Sweet Valley Confidential: Ten Years Later (34 page)

“And I love you, too,” Jessica said, smiling, “and I want to live here always.”

“Sweet Valley?”

“No.” She hugged him. “In the eyes of the beholder.”

Todd laughed. “You got it.”

And arm and arm they walked into the sun, which just happened to be setting.

*   *   *

Bruce’s house was twenty minutes outside of Sweet Valley. Just before seven, Elizabeth borrowed Alice’s car and drove there.

Bruce had built the house four years earlier and though he hadn’t mentioned anything to her, Steven told her that he’d just sold the house a couple of weeks ago and was moving at the end of the month. Where, Steven didn’t know.

That was so strange, Bruce not mentioning anything to her. Despite Bruce’s assurances that whatever he had to say wasn’t bad news, Elizabeth was concerned. He was, after all, her best friend. Why hadn’t he told her about the house or anything else lately? All their conversations had been about her problems.

For a long time now, at least since the debacle, he was the only person Elizabeth had confided in. She was very open with him, though for some reason, she had held back on the details of her relationship with Will.

Elizabeth felt terrible about being so self-involved that she hadn’t even noticed big changes were happening in Bruce’s life. Some friend, huh?

But why was he intentionally keeping it from her?

By the time she arrived at Bruce’s house, she was a cross between upset and worried.

Bruce’s house was too well furnished to have been done by a single man with very little interest in decorating. Fortunately, he had money and the good taste to hire a professional. The result was an impeccable home done in primary colors, always the favorite of bachelors, and good enough to be featured in a style magazine.

Bruce did have an interest in art, and it showed in his choice of paintings and sculptures. Most of the work was traditional, with some ventures into abstract in the sculptures.

The well-maintained look had more to do with Clara, who had worked for the Patmans since Bruce was a boy, than with any innate neatness.

There were so many things Elizabeth liked about Bruce. In fact, they were very much alike in myriad ways; they liked the same books, movies, plays, and politics. Best of all, they didn’t like the same people, which gave them lots of fun conversations and private jokes.

More important, they felt the same way about serious issues like family and loyalty and love. Both surprisingly square and homey, almost old-fashioned. They were romantics.

Then it came to Elizabeth. She knew what Bruce’s secret was—he was in love.

For an instant there was the delight of knowing, of guessing right, because she knew she was right, but that lasted only a few seconds before another much darker emotion bubbled up.

She would lose him.

The thought took her breath away.

Bruce must have heard her car pulling up, because he opened the door before she could ring the doorbell.

Given a choice, she would have run and not had to hear anything about this mystery woman, about how he adored her and how she was everything in his life.

“No!” The word escaped her lips.

“What’s wrong?” Bruce was alarmed.

The devastation had turned Elizabeth sheet white. Her eyes opened so wide, they stung. Or was it the beginning of tears?

Bruce reached out, gently brought her into the house, and led her to the couch.

“My God, what happened?” he asked as she collapsed on the cushions. “Are you all right?”

“It’s okay. I’m okay,” Elizabeth said, struggling to collect herself. “I’m sorry. I just … I tripped. That’s it. I lost my balance. But I’m okay now.”

She tried a smile to reassure him, but no smile came, only a twisted grimace, the harbinger of tears.

Bruce was concerned. “Did you fall? Is that it? Are you hurt?”

“No. I didn’t fall, I didn’t even trip.” She was uncomfortable with the lie, but she couldn’t really tell him the truth because she wasn’t sure of it herself. Why did his possible happiness crush her so? He was her dearest friend; she loved him. She should be overjoyed.

“It’s just been too overwhelming. Everything.”

“I know.” He poured two glasses of wine, a Pommard, her favorite, and handed her one. “Let’s relax. Not talk about anything important.”

“But you want to tell me…”

“It can wait. Come on, take your glass and I’ll show you the new flowers I put in next to the deck. The
I,
of course, is actually Frederico, the guy who does my garden.”

“But you sold the house.”

“Who told you that?”

“It’s true, isn’t it?”

Bruce was caught. “Yes. Caroline?”

“No, my brother. But why the secret? And why did you keep it from me?”

“I’ll tell you everything, but first I need some fortification.” Bruce downed his wine, refilled his glass, and topped off Elizabeth’s.

“How many people are they expecting at the wedding?” he asked, stalling.

“A hundred and fifty or so. Todd has a million cousins.”

“Who from Sweet Valley is coming?”

“It looks like our whole high school class.”

They continued with the safe conversation for a couple of minutes. Both were uncomfortable about moving on.

Elizabeth was dreading the big revelation, but she couldn’t help trying to guess who it was. Maybe it was someone from Sweet Valley. What if it was someone like Lila? Lila was separated, that made her available.

No way, Elizabeth told herself. That little fling they’d had in college was nothing. According to Bruce it had disappeared without a trace.

She quickly went through other possibilities while Bruce told her about how he’d sold the house to people who lived someplace, Elizabeth didn’t hear where. She was too busy with the list of potential brides and beginning to feel more nauseated with every new candidate.

It turned out to be a whole long story about how the broker made a mistake on the price and they actually were going to pay ten thousand more than he was asking until he owned up.

Elizabeth studied Bruce’s face while he spoke. He had the longest lashes for a man. They were almost pretty, but the blue eyes were dark and his expression was very masculine, strong, and honest.

