If You Only Knew (And Then Came Love Book 1) (3 page)

Drew put his arm around, Aunt Laura, put his hand in front of his mouth, and then spoke in his normal voice. “Two months from now, we’ll be sitting here telling us she’s pregnant.”

Julian picked up a magazine from the end table and threw it at his brother. “Tow the damn cars, asshole!”

Drew snickered, gave his mother a kiss on the cheek, and headed for the door.

Julian’s father, Everett, arrived. He tried to question Julian, but Jackie pushed him out the door, after Drew’s departure. “Good night, dear,” she said as they were leaving.

Julian shook his head and fixed his eyes on the door to the library. He was not in the habit of rescuing damsels in distress. In fact, he avoided them. He had to do something. Her good looks . . . well they may have come into play. He sure as hell hadn’t expected the charge. It was as if electricity raced through him when he touched her. He’d never experienced that before. It had him questioning his past. He’d been married twice. Thought he’d been in love with both women, yet neither of them gave him the same reaction he had with Liza.

Since his last marriage ended, Julian became a declared bachelor. Sure, he dated, but nothing serious. He kept a two-date rule.

Julian moved into the library to find Liza fast asleep on the couch. Her laptop was open on the coffee table and papers scattered about.

She was a beautiful woman. 5’9” with long red braided hair. It wasn’t the coppery red hair, but a deep rich auburn curls, and gorgeous big hazel eyes. Her jeans and blue and gray striped sweater weren’t super loose, but they were loose enough to hide her curves.

He considered waking her up, but figured he would let her sleep. Instead, he tugged the blanket off the couch and draped it over her. He was about to head upstairs for bed, but decided against it, heading for the basement to work.

Chapter Two

March 20
th

Liza woke up to the smell of coffee, but did not open her eyes. The smell was strange since she was the only one living in her apartment. She blinked. Where the hell was she? She didn’t recognize her surroundings. Reality came crashing in on her when she remembered she was sleeping on a virtual stranger’s couch. Glancing at her watch, she bolted upright. Five thirty. She had a visitation scheduled at eight and was clueless as to how she was going to get there.

Liza closed her laptop, stuck it in her bag, and then packed up her papers. A cup of steaming coffee sat on the table. Next to the cup was a note scrawled in neat, angular handwriting. She picked it up and read:

Liza,

There’s a gray car out front ready for you. Keys next to the note. Give me a call when you have a spare moment.

Julian

His number was at the bottom of the paper. Liza put the note down. All things considered, she didn’t have any other choice. Resigned to accept the help offered, she tucked his note into her purse then tore a page from her notebook. She scribbled her name, address, insurance information and phone number on the paper then plucked the keys from the table.  Would she get a bill in the mail from the tow truck?

She gathered her things. Misty, her client’s daughter, was scheduled for pick up at seven thirty. She would need to hurry if she wanted to get home and change clothes first.

Liza left the den, headed through the main room, and into the kitchen. She would have loved to have the time to see at the whole house. She rinsed the cup and left it in the sink, but didn’t see anyone around. How she wished she could have thanked Julian in person, but figured once she got her phone, she’d call and thank him.

She headed out of the house and saw the vehicle in the driveway. She didn’t recognize the emblem on the front, but it appeared expensive and new. Her car was ten years old, missing a side mirror, and who knew what other damage from the accident. She hurried over to the vehicle and climbed inside. At least it was an automatic and not huge. It even had the new car smell.

Upon arriving at her apartment, Liza showered. If her time allowed it, she’d blow-dry her hair, but most mornings it was easier to towel dry it and braid it.

Opening her drawer, she reached for a c
lean
pair of jeans.
Stretch jeans for comfort or tight jeans for hot body? What if Julian asked to meet her after work? Tight!

She caught her reflection in the mirror. She even accessorized her outfit. Brown and green infinity scarf, gold dangle earrings and an antiqued cuff bracelet. Shaking her head, she  snatched her purse and left for work.

Her job wasn’t difficult. She spent the majority of her time observing her clients behaviors while supervising visitations between them and their children. The children were removed from home due to a variety of issues from abuse to drug use. The other part of her job was to teach clients – in their homes – parenting, organization, and help them find any assistance they may need. The stress from the bureaucracy, governmental regulations, and client issues made the job draining. Her first client was Katrina. Liza sat in the living room taking notes on the visitation.

