Chapter 35
CHAPTER 35
When Lizzie woke up, and glanced at the clock on the nightstand she was shocked to see it was almost 8. She never sleeps that late. Granted it was after 2 by the time she fell asleep. She kept thinking she heard noises, first outside and then downstairs. She had the storylines of multiple movies running through her head, and kept expecting something nefarious, straight out of Hollywood to happen in her beloved Cranberry Harbor home. First it was the FBI she was thinking about, maybe they’d show up to arrest Eric, and then it was bad guys, sent by bad guys to kidnap him and take him…someplace. Someplace not good.
She throws the covers off, treads into the bathroom, and comes out a few minutes later, teeth brushed, hair in a messy bun, and now wearing the yoga pants and sweatshirt she had hanging on the back of the door. She feels okay seeing a relative stranger at the breakfast table in this outfit, it’s not exactly glamorous, but a bit more presentable than her Hello Kitty pajamas.
“Good morning,” everyone else says to her as she enters the kitchen. Eric is on his laptop, typing away with headphones, while Gabby and Peter are having breakfast. She pours herself some coffee and joins them.
Eric removes his earbuds, “Morning, I hope I didn’t wake you up, I slept for a few hours and then couldn’t stop thinking so I decided to come down here and write.”
Ah, so that was the noise she heard, she was not crazy. “Not a problem, how’s it going?”
“I’m close to a decent first draft. When that’s done I’ll send it to you two for notes, if that’s okay?” he asks.
“Of course,” Peter says. “We should get to work on our part of this, Lizzie. How do you want to split it?”
Lizzie is still barely awake, and is trying to get up to speed. “Um, how about I write the present day stuff? What Terra Marique is, how it got approved, who it’s going to serve, the lawsuit, and you can write about the history with Gobel and Green and the town? That sound okay?”
“I was thinking the same thing,” he says. “Great minds.” He finishes his oatmeal and gets up to take his bowl to the sink. “I’m going to shower and get to the office. Eric, why don’t you keep working here? If that’s okay? This probably isn’t something to work on with public WiFi at Sea Coast.”
“You’ve already been so generous, are you sure?” Eric asks.
“Yes, we’re sure,” Gabby says, getting up from the table too. She has no idea what Eric is working on, and as the long-time wife of a journalist knows better than to ask. “You’re welcome here for as long as you like,” Gabby says. “Just let me know if you need anything. If you have any laundry I can point you to the laundry room. Just let us know what you need, and help yourself to anything,”
“Thank you so much,” he says, looking a little embarrassed.
When Gabby and Peter are gone and it’s just Eric and Lizzie, he stops typing for a moment.
“Your parents are so nice, this almost doesn’t seem real. I think I’ve spent too much time lately around people doing bad things, you sort of forget what it’s like to be around people who are genuinely kind,” he says.
“That they are, and it is genuine.” She gets up to start getting ready for work. “I can’t not ask, how’s it going? Do you think you have everything you need?”
He nods. “Yeah, and then some. There’s no way given what they’ve done that they should be allowed to do business anywhere. They should all be in jail.”
Lizzie feels a bit of a chill hearing that, it’s exciting and scary, and she hopes they don’t end up falling on their faces with all of them losing everything.
Before going upstairs to get dressed she turns around. “You’re completely sure Gloria is legit? Sorry, it’s not that I don’t trust you, it’s just I worry we’re being duped and she’s a plant from them to keep us off their scent.”
“No apology needed, I can understand that this all feels awfully surreal, I thought so at first too, but the more digging I do, it all adds up. And I’ve been able to corroborate her claims with scientists in the area who have been, on their own, testing the water due to the devastation they’re seeing.”
Lizzie nods, still unable to believe that people, for money and power can be so selfish and cause such damage to the world around them. “What makes people do things like this?” she asks, not really to Eric, but to the universe really.
Eric shakes his head. “I wish I knew. I do a lot of stories about financial impropriety, shady real estate deals and things like that. But it’s the ones that actually harm people, wildlife, the environment that leave me the most stymied. I don’t know how people sleep at night.” He shrugs his shoulders. “But sometimes, justice does prevail and they pay for what they’ve done, and I really hope this is one of those times.”
“From your lips, Eric,” Lizzie says. “Okay, I’m going to let you work. Thank you for all you’re doing.”
“Thank me when they’re led off in handcuffs,” he says, getting back to work.
