Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
“ H ow can the entire town be sold out of holiday lights?” Renic asked. They’d been driving around for hours, visited seven different box stores and three local retailers, and still didn’t have enough lights, according to Lizzie. He thought for sure she’d made up this little escapade as an excuse to get him out of the house, but now the woman seemed determined to buy every strand of lights in the entire region.
“It’s a small town,” Lizzie said, as if that explained anything and everything.
“Where to now?” Renic asked. He’d used every ounce of patience he had to get this far, and he wasn’t sure how much more he could take. Every time he tried to talk about Della, she either didn’t answer, changed the subject, or turned up the music. He’d have been better off staying behind.
“We need to head toward Rochester.” Lizzie gestured with her phone. “Take the second right.”
They were driving on a two-lane road in the middle of nowhere. It had a ditch on both sides and very little signage. There were no other cars on the road, and he couldn’t remember when they last saw a house or even a gas station, let alone a crossroads of any sort.
“How far ahead?”
“A little ways. Not too far.” Lizzie returned her attention to her phone.
She’d been texting nonstop for the past hour. He’d left her alone, thinking she had business or wedding issues to deal with, but now he thought she was just using it as an excuse to avoid talking to him.
The tension between them was palpable, and it was giving him a headache. He couldn’t stop thinking about that morning. He had a feeling she couldn’t either because she refused to look at him.
It had been a real rush to stand naked in front of her and to see her reaction. First shock, then interest, then something more. It had made him feel powerful in a way that had nothing to do with physical strength.
When he’d caught her touching his sheets, he’d imagined a scenario with the two of them lying naked in that bed and almost went back in the bathroom for another shower.
"Here?” he said as they approached the first intersecting road he’d seen.
“No, the next one,” Lizzie said without looking up.
He noticed a small sign indicating the thruway toward Rochester as they passed by. “That was the thruway entrance back there. You’re doing this on purpose.”
Lizzie didn’t look up, but he thought he detected a subtle twitch in her lips. “Just drive.”
“You’re deliberately making this take as long as possible.” He glanced sideways at her .
“Not as far as you know.”
Something inside him snapped. He pulled out his phone and triggered the voice activation. “Directions to Belhurst Castle.”
Lizzie looked up, eyes wide. “We aren’t done.”
“Yes, we are.” Renic shook his head and gripped the steering wheel a little harder. “I thought this would be a chance to actually talk. I guess I should have known better. You don’t want to talk to me. All you want is to keep me from talking to Della. What I can’t figure out is why.”
The GPS beeped with directions. “ In four miles, turn right.”
“Why?” Lizzie looked at him with the stare she used to drive away backstage leeches when the girls were younger. “ Because I’m not letting you manipulate Della into doing something she doesn’t want to do. Not again. You turn on that damn charm and it’s like it’s some sort of beacon that hypnotizes everybody into doing what you want.”
She thought he was charming? “I think that was almost a compliment.”
She snorted. “You would think that.”
“It seems to me the one doing the manipulating here is you ,” Renic said. “You dragged me out to the middle of nowhere to hunt twinkle lights, of all things. You don’t need more lights. You just can’t admit that I’m right.”
“Right about what?” She crossed her arms and stared out the front window. For once she wasn’t looking at her phone.
“Della is throwing her career away if she doesn’t do this tour. How many times do we have to go over the same ground before you admit we want the same damn thing? She’ll blow up the rest of her life if she doesn’t come back.”
Lizzie shifted in her seat. “What’s so bad about her wanting to do something different for a change? She’s been on stage since she was eight. Maybe she’s just exhausted. Maybe she’s just tired of being what everyone else wants her to be.”
He gripped the steering wheel even harder. There was some truth to what she said, but it wasn’t the whole story. “You know she’s happiest on stage. I’ve never met another artist who emotes like she does. She doesn’t just sing. She is the music. Do you really think she’ll be truly happy if she turns her back on it?”
Lizzie made a frustrated little sound, but he wasn’t sure if it was denial or agreement.
His gut told him to push one more time, so he did. “Come on, Lizzie. Help me get her back where she belongs.”
The GPS beeped. “ In three miles, turn right.”
“You really think you know what’s best for everyone, don't you? You think you have all the answers.”
“Lizzie…”
“You know what? It really drives me crazy that sometimes you do.” There was something bitter in her tone, maybe even resigned. “Fine. I admit that you’re right. Della’s most alive on stage. She’s always been that way.”
Renic kept his expression calm, but inside he wanted to shout. They were finally getting somewhere.
“But you’re wrong, too.”
The surge of hope fizzled. “How so?”
“It’s not just about music, or about the tour. Maybe Della’s not as passionate about music as she used to be. Maybe it’s not enough. You can't just make her be happy and perform like a dancing bear just because it’s convenient for you.”
“Nothing about this is convenient.” He resisted the urge to hit the steering wheel. “We have to do something. A lot of people are going to be affected by this little stunt of hers. ”
“It’s not a stunt,” Lizzie snapped. “It’s a cry for help. Have some damn compassion.”
