Sean turned around toward the house. Lizzie stood in the front doorway, her body blocking the view inside, blocking the view to the stairs that went up.
Looking at her now, Sean didn’t want her to know what had happened with his father. Ever. Nothing made him feel weaker or more ashamed than the past, and he wanted to be strong for her. He wanted to be a man for her.
Not a frightened little boy.
Besides, there was the relationship she’d had with his father. Though Sean couldn’t understand it, it was clear she’d been close to the man and there was no reason to spoil her memories of him with stuff that didn’t affect her.
Sean walked up onto the porch and wrapped his arms around her. As she embraced him back, he closed his eyes so he couldn’t see the stairs.
“Did I tell you how beautiful you look tonight?” he said into her hair.
She chuckled a little. “This jeans and T-shirt combo isn’t exactly Miss America–worthy.”
He held on even harder. “The hell they aren’t. To me, whatever you have on is a ball gown.”
She stiffened, but then eased back into him. “You scare me when you say things like that.”
“Why?”
“I’m afraid I’ll start believing them.”
He pulled back and looked her in the eye. “Believe them, Lizzie. Trust me and believe them.”
***
Chapter Fourteen
The following Thursday, Lizzie raced for the phone in the living room, leaving a pot of water with a fistful of linguine in it boiling on the stove.
“Hello?”
“Hi.” Sean’s voice was warm over the line.
She smiled so wide her cheeks stretched. “Hi.”
“How was your day?”
“Better now.”
He laughed. “Funny, I feel the same way.”
Over the past week, he’d surprised the hell out of her. He called her every day at least once, sometimes more often. And when she was moonlighting, no matter what time it was when she got home, the phone would ring as if he’d set his alarm to her schedule just so he could check she was safe and sound.
“Are you in a car?” she asked. “I hear a whirring noise in the background.”
“Yeah, I’m on the road again.”
“I don’t know how you do everything you do.” Boy, from what she’d learned, he earned every penny of the money he got for putting those billion-dollar deals together. He worked around the clock and there were very few times when there were no arguing voices in the background as they talked.
Yet, even though he was busy, somehow she was always his sole focus when he called. There had been numerous occasions when people had tried to interrupt and he’d put them off curtly. He even lingered over goodbyes as if he didn’t want her to go. Every time.
“You sound tired,” he said.
She headed back for the stove. “Just not as many daytime jobs in downtown as I’d hoped.”
“Your car come back today?”
“Yes, thank heavens.” She stirred the pasta with a fork. She was glad to have a set of wheels again, but cutting the check for all that work had pained her…and so was what she was about to ask him. The thing was, however, it was the end of the month and although money wasn’t quite a problem, it was going to be in a little while. “Ah…Sean?”
“Mmm?”
“I hate to bring this up, but remember when you said I could live here rent free until you sold the…”
“Absolutely. Don’t you dare write that check.”
“Thank you…really, thank you. I hate to impose, but things are going to get tight for me.”
“I’d offer you a loan, but I have a feeling you’d turn me down.”
“Of course I would! But I do appreciate the break on the rent, even though I wish I didn’t need it.” She cradled the phone between her ear and her shoulder, picked up the pot and headed for the strainer in the sink. As she poured, a waft of steam shot up and she leaned back. “Whoa, hot.”
“What is?”
“Spaghetti water.” She put the pot back on the stove and jogged the strainer, making the linguine bounce. “So do you have another busy night planned?”
His voice deepened. “Oh, yeah. Very busy.”
“I think you work too hard.”
“Some kinds of work are a real pleasure.”
“You love what you do, don’t you?”
“I love what I’m going to be doing tonight.” The whirring noise in the background got cut off. Then there were some dinging sounds followed by a dullthunch…