Full Circle (17 page)

She paced. Her thoughts turned to Liam, how important he was and what an incredible father he would have been. Would still be someday. With someone else.

God, that hurt.

Damn it, where was that plane? She needed to board and leave her romanticized feelings on the ground.

She had learned more than once that just because she felt something for a man, it didn’t mean he cared about her. She was aching for Liam now because they did amazing things in bed, and because he made her feel young again, but that was all baloney. She
wasn’t
young again. She was still graduating several years behind the people she’d grown up with. Her pregnancy had still occurred and failed. It had all happened, and getting warm and fuzzy over Liam was not going to make it disappear.

The only thing that would make that happen was the destination listed at the gate. The end of the past. Nashville.

Getting antsy, she approached the flight attendant manning the desk. “Excuse me, shouldn’t we have started boarding by now? Is the plane late?”

The woman looked at her then nodded in the direction of a monitor that listed the night’s scheduled departures. Next to hers, a word blinked in bold red letters—DELAYED.

Much like her dreams. And now, the first look at her new city.

With a sigh, she hoisted her duffel bag over her shoulder and took a walk down the corridor, dodging late passengers, strollers, and the smell of airport food. It made her so angry to imagine where she could have been by now. She never would have guessed that her actions at nineteen would have such rippling effects on her life at twenty-eight. If she’d started this job in public relations right out of college six years ago like the rest of her corporate-bound peers, she could be fairly high in the chain of command by now. The recruiter certainly wouldn’t have claimed she didn’t have enough experience to be anything but an unpaid intern. She could have a big salary and a nice house with her name on the title, maybe even a husband and a kid or two.

Wait, she didn’t want those things. Did she?

A service dog passed, leading a woman with a cane. Elisa turned to watch them make their way down the hall, the dog’s tail wagging proudly. She smiled. She should call Justin and see how Rainbow was holding up. Or maybe Liam. He’d seemed so proud of the way she had handled the little dog’s injuries.

But she couldn’t call Justin because he’d likely ignore her knowing she was on her way out of state, and she wouldn’t contact Liam for the same reason she’d told him not to accompany her on the trip. He was her old life, not the new one. No matter how amazing he was, hanging on to him meant holding on to the pain of her past.

She bought a book in a gift shop and then returned to the gate. A couple who looked a bit older than Elisa sat in the row of chairs across from her. The frowning woman held a pile of crumpled tissues in her fist. Elisa kept her eyes on the book, but she couldn’t help listening to their conversation.

“I loved that house,” the woman whispered. “I wanted it to be ours forever.”

“We had four good years there,” her husband replied.

“We didn’t even get to use the extra bedroom. We’ll be lucky if we can have a baby at all with our new budget.”

“Try not to worry. I know we’re cutting back quite a bit, but it’s temporary.”

“What if it isn’t? What will we do if we never get back to where we were?”

“I don’t know, honey. But I have to take this job. Money doesn’t just appear out of thin air.”

Elisa closed the book. She hadn’t read three words anyway.

“Attention, passengers.” The attendant’s voice came over the loudspeaker. “Boarding for flight 1231 to Nashville will begin shortly.”

She invited families with small children and passengers who needed assistance to board first. Elisa stopped paying attention and glanced at her ticket. Another group would board and then it would be her turn.

She looked outside while the distressed couple stood and made their way to the line at the door. The plane sat there, connected to the gate. The previous group of passengers streamed through the exit, and out on the tarmac, workers hurried to hoist the new luggage into the cargo area. She hadn’t checked any bags—her carry-on held her necessities. She hadn’t considered how she would transport all of that business attire she’d planned to buy.

So there wouldn’t be any shopping.

An announcement came for the first group of general boarding, those near the back of the plane, including the crying woman and her husband. Elisa watched them cross through the door, apparently leaving behind successful careers, a home they loved and the children they’d hoped to have. What had they done for a living, and where were they going? From a beautiful house they were proud to call home to a small rental that wouldn’t fit a nursery?