This case was different for Liza. While some of her other clients brought the system down upon themselves, Katrina didn’t. Having an IQ of 65, Katrina couldn’t reason over a sixth grade level. She tried hard to be a good mother to her daughter and it was clear she loved her. Katrina tended to be easy to take advantage of. Her mother had stolen her social security check and used it for drugs. After she left, she married a man who sexually abused both her and her daughter. Child Protective Services removed Misty from Katrina's care. Liza wanted nothing more than to tell CPS Katrina was ready to regain custody, but it became clear Katrina needed help to parent.

The visit went well and Liza dropped off Misty, before making her way to the house that served as both an office for the case managers and a place to hold visitations.

Liza knew the meeting with Kate wouldn’t be good. She resigned herself to get through it the best she could.

Liza pulled up to the house with ten minutes to spare. She blew out a breath of relief because Kate wasn’t there yet. What had Kate wanted her to do before the meeting? Oh right, she needed to sign the new case plan for Joanne, her last client of the day. The therapist made the case plan. She had to sign in agreement of visitations.  

Liza rummaged through her purse trying to find a pen to sign the paper. Unable to find one she opened the glove compartment of the rental car, hoping to find a pen. A baggie fell out. She snatched up the bag, thinking it was something important. It appeared to be an herb. She inspected it a little closer, opened the bag, and gasped as the aroma hit her. Pot? In the glove compartment of a rental car?

She’d only seen marijuana once, but she was pretty sure that’s what it was. Should she put it back? What if one of her clients got nosy?  No, she owed it to Julian to get rid of it, since he’d been so kind to her. She stuffed it into her purse, clutched her bag in front of her, and raced up to the house. No one else was there. She hurried inside and emptied the contents into the toilet. Flushing twice to make sure nothing came up. She hurried to stash the plastic bag in the garbage can pushing it down in the muck, and prayed the trash would mask the smell.

Pumping soap onto her hands, she washed them and then pulled a bottle of perfume out of her bag. The last thing she needed was to smell like weed.

Liza ate her lunch and threw the bag away, before Kate arrived.

“Sorry, I’m late.” Kate climbed up the stairs to the landing. She sniffed the air. “Is that you?”

“Umm – what?” Liza froze. Had her boss caught a whiff of the weed she had flushed?

“The perfume? I like the fragrance. It’s citrusy and a little spicy. What is it?”

“Oh, right.” Liza forced a smile. “It’s a cheap orange body spray I got from the drugstore.” She cringed at her choice of words. She
had
to call to Julian.

“I’ll have to see if I can find it.” Kate nodded then changed gears on her. “Do you have Joanne’s plan?”

“I need to sign it and my pen disappeared.”

Kate handed Liza a pen and sat down at the table. She tugged a cell phone out of her bag and handed it to Liza. “Here’s your new phone. Give me yours I’ll give it to the main office and see if they can fix it.”

“Thanks.” Liza handed her the pen. “What am I in trouble for?”

“Well I was going to ask how you were feeling. Did everything go all right last night? Were you able to figure anything about getting a new vehicle?”

Not sure, of the status of the car she shrugged. “Mine is in the shop. I’m borrowing the one I have. The women who hit me said her insurance would take care of everything.”

“Well good.” Kate looked out the window at the car Liza had driven into work. “It’s a lot nicer than yours.”

Liza forced a smile at Kate, why was she surprised about her lack of tact. Kate was stalling and she found out why when she peeked out the window. Her lunch rolled in her stomach as she saw Trina Harding climb out of her vehicle and came toward the house. Trina was the Clinical Director of the Yarrow Center.

“You could have told me she was coming.” Liza sighed.

“I didn’t want this to be a big thing.”

“Then why not tell me, why drag it out until she arrived?”

“You’re not lying about the accident and I can see your phone is not working. However, Trina found out about it and made a big deal about it.” Kate explained before Trina came in the door.

“Hi girls.” Trina lumbered up the stairs to the main level of the house.

“Hi,” Kate said.

Liza forced a slight smile.

“Nice car, is it a rental?” Trina pointed at her car.

“No, I’m borrowing it.” Liza’s leg bounced. She tried to still it by crossing her legs, but they continued to bounce.

“An Infiniti G series. It’s not a cheap car.”

“A friend rented it for me.” Liza tensed. Why was it any of Trina’s business who the car belonged to? She kept her answers short, as she did not want to add any fuel to Trina’s fire. She hadn’t thought about Julian renting an expensive car. He lived in a huge house, in a wealthy neighborhood. She shouldn’t be surprised he would choose a luxury model.

