Page 32 of Scarred Sunrise

Lizzie told him about what happened, leaving the bits about marriage out. She had no intention of scaring him off before they even got to the restaurant.

“I knew I should have stopped you marrying that douchebag.”

His face was almost expressionless, but she didn’t need to see his expression to know what he was feeling. Sliding her hand to his thigh, she felt the strength there as he lifted it from his lap, kissed her palm and then replaced it, leaving his own hand over hers.

They pulled up at the restaurant, and he parked before getting her door again, sliding his arm around her lower back as they walked into the welcoming light of her favourite Japanese restaurant.

The hostess took their name and led them to a table in the far corner near the fire exit. She saw Ty looking around, assessing every diner in the room and most likely judging the nearest extraction point. It should have made her more nervous, but it didn’t, it made her feel safer.

“Is it safe for us to be out?” She hadn’t thought about it much until now, but their timing wasn’t exactly great with the shit going on in their lives right then.

“It’s fine.”

He didn’t elaborate, and she didn’t need him to, if he said it was fine it was. She picked up the menu and quickly made her choice as Ty did the same thing.

A waiter in a crisp white shirt came over. “Are you ready to order some drinks?”

Ty glanced at her and she nodded. “Can I have a glass of dry house wine?”

“Yes of course, and for you, sir?”

“Just water for me please.”

“Perfect. I’ll be back in a few minutes with your drinks, and I’ll take your food order then.”

Lizzie glanced at Ty. “You can have one, surely?”

He shook his head. “No, I want to remember every single second of this date, and I don’t want alcohol to dull any of it.”

He reached across the table and took her hands in his, the callouses on his hands rough against her skin, making her feel feminine and soft. Lizzie felt herself melt at his words. So many years she’d yearned for this, and now it was as if every dream she’d ever had was crashing in on her in the most delicious way and she found it almost frightening.

What would it be like to have this and then lose it or have it taken away as if the entire thing had been one big tease?

“Is this real?”

She wasn’t aware she’d spoken the words aloud until Ty’s soft chuckle made her realise she had. “If it isn’t real then I don’t want to know what is. But yes, Liz, it’s all real, and you’re as perfect as you’ve always been.”

Something about him saying she was perfect was disconcerting, but she let it go, not really knowing why the words bothered her, but they did. Perhaps because she knew it to be a lie. She was a lot of things, but perfect had never been one of them. Her mind tripped back to the day Meg had been taken from them, and a fresh knot of guilt hit her. She’d never told anyone her secret, yet it made the idea of perfection a lie. If it hadn’t been for her, Meg may never have been lost to them for so long.