If only money
would
appear out of thin air. They could walk off the plane and right back to their old, beloved life.

She hurt for them. They reminded her of Laura and—

Justin.

His plan to provide a few services out of his home after he closed the clinic—what if that didn’t work? Currently, he was the only vet in town. When the clinic closed, it would take one doctor to come in and open up a new place, and all the residents would transfer there. They wouldn’t have a choice. Every pet owner she knew would choose a fully-functioning clinic over the guy barely holding on to his business.

Her brother’s situation could go downhill fast. She doubted he actually planned to work in fast food, but even if he did, that wouldn’t pay for his big, beautiful house, Caleb’s medical bills and the everyday expenses of a family of five. What if they had to downsize? On top of having a premature newborn, Justin and Laura could lose the clinic, their house, and the entire life they had spent the past several years building.

The attendant announced Elisa’s boarding group. Her whole body tingled. Her feet wouldn’t move.

People were moving ahead of her. Nearly the whole waiting area was empty. She was going to get a crappy seat and run out of carry-on space if she didn’t get a move on.

If money appeared out of thin air…

If it did, it would keep the clinic open, which would be an enormous help to the people she loved the most. The employment and the dreams of the men she cared for depended on the clinic’s success. At the moment, Justin and Liam’s futures were in danger of crumbling the same way hers had so long ago.

Her heart in her throat, she finally found the strength to move and took off running.

Chapter Twelve

Sunday night, Elisa’s car screeched to a halt in front of Liam’s house. She stared, then blinked and stared again. She had left her dreams at the gate on Friday, cancelled the trip to Nashville and headed home. She’d put her car in the garage and hid inside for two days so Justin and Liam wouldn’t suspect what she had actually done this weekend, and now, she finally got to Liam’s place just to see
this
?

For Sale,
the sign read.

Impossible. Liam had told her a hundred times how much he loved that house. She’d teased him, but only in good fun and to cover up her own insecurities regarding Windy Flats and rural family life.

She was too late. He must have found a job.

Her heart dragged the ground as she pulled into the driveway and turned off the engine. Liam was standing on the porch before she had even shut the car door.

“I thought you’d show up,” he said. “How was Nashville?”

“What? Oh…fine.” She gestured frantically at the sign. “What are you doing? I thought someone was interested in buying the building to keep the clinic open. The realtor called Justin and—”

“The owner changed his mind,” Liam interrupted. “Apparently that buyer wanted until the end of the week to make a decision, and he wants to sell now. It’s no use, Elisa. We don’t have the money to buy it from him. He’s going to sell to the city. We’re finished here.”

Elisa fought the frustration growing inside her. Why hadn’t the realtor called her with that bit of news?

“Did you find another job?” she asked.

“Yes.”

“Where are you going?”

“Back to Dallas. When I left, I sold my practice to a friend from grad school and he’s agreed to let me back in. We’re opening a partnership.”

Like he was supposed to be doing in Windy Flats, with Justin. Elisa fumed. She needed to make a phone call, in private. “When are you leaving?”

“Probably next week.”

He was far too nonchalant for her comfort. To him, maybe a clinic was a clinic, but
she
wouldn’t be in Dallas. Didn’t he care?

“Justin can’t stop earning money next week. What’s he going to do for a living?”

“He’s thinking about running some services out of his home.”

“He’ll never be able to support the family on that! He needs facilities, he needs equipment, he—”

“I know,” Liam said quietly. “He said he’s going to work an odd job until he can finance a new property.”

Elisa fell silent. Justin had told her the same thing but she’d refused to believe it. Her brother, with all his years of experience and education, making minimum wage for someone else’s business. It was impossible to comprehend.

“He has an advanced degree. A medical degree,” she insisted. “He can’t do that. There has to be another way.”

“I’m afraid there isn’t.”

“But that’s not fair.” Her voice wobbled. Her self-control was fading fast.

“Well, sometimes the future changes in ways you don’t expect, and you have to go with it. You can’t spend your life blaming people and complaining that it’s not fair.”