On her way to the paper Lizzie stops at Sea Coast to see if Alexis might be there working remotely. She needs to see a friend and think about something happy, like how her lunch with Ian went. She’s thrilled when she sees Alexis standing in line, waiting to be served.
“Hey friend,” she says, tapping Alexis on the shoulder. “I was hoping to run into you.”
“You were? What are the odds you’d find me here?” Alexis says, laughing. “Are you in a hurry?”
“I can’t stay too long, but I can definitely have a quick cup of coffee and hear all about your lunch!” Lizzie says.
They each get their coffee and find an empty table.
“You’ve been a bit MIA for the last couple of days, everything okay at the Gazette?” Alexis asks.
Lizzie, not a natural liar, does her best to wave her off, “Oh yeah, everything is fine,” she says, waving her off. “Just busy, and trying to be supportive of Jack…So enough about me, how’d it go with Ian? Was it a date date or a business meeting?” She smiles, and drinks some of her coffee.
Alexis looks down and when she looks up she’s beaming. “Yeah, it was a date date, not a business meeting. Though we did discuss the film, Terra Marique, and the lawsuit.”
“But you like him,” Lizzie is so happy for her friend. “He seems so great, this is the best news I’ve heard in a long while.”
“Given how things are going in your life I’d say that bar is pretty low,” she jokes.
Lizzie laughs. “Good point! I haven’t had a lot of good news of late, but things will get better. Anyway, so how long is he going to be laid up with that cast?”
“Three more weeks, hopefully. He won’t be going running with me anytime soon, but he will be able to drive, which he’s very excited about,” Alexis says. “So, where are you at with your wedding at this point? Are you still making plans? Choosing flowers? What kind of flowers were you thinking? Food? Were you thinking of a buffet? Sit-down dinner? Did you and Jack already get your wedding rings? What about a cake? Have you already picked flavors? I know you mentioned once having the ice cream truck come and how fun that would be, but maybe you don’t want to do that anymore, but it could be really cool… ”
“Whoa, that’s a whole lot of questions, my friend!’ Lizzie laughs, but is a little confused. “Are you taking a survey? Getting ideas for your own wedding?”
Alexis puts her hands over her face, “Argh, I’m so sorry, too much coffee, I think. I’ve been thinking about your wedding, and all the things we were planning to do together, and it all just came out in one flood of questions!’ She pushes her coffee away, “I am officially cut off from any more caffeine today.”
Lizzie sighs, “I was so looking forward to all those things, and wow, I’d forgotten about the ice cream truck, that is a pretty cool idea!” She keeps thinking. “And I love peonies, they are totally my favorite flower. And Jack had mentioned a grilled cheese bar…We hadn’t gotten to pick out the wedding rings yet. I was planning on doing that in a week or two, before this stupid lawsuit happened. Those jerks ruined everything, Alexis.”
“What were you thinking of for food, you know, other than grilled cheese, which by the way is a great idea.” Alexis says. “You know, just wondering.”
Lizzie shrugs, “We hadn’t decided the time of day yet, so we hadn’t narrowed down a menu.You’re awfully curious about all of this, how come?”
“Can’t a girl be interested in her friend’s wedding?”
“Yes, of course, I’m sorry,” she shakes her head. “You’re a really sweet friend, but a part of me still wonders if this is ever going to happen. I know Jack says he wants it to happen, but I’m still not quite convinced it will. Sorry to be such a Debbie Downer, it’s hard to feel too hopeful right now.”
Alexis reaches across the table and takes Lizzie’s hand. “This IS going to happen, Lizzie, I know it is. Jack loves you and he wants to marry you. This is a speed bump, a glitch, you’re going to get past this and have your happily ever after. You’ve got this, it’s all going to work out.”
Lizzie nods and smiles, “I would settle for ‘happy for a while’ at this point. But thank you for that,”
“For what?”
“For still believing in…hope? I guess. I haven’t been feeling too hopeful lately and that was a very good pep talk,” Lizzie says.
“So I’m a good pep talker, huh?”
“Oh, I’d say world class pep talker. If there was an Olympics for pep talking you’d win a gold medal,” Lizzie says. She looks at the clock on the wall. “I really should get to the office, I don’t want to leave my dad to handle everything.” She stands up and puts on her coat. “Thanks for all of this, for reminding me there is a life beyond this crisis. It’s easy to forget that.” She hugs Alexis. “I will be better about staying in touch, and please don’t hesitate to call or text. Actually, please do, okay?”
“I will,” Alexis says. “I promise. We’ll talk later.”
“Later, gator,” Lizzie says and with that she’s out the door.