“Call me, Mr. Dixon,” Todd’s dad laughed heartily.
“Take care of our Lizzie, she means the world to our family.” Karen leaned in and kissed my cheek. Before she pulled away, she whispered in my ear, “You’re a good man, Sawyer, I could tell the moment I met you. You remember that.” She pulled away and her eyes were glassy. She hugged Liz and fussed over Elizabeth’s scarf. “Love you, baby girl.”
Cam and Colby hugged us goodbye. Todd finally joined the farewells and shook my hand. I pulled him into a hug and patted him firmly on his back.
“Take care, brother.” He gave me a small smile.
Elizabeth handed me her potted bleeding heart plant that I’d given her for her birthday before wrapping her arms around Todd’s waist. They hugged a bit longer than I thought necessary but, after all, she was coming home with me. Once in the Jeep, Liz let out a huge sigh.
“That was fun, I think Karen liked me.”
She choked out a laugh. “Um, you think? She was worried that she wouldn’t you know? I thought she was going to make out with you for a second there.”
“Ha… ha.”
“Seriously, Todd’s dad looked irritated. You should have seen her face when you gave me these beautiful flowers. Thank you, by the way. I can’t believe you remembered this.” She smiled brightly as she looked down at the soft pink flowers. Elizabeth had told me once that the plant grew where she lived as a child with her parents. I wanted to bring her a happy memory for her birthday. It appeared that I had succeeded.
“I was worried I wouldn’t be able to get them with how cold it’s been. We’ll have to keep them inside for a bit…” I paused. I didn’t want to break the moment, but I couldn’t get Todd off my mind. “Did you notice that Todd seemed off tonight?”
“Yeah, he’s been really moody lately. I think the whole Emma Dawson fiasco is getting to him.”
“He mentioned that. I think he might still be pissed that we’re together.”
Elizabeth huffed. “He needs to move on then. It’s been months. It’s ridiculous.” She turned up the radio effectively ending that conversation. As much as I wanted Todd to move on, I could understand why it must be hard for him. If Elizabeth ever chose anyone over me… well, it hurt to even think about.
I stared at my naked form in the mirror. The steam from the shower still smoked through the air. I never really considered myself pretty. I looked at my full hips and turned to the side. My belly protruded from my body just slightly in a convex fashion. I sighed at the softness. I turned again and faced myself head on. I tried to see the hour glass Sawyer said he saw. I supposed I looked all right. Sawyer always made me feel beautiful though. Perfect. I had to trust in that. A knock sounded on the door startling me.
“Cricket? You’re going to be late,” Sawyer’s deep voice boomed through the door.
“I know, I’m always late. Wouldn’t be a show otherwise.”
Sawyer’s laugh made my heart jump. “I know baby, but this is the first gig with Seth. Maybe a new tradition… be on time.”
“Yeah, all right,” I groaned.
He was right. I’m sure Seth was nervous. I don’t know why though, that guy was seriously talented. I was worried that Sawyer would be uneasy having a new guy around, but I was pleasantly surprised at how well they got along, football being the best ice-breaker apparently. Not to mention the fact Seth had lots of fun ‘Lezzie’ stories to share. I wasn’t as invisible as I thought I was in high school. I rolled my eyes at my mental digression.
I quickly dressed. I had on tight black jeans and a hunter green, light fitted hoodie. I did my hair in my standard side fishtail braid. I dusted on a little powder, a bit of mascara and gloss and I was ready. I opened the door to the bathroom and was awarded the sight of Sawyer topless.
He should always be topless. His back was to me while he looked into his closet. His Unbroken tattoo had become quite the piece of art. He had recently added some new artwork creating an entire back piece. Tangled tree roots were drawn out of each letter, the branches swirled in gorgeous patterns and pulled around his shoulders and ribs, barely gracing his chest. I smiled as I remembered his words the day he came home from his last sitting at Curious Ink.
“Elizabeth, I was broken when I met you. I’m still trying to get better. Each day with you is a blessing. Each day represents a piece of me that has been mended. I always thought I could be on my own, but with you, life is so much more. These roots, these branches that now hug my body, my center… that’s you. You’ll always be there holding me tight, keeping me from breaking. Elizabeth, if you left me tomorrow I’d be a lost man, but because of the strength you’ve woven into me, I’d find a way to survive. Because of you I am truly unbroken.”
