Danny watched the body language between father and daughter and could sense something was wrong with Charlie. He stared at Danny for a few seconds, looking confused at first. Then he pointed and shook his head.
“Danny,” Charlie whispered. “Son of a bitch... Danny...”
“Come up here,” Liv whispered and waved her hand.
Danny climbed the steps and offered his hand to Charlie to shake. He wasn’t sure what Liv had told her father about what happened between them. And it wasn’t that Danny didn’t deserve to be talked about and treated like shit for what he had done. He remembered a time when Charlie had the biggest, thickest hands in the world. They were like bear paws. Getting smacked with one of those would certainly leave a mark. But as Charlie shook Danny’s hand, it was different. The bear claw grip had become like a weak bear cub. His fingers were aged, misshaped, arthritis obviously settling in hard.
“Good to see you Mr. Cryers,” Danny said. “You look great, sir.”
“First off, call me Charlie. You know that, Danny. Second, I’m an old man.”
Danny nodded and laughed.
“Danny’s broke our fence,” Liv said.
“I’m sorry about that,” Danny said. “I didn’t know it...”
“Hey, are you still playing guitar?” Charlie asked.
“Yeah, I still play a little,” Danny smirked.
“You were pretty good when you were younger. You and your friends were always making noise. It certainly stole my Olivia’s heart, right?”
Danny looked at Liv and saw her cheeks were now blushing.
“Okay, Dad. I’m going to help Danny here. He cut his knee.”
“I’m fine,” Danny said.
“Like hell,” Charlie said. “Come on in and get patched up.” Charlie looked at Liv and his face suddenly look disgusted. “Lisa, hurry up and get our company a drink.”
Danny opened his mouth, but Liv shook her head. She put her hand out and grabbed Charlie’s hand and started to guide him back into the house. She looked over her shoulder at Danny and for the first time (maybe ever) he saw pain in Liv’s eyes.
“Give me a sec,” she whispered. “Let me get him settled and I’ll come get you.”
She went into the house and Danny felt numb.
He’d never forget the face Liv had just given him. He wondered how many times she donned that same face over the years. Her beauty was present no matter what she did or how she looked, but seeing the corners of her mouth curl down and her eyes look distant and drawn made Danny want to fall over and die. He wanted to take all the pain away and disappear.
He wondered if it was a mistake being there right then.
How long had it been since he left the house to go for his short ride?
Half hour?
An hour?
He thought about Chris, Rick, and Davey, all back at his father’s house. Maybe Johnnie was back by now, and they’d all be looking for him.
“Shit,” Danny whispered, feeling overwhelmed.
He turned and almost crashed into Jeff.
“You okay?” Jeff asked.
“This is... something.”
“Yeah. Poor Charlie.”
“Not all there?”
Jeff shook his head. “Alzheimer’s. Not sure how far along. She and Mary still talk here and there... and Mary talks to Janet... and Janet talks to me...”
Danny nodded. He knew how the small town gossip went. Person to person, nothing was ever private.
Nothing.
Even when Danny and Liv were together for the first time, it spread through Bakersville like wildfire, and Danny had to face Charlie about it. That’s when Charlie made a fist and showed it to Danny, telling him that if he ever hurt his daughter, he’d have to face that fist. It was a scary moment back then.
“I should go,” Danny said. “I have arrangements...”
“Wait for Liv,” Jeff said. “You can’t go back with your leg cut. That’s too far.”
“This is a lot right now.”
“Not just for you,” Jeff said. “Can you find your way home from here?”
“Come on man, I can navigate those woods better than anyone else.”
Jeff laughed. “Except for fences.”
“That wasn’t there last time I was here,” Danny reminded Jeff.
Jeff put a hand to Danny’s shoulder and squeezed. “I know your father was a complete asshole, if I can be honest. And I respect all you’ve done. But trust me, Danny, none of that rockstar stuff means squat here. He’s gone now and I hope that means you can come around a little more.”
Danny felt his heart tighten some more. It touched him that people he hadn’t talked to in years not only remembered him but understood the situation. When it was time to leave, it was time to leave. Looking back maybe it was rash and rushed. But it had to be done.
“I’m out of here,” Jeff said. He looked beyond Danny and said, “Liv, good seeing you. I’ll take care of that fence for you.”
Danny looked over his shoulder at Liv. “No, I’ll fix it.”
“You?” Liv giggled.
She’s beautiful,
Danny thought.
Look at her giggling... it’s like we’re eighteen...
“What?” Danny asked.
“You don’t know how to build a fence,” Liv said.
“I fixed my dirt bike,” Danny said.
“I bet he put fresh gas in it,” Jeff called out as he walked down the steps.
“That counts as fixing it!” Danny called back.
Jeff waved and Danny turned to face Liv. “I’m really sorry about the fence.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll bill you for it. You can afford it I bet.”
Danny wasn’t sure if it was a cheap shot or not and he didn’t know how to respond to it.
After a few seconds of awkward silence, Liv said, “Come in and let me see your leg.”
“Are you sure?” Danny asked. “Am I interrupting...”
“It’s fine,” Liv said.
Danny walked into the house and looked around. It was perfect. It was the exact kind of house he could picture Liv living in. The pictures in the dining room, the theme of the kitchen, the plants hanging, everything in order and clean. The color scheme, the way the place felt and even smelled, it was all Liv. His sense were in overdrive. He was unsure what to think, what to do, or even what to say.
As he lingered behind Liv, he tried not to check her out.
But that was impossible.
Beyond impossible.
