Actions Speak Louder (24 page)

How could he explain his feelings for her without scaring her off?  That he felt protective of her and didn’t want her to get hurt.  That he didn’t want her to work too hard.  That he wanted to shoulder the load—to ease her burden, because … he loved her.  And that he had from the moment he’d set eyes on her.  How could he explain to her that he knew if he said too much right now, he might lose her forever?

“Well?” she prompted.

“Look, I don’t want you working for me!” he declared, his hands spread in frustration.  “I need…”

“What?  What do you need, Ethan?”

He expelled a long sigh.  “I need…”

He felt terrible when he saw the confusion—and was it pain?—in her eyes.  He hadn’t meant to hurt her feelings.  That was the last thing he wanted to do. 

Should he tell her how he felt about her now?  Should he risk pushing her too fast?

“I need…”  He sighed with resignation, shaking his head and then glancing heavenward, before snaring her gaze.  “I need a…”  He shrugged, still unsure how to put into words exactly what he wanted from her.  “Look, I need a—a partner,” he said crisply.  “I need … a partner.”

Chapter Twenty-one

Marcia watched Ethan, her features crunched in confusion.  “You’re looking for a business partner?” she asked.           

He groaned.  She had misunderstood him.  Of course, she had misunderstood him.  He wasn’t making any sense.  He shouldn’t have told her he wanted a partner.  It was too soon to tell her anything—the timing off.  She wasn’t ready to hear anything he had to say.  But he knew he had to say something.

“Did you just tell me you’re looking for a business partner?” she inquired again.  “Because I’m not…”   

With a weary sigh, he realized he was really confusing the issue.  She was watching him as if he’d lost his mind.  Her expression was puzzled, concerned.

He looked into her beautiful face and abruptly decided it
was
time to tell her how he felt about her—to put his cards on the table—and hope he explained himself well enough that she would give him a chance to prove himself to her.  “Let me try to explain…” he began, but was interrupted by the doorbell.

“I’d better get that,” she said, giving him a final, perplexed glance as she hurried from the attic.

He followed her downstairs and leaned against the archway to the living room.  He saw Marcia at the front door, embracing an obviously upset Collette.  Once again, the girl’s timing left a lot to be desired.  He needed to talk to Marcia, to clarify things, but now it would have to wait.

“It’s okay, honey,” Marcia soothed the distraught teenager.  “Come and sit down and tell me all about it.”  She led the girl to the couch and patted the space beside her.  “Tell me what happened.”

The teen took a shoring breath and glared at Ethan accusingly, before turning back to Marcia.  “Drew … he …. he … went out with … another girl,”  she cried and promptly burst into tears.

Marcia draped an arm around her and pulled her close.  “Okay, tell me exactly what happened.”

Collette sat more upright and pulled her cell phone from her purse.  She thrust it at Marcia, who squinted to see the screen.  It was difficult to discern, but finally, she managed to see a blurry photo of Drew with his arm draped around another girl. 

“Who sent you this photo?”

Collette sniffled.  “I don’t know.  It came from a number I didn’t recognize.  But it is Drew.”

“Was there a text along with it?”

She nodded.  “It said, ‘Drew with his new girlfriend.’”

Marcia sighed.  “Have you talked to him about it?”

“What’s there to talk about?  He’s obviously been lying to me all along.”  She took a shuddering breath.  “I’m so … stupid!  First Chad took advantage of me, and now … Drew!” 

“You’re not stupid,” Ethan said as he crossed the room and sat down in a nearby recliner.  “But you are jumping to conclusions.”

She gave him an icy stare.  “Yeah,
you
would say that.”  She turned to Marcia and gave a curt nod before turning back to him.  “You men are all alike.”

He sighed.  “Collette, has Drew given you any reason to doubt him?”

“Yeah, this photo,” she declared angrily.           

“Aside from the photo, has he said or done anything to cause you
not
to trust him?”

She thought for a moment and then sniffled.  “Well, no.”

