They went into the kitchen because that’s where the leftover chocolate cake and coffee were and took supersize helpings of both to the table. The girls talked about the wedding, but Rose had a hard time focusing on the chatter.
Liz had been drinking and disappeared from the reception for a short time. Drew Miller hadn’t been drinking, but he’d also disappeared for the same amount of time at about the same time. And, as far as Rose could tell—and she’d been paying attention—the two of them hadn’t circled within twenty feet of each other or made eye contact for the remainder of the night. She didn’t like where her thoughts had gone during the reception, but she was starting to suspect she wasn’t wrong.
Liz got halfway through her cake before she set her fork down. “Stop staring at me like I’ve done something wrong and you’re trying to will me to confess.”
“Ouch,” Katie said. “Hate that look. Always works.”
“I’m not staring at you.”
“Yes, you are. And I left Darren last weekend. I moved out.”
The relief practically knocked Rose out of her chair. Not only the relief that Liz had finally cut loose a man who was no good for her, but that if something happened between Liz and the police chief, she hadn’t cheated. Rose could forgive a lot of flaws in a person, but having been on the short end of that rope, she had no tolerance for cheating. And, no, Drew technically wasn’t divorced yet, but his marriage was definitely over.
Another consideration was the fact Drew Miller was Mitch’s best friend and that relationship wasn’t broken. It was best for everybody if Liz and Drew’s whereabouts during the reception went undiscovered.
“Are you coming home?” she asked, because that was the first question that popped into her head.
“No. And you’re not going to change my mind. I like New Mexico and I have plans there.”
Rose sighed, but it was a start. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. It was a long time coming, I guess.”
“Oh, damn, I have to run.” Katie got up from her seat and dumped her dirty dishes in the sink. “Mr. Wilcox likes his hair cut at noon on Mondays and he doesn’t recognize Columbus Day as a real holiday. He’s ninety-two now and it’s a lot easier to go in and cut his hair than try to convince him I should get the day off with everybody else.”
After kissing her mother’s cheek, she rushed out, leaving Liz and Rose alone with the rest of the cake. After a moment’s consideration, she cut them each another slice. Sometimes a woman couldn’t have too much cake.
“I wasn’t going to tell you until I was going out the door,” Liz said. “I didn’t want you to make a fuss and harass me about coming back to Whitford.”
“I don’t harass you kids. I persistently guide you in the right direction.”
“You thought I cheated on Darren,” she said, her voice heavy with accusation.
Rose reached across the table and laid her hand on Liz’s, looking her in the eye. “I was trying my best not to believe it because it wouldn’t be like you.”
“It was stupid, but it wasn’t cheating. I just wanted you to know that.” She pushed the cake around on her plate. “Just a stupid rebound thing for me and a stupid rebound thing for him, and that’s the end of it. I made him promise not to tell Mitch.”
“That’s probably for the best, but it might eat at him, you know. Even without telling him, it might hurt their friendship.”
“So he’ll tell him. Not only am I an adult, but I’m an adult who lives all the way across the country. They can do whatever they want.”
She could say the words, and maybe even believe them, but Rose could see the unhappiness in her eyes. And in the way she went back to inhaling the chocolate cake. Liz cared a lot about what Mitch thought, and she also wouldn’t want to be responsible for breaking up his friendship with Drew.
“Hopefully it didn’t mean any more to him than it did to me,” Liz said in a quiet voice. “Then he won’t care enough to have guilt and nothing ever needs to be said again.”
Rose could only hope. Lord knew, with the kids finally starting to find happiness and love, that wasn’t the kind of family drama she wanted popping up. “Ryan’s going to come looking for you soon. Are you all packed?”
Liz laughed. “I haven’t started yet.”
“Maybe that’s a sign you don’t really want to go back to New Mexico.”
“Or it’s a sign I’ve been sitting in the kitchen eating cake with you instead of packing.”
Rose laughed and pointed toward the stairs. “Let’s go. I’ll help you because if you miss your flight, you’re calling Mitch to tell him you need a new ticket and interrupting his honeymoon, not me.”
Chapter Twelve