“Because it’s obvious the two of you are crazy about each other. You should be together.”
“Ethan’s not in love with me. He’s interested in duty rather than love and I’m not interested in settling.”
“Not even if walking away breaks your heart?”
Liz sighed. “You loved Ethan’s dad, right?”
“Constantly and to this day.”
“Would you have settled for anything less than all he had?”
“No.” Denise smiled sadly. “You’re making the right decision. My head tells me that. My heart wants you to have a happy ending.”
“I’m happy. Or I will be. I have three great kids, a job I love and hey, I’m staying in Fool’s Gold. Won’t that be perfect.”
Denise laughed. “Are you still worried about the town?”
“No. I don’t like that people are so free with their opinions, but the good really outweighs the bad. I know that if I’m attacked by a crazed stalker, everyone will come to my rescue. The kids are safe here. We can all be happy. That’s what matters.”
There was a crackling noise, as if someone had flipped on the sound system. Liz and Denise both turned toward the stage at the far end of the park. Liz saw someone holding a microphone, but she couldn’t see who it was.
“Hi, everyone,” a familiar voice said.
Liz blinked. That sounded like Ethan.
“I’d like to have your attention for a minute.”
Denise put a hand to her chest. “Is that Ethan?”
“I think so.”
“What is he doing?”
“I have no idea.”
“This won’t take long,” Ethan continued. “If you could move closer to the stage. I need to make an announcement.”
Liz and Denise got out of line and walked toward the stage.
“For those of you who don’t know me, I’m Ethan Hendrix.”
“We know who you are,” a man in the crowd yelled.
Ethan chuckled nervously, shifting from foot to foot. “Good. I need your help with something, and you’re going to have to keep it a secret.”
Several people laughed.
“You really think that’s going to happen?” a woman asked.
“I hope so. Here’s the thing. Someone really important to me is moving back to Fool’s Gold. Her name is Liz Sutton. A few of you know her.”
“She’s that writer.”
“That’s her,” Ethan confirmed.
Liz glanced at Denise who looked confused.
“Don’t ask me,” the other woman said. “I have no idea what he’s up to.”
Ethan was going to talk about her to the whole town? Why? What on earth was he going to say?
She walked a little faster toward the stage.
“Liz grew up here, like me. Unlike most of us, she didn’t have an easy time of it. Her mother was indifferent at best and abusive at worst. Some of you might remember her. She had a reputation for being a drunk and…” He hesitated.
The crowd went quiet.
“In high school, Liz was smart and beautiful and sweet. But almost no one bothered to notice. Instead the other kids said terrible things about her. Things that weren’t true.”
Liz didn’t know if she should walk faster or disappear into the crowd. Humiliation burned her cheeks.
“It was all a lie,” Ethan continued. “I know, because I was her first boyfriend. Her first kiss. Her first.”
“We know about the kid, Ethan,” someone called.
“Right. But what you don’t know is that I made a promise to Liz back then. I told her that I loved her. I said we’d go off to college together. And then when my friend asked me if I was dating Liz, I lied and said she wasn’t anyone I would spend time with. I denied I even knew her and I did it in front of all my friends and in front of Liz.”
There was an audible gasp.
Liz wove through the ever-growing crowd. She could see the stage more clearly now, could see Ethan. He stood alone, facing the town.
“I betrayed her and broke her heart,” he said quietly. “I denied her and I denied myself. Because I did love her. But I was young and stupid and more worried about what my friends thought than her. I didn’t deserve her.”
“You can say that again,” someone urged.
Liz reached the side of the stage, where the steps were. But now that she was there, she didn’t know what she was supposed to do. Stop him? Listen? This was the most surreal moment of her life.
“Liz took off. Who can blame her? About three weeks later, she found out she was pregnant. She came back to tell me and I was, ah, otherwise occupied.”
“What does that mean?” someone asked.
“He was in bed with someone else,” a guy in the back hollered.
Several people laughed. A few groaned.
“Not smart,” a woman said.
“Tell me about it,” Ethan agreed. “Flash forward six years. Liz came back again to tell me about my son. This time, she was determined I would know. But someone got in the way and kept the information from me.”
He drew in a breath. “The reason I’m telling you all this is that Liz is staying in town. She’s moving here so I can be with my son and her nieces can live in a familiar place. She’s a helluva woman.”