Liv walked into the living room and Danny’s eyes followed the way her sexy hips moved. They were a little bigger than all those years ago, just another testament to the fact that time had really turned Liv into a woman. She could wear a pair of jeans back then that could stop someone’s heart. She always wore jeans with holes in them, sometimes in the sexiest places. Now she wore jeans without tears in them and it still made Danny feel wild.
“Lorraine, this is an old friend of mine, Danny,” Liv said.
“Nice to meet you,” Danny said as he stepped next to Liv.
“Wait a second,” Lorraine said. Her eyes opened wide. “Is this...
the Danny
?”
“Lorraine...”
“The Danny?” Danny asked.
“You’re from Chasing Cross,” Lorraine said.
Danny nodded. “That I am.”
“You’re famous.”
“Depending on who you ask, maybe.”
“You... you’re...” Lorraine looked at Liv and Danny could easily read the mental conversation between the two women.
“I’m in town for my father’s funeral,” Danny said.
“Yes. Of course. I’m terribly sorry about that.”
“Thank you.”
“Lorraine is Dad’s private nurse,” Liv said. “She helps out around the house every now and again.”
“I don’t need a nurse,” Charlie called from his chair. “I’m perfectly fine on my own.”
“We know that,” Lorraine said. “I’m here to clean up after Liv.”
Everyone laughed and Danny could see how important Lorraine was in the house, even if she wasn’t a permanent resident.
“Danny crashed through our fence,” Liv said, “and cut his leg. I’m going to help him.”
Liv started to walk again and Danny noticed how Lorraine smiled ear to ear. Danny met eyes with the woman and it felt comfortable. She was a good woman and when she nodded at Danny it was like someone giving him approval for all the thoughts racing through his mind.
He followed Liv and as he watched her climb the steps he had to smile at himself. It wasn’t the first time Liv lead him up a set of steps. It didn’t have the same adolescence feeling as it did before, but it certainly made Danny’s heart race and body warm up watching her. It occurred to him then that he and Liv really hadn’t been together in a long time... he couldn’t help but wonder what it was like. How it felt. How many men she had shared herself with.
If she was in love at the moment.
He shut his eyes, trying to calm his thoughts, and climbed the steps. Each time his right leg had to touch a step, it stung, and for once in his life, Danny focused on the pain.
At the top of the steps he followed Liv to a full bathroom. The second she entered the bathroom she walked to a second door and closed it but not before Danny caught a glimpse of what was on the other side.
The master bedroom.
Liv’s bedroom.
Or was it Liv and someone else’s bedroom?
The thought filled Danny with a jolt of anger. However, he would never blame Liv for falling in love with someone else. She deserved it. She deserved a good, happy life. And that probably meant a life without Danny.
“Here, sit,” Liv said and pointed to the toilet.
Danny sat and put his leg out. He reached for his jeans and Liv swatted his hands away.
“I’ll do it.”
She lifted the leg of his jeans and Danny studied her face. She was beautiful. He caught the scent of her hair and did his best to inhale it without looking stupid and obvious. When her fingers touched his bare skin - even at his leg - Danny tensed and jumped.
“Sorry, did I hurt you?” Liv asked.
She looked up at Danny and it was all his heart could take.
“No, I’m okay...”
Not like I hurt you
, he thought and turned his head.
A few seconds later Liv said, “Wow, you really did a number here.”
“Can you save my leg?” Danny asked, not sure if he was joking or serious.
“Don’t be a big baby. Let me clean it up. It’s going to sting like hell.”
“Okay.”
“Tough rockstar?”
Danny smiled and nodded. “Liv...”
Liv touched Danny’s leg with a medicated wipe. The sting took his breath away for a few seconds, and made his eyes water. She wiped the cut clean and then started to dry it and reached for a bandage.
“You’re lucky it cut across and not in,” Liv said. “You’d be getting stitches then.”
“How do you know all this? Are you a nurse too?”
“Hardly,” Liv scoffed. “I worked in real estate until I started taking care of Dad. I just learned through my time with him... and Lorraine. I sort of shadow her.”
“Charlie get hurt a lot?”
“All the time,” Liv said. “He sometimes thinks he’s in his early thirties and can do things he can’t.”
“Stubborn, huh?”
“No, he literally thinks he’s in his early thirties sometimes...”
Liv’s bottom lip quivered for a second and she put her head down, looking at Danny’s leg. Danny saw that look of pain for a second time and it hurt just as bad as the first time.
“I’m really sorry about him,” Danny said. “Jeff told me...”
“It’s okay,” Liv said. “It’s hard. But I love him.”
“You’re doing an amazing job it seems. I mean, you have this beautiful house. He looks happy and as healthy as he can be. You did have a nice fence until I broke it.”
“It’s all appearance,” Liv whispered.
Danny wondered what the hell that comment meant.
“I’m sorry we had to meet like this,” Danny said. “I planned on... you know, finding you.”
Liv pressed the bandage on Danny’s leg and looked up at him. “Better late than never.”
Now that was a shot, definitely.
And Danny knew he deserved it.
“Listen, Liv...”
“No,” Liv said. “I can’t do this right now, Danny. My gosh... you crashed through my fence... and now...”
Danny touched Liv’s face again. “I understand. I’m just sorry that I disrupted your day. I don’t want to be in anybody’s way while I’m here. But Johnnie and I have to settle everything.”
“That’s it? Just here to settle things?”
Danny swallowed and licked his lips. “I’m not sure what I’m doing here, Liv. Okay? Just know I hope your husband or boyfriend is taking care of you...”
“Really? That’s how you ask about it?”
“What?”
“That’s how you’re going to find out if I’m single or not?”