Ethan looked at Gabe, and Liz felt afraid that Ethan and Gabe would fight. “Good luck with this one, friend. She is a good deceiver.” He said the word friend with derision and walked away from them, getting in his vehicle and driving away with his tires squealing.
Liz sat there in pain, her heart turning to stone in her chest. She didn’t know what to say. She was so devastated at the words Ethan had spoken to them that she was speechless.
“What just happened?” Liz whispered, still crying.
Gabe wiped her tears and hugged her, patting her back. “A very jealous Ethan White just happened. I’ve never seen him act that way and we have been friends since childhood. He must really like you.”
“What are you crazy? Did you hear all that stuff he said and the way he looked at us with such hatred? For a moment I was really scared,” Liz replied. “My days just get better and better. I might not make it to New Year’s at this rate.”
Gabe chuckled softly, getting out of the car. “Come on, I will walk you upstairs and jump in front of the bullets if Ethan decides to come back and shoot at us.”
“Don’t even joke about that, Gabe,” Liz said, walking up the stairs with shaky legs. She unlocked her door and invited Gabe in while he called the tow truck for her. She made coffee for them and sat on the couch feeling achy fro
m the physical exercise and the car accident.
“I should call Lacy,” Gabe offered one more time, looking worried when she groaned from an ache in her back.
Liz shook her head. “I know what a concussion feels like. I fell off a ladder at the store last year, and I was dizzy and the lights bothered me. Right now I am exhausted but only because I’ve had a rotten night, make that a rotten week. I’ll take some ibuprofen and go to bed.”
“Okay, I am working until 6:00 a.m., so call me or Logan if you need anything or if you feel scared. Gabe said with a gentle smile. “Don’t worry about Ethan. Tomorrow he will feel like an ass and you’d better make him get on his knees and beg forgiveness. He deserves to work for it.
Liz smiled but didn’t comment on Ethan. It was too painful right now. “Thanks for all your help, Gabe. You are a good friend.”
“You’re welcome, sweetheart. Get some rest,” he said, closing the door behind him and making sure it was locked.
Liz showered and lay in bed, seeing Ethan’s angry face over and over until she finally fell into a restless sleep.
Chapter 7
The ringing of the telephone woke her up the next morning. It was Lacy’s panicky voice. “You are so lucky I am at work and Ryan just told us what happened to you last night, girl!”
“I’m okay, Lacy, really. I didn’t want to worry you or bring you out in the cold and Gabe was wonderful,” Liz explained, yawning, and lay back on her pillows. She still felt tired. She had tossed and turned all night thinking about Ethan. Was Gabe right? Did Ethan really care about her? If she was going to fall in love then why couldn’t it go smoothly instead of the rocky road she was walking down, and she couldn’t deny it. Her feelings for Ethan White went deeper than physical attraction. Otherwise his words last night wouldn’t have broken her heart.
“So I’ve heard all the gossip from Logan already including Ethan’s horrible behavior. Should I go kick his ass for you?” Lacy offered gallantly. Ethan is a goner for Liz whether he admits it or not, Lacy thought with a smug smile. Lacy knew if Ethan didn’t have feelings for Liz, seeing her with Gabe wouldn’t have upset him so much.
Liz was tempted to let Lacy lecture Ethan, and Ethan would take it quietly. He was very fond of his boss’s future wife. “That’s okay. It seems I’ve got more serious things to worry about now since Logan told you everything.”
“How are you feeling? And be honest with me, Elizabeth Anne Daniels,” Lacy said, lowering her voice but Liz could hear the concern in Lacy’s voice.
Liz sat up and groaned and answered with honesty. “Sore, and sad that I have a stalker, a totaled car, and Ethan hates me, and I have to get up for work,” she stated all in one breath, feeling sorry for herself. She was entitled to one day of self-pity after all she had been through.
“I know.” Lacy sighed deeply, feeling empathy with her friend. Matters of the heart were not for the faint of heart, that was for sure. “I can’t fix all your problems, honey, but Stella and I have already decided you will not open the store today. Gossip spreads like wildfire here, so half the town already knows what happened to you and the other half will know by noon. You just put your comfy pjs on and watch TV and relax. After our shift is over we are coming over with food and movies.”
Liz smiled at all of Lacy’s orders. Her friend had a bossy streak a mile wide. “Yes, mother,” Liz replied teasingly and hung up the phone. She lay in bed for a few seconds and wondered if she should alert her parents to the stalker situation. Her dad would worry and lecture her about not having a bodyguard the way he did. He had always insisted she have a bodyguard like they did but Liz never wanted to live like that.
She was achy and her head hurt so she decided to take a long, hot shower and dressed in loose sweatpants and an old baggy Snoopy T-shirt that her mom would flip over if she saw Liz in it. Thinking of her mom made her want to cry because she missed her parents and wished they were closer. Liz called her mom’s cell and reached voice mail, same with her dad. She hung up feeling depressed and lonely.
Liz wandered over to the kitchen and made toast and coffee. She sat at her small kitchen table, looking out the window and wondering what to do. Who could want to scare and hurt her? She tried being nice to everyone and hadn’t made any enemies. The phone rang again so she answered it, hoping by some miracle it was her mom or dad. This time it was Ethan. “How are you, Liz?” he asked in his deep voice.
Liz wasn’t sure what to say to Ethan. She was still very angry and hurt. It was hard to believe that he even had called her. “I can’t argue with you right now, Ethan. I feel like shit.”
“I don’t want to argue with you, angel. I want to apologize again. This seems to be a habit, me taking my foot out of my mouth,” Ethan said softly. He is probably feeling bad now that he knows the truth, Liz thought to herself.
“Ethan, I just can’t right now,” Liz whispered with tears in her eyes. “Physically and emotionally I am a mess today and I plan on spending a stress-free day relaxing.”
“I understand. I just wanted to make sure you’re okay and not seriously hurt. Gabe should have called Doc,” he replied, his voice getting harder. “He shouldn’t have taken chances with your health despite your protests. You’re lucky he was working last night because I would have marched you over to Doc’s clinic whether you wanted to or not.”
“I am achy but other than that I really am okay,” Liz assured Ethan, not commenting on his statement, but she wished he had said it because he cared and not because he took his job seriously. Ethan said good-bye and told her he would call again another time when she felt better. She shook her head in confusion. Ethan was definitely a complex man. Leave it to her to choose a confusing man to fall in love with.