“Well—” Trina dug a paper out of her briefcase. “— here’s the write-up. I‘ve had people complain they’re having problems being scheduled for the Batterers Intervention Program. They say they can’t get a hold of you.”

“I don’t even get a say in this? I’ve explained to Kate on a number of occasions I don’t have access to the scheduler during visitations. By the time, I’m ready to make calls it’s nine at night. When I do answer the phone, I tell them to call the main office. It’s easier for the intake coordinator to schedule the appointments than it is for me.” Liza scanned over the write up.

Heat rushed through her body and her pulse rate quickened the further into the paper she read. “And as far as last night, I was on my way to the client’s home when I had an accident. I tried to call Kate, but my phone broke. The only reason I was even able to get a hold of her was because the son of one of the women who hit me let me use his phone.”

“You called from a stranger’s phone?” Trina turned to Kate.

“It wasn’t a number I recognized.” Kate shrugged.

Liza drew in a slow, steady breath trying to control her racing pulse rate. “I didn’t have much of a choice. I was stranded, at the mercy of a stranger. I didn’t know the area.” She did her best to keep her voice controlled.

“Kate said last night she called your client at eight in the evening and you had not arrived.” Trina looked at Kate. “What time did she call you?”

“She called me about eight fifteen.” Kate scanned through her phone.

“I wasn’t scheduled to be there until eight fifteen.” Liza knew her comment would do no good. They were convinced she was in the wrong. “I was ten minutes away when I got hit. I had plenty of time if it weren’t for the accident.”

“I thought it was at eight.” Kate voice was skeptical, but her implication was clear.

“I didn’t finish with Tamera until seven forty five and the directions said it would take twenty five minutes to get to her house. She’s a new client. I did my best to be on time.” Liza’s hands clenched under the table and her fingernails dug into the flesh of her palms.

“We’ll see, but this is not the first complaint about you running behind,” Trina said. “You’ll go a day without pay. Next time it will be three days without pay and a six-day a week schedule. A third write up will get you fired. Let’s try and not make this a habit.”

“You’re joking, right?”

Trina tugged her glasses down her nose and glared at her over the top. As if that was an explanation.

Liza opened her mouth to defend herself again. Where in the policy book did a car accident warrant a write up? She let out a breath, it didn’t matter what she said. Trina wouldn’t listen anyway. “I promise to try harder.” Her voice was calm. She could cry and scream later when she wasn’t in front of her bosses. It didn’t matter they were throwing her under the bus. It didn’t matter she had been in a car accident the night before. She somehow still managed to get in trouble. If Trina and Kate didn't leave soon she'd explode. She held her breath.

“Well good, then I think I’m done here. I’ll see you both later.” Trina stood and headed back out the door.

At one point, she liked Kate as a person, but lately everything she did felt like it had ulterior motives. She’d always sucked as a boss. Kate was there for herself and would do anything in her power to make sure she came out on top. There was no way she would let Kate know how she was feeling. “Anything else?”

“No. I have to get going. I have a visit to cover in ten minutes.”

“I’ll see you later then.” Liza forced a smile. She observed her boss stand and collect her things wishing karma would trip Kate.

“I’m sorry about this.” Kate walked down the stairs. “She gets this way sometimes.”

“I’ll lock up when I leave.” Liza dropped her head into her hands and rubbed her temples.

She remembered she had to call Julian as she was locking up the house. She slid the piece of paper with his number on it out of her pocket.

He answered on the third ring. “Hello.”

“Hi Julian, it’s Liza, we met last night?” Why was her heart beating so erratic?

“How could I forget?” He chuckled. “You slept on my couch. How’s your day going? Better then yesterday, I hope?”

“I got my ass chewed for being late, for having to cancel, and not answering my phone when my boss called.” She walked to the car.

“You have a shitty boss.”

“I shouldn’t be complaining, I don’t know you,” Liza told him. “Anyway, I’m calling to thank you for the rental car.” She slid into the car and started it.

“I didn’t rent you a car. You’re driving one of mine.”

“What? I can’t!” She dropped her head onto the steering wheel. How was she ever going to manage to get out of this one? “I don’t have to work tomorrow. I’ll set up a rental during my next appointment and drop off your car first thing in the morning.”