Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
Liz’s face paled. “Saw what?”
Ha! He knew it! She had cheated on him! The fact that his dad was right all those years ago didn’t feel nearly as good as he thought it would. “The pictures.”
“What pictures?”
Carson’s teeth ground together as he tried to keep some semblance of cool. “Don’t play dumb.”
“I’m not.” Liz’s eyes flicked back and forth as if she was flipping through a book before her forehead furrowed in confusion. “Honestly. I have no clue what you’re talking about.”
“Then let me remind you.” Carson took a breath and tried to let the memories surface one at a time. Hopefully that way he would be able to keep things clinical. Distant. Factual. “It was the summer after freshman year. You said you were happy to keep doing the long-distance thing.”
It wasn’t ideal, but they agreed they didn’t need to be together to stay together.
They planned on going to the same college, but his parents’ divorce shoved that plan out the window.
She and Carson had been fine, though. They made it through the first year and had one hell of a reunion that summer.
“Then I went to visit my dad. Apparently, you moved on.”
“What?”
The suppressed emotions of the past roiled to the surface.
Instead of pacing like he wanted, he took a couple of hobbling steps closer to her.
“Yeah. I saw the pictures. They were all over Kelly’s social media pages.
In that club. With you cozied up to those two guys.
” Dancing. Drinking. Sprawled out on their laps.
Kissing. Even now, Carson couldn’t believe Liz had done something like that.
But he’d seen the evidence for himself. When he asked his father for his take, his divorce attorney dad regaled him with cases he’d won by submitting similar photos as evidence of infidelity.
Liz’s eyes were as round as the zeros in his uncle’s ledgers. “Oh. My. God. Is that why you broke up with me?”
“Yes!” What kind of idiot stuck around after seeing that?
He hated the pity he saw in his roommate’s eyes when he begrudgingly showed him the pics.
Then his mom weighed in and told him to figure out the number of times he was comfortable being cheated on.
Hers, it turned out, was five. The sixth was what led to the divorce with his dad.
Carson hadn’t known much back then, but he knew he never wanted to go through what his parents went through. He decided it was much better to call things off. Make a clean break. Save himself years of questions and second guessing.
Liz’s expression went from one of confusion to one forged in steel. She took a couple of steps toward Carson, aimed her laser-like glare at him, and flicked his forehead. “Did it ever occur to that pea brain of yours to check out what type of bar we were in?”
Carson’s head snapped back, and he adjusted his crutches to keep his balance. “No.” Of course it hadn’t occurred to him. It was her in a bar with guys that were definitely not him.
“Kelly, Amber, and Sarah convinced me to go out with them. Thought it would help get my mind off of you and missing you so much. And it did. It was the most fun I’d had in a while.”
“You’re not helping yourself,” Carson said.
Liz’s nostrils flared and she took a deep breath. “It was a gay bar, you idiot.”
Oh. Shit.
“I should go back and thank them, because it showed me who you truly are.”
“And who’s that?” The question was out of Carson’s mouth before he was able to pull it back and swallow it.
“A huge disappointment.”
Her words were a punch to the gut. He braced himself for them, braced himself to hear her call him countless names and rail against him.
But he wasn’t prepared for the nearly whispered words that hit him directly in his core.
That permeated the careful shell he’d created.
That shook the very foundation of who he was. Or who he thought he’d been, anyway.
The words were bad enough.
But then she started blinking rapidly, and her eyes developed a sheen.
Fuck. Were those tears?
Liz swiped a finger under her eyes and drew in a ragged breath, then aimed the fakest smile Carson had ever seen at him. “I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised when you ghosted me after my parents died.”
Fuuuuuuuck. How did she keep hitting her target? It was like there was a bullseye on his chest and she had a machine gun of truth bullets. Except this one wasn’t his fault.
Carson held up one hand as if in oath. “I swear to you I never got a message about your parents.” As pissed as he was at her, he wouldn’t have ignored something like that.
“But I called. And I talked with someone. Your roommate maybe?”
Carson cast his memory back to where he was living at the time. Denver. “Brad?”
“No.” She frowned. “Tim? Jim?”
Carson’s gut took another hit. For fuck’s sake. “Slim?”
Liz shrugged. “Maybe.”
Goddamn it all to hell. Slim, aka Brad’s slimeball cousin, had crashed with them for a week a couple months after he and Liz broke up. Helped himself to their food, clogged their drains with his long, scraggly hair, and had apparently taken the liberty of answering Carson’s phone.