“Then I suggest you talk to him.  There may be a logical explanation for that photo.”

“Yeah, like he’s a big cheat.”

He shrugged and spread his hands.  “Maybe.  Or maybe someone else decided to interfere in your relationship.  I suggest you show the photo to him and give him a chance to explain.”

She watched him accusingly.  “What about the photo of
you
in the newspaper?  Yeah, we saw it, didn’t we?” she directed to Marcia.  “Is there a logical explanation for
that
?” she demanded, turning back to him.

“As a matter of fact, there is,” he said as he rose wearily from the chair.  He nodded at Marcia.  “I’ll leave you ladies to talk.”  He walked slowly from the room and out the front door, closing it behind him.

Marcia watched after him and Collette noticed the pensive expression on her face.

“I’m sorry.  I interrupted something, huh?”

Marcia turned back to her.  “It’s all right.”

“No, it’s not all right.  I should have called you before coming over.  Mom says I need to look before I leap.”

“You can come over here anytime,” she assured her. 

The girl gave her a questioning, but hopeful, glance.  “Do you think Ethan is right?  Do you think there is a logical explanation for the photo of Drew and that girl?”

“You really should talk to Drew,” she answered gently.

“I … did, but I didn’t give him a chance to explain.  I yelled at him.  I told him he was just like his friend Chad.”  She gave a withering sigh.  “I shouldn’t have said that.  He’s not like Chad.  He really isn’t.  I sensed that right away.”

“So you believe in Drew then?”

Collette nodded and rose from the couch.  “My heart tells me he’s a good person.  I’m going to talk to him.”  She shook her head abruptly.  “No, I’m going to
listen
to him.”

“Let me know how it goes,” Marcia said as she stood up.  She quickly embraced her.  “Good luck.”

After closing the door behind the teenager, Marcia returned to the couch.  She sat down and tipped her head back, thinking.  Collette had said she sensed Drew was a good person.  The truth was, she felt the same about Ethan.  Maybe there was a logical explanation for that photo of him in the paper. 

But what could it be?  The charity event had taken place the evening before.  The photo indicated Ethan had been there.  Maybe he and Gwen had reconciled.  Why wouldn’t they have?  They made a beautiful couple, and had so much in common. 

She realized she had probably been mistaken when she felt that Ethan had feelings for her.  Maybe he hadn’t ever thought of her romantically, but instead viewed her as a sort of peer who had similar interests.  Perhaps he saw her as a buddy.  While that was flattering on some level, she realized it wasn’t how she wanted him to see her—if she was being honest with herself.

On the other hand, he had kissed her on a couple occasions.  If he didn’t have feelings for her, would he have kissed her?  She gave a sheepish laugh.  Why not?  A kiss from a man didn’t necessarily portend deeper feelings on his part.  Emotional detachment had been Jay’s calling card.  But Ethan wasn’t like Jay… 

Ethan had mentioned wanting a partner.  A business partner? 

Marcia shook her head, rejecting the idea of herself acting in that capacity.  She was happy at her store, owning and operating a small business.

She stood up and glanced at the clock.  It was almost ten.  Time for bed.  She suddenly felt very tired. 

She was just heading upstairs when she heard a light tapping at her front door.  She hurried to look out the peephole. 

Ethan was there, along with Allie and Tootsie, both contentedly nestled in his arms.  Marcia opened the door, her brows furrowed in question. 

“Look who I found sitting on my front porch,” he said.  “I just went by Dan and Tammy’s and they aren’t home.”

Marcia frowned.  “I wonder how the girls got out.”  Her frown deepened.  She wondered why the dogs hadn’t come to her house.  When they had managed to escape in the past, they had always come to her house, pawing at the front door until she opened it for them.  Why had they bypassed her place for Ethan’s? 

“What do you think I should do?” he asked, interrupting her thoughts.

“Oh, sorry,” she said.  “You can leave them with me.  I’ll leave a note on Dan and Tammy’s door, letting them know the girls are with me.”

