AllFreeNovel
Share Us
His white-collared shirt was wrinkled and dirty, and he looked like he’d been on a twenty-four-hour bender. Which wasn’t true. Liza had seen him at work earlier this morning, at McKnight Architecture, the firm her grandfather had founded and where Brian also worked. Brian was an accountant, and as one of the bookkeepers, his job had few direct responsibilities. He had a supervisor to oversee his performance, something her father had made sure of during his tenure.
“You can take me home, and while I shower, you can go pick up something for dinner,” Brian said.
It wasn’t a suggestion, Liza noted.
She gripped her fingertips tighter around the steering wheel. “How about I drop you off home, and I head out to get dinner myself, like a human being? You can fend for yourself. I bailed you out, Brian. Isn’t that enough?”
He reached over and squeezed her arm. “You know I appreciate you, Liza Lou.” The nickname was a throwback to their childhood when he’d first seenHow the Grinch Stole Christmas.
Liza used to wear her hair up in a high ponytail, reminding him of Cindy Lou Who. She’d liked the nickname then. Now, all it served to do was remind her of the brother she’d lost. She wasn’t even sure when he’d taken that wrong turn. It just seemed that from the time he’d reached adolescence, trouble found Brian. Or maybe it was Brian who found trouble.
She clenched her jaw tight before speaking. “If you appreciate me, how about you take a good look in the mirror.” She reached over and flipped down the visor, revealing a covered mirror that she also opened for him. “Who are you, and what have you done to my brother?” she asked softly.
He shook his head and closed up the visor. “You know the cops in this town are hard-asses,” he muttered. “They have it in for me.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Why weren’t you at the office this afternoon?” she asked, ignoring his stupid comment.
“I had a business lunch.”
“At Joe’s Bar?” she asked sarcastically.
“Nothing wrong with buying a client a drink.”
“What client would that be?” And since when did his job as a bookkeeper require him to schmooze with any client?
Brian let out an annoyed sound. “I don’t have to answer to you,” he said, folding his arms across his chest and looking out the window.
She ignored him once more. Nothing positive could come from engaging him in an argument. Besides, they were almost home.
In the distance, she saw the house on the hill, the main landmark in the town of Serendipity, looming in the distance, proud and majestic against a cloudless sky. There was a time Liza had visited the house often, back when she’d been friends with Faith Harrington, who’d grown up there. Faith’s parents had lived there until last year, when her father had gone to jail for securities and investment fraud, and Ethan Barron had purchased the house on the SEC auction block.
Dare Barron’s brother.
How could she stop thinking about the man when he cropped up in her mind every time she turned around?
Liza shook her head and forced her thoughts elsewhere. Anywhere. Like back to the landmark she’d just driven past and its previous occupants.
Liza had attended school with Faith until Brian started acting out and got himself tossed out of public school. Livid that the institution to which they paid their taxes had treated their son so badly, Liza’s parents had sentbothkids to a private school in a neighboring town. They’d ripped Liza away from her friends and her life, not that either of her parents had cared about that. Brian was always their main concern.
Liza kept in touch with Faith and her other friends for a while until she made friends at her new school, most from the neighboring town where the private school was located. And though she would still hang out in Serendipity from time to time and run into her old girlfriends, things had never been the same. Eventually, she’d drifted and lost touch.
People tended not to stick in Liza’s life and she’d learned from a young age not to count on anyone. The one time she’d let down her guard, she’d been rewarded with Timothy Barker, a charming college senior to her sophomore, and she’d lived to regret the impulse.
She shook her head, hating that all those old memories came back to her now.It was the house on the hill, she thought. The mansion wasn’t just a town landmark. It was a marker of many things to many people. To Liza, it had brought back the past, a place she didn’t intend to revisit.
As long as Liza remained in the present, she’d be fine.
She snapped her attention to tomorrow’s calendar. Coincidentally, her first meeting was with Faith Harrington. The new Mrs. Barron was the head of the Beautification Committee’s fundraiser and Liza had signed onto the committee.
Realizing she’d reached her destination, Liza turned onto the long driveway of her parents’ house where Brian still lived. It wasn’t as grand as the old Harrington mansion, but the house was huge and on the “right” side of town. Although her parents had moved to Palm Beach, Florida, full-time, they’d kept the house in Serendipity, allowing Brian to stay on. Whether he paid them rent or not, Liza didn’t know nor did she want to. They were all equally at fault when it came to enabling him.
She knew it. Understood Dare was right in his assessment of the situation, but dammit, what else could she do? Leave him in jail to rot?
No. Not when she’d inadvertently contributed to the fatal day that still haunted them both. And then there was the fact that Brian had been there to save her from her own poor judgment and colossal mistake. Brian might be a loser, but he’d been there the one time Liza needed him, and without him, who knows what her ex might have done to her.
But that didn’t mean she had to take care of or be around him any more than necessary. At this point, he could get help or not, but she wasn’t going to be his caretaker.
“We’re here.” She cut the engine and glanced over, realizing he’d passed out in his seat.
