“Liz, Trevor, I want you to meet Kara,” Tim said, looking over at Liz, who was looking down at the girls protruding belly.
“Kara,” Liz said. I took a step closer to her; she looked ready to pass out.
“I told Tim that I shouldn’t come, but he said he couldn’t stand the thought of me being home by myself,” Kara said, smiling at Liz. The Liz that I used to know, the one on guard from everyone around her, slipped into place. She took Kara’s hand in her own, shaking it lightly. That’s when Liz noticed the ring on Kara’s hand.
“My mom’s wedding ring,” Liz said, looking at the ring on her finger, running her thumb over the gold band.
“Tim asked me to marry him when he got home from his last visit. Right, babe?” she asked, looking up at him. I could tell by the way she looked at him that she really loved him.
“Congratulations,” Liz said, looking up at Tim.
“Thanks. I wanted to tell you guys a long time ago, but with the wedding, I didn’t know how to bring it up.” Tim had enough remorse to look guilty when Liz looked at him. Why did he claim to have an addiction, steal her money, and not tell his family about his fiancée? I looked at Liz’s mom and noticed that she was nervous.
I could see Liz take a deep breath, and I know I need to get her out of this situation as soon as possible.
“It’s nice to meet you, Kara,” I said, pulling Liz deeper into my side. Liz’s arm came around my back, her nails digging into my ribs.
“You too. We will see you guys in the morning for breakfast.” I couldn’t get her away from her brother fast enough. We said our goodbyes to Rita, Kara, and Tim. I picked up our bags and stepped in front of a dazed Liz. “Come on babe,” I said quietly, then headed towards the elevators.
“We’ll see you in the morning, honey,” Rita said, giving Liz a quick hug. I looked back over my shoulder, and slowed down when I noticed she was still a ways behind me. When we made eye contact, I could see so much pain flash through her eyes that I had to stop myself from picking her up and taking her away from all of it.
“You hungry?” I asked, dropping one of the bags onto the floor of the elevator so I could touch her.
“No,” she said, cuddling her face into my hand.
I pulled her forward by her jaw and kissed her softly. What I wanted to do was tell her that I loved her, but once again, I didn’t. I couldn’t. “You wanna take a walk down by the ocean with me?”
“I just want to go to sleep,” she said. I pulled her into my chest, kissing the top of her head. When the elevator came to a stop, I let her off ahead of me, picked up our bags, and headed down the hall to our room. When she came to a stop, opened the door, and just stood there, I thought something was wrong, until she looked over at me smiling. I followed her into the room. The bathroom was right inside the door, with a Jacuzzi tub, stand up shower, and double sinks. The rest of the room was open, with a king sized bed with tall posters and a white canopy. There were side tables, a dresser with a flat screen TV on it, and a chair next to the open doors that led to a balcony. Outside, there was a large couch and a small table. The minute I saw that balcony, I knew I was going to find a way to fuck Liz out there while looking out over the ocean. “This is so beautiful.” I dropped the bags to the ground, walking out to the balcony behind her.
“It is,” I agreed, pulling her back to my front. Leaning over her, my face went into her neck, smelling the scent of her hair mixed with the ocean. “You wanna talk about what happened down in the lobby?”
She was quiet for a long time, just looking out over the ocean. I didn’t think she was going to say anything, until she spoke. “He gave her my mom’s wedding ring; the one my dad gave my mom.”
“I know.”
“Why did he steal the money and make up all of those lies?”
“I don’t know, but tomorrow you can ask him.”
“Can’t you just go cut off his head and bring it back to me?”
“Real funny,” I pulled her deeper into me. “I’m thinking that about ten seconds after I showed up here with his head, you would start feeling guilty.” I kiss the top of her head, and look back out over the water.
“You’re right. Damn conscience.” She took a deep breath. “Thank you for being here with me.” Her words were so quiet that I almost missed them, and once again, the words “I love you” were on the tip of my tongue.
“There is nowhere else I would want to be.”
“I think I’m going to call room service and order something big and chocolaty.”