The GPS beeped. “ In two miles, turn right.”
“I love Della like she was my own sister. I care about her more than you’ve ever wanted to admit. But I also have compassion for the hundreds of people whose jobs depend on her showing up and honoring her commitments. Don’t you? Once upon a time you were one of those people.”
Lizzie pressed her lips together and glared out the window.
He wasn’t sure how much of her resistance was because she thought he was wrong and how much was because she wanted to punish him for the past. “I know you love Della more than you like being pissed off at me. I know you’re worried about her. I am too. Can we call a truce? At least until we help Della? Then I’ll get out of your life, and you can go back to hating me.”
Renic let road noise fill the empty space between them.
Lizzie stared out the window.
His hands ached. He forced himself to relax his grip on the wheel.
“ In one mile, turn right.”
He should say something. She frowned at something he couldn't see. Her own thoughts, maybe. The way her dark hair spilled around her shoulders to frame her face reminded him of when they first met. She’d been so focused on her sisters’ performance that she hadn’t noticed him watching. He’d been able to study her profile until the curve of her cheeks and the light in her eyes were burned into his memory.
She’d captivated him that day with her loyalty, love, and unstoppable dedication to her sisters’ happiness. He’d never had anything like that in his own family, not even from his mother. It had taken his breath away to experience it up close, if only from the sidelines.
His thoughts wandered back to the bedroom and the way she’d looked with her hand on his sheets. The temperature in the SUV kicked up a notch or two. “Lizzie, I just want you to know—”
A loud boom rocked the SUV, and suddenly it was hard to control the wheel.
Renic immediately let off the gas as a whomp whomp whomp sound filled the air. Shards of rubber spun out as the tire deflated and disintegrated.
Lizzie squeaked and grabbed onto the door handle.
Renic swore and resisted the urge to slam on the brakes. The car swerved to the left. He wrestled it back to the right and fought the vehicle to a standstill in the middle of the road. His pulse skyrocketed as adrenaline and delayed reaction danced on his nerves.
The promised turnoff was just ahead on the right. A run-down looking bar with a sign that read Still & Grill occupied the corner on one side of the road, an empty field on the other. There was nothing else in sight.
Lizzie put a hand on her chest and breathed out. “Sweet baby Jesus.”
They exchanged glances.
“Perfect!” Renic said. “Just freaking perfect.”
“We have to get out of the road,” Lizzie said. She turned to look out the back window as if she expected a truck to somehow materialize and ram into them at any second.
Renic gritted his teeth. “That’s what I’m doing.”
He slowly and carefully maneuvered the car into the surprisingly full parking lot of the Still & Grill, selecting one of two open spots near the road and turned off the car. Quiet that only exists in the country infiltrated the SUV .
“I don’t suppose you have emergency services out here in the sticks?” he asked.
“This is a rental, isn’t it?” Lizzie pointed at his phone. “It comes with roadside assistance. You just have to call.”
He reached across her lap to open the glove compartment, and his hand brushed the top of her thigh. A rush of heat tingled his fingers.
Lizzie smacked his hand away. “What the hell are you doing?”
He gave her a wide-eyed innocent look. “I need the rental agreement so I can call for help. What did you think I was reaching for?”
He wanted to add that he’d love to reach for more intimate places and that he’d be happy to move the car to a more secluded part of the parking lot to explore that idea, but he refrained from saying that out loud.
She rolled her eyes at him as if he could read his thoughts and retrieved the paperwork.
He called the number listed on the front for emergencies. After several excruciating minutes arguing with an automated message system, he managed to get the promise of help. He hung up. “They say it’ll take an hour or so.”
She snorted. “Right. The last time I called roadside assistance I was stuck for three hours, and that was in the middle of town. Nothing moves that fast up here.”
He opened the door. “Screw this. There’s bound to be a spare tire.”
He slammed the door and walked to the back of the SUV. It wasn’t the type to have a tire hanging off the back. It must be hiding inside.
He heard the passenger door open and footsteps heading away from the car .
He poked his head around the side. “Hey, where are you going?”
Lizzie waved her hand at the seedy looking bar. “I’m getting a drink.”
He hesitated. He really wanted to get back to the inn, but letting a woman walk alone into a place like this seemed like a bad idea.
He pulled open the hatch and did a quick check. As it turned out, the rental car didn’t even have a cheap donut spare to use. “Dammit.”
He locked the car and followed Lizzie.
The outside of the bar looked like something out of a horror movie, with worn-out gray siding and old road signs for decoration. Stepping inside, he paused to let his eyes adjust to the gloom he’d been expecting, but was surprised to find the place well lit, both with indirect lights overhead and chandeliers made out of wagon wheels.
A long bar stretched along the back wall opposite him, and the space in front was filled with standing tables for the serious drinkers. The rest of the place was a restaurant. The dark wood chairs looked comfortable, and the tables had menus propped up between condiment bottles.