Letting his shoulders sag against his crutches, Carson said, “I think you talked to my roommate’s cousin.”
“Okay.”
“And he definitely didn’t pass along any messages.” Just a case of athlete’s foot that took two rounds of treatment and solidified Carson’s resolve to get his own place as soon as he was able to afford it.
Liz drew her bottom lip between her teeth, her eyebrows furrowed together as she studied him. “You swear you never got my message?”
Carson reached out and placed a hand on Liz’s arm but withdrew it like he’d been burned and held it up again.
“I swear.” He cleared his throat, trying to get the years of anger to dislodge.
“Despite what I thought you did, I would have called you back.” Before this conversation, he would have denied it.
Probably said he wouldn’t have called her back anyway.
But deep down, he knew the truth. He would’ve called her back immediately.
Likely flown back home. Put whatever he thought happened between them aside and tried to support her as best he could.
Goddammit.
Liz nodded and gulped. Confusion furrowed her brow. “Does this mean I don’t have to hate you anymore?”
Carson shrugged. Did it? Hell if he knew. “Maybe?”
“But I was so good at it.”
He chuckled. “You were very good at it.” If holding a grudge was an Olympic sport, Liz would’ve easily medaled. Although, he wasn’t innocent, either. “And so was I.” He swallowed down the lingering misgivings and shifted slightly toward her. “I’m sorry.”
With the smallest hint a smile, Liz replied, “Me, too.” Silence stretched between them as Liz’s gaze darted from his eyes to his lips and back to his eyes again. “Where does that leave us?”
“You mean besides still locked in a room by a ghost?”
Liz snorted. “Yeah. Did you get all that down, Dr. Phil?” They looked at the now empty chair, then at each other. “Do you think we scared him off?” she asked.
“Does it matter?” Carson swallowed as he held her gaze. As he wondered if her lips were still as soft as they used to be. If she still fit in his arms like she used to. If he was a bigger dummy to try something or not try something.
As if sensing the struggle taking place within him, Liz licked her lips. “Carson,” she whispered.
“Yeah?”
Liz leaned forward and ran a hand along his jaw.
Damn, he missed her touch. He leaned into it like a dog leaning into a good back scratch.
“I—”
The door to the game room swung open, and Maya poked her head inside.
Liz sprang back and shoved her hands in her pockets. Carson shuffled on his crutches, trying not to fall on his ass.
“Oh. Good.” Something that looked like relief washed across Maya’s face. “You guys okay in here? It was quiet for so long I thought something might’ve happened.”
Liz glanced at Carson, then turned to Maya, her expression hardening again. “Yeah. We’re fine. You, however, need to watch your back.” Liz gave Carson another glance, something like disbelief and confusion on her face, then shoved her way past Maya and out the door.
“What was that about?” Maya asked.
“I wish I knew.” Had they almost kissed? Had they finally buried the hatchet? Had they really been psychoanalyzed by a Civil War ghost playing Dr. Phil?
“Did, uh, anything happen while you two were in here?” Maya asked.
“I have no idea.” He truly didn’t. Didn’t know where he would begin to explain the past half hour or so even if he could.
“Oh. Huh.” She stepped into the room and looked around.
“Why? Were you expecting something?” Like maybe a real murder scene?
“What? No.” With a shake of her head, Maya replaced her frown with a smile. “Thanks for helping us out tonight. We truly appreciate it.”
“No problem.” To his surprise, he actually meant it. It hadn’t been a problem at all. Unless you counted the fact that now he had to figure out what to make of their misunderstanding all those years ago. Had to think about what might have been. What should’ve been. What could’ve been.
If there might still be something between them.
Or if the past should stay buried.
Liz wasn’t sure how she managed to make it through the rest of the murder mystery. How she managed to paste on a smile and play along after what happened in the game room. She considered leaving. Considered storming out the front door and putting whatever the hell just happened behind her.
Except that would’ve been letting certain people off the hook way too easily. Instead, she stayed. Played her part. Gave Maya and Clem a wide berth. Made sure not to go anywhere near the game room or the Sunshine Suite. Then pounced when everyone else was gone.
Liz shut the front door of the inn behind Cowboy Walt and leaned against it. Crossing her arms, she leveled her two former friends with a stare.
“Hey, what should I do with these?” Davis emerged from the kitchen with a tray of meatballs, looked around the lobby, and turned around. “Never mind,” he said, disappearing back through the kitchen door.
