Chapter 25
"So, why are we doing retail therapy?" Kailee asks, swinging her packages onto the extra chair near her at the table. "Is this about your douche cop boyfriend?"
I place my own packages from our shopping trip down at the table and sigh in response. A new pair of boots, new aprons from the kitchen store, and a new pair of diamond stud earrings won't make me feel better, but it's a start.
Nothing can make me feel better.
I was wrong. I know that. I should have asked Liam if I could take Nola brownies. He would have said no, and we'd at least be acting like civilized adults with each other, even if I think he's being a baby about something that makes her feel better.
I've been an emotional mess since the incident a couple of nights ago. Sleep hasn't come easy, and I've wanted to text him that I was sorry about taking brownies to his mother. It's just that I'm still mad that he said those mean things to me. I've hugged Bogey for the last two nights, worrying that Liam's so mad that he would call animal control and try to report me for being a bad pet owner. Most of that fear is my normal anxiety, triggered by exhaustion. I don't think he'd do anything to hurt me, and I'm certain he wouldn't do anything to hurt Bogey. The idea of Bogey in a cage at a shelter would kill me. Thankfully, I think the thought of it would also kill Liam.
I can't concentrate. I can't sleep, but I'm so tired that the bags under my eyes have bags. I make a mental note to buy eye cream while we're shopping today as the waitress approaches our table with menus and tells us the specials.
As soon as Kailee orders a buffalo chicken wrap with a Sprite and I order a bacon sandwich with water, Kailee shifts in her seat and glares at me. "Spill. You've been quiet all day. It's like shopping with a zombie. You didn't order wine at lunch like you normally do."
I stare at the television mounted over her head and lament the fact that the news is on. Isn't there a rousing golf match to show in this sports bar? Like I need more sadness and bad news in my life. I fumble with the paper placemat menu in front of me. "It's complicated. Besides, you didn't order wine like usual."
"My stomach isn't the best today. I must have eaten something bad last night at dinner."
"What'd you have?" I ask. "Did you go out without me?"
She looks at me, pursing her lips. "Fish from Bernatino's. And yes, I did go out without you. I just didn't think you'd think it was interesting to go out with the teacher I'm taking over for as we go over a few things. I'll be taking over her baking and pastry class at the high school when school starts in a couple weeks while she's having a knee replacement. I wanted to talk to you about it. It may eat up more of my time, and she'll be out for three months. I can still help on weekends, though."
"That's great. The pay is much better for long-term gigs, huh?"
She nods and grabs a package of crackers from the bowl on the table. "You're not getting off that easy. What's going on with Liam?"
I tilt my head to the side, temporarily jarred because she didn't call him a dumb nickname. This must be serious. "I drugged his mom."
"With what? Roofies? You roofied his mom?"
"Why does everyone automatically assume roofies when they hear someone has been drugged?"
Kailey shrugs, and I blow out a breath through my nose. "I took her marijuana brownies because she hasn't kept much down during chemo. Liam found them and went nuclear."
"How nuclear?" She grips the napkin so tight that her knuckles turn white.
"He didn't hit me if that's what you're thinking." The waitress comes back with our drinks, and I unwrap the straw. "He told me it was trashy and that he's surprised I can even act responsible enough to take care of Bogey."
"Way harsh. What a dick canoe."
"Do you mean douche canoe?" I ask.
"That too. Are you going to talk to him again, or is this whole fascination with each other done?"
My eyes burn, and I blink back tears. Even though I can cry in front of Kailee, I don't want anyone in the world to see that I'm upset about Liam Lane.
I miss him.
"I think it's done," I say. My voice is strange, and I clear my throat. "I threw a plate at him, and he called me psycho. I forgot that happened."
Kailee lets out a slow whistle. "That'll do it."
"I can't imagine he wants to be around me after finding the brownies and then me throwing a plate at his head. Granted, he stomped into my house with a vendetta and called me trashy."
Kailee stirs her drink. "Did he just think the action was trashy?"
"He said that when I called him out. Do you think I'm overreacting?"
She shrugs. "Only you can be the judge of that, Lorelei, but I don't think he thinks you're trashy. I've seen the way that man looks at you."
"How does he look at me?"
A faraway look comes over her face, and she props her chin on her hand, sighing. "If he looks at you with any more heat in those eyes, you'll combust. That man would do anything for you. He was probably just shocked and mad. Did he try contacting you?"
I shake my head and look up at the TV. A ticker is scrolling across the screen, and the local news is playing. "He hasn't. Nola said he had some kind of big bust coming up. I think he's been busy with work. I feel like, if he really wants to talk, he'll send me a text saying sorry or something."
"You're probably right."
Kailee moves the conversation to the new purse we picked out for her date nights. I try to focus on her words, but my mind won't move away from Liam. The waitress brings our food and sets it down in front of us, and we eat in companionable silence.
Kailee must know I'm miserable. She puts her hand over my forearm as we eat. "He'll call, Lorelei. You'll hear from him again. I know it. If anything, he'll come to the truck with his tape measure and try to shut you down."
My eyes flick to the news screen, and my raised glass slides from my hand, spilling my drink all over the table. Kailee stands up and mutters a curse, but I stare at the television screen where Liam's face is. "What the fuck? Kailee?" I ask, pointing to the screen.
Kailee sees the look of horror on my face and turns around in slow motion. "Holy shit. What the fuck?" She waves her hands for a member of the wait staff, but not one staff person notices. "Ma'am, can you turn up the television?" she yells across the restaurant. Unfortunately, no one notices except for a few patrons that look at us like we're crazy.
This is some kind of nightmare where I must be invisible and not able to communicate.
Kailee walks to the hostess station, but it's no use. I pull out my phone, and my fingers shake as I enter the website for the local news. I only saw his picture on the screen. No sound. "Please don't be dead. Please don't be dead," I chant.
My fingers won't work. I can't put in the correct website, and tears of frustration slide down my cheek. I can't think of anything to do next. Where would I find the information I need? Someone else has to help me because I can't concentrate over the panic. Sudden nausea moves through my stomach, and I think of Nola. I have to get to her. I have to comfort her if the worst happened.
Kailee's at my side in an instant, wiping my loose ponytail out of my face. I must have pulled some of my hair from it. "Let me help. They don't have sound in the restaurant. Let me look it up for you. We'll find out what happened."
I look back at the screen where Liam's face is still shown. He looks younger in the picture of him in a beat cop uniform. It must be his academy picture.
My legs feel like marshmallows, and I slide down to my seat again as another customer notices something is wrong and brings over napkins to wipe my spilled water off the table while Kailee fumbles with her phone, clearly giving up on mine.
She fiddles with it and eventually goes to the Facebook page for the news station. She scrolls until I stop her hand when the same academy picture appears. "Read it for me. I can't understand the words. I'm seeing the words, Kailee, but I don't understand them."
Her eyes move through the Facebook post, and I cover my face with my hands. "Officer in critical condition at Holy Mount hospital. It says officer-involved shooting." She scrolls down through the post, passing the chief statements. We just want information on Liam. "There's something about him in surgery. But that's all…"
Her voice trails off behind me as I head for the door, my shopping bags forgotten behind me.