Oh yeah, you had your appointment today,” he said and she was surprised he’d remembered anything about it. “So how’s the momma-to-be?”
The blare of the horn in the background pushed up the hairs on the back of her neck. “Marc? Are you driving?”
“Shit . . . sorry. You can answer my question when I see you. Okay?”
“Okay . . . bye for now.”
Lizzie placed her phone on the arm of the chair and leaned back, resting her head. As she drew nearer to her due date, her anxiety increased. So many unknowns. And talking to herself about it wasn’t giving her any differing opinions. She wanted to talk about her concerns with someone she trusted. Did she trust Marc? She was beginning to again. She was pretty much over him leaving her, though still curious as to why. But she would never regret him leaving her—it brought Tom into her heart and the baby inside her. No, she’d never regret that turn of events. The only thing she hated about all of it was that Tom was no longer in her life or a part of their child’s future. And that wasn’t Marc’s fault at all. It had been an accident. And how she chose to deal with this would affect her son for the rest of his life.
Foxy startled her with her excited barking. Lizzie pushed herself from her chair and looked over the railing watching Foxy do circles around Marc as he entered the backyard.
“Lizzie?” Marc called out, petting the dog.
“Up here,” she said, waving her hand. He looked up and smiled brightly.
“You got here fast,” she commented, the smile she gave him in return coming easily to her.
“Yeah, I was at the mall. Coming up,” he said and then he disappeared. She didn’t have to tell him where she was. He knew how to get to her bedroom balcony. When he made it up, she turned around.
“What were you doing at the mall?” she asked because Marc didn’t go to the mall. He hated to shop.
“Errands.”
“At the mall?”
“Yeah, for the most part,” he laughed before giving her a hug. It surprised her how good it felt to be hugged, and she lingered in his arms longer than necessary, but didn’t care and hoped he didn’t either.
He didn’t.
They stayed that way until her stomach decided to announce it was hungry, which brought a chuckle out of Marc.
“How about a change of plans? Let me take you out to dinner and then after we can take a walk over to Dairy Queen for some ice cream?”
“Oooh,” she said, liking this change of plans.
He gave her one more squeeze before backing away.
Marc took her to a nice dinner where she thoroughly stuffed herself. He teased her about her appetite and wondered if there’d be any way she’d have room for ice cream.
“One always has room for ice cream. Don’t try to get out of it.”
“I wouldn’t do that,” he said.
And he didn’t. They went back to her place, hooked Foxy’s leash on and made the short walk to Dairy Queen. They got their ice cream and continued walking down the road to the park. Marc kept the pace slow. They kept silent, enjoying the icy treat, until they reached the park. They found a bench and sat down and watched the kids play in the fading light.
“So . . . tell me about your doctor’s appointment.”
“It went really well. The baby’s heart rate is strong and he’s big as evidenced by my huge stomach,” she said, placing her hand on her belly, and tried to push aside what had been nagging her the past week or so.
“Elizabeth?”
“Hmm?”
“Talk to me.” Uncanny how well he could still read her.
“Marc, I’m real scared,” she blurted out, not able to keep it inside her anymore.
“What do you mean?” he asked, his face a picture of concern.
“I don’t know how I’m going to do this. How am I going to raise this baby by myself?”
“You think that’s how it’s going to be? That you’ll have no help?” he asked and didn’t wait for her answer before continuing. “You have his grandmother, who will do absolutely anything for you and him. Then you have Ollie and Gwen. Gwen will be an awesome aunt and I’m sure you can train Ollie to change a diaper,” he said, and she laughed at that picture, thinking about what a hilarious mess that could be. “Then you have me. I, too, will do anything for you two. Anything you can think of. You need something assembled? I’m your guy. Need someone to run to the store for diapers at three in the morning? I’m on it. You need me to babysit while you have girls’ night or you go out on a date? I’m just a call away. I’m not going anywhere, Elizabeth . . . not this time. You can count on me.”
Her emotions warred within her—the need to believe his words and the hope they gave her both battled with the simple fact that people leave without warning. They die and leave you alone. That scared her.
“I’m still afraid.”
“I can see that. You’re going to have to trust us,” he said, walking the short distance to the trash can to throw out their garbage.
“Trust you say?”
“Yeah . . . trust.”
When she thought about trust and Mrs. Myers, Ollie, and Gwen, it fit. When she thought about it with Marc, things were murky. She knew why too. She was still seeing him from the other side of old lenses. She could kind of make it out, but it wasn’t clear.
What she needed were some new lenses.
Talk about a big step.
Lizzie
The one thing about her old job that sometimes carried over into her new position was the long hours. And when a client needed something, you jumped through hoops for him. And when her account executives needed her help to make things happen, she pulled her ass out of bed and headed into the office on a Saturday morning.
At least, I didn’t have to spend the whole day there, she thought as she pulled into her driveway. She did a double take as she stopped the car, thinking she saw Marc, Ollie, and Gwen on her porch.
She scrambled out of her Jeep as fast as she could, which actually meant she got out of her vehicle a little over sloth speed. Eyeing her friends, she walked up the stairs and leaned against the post. “What are you guys doing here?”
