Tyler’s eyes got big and he looked worried. “He wasn’t mad when he said it, Mom. Don’t be mad.”
Don’t be mad? Don’t be mad when she was doing everything she could to bring father and son together and Ethan was going behind her back, trying to make her look guilty? Had he bothered to mention how badly he’d treated her twelve years ago? Or the fact that she’d come back to tell him about his kid and his wife had been the one to keep them apart? Of course not.
“It’s fine, I was just surprised,” she said, forcing a smile. She glanced at her watch. “I thought we’d go to the pool later. And Montana wants me to bring you by the library to look at some new books they got in.”
His face brightened. “Can we go now?”
“Sure. Why don’t you tell Melissa, so she knows. And I want to make a quick call.”
“Okay.”
He raced upstairs. When she heard his feet thundering overhead, she picked up her cell and Ethan’s business card. She was put through to him immediately.
“We have to talk,” she said by way of greeting. “Now.”
He hesitated. “I have an appointment.”
“I don’t give a damn.”
“Okay. Starbucks in fifteen minutes?”
“Fine.” She hung up.
SHE LEFT TYLER WITH MONTANA at the library and promised to be back in half an hour. What she had to say wouldn’t take more than a few minutes.
Ethan was already sitting outside when she got there. An umbrella shaded him from the bright sun.
“What’s up?” he asked, looking tall and handsome and annoyingly confused. “You sounded upset.”
She ignored the way her body reacted to the sight of him, not wanting to remember what being with him had been like. Better that she remembered all the ways she’d killed him in her books. And the even more painful way she would kill him in the next one. It was what he deserved, the bastard.
“What were you thinking?” she began. “We’re supposed to be working together. At least that’s what you said. I’ll accept that you’re mad at me. Fine. But don’t you dare talk about me with my son. You had no right to tell him it was my fault that you and Tyler don’t know each other and that I was wrong to keep him from you. Do you think you’re helping your cause? Not only does it make me regret ever coming back, it makes me know I can’t trust you at all.”
His body tensed. “He told you.”
“Of course he told me. I’m his mother. He tells me everything.” She was fighting blinding fury. “Did it make you feel all manly to crap all over me in front of my kid?”
“No. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. We were talking about what he usually does in the summer and on his birthday and all I could think was how much I’d missed. I lost it.”
“Not much of an excuse,” she said, doing her best to keep her voice low. “Do you think you can come between Tyler and me?”
“No. That’s not what I was trying to do.” He stared into her eyes. “I swear, Liz, I’m sorry. I reacted. It was stupid.”
“You say that to me, but did you bother saying it to Tyler?” She waited. He shook his head. “Figures. You’re playing us, Ethan. And that’s a huge mistake. No one will win that game.”
“I’m not trying to come between you.”
She held his gaze. “You expect me to believe that?”
“Probably not.” He sucked in a breath. “I was mad.”
“You’re mad all the time.”
“I have a good reason.”
She leaned toward him. “Yes, you do. And you also know I’m not as much the devil as you first thought.”
“I’m sorry, Liz. I was an idiot,” he apologized, sounding as if he meant it.
It was easier to believe that rather than think he was deliberately trying to undermine her, but easier didn’t necessarily mean right.
“You want me punished,” she said, her voice quieter. “You need to get over that.”
He drew in a breath. “I know.”
ETHAN DID KNOW, BUT SOMETIMES it was damn hard not to react. He’d lost so much and even though it wasn’t all Liz’s fault, it was tough not to blame her.
She stared at him, her green eyes flashing with anger, her mouth set with determination. She would take him on, if necessary. He wanted to say she couldn’t win, but he wasn’t sure that was true. She had eleven years’ worth of a relationship with Tyler. He’d known his kid all of two weeks.
Bitterness threatened, but he pushed it away. She was right—he had to think before he spoke.
“I’m sorry,” he repeated.
She sighed. “I guess I have to at least pretend to believe you.”
“You could try actually believing me.”
“Don’t push it.”
“I was wrong.”
“Yes, you were.” She shook her head. “Okay. I’ll do my best to let it go. Just don’t do that again. We have to work together. If we don’t, the person who gets hurt the most is Tyler. You’re everything he’s ever wanted. You don’t have to destroy me in order to make him love you.”
Ethan stiffened. “That’s not what I was doing.”
“Wasn’t it?”