He nodded.  “If you’ll write the note, I can take it over.”

“I’ll take care of it,” she told him, taking the dogs from him.

He took a step back and watched her through narrowed eyes.  “You don’t trust me at all, do you?”

Marcia was taken aback.  “What…?  I…”  She gave a withering sigh.  “I … trust you.”  She thought for a moment.  “Well, maybe not entirely,” she answered truthfully.

Ethan laughed softly.  “Wow.  I appreciate your honesty,” he said.  “We can’t fix something unless we acknowledge it.”

“Been watching daytime programming?” she inquired with a smile.

He colored under her gaze.  “No.  Well … sometimes.”  He gave a sheepish grin.

“Come on in.  I’ll write that note,” she said. 

He entered the foyer.  Marcia set the dogs down and they promptly began dancing around Ethan’s feet.  He scooped them up again and both began licking his face.

“They really like you,” she said, frowning and folding her arms across her chest.  “You don’t keep doggie treats in your pockets, do you?”

He feigned offense as he set them back on the floor.  “Are you suggesting that I bribe the dogs to love me?  It happens they’re both excellent judges of character.  They know I’m a trustworthy guy.  Maybe you should consider trusting me too,” he suggested, smiling lightly, but abruptly sobered.  “Marcia, I don’t mean to make light of…”  His words trailed off.

“Make light of what?” she asked, forcing herself to make eye contact.

He didn’t break the contact when he spoke.  “I know your ex wasn’t exactly someone you could rely on.”

She didn’t know what to say.  She couldn’t deny it, since it was the truth.  But she felt too embarrassed to admit to him how badly Jay had treated her during their marriage.  She was also embarrassed to admit that she had submitted to his emotional abuse for so long.

When she didn’t speak, he took a step closer to her.  “He made it hard for you to trust anyone, let alone another man.”

She lifted her eyes to his.  “Yes.”

Suddenly, someone knocked on the door.  Ethan sighed with frustration.  Would Marcia have opened up to him then, if not for the interruption?   

“I bet that’s Dan and Tammy,” she speculated, as she hurried to open the door.  The girls dashed past her to their awaiting people.

“There they are,” Tammy said, laughing, as she scooped them up.  “We figured they’d be here.” 

“We arrived home to an empty house,” Dan told them.  “We went out back and found the girls had tunneled out of the yard.”

“They actually went over to Ethan’s place,” Marcia told them, forcing a smile. 

“They didn’t come over here?” Tammy asked.  “Really?”

Marcia shook her head mock sadly.  “It’s true.  I’ve been replaced in their affections.”

“Well, hang onto him, Marcia,” Tammy stage-whispered, nodding toward Ethan.  “Our girls are awfully good judges of character.  If they love him, he must be a great guy.”

“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell her,” Ethan declared.

“Thanks for watching the girls,” Dan said.  “We really appreciate it.”  He relieved his wife of one of the dogs, took her free hand, and together they left for home.

Marcia watched after them.  It was apparent to her and anyone else who met the couple that they were deeply in love.  She could only wonder what that must feel like—to be two halves of a whole—each devoted to the other.  Would she ever experience that kind of love?  That kind of commitment and contentment?

After she closed the door behind her neighbors, Ethan asked her if they could sit down and talk again.  “Sorry for before,” he began, grimacing with embarrassment. “Regarding that
partner
business, I kind of bungled my words…”

“Oh, so you’re
not
looking for a business partner
after all
?
” she inquired.

“Uh, no.”  He scrubbed a hand across his jaw.  “That’s not what I meant.  I’ll explain, but there’s something I need to clear up first,” he said.  “I want you to know that Gwen and I broke up six months ago, despite what the newspaper says.  Also, that photo you saw is old.  I have no idea why the paper ran it, other than they probably wanted a shot to go with the article about the charity event.”

Marcia watched his face.  His eyes appeared earnest and sincere.  She sighed.  “I … believe you.”