Something in the way he said that, the way he looked at her…

“You think I should have stayed in school. I should have stuck with my original plan, is that it?”

Liam ran a hand through his hair and sighed. “Yeah. I think so.”

She paced in the grass. “So what? If I were a vet, this mess wouldn’t be happening? What difference does it make what I do?”

“No. You wouldn’t be able to stop this from happening. But you’d be happy because you would have spent nine years doing what you love, like Justin has. He’s okay with doing something simpler for a while because he knows it’s necessary and temporary, not the end of the world.”

His accusation was unmistakable. “You sound like my brother. I get it. I’m shallow, and I’ve been wallowing in pity.”

“That’s not what anyone thinks. But we all know how much you wanted to be a vet. It’s killing him—and me, for that matter—that you’ve spent all these years pretending to be someone you aren’t, following a dream that’s fake.”

“It’s not fake!” she insisted, though her heart ached to differ. “I want to make something of myself. I want—”

“You want to make yourself something Brett would be jealous of. He’d be pretty damn jealous if you were
Doctor
Haley, wouldn’t he?”

“No. He would think that my brother got me the job, not my own intelligence. He would think that I got stuck in this town because of him, and that’s exactly what he wants.”

“Who cares what he thinks? What do
you
want?”

Liam. She wanted Liam.

She knew it with every bone in her body, and she felt like an idiot for rambling on about needing another man’s approval when the one she wanted was right in front of her, and cared for her just the way she was.

But he was right. She wanted to get back at Brett. In some way, his behavior had caused her to lose everything she loved. His arrogant, disrespectful personality was the reason he’d dropped her for another woman—even when he thought she was carrying his child. His habit of yelling at and even hitting her was the reason she’d turned to Liam in the first place, clearly a much better man, and ended up pregnant with a baby who had died.

The dormant rage and desire for revenge had been inside her for too long. That was why, even though she’d been strong enough to turn around at the airport, she had needed time to think about writing the check. She couldn’t ignore the fact that living with Liam and having a family in Windy Flats wouldn’t impress anyone, regardless of how amazing it felt to imagine him coming home to her every night, going to bed with her every night, her taking his last name…

All right,
enough
.

She shook her head. “I’m not sure it matters what I want.”

“It’s all that matters.” Liam crossed his arms. “I respect everything you’ve been through, Elisa. You’re one hell of a tough woman. But nine years is a long time to beat yourself up. I told you then, and I’ll tell you now—you need to get away from that loser, even his memory, and do what makes you happy. If you continue to let him decide your actions, he’ll control you for the rest of your life.”

He kissed her forehead and walked back toward his front door. “I’ll stop by your place before I go,” he called over his shoulder.

And he was gone. Along with her happiness and the only man she had ever truly been able to trust.

“Who in this town loves the clinic enough to drop that kind of money?” Justin asked when he hung up the phone Monday morning. “That was Barry, the realtor. He says an anonymous buyer is bringing in a check to buy this place today.”

Liam stopped packing his desk and turned around. Justin stood in the doorway to his former office, holding his cell phone and looking mystified. “You’re kidding.”

Justin shook his head.

“Mrs. Dale?” Liam suggested, grinning.

Justin groaned. “True, but she doesn’t have the cash, unless she secretly owns stock in Spandex or something.”

Liam held back a laugh. “How’s Rainbow, by the way?”

“She’ll be fine. But Heidi’s still insisting I do all the follow-up appointments, even though she’ll have to bring the dog to my house.”

Great. Saving Rainbow’s life hadn’t managed to stop the gossiping, so even if the clinic reopened, it wouldn’t change his plans. Good thing he had something else lined up. “Hmm. She wouldn’t be the mystery donor, then.”

Maybe Elisa would know, since she seemed so versed on the citizens of Windy Flats. Where was she, anyway?

“Elisa off today?”

Justin looked at his watch. “No, she’s an hour late. Have you heard from her since she got in from Nashville?”