Marc gestured towards their feet and said, “Errands.”
Her eyes misted up when she noticed the paint cans and all the bedding and decorations for her baby’s room. “Guys . . .” she began, her voice full of emotion. “I don’t know what to say. You’re all so wonderful.”
Ollie nudged Gwen. “See, she thinks I’m wonderful.”
“Oh, jeez, Oliver,” Gwen said before turning to Lizzie. “We hope this is okay. We took it upon ourselves to pick out the colors and fabrics . . . pretty hard with two guys with you. Blame them if you don’t like it.”
“I don’t care what the colors are. I’ll love it. I still can’t believe it. You guys are the best.”
Marc picked up the paint. “Okay, then. Let us in so we can get to work.”
She smiled and unlocked the door. The bickering pair slipped inside, but Lizzie blocked Marc from entering. “Wait,” she said, placing her hands on the paint cans, pushing down so he placed the cans back on the ground. As soon as he stood straight, she wrapped her arms around his waist and when his arms went around her, he pulled her in tight.
“This was your idea, wasn’t it?”
“No comment,” he said, his chin resting on her head.
“I’m so glad that you’re here,” she said and
then after a nice long minute, released him. He held the door open for her and when she entered her house, she spotted Mrs. Myers sitting on the stairs and baby stuff all over her living room.
Stunned, Lizzie didn’t immediately register Mrs. Myers getting up to hug her. “The surprise is last minute,” the older woman said, “but when Marc told me what he, Ollie, and Gwen were up to . . . I had to get in on it too.”
Lizzie’s eyes flew over all the gifts. “This is a crazy amount of stuff. You bought all this today?”
“No . . . yesterday,” Marc admitted.
That meant when he gave her that speech, he’d already known what these people were capable of.
“I need to sit down,” she said, sitting on the sofa in the more formal part of her living room. Her eyes yet again surveyed all the baby items filling the space, awed by their thoughtfulness and generosity. “I don’t know what to say, except thank you. This is amazing!”
She got up and gave everybody a hug, then went over to the presents, some wrapped, some not.
“The wrapped ones,” Mrs. Myers explained, “are ones I’ve had for a while. Open them.”
As Lizzie tore off the paper, Tom’s mom gave her a story for each item. The first gift contained a blanket she’d knitted—in Cubs colors. The next was Tom’s copy of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star he had when he was a child.
“I have another special gift but I’ll give that to you in a bit,” she said and then gestured at the other gifts. “Check out the rest.”
Between the four of them, they got her everything she could ever need plus what looked like a year’s supply of diapers. Mrs. Myers laughed at that and said more like a month. Lizzie didn’t find that amusing, especially if it was true.
There were special gifts as well. Gwen bought a whole library of children’s books. And when Lizzie said a library, she meant it—there were at least fifty books in that box.
Ollie and Marc gave her a letter inviting Tom’s son to a Cubs/White Sox game in 2015 when he was five, along with a mitt for that occasion as well as a cute Cubs onesie for when he was born. The men’s gift surprised Lizzie but then again it didn’t. They were going to keep Tom’s memory and his passion for baseball alive for his son.
After Lizzie finished going through all the gifts, Mrs. Myers directed them into the kitchen. “So, there’s a whole bunch of food in the crockpot. Dig in, kids,” she said, but put a hand out to stop Lizzie. Damn, she wanted some of that food. “Can we talk alone?”
Lizzie nodded and led her into her office and shut the door.
“You know, it’s always been just Tom and I. Our family was small. Tom had shared his dreams with me about one day starting a family with you.”
Lizzie felt the tears as well as the smile come to her face, thinking about how excited he would’ve been about this child. “So, he wanted a family with me, huh?” she asked, softly laughing.
“Yes, he did. A big one,” she paused. “Sometimes it’s so hard to be happy for this child knowing that Tom isn’t here and can’t be a part of all this happiness.”
“I know what you mean. As I draw nearer to the due date, I find myself missing Tom more and more. And that’s not all. I’m still trying to figure out how I’m going to do all this—without him.”
“Well, you saw today there are a lot of people that love you and will help in whatever way that they can. That’s one of the reasons why I wanted to speak with you.” She paused. Lizzie felt a little apprehensive, wondering what might be up. Mrs. Myers pulled an envelope out of her purse and handed it to Lizzie.
“What’s this?”
“Open it,” she replied, waiting to speak until Lizzie began to open the envelope. “I didn’t need the money from Tom’s house or his shop. I thought it best to give it to my grandchild.”
Holy shit, Lizzie thought, looking at the bank draft. So many zeros. “Mrs. Myers . . . this is too much. I can’t . . .”
“You can. Tom would have put this money towards his children’s futures. I’m just following that. You two are all I have left. I want you to have it . . . put it towards his upbringing . . . give him the best.”
Tears pooled in her eyes as she regarded Tom’s mother then hugged the woman who would have been her mother-in-law.
“Thank you . . . so much for everything that you’ve done for me. I would have loved being your daughter-in-law.”
“In my heart, you are.”
Marc
After they all ate, Lizzie and the other women went upstairs to plan for tomorrow. They’d be getting that nursery ready for Lizzie. It’d be a busy day but worth it—just like today.