It was surprisingly busy for lunch on a Wednesday. A lot of the tables were occupied, and the sounds of happy conversations made it feel cozy instead of seedy. A waitress in jeans and a white T-shirt with the Still & Grill logo on it delivered a tray of burgers and fries to two women who looked like teachers or office workers.
This wasn’t a seedy bar at all. It was a local hot spot.
A young man was busy setting up a microphone near the upright piano on stage. He looked to be in his mid-twenties, with a football player physique and hair just long enough to qualify him for bad-boy status. He was probably local, maybe a college kid here to earn a few bucks during the lunch rush.
Renic had seen hundreds, if not thousands, of kids just like him over the years. Most didn’t have that special something that would lift them out of the bars and county fairs and into the spotlight.
Lizzie was leaning on the bar, talking to the bartender. He joined her in time to hear her say, “Give me something that’ll make him less irritating.”
“Gotcha.” The bartender chuckled, then glanced at Renic. “What can I get you?”
“I’ll have what she’s having,” he said.
“Right,” the bartender said and moved away.
Renic gestured toward the tables. “Looks like we have time to kill. You hungry?”
“Sure.” She glanced at him, then quickly looked away as if suddenly unsure of herself.
“Grab a seat. I’ll be right there.”
He watched her walk away, appreciating the swing of her hips as she wound her way through the tables. She chose a two-top right in the middle of the room with a clear view of the stage.
The bartender returned with two dark bottles and set them in front of Renic. “This’ll smooth the rough edges a bit.” He winked and popped the top on each bottle.
Renic paid, then took the bottles to Lizzie and sat down. He handed one to her before holding up his own. “Cheers.”
She clicked her bottle against his. “Thanks.”
Lizzie studied the label, which featured a voluptuous woman in a red dress hitting a man on the head with a hammer.
Her eyebrows rose. “Rosie’s Pale Ale Goggles?”
He laughed and took a sip. He’d expected something grainy and gritty, but it was smooth and silky and reminded him of apple cider. “This is pretty good.”
“You sound surprised,” Lizzie said.
“I am. The way this place looks on the outside, I thought it would be dark and desperate on the inside.” He looked around at the rusted sheet metal siding and the bawdy beer signs. “Have you ever been here?”
She shook her head. “It’s too out of the way for me.”
“So you admit you were trying to get me lost out here.” Renic smiled to make sure she knew he was teasing.
“I admit nothing.” Her lips quirked up in a half-smile that put a twinkle in her eyes.
A young waitress stopped at their table and smiled. “You ready to order?”
“Burger and fries, and another of these please,” Renic said. He tapped the half-empty bottle of pale ale in front of him.
“Same,” Lizzie said.
“Glad you got a table,” the waitress said. “If it was Saturday this place’d be packed. Jacob always draws a crowd, but he wasn’t supposed to be here today. He’s filling in for Sonja.” The waitress put a small pad of paper and a tiny golf pencil down on the table. “If you have a request just write it on this and I’ll get it to him.”
The waitress moved on to the next table, handing out paper and pencils to everyone on her way to the kitchen.
Renic leaned back in his chair and took a drink. It felt good to sit back and relax for a change. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been able to do this.
Lizzie took one long pull off her own beer, then set the bottle down. “Okay.”
She kept her gaze on the young man on stage, so he couldn’t read the look in her eyes, but the way she said the word sounded like a concession .
“Okay?” he prompted.
She glanced at him and nodded. “I don’t like that Della ran away from her obligations. But I also don’t like that she’s obviously having a hard time working through something, and it drives me crazy that I don't know what it is. I’ve reasoned with her, I’ve begged, I’ve threatened, I’ve even made her clean toilets, but I’m getting nowhere.”
“Della cleaned toilets?” He tried to suppress a laugh, but failed. “That display of sisterly love and affection didn't convince her to come back?”
Her lips twitched and amusement played in her eyes. "Not yet. Maybe I should make her clean the Rose Room next.”
“Oh that’s just mean.” Renic shook his head. “And you say I’m the one bullying her.”
“I’m not bullying her. I’m helping her think through the consequences of her actions. I’m doing it because I love her. You’re doing it because you love your bottom line.”
“That’s harsh.” He grimaced.
“Harsh, but true. Admit it. If she skips out you're in real danger of losing the label.” She eyed him as if his answer would make or break everything.
He considered lying, diverting her attention, or not answering at all, but if she was finally willing to talk to him like a human again, he didn’t want to ruin it. “We’d take a hit, yes. I might have to do something drastic. But that’s not the only reason I’m here.”
Lizzie nodded and leaned back in her chair looking satisfied.
He breathed a quiet sigh of relief at having passed her test of character.
“Okay, I’m willing to let you talk to her.” She sighed. “Lord knows someone besides her big sister needs to try getting through to her, because I sure haven’t. She always listens to you whether I like it or not.”
He tried his best to hide the surge of triumph, but the sharp flicker of fire in her eyes told him he was unsuccessful.
“You listen to me, Jackson Renic. When I say talk to her, I mean help her find her own way. Don’t impose yours. Deal?”
He nodded and held up his nearly empty bottle. “Deal.”