Tears filled my eyes at the thought. It had been a month and a half since he left. I’d completely moved in with him now, my apartment re-rented. Our life had begun. Spring was here. It was my favorite season. I loved the color and life. The new beginning given each year. Fall used to be my favorite, but after my parents had died I needed a fresh start. Each year was so hard on me. Each year felt like a weight drowning me. Each year without them, I died a little. Until I understood I couldn’t be frozen in time anymore, I realized I had to start the thaw. So I started to live. I’m grateful that I started existing again otherwise I may have never met Sawyer. Sawyer’s voice pulled me from my reverie.
“What’s wrong?” Sawyer looked at me with such worry. I smiled.
“These are happy tears.”
After he pulled his shirt on, Sawyer placed his full lips to mine. His taste of sweet mint invaded my senses.
“You scared me.” He looked into my eyes, trying to decipher my mood.
“I’m sorry, I just had a happy memory, that’s all.”
I looked at him dressed in his dark jeans and a tight black Henley and grinned. He was so damn sexy.
Sawyer grabbed my hand. “Stop looking at me like that or we won’t make it at all.” He pulled me, amused, toward the door.
The poignant flavor of wine whirled on my tongue. The bar was packed and the show had been a success. Seth really pulled through for us. He was an amazing talent and we were lucky to have him. He sometimes was inappropriate with Cam and me, but we let it slide. We knew it’s just who he was. Todd and Seth could be man whores together. I laughed aloud at the thought. Seth was a good guy. I felt a little bad that I never gave him a shot in high school. I guess I was just as judgmental as I thought he had been. What’s the saying, ‘You live, you learn?’
“I’d love to know what makes you laugh so hard. It’s an alluring sight, your smile.” I cringed. Harper Pike loomed over me. His cocky sneer pissed me off. I stood up from the bar stool in hopes he would back up and give me space. He didn’t move. My body pressed uncomfortably with his. I tried to back up, but stumbled on the stool. Harper’s hand gripped my arm and pulled me close to his firm body. My palms began to sweat and a knowing metallic taste filled my mouth.
“Now this is more like it.”
Before I could get a word out in retort, I heard Sawyer’s voice thunder above the din of the bar. He called out my name and I turned to look at him. He was enraged. I’d only ever seen that look once, and it was after Todd hit me. I watched as Sawyer’s large body pulled through the crowd toward me. Harper was oblivious.
He grabbed my chin crudely. “Now listen, you’re going to come with me. Someone real important wants to meet with you. Don’t try anything funny. We are just going to walk out of here. Trust me you don’t want to piss him—” Harper didn’t get to finish his sentence. Sawyer connected his fist across Harper’s face. The loud crunch of bone had me reeling backward. The hit caused Harper to release me. I quickly moved toward Sawyer. Sawyer pulled me behind him. He swung another fist into Harper’s side, he doubled over, grumbling in pain. Everything was happening so quickly, I felt light-headed.
“Lizzie get the hell back. Go find Todd. He’s in the back with Cam and Seth,” his voice was low and measured.
I had no doubt that this was about to get ugly.
He turned and punched Harper straight in the nose. Blood squirted everywhere and people started to back away. I saw the bartender on the phone. I knew she had probably called 911.
“Sawyer let’s go. Believe me, you don’t want to be here when the cops arrive.” I worried my bottom lip with my teeth. Sawyer ignored me and grabbed a stunned Harper by the hair and pulled his ear to his mouth.
“Tell my father he can go fuck himself. Tell him to leave us alone,” Sawyer barked in a whisper. “You tell him if he doesn’t back off, I’ll kill him. I’ll kill anyone who tries to hurt my family. I’m done being intimidated. You hearing me? Tell him,” he roared. Sawyer pushed Harper back and turned to walk away.
My eyes popped wide in horror as Harper grabbed a bar stool and broke it across Sawyer’s back. Sawyer groaned and stumbled forward. The wood pieces flew through the air and a scream caught in my dry throat. My fear for Sawyer was palpable. The bar was so quiet, the onlookers’ gasps sounded thick in the tense air. Sawyer seemed hardly fazed by the blow. He turned and threw a hard right hook into Harper’s temple. The cocky smile wiped off his face immediately. I watched in slow motion as Harper’s slack form fell to the floor.