Seeing her face when she saw the surprise was worth every single hour he’d spent in all those stores. He’d do it over and over for her.
Just like he’d be her friend even when he wanted her. There hadn’t been a day when that wasn’t true. He’d always want her.
When he watched her with that gorgeous belly in the lead, walking down the stairs, he wanted her. Like bend her over the sofa and fuck the hell out of her wanted her.
“Okay, kids, I’ll see you tomorrow bright and early,” Mrs. Myers announced, hugging them all as she left.
“We’re gonna head out too. I’ve got to drop this freeloader off still,” Gwen said, pointing to Ollie, then pulling Lizzie into her arms. “Love you, whore.”
“Love you more, whore.”
“Love you, sexy momma,” Ollie said, kissing her cheek.
Then the pair was off, leaving Marc there alone with her. He wanted to stay and hang, but knew she needed time alone to take this emotional day in.
“Hey, I was thinking about leaving too.”
“You were?” she asked, a tinge of disappointment in her tone. To be honest, he liked hearing that . . . liked hearing that he’d be missed.
“Yeah . . . so much shopping,” he teased with a fake yawn, then shot her the smile that had disarmed her so often in the past. She chuckled and followed him to the front door. “How you holding up?”
She looked up at him, catching his eye, not missing the fiery sparkle there. “I am so happy. I can’t tell you what it means to me that you guys did this for me.”
“Well, that makes me happy,” he said. “You totally deserved that.”
“Thank you, Marc,” she said.
“You’re welcome, Elizabeth. We’re here for you.”
“Just like you said.”
Glad she had heard him.
“Yeah, now I’m off . . . try to get some sleep.”
As he leaned in to hug her, she lifted her head, her eyes on his lips. He stopped, sensing the change. Her gaze lifted to meet his and he saw it—the spark of desire . . . maybe he was seeing things, he thought, as his arms embraced her. She stood on her tiptoes and placed her lips at the corner of his mouth. He tried to fight the desire to turn his head, but couldn’t resist moving his head that inch and have his lips touch hers. When she parted her lips for him, he about cried. His tongue tentatively entered her mouth, greeted by hers. Her mouth was so sweet—better than he remembered.
Oh man . . . he could easily carry this way too far. It wasn’t like he didn’t want to make love to her night and day, and sometimes those feelings were amazingly strong. But he didn’t want to go too far too fast with her. He needed to prove that he was in her life for the duration. Not just a quick fuck. He didn’t want to hurt her again like he had. He would be her friend—that’s what he had set out to do, but right now she was kissing him back, grasping his shoulders, making sexy little moans . . . what should he make of that? What did she want from him? She said she’d wanted to be friends—but just a minute ago, she’d been eyeing his lips like a tiger with prey in its sights. They had kissed plenty of times before. He knew the difference between a casual kiss and this. This kiss was . . .
Marc had to stop this because he needed her in his life, and he didn’t want to go too far and lose her friendship.
Slowly backing away, he watched the reaction on her face. Her e
yes fluttered open and he saw the desire darkening her green orbs. He kissed her forehead, knowing he had to escape or he’d do something he just might regret.
“It’s best if I go. Talk to you later, momma,” he said with a smile, and walked out of her house, resigned to spending the night with an uncomfortable hard-on.
Lizzie
Lizzie woke to the incessant knocking on her door. “They’re here already?” she groaned. Throwing on her thin white robe, she went down to let them in. “How are you guys up already?” she asked in lieu of a greeting. “It’s Sunday.”
“Lots to do, sexy momma,” Ollie said, squeezing on in past her.
“We brought donuts,” Marc added as he walked in, a sexy grin on his face.
Her eyebrows shot up at that. “Gimme!” she ordered.
“Now, where are your manners?” he asked, placing the box of fried heaven on the kitchen island.
“Please?” she said, leaning into his body. He smelled so good. Clean and fresh. And she had to control the urge to step up on her tiptoes and kiss him like she had yesterday.
That kiss had lit a fire in her that she hadn’t felt since before Marc left. But her guilt about those feelings was like cold water tossed on the flames. She didn’t know what to do. What was right. But standing next to him . . . it felt like she belonged there.
“That’s better,” he said, opening the box. She went in for a hug, then snagged a long john.
“Thanks,” she said, her mouth full. He playfully bopped her nose and she stuck out her tongue at him.
“Don’t eat too many,” Gwen warned. “Mrs. Myers said she’s bringing something for brunch. Don’t want to ruin your appetite.”
“I’m pregnant. My appetite’s never ruined. You guys having some?” she said, picking out a double chocolate cake donut this time.
“I had a half dozen on the way here,” Ollie said as he headed upstairs. “But if you could put on some coffee . . .”
“On it,” she said, watching her three friends head up to the nursery. Lizzie put the coffee on then went upstairs to get ready for the day—starting with a nice long shower. She’d been savoring these lately, partially because people had been telling her about newborn mother hygiene—or the lack of it. She’d already stocked up on dry shampoo to last her a few months.
Losing You (Stars On Fire #4) Page 26