“Coward!” Maya shouted after him.
Clem let out a sigh. “Must we do this now?”
“Do what now?” Liz raised her eyebrows in what she hoped was an expression of innocence.
“She’s right,” Maya answered. “Maybe you should sleep on it.”
“Sleep on what?” Liz took a few steps forward, taking no small amount of delight when both Maya and Clem took a step back. That’s right. Be afraid. Be very afraid.
But instead of shrinking away in fear, Clem narrowed her eyes and straightened her waif-like frame. “On whatever it is you think is going on.”
Liz barked out a laugh. “Oh, I know what’s going on.” Taking another few measured steps forward, she stopped and mirrored Clem’s stance. “What’s going on is the two of you going behind people’s backs. Meddling in people’s lives. Breaking people’s trust.”
While Maya’s jaw dropped, her expression one closer to hurt and apology, Clem’s eyes softened. Reaching out a finger, she gently touched Liz’s cheek. “What is it you’re really angry about dear?”
Liz’s blood went from a gentle simmer to a straight up boil. “You! This! Trapping me in a room with…him!”
Clem lifted an eyebrow. “Him who, dear?”
“You know very well who,” Liz spat.
“The Major?” Clem pressed.
Liz prepared herself for the anger that surfaced when she was forced to put his name out into the universe.
“Carson.” The fact that saying it out loud no longer made her want to choke someone only made her want to choke someone even more.
Or maybe it was the fact that she still didn’t know what to think about what he said or how she thought kissing him might be a good idea or thinking about what would’ve happened if Maya hadn’t shown up.
Dammit!
Liz sucked in a breath and struggled to get her thoughts back on track.
Being mad at Clem and Maya for meddling was a much better option than delving into the confusing cauldron of her emotions.
“You can’t go around manipulating people like that and locking people in rooms. That’s just plain dangerous. ”
Maya raised her finger. “Technically, that wasn’t us.”
“Right. Just like you didn’t poison the shrimp puffs. Or make us hallucinate with your crappy air quality. Which I will be reporting, by the way.” Ah, yes. Righteous indignation. That felt much better than internal soul searching.
Clem tilted her head to the side. “I know this is difficult for you, but none of that is true, and you know it.”
Liz snorted. “What I know is that you two are seriously deranged.” Okay, maybe she was overreacting a bit. But she found the best defense was a good offense, and she had an excess of offensive energy to work with right now.
“Are we?” Clem pursed her lips as she stared at Liz. “Or are you too stubborn to admit what’s right in front of you?”
“Aunt Clem,” Maya said, eyeing Liz like she was a wild animal, “maybe now isn’t the right time.”
Ignoring Maya, Liz jabbed a finger at Clem. “Oh, I can admit what’s right in front of me. Health code violations out the wazoo and people who take some sort of sick pleasure in toying with other people’s emotions.”
“Aha!” Clem’s finger shot into the air. “You admit it!”
“What? That I have emotions?”
A smug smile blossomed on Clem’s face. “That you have emotions for Carson.”
Liz recoiled with a gasp. “You take that back!”
“Sorry!” Clem shrugged, a gleam in her eyes. “What is done cannot be undone.”
“But nothing’s been done!” Liz protested. Crap. How had they managed to turn the tables on her so quickly? One minute she was playing offense, and the next she was busy trying to defend herself from their evil lies.
Because that was what this was, right? A lie?
There was no way she had feelings for Carson.
Not now. Not after everything that happened.
Even if she did, confusion wasn’t a feeling, was it?
Because if anything, that was what she felt.
Confusion about how they managed to mix their signals for so many years.
Confusion about what she was supposed to do now that she apparently didn’t have to hate him.
Confusion about what the hell happened back in that game room.
Confusion about what almost happened in the game room.
If she let her imagination run wild for a moment, allowed herself to believe there wasn’t any food poisoning or air quality issues at the inn and that it was, in fact, haunted by a ghost, that wasn’t just confusing. It was freaking terrifying.
Not the ghost bit, per se, but the other part of it. The soul mate part. The connection to Carson part. Hell, the connection to anyone part.
Shit.
“Come here.” Before she was able to protest, Clem enfolded Liz in her arms. “I know this all seems like a bit much,” the older woman said, “but I promise you, it will all work out.”
Liz wasn’t sure why, but she believed her.
She just wasn’t sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing.