Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 94512 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 378(@250wpm)___ 315(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94512 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 378(@250wpm)___ 315(@300wpm)
“Fine.” Bianca raised her hands in defeat. “Don’t let me live vicariously through you. I’ll just have to find my romance in a good book or something.”
She let out an exaggerated sigh and Liza rolled her eyes. “This from the woman who has a date almost every weekend?”
Bianca grinned, then rose and let herself out.
Alone at last, Liza placed her hand on the phone, knowing she should call Dare yet feeling awkward anyway.
Before she could gather her courage, another knock sounded at the door. “Come in,” she called out again.
This time, her visitor wasn’t as welcome. “Brian.”
“I’m so sorry,” he said. “I didn’t even know I hit you until Mom and Dad called me the next day. I can’t believe someone would rat me out to them.”
Liza set her jaw, which didn’t help the pounding in her head. “Is any of that supposed to make me feel better?”
He ran a shaking hand through his hair. “I’ll stop drinking, I promise.”
Moisture filled her eyes, but she held back tears. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep, Bri. But if you want to do something for me—”
“Anything,” he said, sounding sincere. His hazel eyes bore into hers.
“Get help.”
“Except that.”
Pain exploded inside her head. “For heaven’s sake, why not? You can’t stop drinking without support and therapy!”
“No damned outsider can begin to understand!” he said, the pain and distress on his face all too real.
“Maybe not, but there are other people just like you who can. I have the name of group counselors. Treatment centers. Any way you want to do this, I’m here for you,” she pleaded, already reaching into her desk drawer where she kept the ever-growing stack of information for her brother.
Her heart pounded in her chest as she prayed he’d listen.
“I don’t need help,” he said through gritted teeth. “I can do this alone.”
His words both disappointed and angered her. “Because you’ve done such a bang-up job so far?” she shouted at him, immediately wincing from the pain.
Brian ducked his head, not meeting her gaze. “I haven’t really tried yet. Just give me another chance, Liza Lou.”
Liza didn’t answer, and Brian walked out, his shoulders slumped in defeat. She released her hands that she’d clenched into tight fists and slumped back in her seat.
What a mess his life had become, and somehow, he was dragging her down with him. Knowing she’d just exhausted whatever reserves she’d had, Liza headed home to take a painkiller and crawl into bed. Hopefully, she’d be better in time to join Faith and her husband for dinner.
* * *
“Stop pacing. Liza said she’s coming, so she’ll be here. In the meantime, you’re making me dizzy,” Ethan muttered.
Dare paused in his lap around his brother’s family room. “Her assistant said she left work early. She didn’t even make it till lunch.” Which concerned him.
“And that’s why inviting her for dinner was a good idea. So she doesn’t have to worry about making it herself,” Faith said. “Ethan’s right. You need to relax.”
“Otherwise, you’ll scare her off by moving in permanently to take care of her,” Ethan said wryly.
Dare gave him the finger.
But when Liza was twenty minutes late and didn’t answer her cell phone, neither Ethan nor Faith argued when Dare drove over to her house to check on her.
Her car was in the driveway, and his gut told him she was home, but when he rang the doorbell, nobody answered. He called her from his cell, and when she still didn’t pick up, he began banging on the door.
Finally, Liza answered. “Dare!” She looked surprised but not unhappy to see him and stepped back, motioning for him to enter.
“Are you okay?”
“I am. Really.”
He scanned his gaze over her from head to toe, and though she looked like she’d just woken up, she seemed okay.
“Did Faith send you because I was late for dinner?”
He wasn’t about to admit he’d been pacing for the last forty minutes. “She was worried.”
Liza nodded. “Well, I was just about to call her. I came home from work and took half a pain pill and fell asleep. I set the alarm, but I swear I must’ve hit snooze, and I don’t remember.” She blushed. “I’m never late, and I feel awful that they waited for me.”
He waved away her concern. “Don’t worry about it. Faith’s the most understanding person I know. It’s Tess and her stomach you have to worry about,” he said, only partially joking.
“I just need a few minutes to pull myself together.”
She was wearing her clothes from work, which were now wrinkled. Obviously, she’d come home and crawled right back into bed. Too much too soon, something he’d already figured out.
“Look, I’ll just be a few minutes, and I’ll meet you back over at Faith’s, okay?”
He shook his head, knowing he wasn’t about to walk away. “I don’t mind waiting and driving you over. No sense getting behind the wheel if your head is still bothering you and you’ve taken pain meds.”