Sawyer rubbed his knuckles and whispered, “Never again.”
The dry heat filled my lungs. With each rise and fall of my chest, I choked in the summer air. Salty streams fell down my face. The blood poured from the gash on my knee. The hard hot concrete burnt the bottom of my thighs. The short denim shorts I wore were now ruined with grime. My traitorous bike sat on its side. The wheels were still spinning. I could feel the thud of my heart, the adrenaline pumped the blood faster from the gash. Todd’s young and innocent face smiled down at me.
“You okay, Lizzie bean?” The golden flecks in his brown eyes sparkled with mischief. “I told’cha that hill was too much for ya,” he chuckled.
“I’m going to bleed to death,” I said, my voice hysterical.
Todd’s heated finger touched my knee. He looked over the gaping flesh.
“You’re gonna need stitches. I had to get some last year, ‘member, Lizzie. I ran straight into Mr. Hacker’s fake fish tank at that first-grade carnival.”
“S-s-tiches?”
“You’ll be all right. Let’s go get your momma.” Todd gave me his hand. I could only just stand. Todd braced me around the waist and helped me limp the rest of the way home. I was sweaty and I stank to high heaven. Todd called out for help. I heard the porch door squeak open and my mom came running down the stairs. She worried over me while Todd explained that I lost control of my bike, headed down the dirt hill everyone calls Devil’s slide.
I was tired of being teased. I wanted to show the other kids I wasn’t afraid. So I did it. I flew down that dirt slope with my hands extended out from my body. I felt free. The sandy plumes whipping behind me, the dirty, gritty air hitting my face. I did it. Too bad I lost control at the end and bit it hard.
“You are so brave, baby girl. Devil’s slide… you showed them, didn’t you?” she whispers into my ear. “You strong, brave girl.”
That summer was so long ago, I wish I could be brave right now. I was left to my memories as the Jeep was filled with a profuse stillness on the way home from the show. I thought back to that summer, and how I’d done something stupid to prove a point. I hoped what transpired tonight wasn’t another stupid, possibly deadly mistake. I worried about Sawyer’s back if he was hurt. He didn’t say a word, he just quietly fumed. The blacked out scenery blew by the window in blurry, water color like streams. It had rained while we were in the club and the steady whistle of wet tires and pavement, created a somber backdrop. I didn’t know how to handle this Sawyer. Anger and frustration rolled off of him in waves. I wanted to wait him out.
I felt insecure.
Was he angry with me?
Did he think I allowed Harper to touch me?
It was suffocating in here. I shifted in my seat. I tapped my fingers against my knee trying to cut out my nerves.
“Please stop fidgeting,” Sawyer’s voice sounded restrained.
“Are you going to talk to me? Can I tell you what happened?”
Sawyer looked at me with incredulous green eyes. “Oh, I know what happened.”
I didn’t like his tone. “Really? Explain it to me, I’m all ears.”
“Christ, can you tone down your attitude?”
“Number one, don’t say the Lord’s name like that! Two, you’re the one acting like I started all this shit.”
“He had his hands all over you!” Sawyer slammed on the breaks and he looked over at me with fire in his eyes.
“He was trying to get me to leave with him, Soy. For hell’s sake, like I wanted him to touch me? He threatened me!” I tried to hold back the tears, but they filled my eyes regardless of what I wanted.
“I know.” He gritted his teeth. “It… was… hard for me to see. I know… I… I know you weren’t hitting on him, for crying out loud. I just didn’t like his hands on you. The way he was talking to you, the shitty grin on his face like he just won a fucking prize. I wanted to kill him.” The light turned green, but Sawyer made no move to go. The streets were deserted this late at night. “The worst of all of it, I could have lost you. What if he took you, took you to him?”
I reached over and grabbed his hand. “I’m right here. I don’t know who he was going to take me to meet. But, I’m here now.”
