Chapter 21

Mr. Reynolds walked into the kitchen and regarded each of us individually. I slowly stood up. For a tense moment, I wasn’t sure what was going to happen.

His eyes met Lizzie’s. “We were worried about you,” he said.

“You didn’t need to be,” she replied. “I texted Mom and told her I was okay. That I was staying with a friend.”

He turned to me. “And you’re the friend, I assume.”

“That’s right,” I calmly replied.

Mr. Reynolds stepped back a few step without taking his eyes from his daughter. “What are you saying? That you want to be with this man here?” He pointed at me. “Is that it?”

“Please don’t talk about Nick like he’s not here.” Lizzie moved around the kitchen island to stand in front of her father, who was a full ten inches taller than her. “We came here tonight to tell you that I’m moving out. I’ll be looking for my own apartment, but in the meantime I’ll be staying with Nick. And yes, we’re involved. In fact, we just got back from a trip where we visited J.J. for three days.”

Maybe Lizzie was more like J.J. than anyone realized. She seemed to be provoking her father.

Mr. Reynolds looked like a bull ready to charge. He balled his hand into a fist and swung a punch at me.

I was prepared. I grabbed him by the shoulder, twisted his arm and dropped him firmly, face down, on the floor. I continued to restrain Mr. Reynolds with a knee to the spine, arm leveraged, a tight grip around his wrist.

I could dislocate his shoulder in an instant, and it took all my willpower not to do it.

“Are you all right, sir?” I calmly asked.

“No, damn you!” he shouted indignantly, but it was his ego that was bruised, not his body.

“I’m going to back off now.” I let go his wrist, rose to my feet and took two steps away.

Grimacing with pain, I lay a hand on my abdomen over the incision and bent forward slightly.

“Are you all right?” Lizzie asked.

I nodded. Truth was it hurt like hell.

Mrs. Reynolds had watched the scene in silent horror, both hands covering her face.

Mr. Reynolds rose awkwardly to his feet. “I told you not to contact J.J.!” he shouted at Lizzie.

“Really Dad? That’s all you have to say right now?”

He took a deep breath. “Mark my words, if you walk out of here with this man...” He pointed a threatening finger at me. “Don’t expect to ever come back. That’s not how it works in this house.”

“No?” Lizzie said. “Well, your days of ruling my life are over.”

With a shake of her head, Lizzie turned to hug her mother and whispered in her ear: “Please call me. I’ll text you my new address. You can visit.”

She took hold of my hand and left the kitchen. “I hope he didn’t tear anything,” she said quietly as we crossed the hall.

“I’m fine,” I replied. “Sorry about that.”

“Don’t apologize. You were perfect. And I can see you’re not fine. I’m going to check that incision as soon as we get in the car, and I’ll be driving.”

We grabbed our coats and walked out.

“You don’t have to look for your own place, you know,” I mentioned as we descended the stairs. “You can stay with me as long as you like. Rent free.”

“I may need to take you up on that.”

We reached my car and she took the keys from me. “Nothing would give me greater pleasure than to drive my father completely stark raving mad.”

“Who knew you were such a rebel?” I asked with a devilish grin as I got in on the passenger side.

“Certainly not me.”

“Look,” I said, “Your father is angry, and he’s making all sorts of threats. I have a feeling that when the dust settles, he’s going to back down a bit. So don’t stress, don’t let it get you down.”

She nodded absentmindedly.

As soon as we were seated, I reached up and flicked on the interior light.

“Lower your seat back,” Lizzie asked me.

I did so and Lizzie opened my jacket, lifted my shirt and inspected the incision. “It’s not bleeding,” she said. “It looks all right. What about your leg?”

“Hurts like hell.”

Lizzie glanced down at my thigh. “There’s no blood on your jeans so that’s a good sign. I’ll check it as soon as we get home. You shouldn’t have done that.”

“I didn’t even realize I was doing it until your father hit the floor.”