Tobias knew that Liddie’s uncle Ace wasn’t a huge fan of the Harper men in general, or of him in particular, but he didn’t expect the burly sexagenarian to come at him with a vintage thermos. Yet here he was, backed into a corner by an old man with an oxygen tank, when all he wanted to do was talk to the thermos-wielder’s niece.
“Please, Ace, I just want the chance to talk to her. It’s been thirty years—”
“Damn straight it’s been thirty years,” Ace spat. “And it’s about twenty-nine years and three hundred sixty-four days too late for talking, Harper.”
“You don’t get to decide that for her, Ace Hopewell. If she lays eyes on me and immediately tells me to go to hell, that’s fine. Well, it’s not fine, but I’ll accept that answer and won’t darken your doorstep again.” God, uttering those words made him want to throw up, but he meant them. If Liddie told him to stay away, he would.
Bunny, always the more sensible of the two and who seemed more sympathetic to Tobias’s situation, attempted to reason with his hotheaded partner. “Both of you, let’s just take some deep breaths and consider Liddie’s point of view. She’s found out that her favorite uncle has the same type of cancer her husband had, and she’s just picked up and moved to, literally, the opposite end of the country, back to a town that served her nothing but humiliation and heartbreak.” Bunny glared at Tobias during the last part of that statement. “I’d be worried if she wasn’t at least a little conflicted and emotional. So put that thermos down, Ace. And, Harper?” Bunny directed his attention at Tobias, who suddenly felt like he was fifteen again, standing in front of these fiercely protective men for the first time. Bunny squinted at him, then shook his head and shrugged. “All I have to say to you is if I even get an inkling, the tiniest psychic tickle that you’re playing games? I will end you and not think twice about it.”
“Yes, sir,” Tobias responded automatically and was slightly peeved at himself for doing so. “Well, since Liddie’s not here, can I leave a number so she can get in touch if she wants to?” There. That was a mature request.
“I’m here now.”
Tobias turned and saw Liddie standing in the doorway, wearing a small, amused smile on her face and holding what looked like a pastry box in her hands.
“Liddie.”
Her smile faded and was replaced with an indescribable expression. Not pained exactly but something adjacent to it. “Hello, Tobias.”
Hearing his full name on her lips gutted him more than any blow Ace or Bunny could dole out. She’d called him “Toby” the night before, but sometime between that first glimpse and this one today, she must have done some thinking.
Liddie handed Bunny the box she had in her hands. “I left the coffees on the table behind the register counter. I have a sneaking suspicion they’re beyond saving, but you never know. There are breakfast sandwiches and pastries in the box.” Then she turned to Tobias. “Why don’t we step outside?”
“Okay.” Tobias still couldn’t quite believe she was right here in front of him, close enough to touch. And as much as he said he just wanted to talk, he also wanted to put his hands all over her, to see if she felt the same way she did thirty years before. Most of all, he wanted to get close enough to her to smell her hair.
“We’re just going to be out back, you two, so behave,” Liddie warned her two uncles, and Tobias had to suppress a smile at her no-nonsense attitude. “Come on, Toby.”
Toby. That’s more like it.
´*•.¸(*•.¸ *¸.•*´)¸.•*´
Liddie led Tobias out the back door of the shop and headed toward a tree-shrouded picnic table. She slid onto one bench, and Tobias took a seat across from her. After that, they sat in silence for a few long moments, studying each other.
Tobias figured he should be the first to break the silence since he was the one who forced the issue, but he didn’t know quite how to start. He’d gotten some basic information from Kat about Liddie’s life before her return. He knew, of course, that she had a daughter, who also had a daughter, and that she was a fairly recent widow, but that was about it. He really didn’t want to talk about the mundane trivialities of everyday life, such as where she’d been living, if she worked outside the home, what she enjoyed doing when she wanted to unwind, but the important things—did she love her husband, was she happy, did she realize that Tobias had thought about her every single day since that fateful one more than a quarter of a century earlier?
“I remember the very first time I saw you.” Liddie was staring straight at him—not a confrontational look, but not a soft gaze either. “You were with your father, setting up for that God and Country thing the county used to do for Independence Day. I was there with Mother and Daddy, and I remember Ann Bristol doing her loud drunk-whisper thing, repeating some gossip about Chet.”
“I remember that concert. Chet was in an especially crap mood that weekend.”
Liddie nodded. “I remember seeing him punch you. Not slap, or shove, or any of the stuff that was pretty unacceptable but mostly ignored, but just balled up his fist and punched you on the side of the head.”
“Yep. I remember that, too, though I don’t remember what I’d done or hadn’t done to set him off that time. Which is odd, because I usually remember that stuff.” Tobias exhaled and absentmindedly scratched the back of his neck. He didn’t know exactly how he’d thought this reunion would go, but it certainly was not like this.
“You look good,” Liddie blurted. “I just had to tell you that before I lost my nerve.”
This time when their eyes met, Liddie’s shined with a bit of that spark he remembered. She’d had the reputation for being a Goody Two-shoes and somewhat snobby, but those who really knew her knew that Liddie Hopewell was fearless and a little bit stubborn. Okay, quite a bit stubborn, enough to where she would not back down from something she believed in. That spirit was what snared Tobias, because Tobias’s old man had already broken him, and he needed all the spark he could get.
Her cheeks flushed, and Liddie let out a shaky laugh. “Okay, yeah, that didn’t really garner the reaction I thought it would.” She blew out a soft, whistling breath and turned her head away.
“Now I don’t want to compliment you because you’ll think I’m just doing it because you did it first.”
She laughed at his candor and shrugged her shoulder. “I wouldn’t be averse to a compliment, regardless of whether you thought it was simply a polite gesture or not. A woman of a certain age takes any sort of flattery she can get.”
“Man, ain’t that the truth,” Tobias muttered, thinking about Candy and her constant need for reassurance and attention.
“I didn’t think you would actually agree with me,” she scoffed.
Tobias pressed his fingers against his eyes. “This is not at all how I wanted this to go.”
“And how did you want this go, Toby? Hmm? Did you think we’d pick right back up like nothing happened? Because I don’t know about you, but a whole boatload of stuff happened between then and now.”
“What happened, Liddie? Life?” He scoffed at her. “Yeah, life happens; it just happens. People get married, get divorced, have babies, change jobs. That’s what happens . . . after.”
“Such a typical male response. ‘It just happens.’ ”
Tobias saw her jaw clench as she shook her head in disgust. He didn’t know what to say. He hadn’t a clue as to where to begin because he didn’t know what life had thrown at her.
“Tell me about your life, Liddie. Everything from the moment we last saw each other until right now.”
“I heard what you said to my uncle back there—about walking away if I told you to.” Liddie stared straight ahead, at something Tobias couldn’t see. “You know it’s not as simple as us trading life stories. There’s just too much . . . stuff that’s gone on.”
“I can’t believe you don’t want to even try.”
“I can’t believe you’re this naïve after all the crap you’ve been through.” Liddie leaned over and patted Tobias’s hand. “Goodbye, Toby. I’m gonna go inside now.”
Tobias didn’t watch her go, but he waited until he heard the screen door slam before he got up and headed back to his truck. Maybe he was naïve, and he was definitely going to prove to be a liar, because he wasn’t going to just walk away, not after all this time. He knew there were going to be some bones rattled, but, hell, he had to kick up some dust in order to wipe the slate clean, right?