Page 59 of Passion Restored

“I don’t know everything about childbirth and pregnancy, you know. We don’t get as many births in the ER as TV tends to suggest.”

“Then we’ll learn together,” he said simply.

She let out a breath as she studied him, in awe that he could be so calm right now when she was anything but. “Yeah, we can learn together.” She could take this chance, she thought. Owen was worth it, worth more. She trusted him with everything she had, and because of that, she knew that maybe one day she could trust herself.

When they pulled into his driveway, his phone buzzed, and he frowned. “Hold on, let me answer that on the cell rather than Bluetooth.”

She nodded and stayed where she was, content not to have to get out of the vehicle yet.

“Oh, crap. You doing okay? No, I get it. I’ll be right over to pick you up and get you home. No, don’t bother calling a cab. You’re one of us, man. Yeah. Okay. I’ll be there soon.” Owen hung up and frowned.

“What’s wrong?” she asked. “Is someone hurt?”

He shook his head. “One of the new guys from the jobsite got food poisoning and went to the ER. Not the one you used to work at, but the hospital by his house. His family is out of town on a school trip, and he doesn’t have anyone else to pick him up since they just moved here.”

“And they won’t release him without someone to watch over him.” She nodded. “It must have been a pretty severe case but not enough to warrant admission.”

“You’d know better than I.” He blew out a breath. “I could call someone else, but I don’t know who could really get out there at this time.”

“It’s really okay. Take care of him. I’m just going to take a bath before I go to bed anyway. I have to start making plans tomorrow about what I’m going to do job wise, so I want a good night’s sleep.”

Owen turned in his seat and kissed her softly. “I’m going to miss seeing you in the bath.”

She grinned. “You can see me tomorrow when I take a bath to relieve all the stress from planning. You might like making lists and charts, and yeah, I do—a little—but this time, it might be too much for one day.”

“You’ll call if you need me? Tonight or tomorrow?”

She kissed him hard on the lips. “I will.” The fact that she’d said that so readily without feeling caged told her how far she’d come with him. She was falling for him day by day and knew that soon there would be no turning back.

And she wasn’t sure if she wanted that option at all anymore, anyway.

Liz kissed him one more time before heading toward her house, her mind on the things she had to do the next day to find a job. She’d let herself wallow for over a day, and now it was time to make plans for her future. Blended within that was her relationship with Owen, but that didn’t scare her as much as it used to.

She was just about to head to the bath when her doorbell rang. She frowned, wondering if it was Owen. They hadn’t exchanged keys yet because they were always over at each other’s houses anyway, and if she were honest, she’d kept that boundary up because she was scared.

But when she opened the door, her stomach fell. Of course, it wasn’t Owen. Because if it had been, then her life would have been going down the path she wanted, the one she’d started to create.

Now, of course, it was careening off the edge of a cliff as she fought to hold on.

He didn’t look much different. He was still the man who had walked out of her life all those years ago, away from the woman who hated her so much she’d tried to beat the life out of her countless times. His hair had gone grayer, but not that much. He’d put on a few pounds around his middle, but even that didn’t look all that different. He still had those eyes that never saw her for who she could be, and that same smile that made her skin crawl because he just didn’t care.

“What are you doing here?” she snapped. “How did you find out where I live?”

“Is that any way to greet your father?” the man who’d never bothered to raise her asked.

“Go away, old man. You walked away easily enough before. Just do it again.” Her palms went clammy, and her stomach revolted.

“Now, Elizabeth. Please, listen to me. I’m here to make amends.”

“You’re about twenty years too late. Now get off my property before I call the cops.”

“You wouldn’t do that.” Alarm crossed his features, and she didn’t feel a damn thing about it.

“Yeah, I would. I’d call the cops like you should have done twenty years ago. Now get the fuck out of my life. You were just as bad as her, you know. You may not have hit me, but you let her do it. And I don’t want an abuser in my life.”

“I am not like her.”

“Look in the mirror and see the neglectful abuser you are. I’m not the same little girl I once was who looked up to you and thought you could save me. You’re nothing. Now go away.”

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