Chapter 31
“Good morning, running buddy!”
I jump five feet in the air and almost bang my head on the top of the doorframe. Liz is leaning back against the railing across from my front door, a happy grin stretched across her face from ear to ear.
“Christ, woman, you scared the hell out of me.”
I lift her up in a hug, overjoyed that she’s back, before I remember I’m angry at her for leaving without telling me.
“I forgot. I’m not talking to you,” I grumble as I set her down. Her grin widens and I roll my eyes.
Biding my time, I bend down to re-tie and double knot my shoelaces.
I do a few stretches and Liz does the same.
She has her hair pulled up in a high ponytail and, since it’s cold out this morning, she is wearing long exercise pants, a Randy’s Custom Auto hoodie, and gloves.
Her cheeks and nose are already rosy from the chilled air.
God, I’ve missed her. I should make her work for my forgiveness for leaving without a word, but I’m too overjoyed at seeing her.
I take off at a slow jog, my feet finding a steady rhythm. Liz keeps pace, staying at my side.
“I wrote a song for you last night,” she says between metered breaths. “It’s called ‘I’m sorry and I love you and please don’t be mad at me because I miss you and I need you in my life.’”
The snort of laughter escapes before I can stop it.
“I can sing it for you.” And she does. She uses the beat of our feet pounding the ground to keep time with the words as she chants like an army drill sergeant.
A few other early-morning joggers give us bemused looks as they pass by.
I know she’s making up the lines as she goes, but it’s funny and very endearing—and I give in.
I love this girl too much to stay upset with her.
I come to an abrupt halt, causing her to trip over her feet and slam sideways into me. We fall onto the frost-covered ground in a heap of tangled limbs.
“You’re relentless, you know that?” I playfully admonish her from my supine position.
“Do you forgive me, Julien?” The hopeful puppy dog expression on her face would have done me in if I hadn’t already surrendered.
“You knew full well that I wouldn’t be able to stay mad at you.”
“One second of you being mad at me feels like forever, and it’s been whole minutes which means longer than eternity.”
I stand up, pulling her with me. “That sentence was deplorable, and your analogy is not even mathematically possible.”
I love her smile, especially the one that she’s currently blinding me with.
Strands of her ponytail are sticking to her face. I take each piece and gently push them back into place. And because I’ve missed her so much, I plant a smacking kiss on her frosty pink lips
“Don’t leave again. I’m serious. If you need to escape or need room to breathe, let me know. Send pigeon carrier mail for all I care. Just let me know before you take off.”
“It may have to be pigeon mail. Fallon confiscated my phone while we were away, but he texted Ryder almost every day. Didn’t Ryder tell you and Jayson?”
“He told us, but it’s not the same as hearing from you.” I tweak her nose, then reach for her hand and loop it through my arm at the elbow. Liz presses into my side and we start walking.
“You going to tell me what is going on between you and Fallon? Or what went through your mind to make it okay for you to disappear without a word?”
A cloud of vapor rises up like smoke as Liz exhales hard. “I feel like I’ve been on repeat explaining the same things to everyone.”
“Let me make it simple. Are you and Fallon together?”
She throws her head back and laughs. “No. Just friends.”
“Jay said when your memories came back, you showed up at our house.” For the first time in my life, I wished I had skipped a soccer game that day. That way I would have been home and could have prevented the events that transpired.
“I made a very, very big mistake, Julien. That’s why I left with Fallon. I had to sort things out in my head.”
Elizabeth tugs me to a standstill and grips my shoulders with her gloved hands.
“As much as you, Ryder, and Jayson love me, you couldn’t have helped me in that moment.
That’s why I went with Fallon. I know how that must sound, especially since we’ve been inseparable for most of our lives, but Fallon was the only person who could help me.
I don’t regret going with him. He literally saved me, Julien, and I will be grateful to him for the rest of my life. ”
I chew on that for a minute, wanting to ask more about what’s going on between them. There’s clearly something deeper between Fallon and Liz.
“I’ve heard Jay’s version of that night. Want to tell me yours?” I ask her.
“That night with Jayson should not have happened, but I’m the only one to blame.
I could say that I don’t remember most of it.
I could make the excuse that my mind was messed up and I didn’t know what I was doing.
But that would be a cop-out. I have to own what I did and try to make amends with Jayson for blurring the lines and screwing everything up. I won’t blame him if he hates me.”