Bruce had been pronounced gorgeous since high school, and he was. Since the time his parents had died, Elizabeth had been his closest friend and had stopped seeing his appearance; their psyches were so deeply connected she hardly ever noticed the surface. But looking at him now, aside from the gorgeous part, there was a warmth and even a sexiness.…

Sexiness? Bruce, her friend? Well, there it was.

She couldn’t wait any longer. “Okay, so who is it?”

“What do you mean?”

“I know you too well. You’re in love. So who is it?”

Even as she said the words and tried to make them sound light and fun, she dreaded the answer.

“How do you know I’m in love?”

“I can feel it.”

“Describe it.”

“Look at you. You’re practically oozing love. You’re almost electric in your warmth. No, make that hot—dare I say—passionate? You’re on fire.”

“That sounds like the writer talking.”

“No. It’s just what I feel.”

“You feel?”

“Well, I feel you feel.”

“You’re right.”

Now she wanted to run. It was okay up to this point, but when he named this woman, that would be the end of them together. Oh, yes, he would say he and Elizabeth would always be friends, but just from the look of him, she knew there would be no room for her. Or for anyone else.

Suddenly Elizabeth knew she didn’t want to lose Bruce. Her reaction was so startling, she didn’t even know how to explain it.

It was far beyond just the selfishness of keeping her friend to herself, but any other reason was too weird.

She chickened out. “Okay, I don’t want to know who it is. Just tell me where you’re moving.”

“To New York.”

“Wow! How come? Is she there?”

He nodded.

Elizabeth poured herself another glass of wine. She’d need it for this. He would be living in New York, practically her neighbor, and she would have to pretend to be whomever’s friend. Well, she would. Because she really loved this guy.

“Enough.” Bruce sounded almost angry. “How can you be so dense? You’re supposed to know me so well. Can’t you see? It’s you. I’m in love with you.”

Elizabeth gasped. That was all she could do.

“And it’s been you since that horrendous time in the hospital with my father. You took my hand. Dumb high school thing, but that was it. I’ve been struggling through your life for the last ten years and I can’t do it anymore. At least not quietly.”

It was like a huge wave hitting Elizabeth, knocking her down and burying her under a sea of water. Now she really had to gasp for breath.

“Me? You love me?” Her voice was so small it was barely a whisper. Certain she had misheard, she winced, expecting the embarrassing correction.

“Yes.” Bruce moved closer. Close enough for her to feel the aura of heat emanating from his body.

Elizabeth let herself be drawn in. There was nothing she could think to say. In fact, there was no thinking, only feeling. An awesome, overpowering feeling.

Then he kissed her. Bruce Patman kissed her! That had never happened before. Not while she was conscious anyway, but that’s a long story.

All those years of being so close emotionally but never touching, always keeping that little distance. He was the one who kept it, not she. She loved her friend and would have been warmer and more affectionate, but there was always that slight awayness.

It wasn’t that Bruce wasn’t appealing, because he was. In fact, he was very sexy, but absolutely off-limits.

For one thing, those were mostly the Todd years. Even the other brief relationships, like with Tom Watts and Sam Burgess, always had the shadow of Todd clouding them. Besides, the possibility of Elizabeth Wakefield cheating on anything or anyone was near impossible. That was her reputation and, truth is, it was deserved. Dummy that she was. But perhaps more important, it would have been a betrayal of their friendship. In those terrible years of loss, Bruce needed her. Taking advantage of that vulnerability would have been dishonorable.

Additionally, he certainly never showed any signs of liking her as anything but a friend. Although there were times when she thought she felt … stared at. Mostly when she wasn’t looking. And when she turned around, it was gone. But she felt it all the same, then dismissed it and chalked it up to silly teenage romantic nonsense.

But this kiss was no silly romantic nonsense. It was real! And it was wild!

It reverberated right through her whole body. Before she knew it, Elizabeth threw her arms around Bruce as if she had just returned from a million years away from the man she loved.

At last Bruce had the love of his life in his arms, the unattainable woman he had adored for ten years, the woman he watched loving someone else. He’d known their love was wrong, but he couldn’t tell her the truth because he cared too much.

They were both overcome, out of breath. Bruce stood up and held out his hand. And as she did ten years ago in that hospital waiting room, Elizabeth slipped her hand into his. Together they walked up the steps to his bedroom.

Once there, they just held each other. Then Bruce put his hands on her shoulders and moved her back slightly, only far enough to see her completely. To make certain she was absolutely there.

Gently, he unbuttoned her silk blouse. She didn’t move. He slid it down over her shoulders, deftly unhooking her bra and allowing her breasts, with their taut nipples, to be free. He just stared at her, drinking in the sight of the flesh and blood of years of longing. Still she didn’t move, waiting for him to slip her skirt and thong down over her hips and reveal her total nakedness to him.

With the excitement of standing in front of this man whom she had known so long from the distance of friendship, of being completely exposed to him, it took all her willpower to keep from closing the space between them and feeling the heat of his body against hers.

But now it was her turn. Elizabeth reached out and began to unbutton Bruce’s shirt. She moved her hands to his belt, unzipped his pants, and with a gentle push, allowed them to drop to the floor, exposing his smooth, almost sculpted body and his desire for her.

Bruce let his shirt drop from his arms, kicked his legs free of the clothes, and took his love in his arms, pressing so hard he feared he would break her, but he couldn’t stop himself and she didn’t break. Together, they fell to the bed.

When they made love, it was completely loving, full of such deep tenderness that the passion almost played second to the adoration.

But the passion was there, and once the love had been established, the excitement took over and spun them out into the wild reaches of the glorious.