Sawyer’s tensed. “He was going to take you to my father, I know it. We have to be more careful. I should’ve just confronted him, Liz, I should’ve—”
“Stop, this isn’t your fault. Maybe… ” I hesitated. I didn’t want to say it. I didn’t want to admit it, but I had to. I had to be that brave girl again. “Maybe we should now though? Maybe we should meet with him?” My veins iced over with fear. This man had done nothing but hurt Sawyer and even possibly killed someone. The thought of being on the same planet with him was enough to have me running scared. I knew though, I knew we had to.
“There’s no, we, cricket. I won’t let him near you. This is my fight.”
“You’re wrong, Sawyer. The minute you let me in, the moment we became an us, it became my fight, too. I love you and won’t let you do this on your own. Not anymore.”
A car horn blared behind us and Sawyer abruptly accelerated, the Jeep jumped forward.
Sawyer looked straight ahead and mumbled under his breath, “Not gonna happen.” His posture stiff and knuckles tight on the wheel.
That’s what you think, I thought only to myself.
The shop’s temperature felt oppressive today. I reveled in the fact I could leave the garage doors open as I refinished the cabinets for the basement kitchen. I liked finding old woodwork and making it new again. Plus, it was faster than creating all new pieces.
It had been weeks since the show and the encounter with Harper. Elizabeth was in full school mode, which left me lots of time to dwell on how to talk to my father. I worked as much as I could. I took on small projects for pay, but I really wanted to finish the basement. Avoidance wasn’t something that sat well with me. I sidestepped the giant elephant in the room for Liz. Liz wanted me to talk to my dad, but the small tell-tale signs of fear always crept up in her expression whenever we spoke of what the next step would be. My nightmares were diminishing. I felt well rested, which was a first for me. Couples therapy was working out okay. Liz’s therapist Julia was down to earth like Teri, so I felt comfortable with her. It was like everything was falling into place. I didn’t want to give my father the power to take it all down.
I shook my head when I noticed I’d zoned out. I focused on the task at hand. The spring air sifted through the room and mixed with the smell of saw dust and sweat. Busying myself with minute tasks helped ebb at the irritation and frustration. I hadn’t heard any more from Harper or my father. Maybe, the ‘don’t screw with me’ message was well received. The dread that he was just biding his time, messing with
us, ate away at my stomach. I should just end this because this waiting game was killing me. Besides, Elizabeth had a show soon. The thought of another fist fight with Harper didn’t sound like a great plan.
I threw the used up sandpaper in the trash and rummaged around my workbench looking for my Dremel. I felt something tear at the flesh of my thumb. “Damn it.” Tiny droplets of blood dripped onto the workbench. “What the hell?” I looked around the work surface to see what had cut me. I noticed a small nail sticking out of the drawer I’d just been looking in. “I’ll have to fix that.”
“You’ll have to fix what?” Elizabeth’s voice sounded amused. “Talking to yourself again, huh?” I turned and looked at her, my injured thumb in my mouth. The taste of metal coated my tongue. Liz’s face was flushed and her sumptuous legs were on full display in tiny running shorts.
“I cut myself on a nail. How was your run?” I said as I smirked. She always looked so sexy after she ran.
“It was good. How’re the cabinets coming?” She walked over to where I was and enclosed her arms around my waist. Stepping on tiptoes, she placed a sweet kiss on my lips.
“It’s a work in progress still. I have to stop for today though. I have a new buyer coming.”
“Oh yeah?” She regarded me quizzically.
“Yeah, the buyer from that last huge project I did. Apparently, they liked my work so much, they want all their bathrooms redone. This deal could take up six months. I may have to hire some help.”
“Really?”
“Really! The interior designer is supposed to bring the actual buyer this time. This could bring in at least another sixty grand.” My chest filled with pride as Elizabeth watched me with admiration in her eyes. The deep sapphires sparkled with wonder. She broke out into giggles.
“Holy crap Sawyer, at this rate, I mean, if you keep getting jobs like this, you’ll be rich!”
“We’ll be rich,” I amended. Her smile widened beyond reason. Her lips brushed across mine lightly. I welcomed the touch. Her fragrance surrounded me, encapsulating my body with its tempting allure. The scent of soap, powder, and her gardenia perfume all mixed with the heat and sweat of her run had my blood raging. I crushed my lips against hers. My body felt hungry for more than just a quick kiss.
Still Life (Forever Still #1) Page 19