“Liz, Jay could never hate you.”
“I deserve for him to. Maybe hate is too strong a word. But I do warrant his anger. I never wanted to hurt him. Ever. I had a lot of time to think while away. I had to make a choice, and I chose Ryder. Fallon apparently figured it out and that’s why he flew Ryder to where we were staying in Spain.”
“I still can’t believe that you were in Europe.” I give her a mock gape and she nods her head emphatically.
“I know! I couldn’t believe it myself! I have so many things to tell you and Jayson. You would not believe all the stuff Fallon and I did,” she excitedly exclaims.
We look at each other and I snicker at her double entendre.
“Julien, get your mind out of the gutter.”
“Hey, you’re the one who said it.” And then Liz hits me with the big reveal.
“Hailey came back,” she professes as she kicks a pinecone down the road.
“Like back, back? Here in town, back?”
I can feel Liz shiver next to me. “Yep.”
“When did that happen?”
She emits a miserable groan. “Julien, she looks awful. It’s like someone made a husk of my sister.
She looks like Hailey on the outside, but on the inside there’s barely a flicker of the sister I used to know.
If they ever find the guy she went off with, I’ll likely murder him with my bare hands.
He stole Hailey’s light, and I don’t know how to help her find it again.
She didn’t know what happened to Mom and Dad, so she’s also having to deal with that. ”
“With your memories back, so do you. Who’s helping you?”
She shrugs. “Fallon tried. But we’re not talking about me, we’re talking about Hailey. I’m the big sister. I need to put her first.”
“I guess that means as co-best friend, I will take up the slack and help hold you up. Jay and Ry will too.”
Liz squints at me. “That may not be possible. Jayson may never forgive me for choosing Ryder again.”
My brother can be stubborn when it comes to Liz, but he’s been working hard to be a better person. “I think Jay may surprise you,” I tell her.
“Where’s Elijah this morning?”
Ah, my sweet, handsome, can-be-a-pain-in-my-butt boyfriend. “We’ve been taking some time apart since we had that big argument the night Jay sucker-punched Ry.” The lovely evening—one I would like to forget—happened shortly before Liz ran off with Fallon.
She winces. “Ouch. Don’t remind me. That seems like ages ago. You haven’t broken up, have you?”
“I hope not. We still have date nights on Saturdays. With you being in the wind and Jay and Ry freaking out, then with soccer and school, I’ve kind of had my hands full.”
She gives me a teasing side-smirk. “You didn’t freak out?”
I hold my thumb and index finger together an inch apart. “Maybe a smidgen,” I reply.
“I really am sorry, Julien.”
The alarm on my fitness watch goes off, alerting me that it’s time to head back. “I guess running was a bust today.”
Liz kisses my frosty cheek. “Nah, it was perfect. I mainly wanted to talk to you, so mission accomplished. Mind if I pop in and see Jayson, or do you think I should wait?”
“Please don’t wait. God forbid he finds out you went running with me and he didn’t get a chance to see you.” I hold my hands next to my head and mime a nuclear explosion.
Liz chuckles. “Yeah, you’re right. Ry and I are dodging school today anyway since it’s basically Thanksgiving break. I can hang around until you guys have to leave.
“I would love to play hooky, but coach would skin my hide if I missed school and practice.”
“Don’t you have a home game coming up?”
“Tuesday after the break.” I take Liz’s hand and loop it above her head, spinning her in a circle, before catching her in a dancer’s pose. The move delights her to no end. For all the worry she’s put us through, I love seeing this girl happy.
She grins up at me when I dip her. “I remember you doing this at prom.”
I peck a kiss to her cold, red nose. “I’m so happy you remember everything. I liked the new Liz, but I also missed the girl I used to run through the woods with.”
“Just call me Liz two-point-five.”
“Why the point five?”
“I’m a mix of versions one and two with something extra added. Keep up.”
We’re almost back to the house when we hear Liz’s name being shouted.
I watch as Jay literally flies off the front porch and, as soon as his feet hit the ground, sprints towards us.
Liz releases my arm and runs to meet him.
They crash together in an enthusiastic embrace that I’m sure is going to leave bruises on the both of them.
I just hope that once the rush of seeing each other fades, they’ll sit down to talk and figure things out.