Worth the Weight (25 page)

She seemed to need to distract herself.
Finn
guessed he needed to also if he was going to wait till after the dance and not resort to
nailing
Liz in the restroom of the rec center. “Annie, are you all set? You look great,” Liz asked his daughter.

Annie took in a big breath and released it, and nodded her head.
Finn
knew she
was
nervous about this. For a few minutes, when they announced the fundraiser, Annie would be the center of attention, a thought that no doubt terrified her. The level of her anxiety w
as
made obvious when she gulped,
then looked up at Liz and
Finn
, big blue eyes fearful and asked, “They won’t laugh at me, will they?”

He
heard Liz’s gasp but was proud of how quickly she recovered. “Why would they laugh? Because you’re in a wheelchair? Big deal. If anything, girls will be so envious over how good you look they’ll be ripping you to shreds over your great hair and cool dress and awesome tan, they won’t even realize you’re in a wheelchair.”

It was the most fucked-up logic
Finn
had ever heard, but it did the trick. Annie got a huge smile on her face and turned forward, apparently more than willing to be the object of scorn if it was envy-based.

Women. Go figure.

He squeezed Liz’s hand in silent thanks. “Speaking of envy over how good people look, you’re going to be a target yourself tonight, Liz. You look beautiful.” He was rewarded with an eye roll from Liz.

Damn, the woman had no idea how good she looked. Had some man done a number on her and made her question her desirability?
Finn
wished he could get his hands on that man - if there was one - and squeeze the life out of him for ever making Liz doubt herself.

A cold sensa
tion passed through him and he
prayed that
it hadn’t been him
.

They weren’t in the door more than a few seconds when
Finn
heard a female shriek and saw a blur of flowered dress heading toward them. “Lizzie Hampton? Oh my God, is that really you? I haven’t seen you in four or five years. You look unbelievable! My God, I can’t believe it’s really you. I almost didn’t know you.”

Before
Finn
could discern what was going on, Liz told him to take Annie and find Stevie and Clea. She needed to do a few things, see a few people
,
then she’d meet up with them. Then she dropped
Finn
’s hand and made her way to the woman who was bearing down on them and still going on about how great Liz looked.

Strange. He agreed that Liz looked spectacular tonight, but was surprised at the
intensity from the woman
.

The dance was being held at the rec center on the concrete that normally held the city ice arena. In the summer the ice was melted, the boards taken down and community dances and wedding receptions were held. Faint traces of paint remained on the concrete floor, denoting the blue lines, face off circles and the red centerline. It was an open room with a stage and dance
floor at the center, two bars, one on each side of the room, a concession and pop stand and eighty or so circular tables set on every remaining space of floor. It was typically the most attended gathering of the year in the Copper Country, though Liz had boasted that her fundraiser dance and auction would top it.

He had never been to this event. As a berry grower, he should have, but he had never been much of a socializer and Annie had always been adamant that she didn’t want to go to so public an event, so he used her as an excuse not to attend himself. Gran had gone most years, representing the Robbins farm, and Stevie went last year, but this was
Finn
’s first time.

The same feelings he always got at these kinds of things overcame him. Like any minute someone would come up and ask him to quietly leave, that he did not belong here. It was a community dance, for Christ
’s sake
, and he was part of the community, but he had deep-rooted feelings of inadequacy that he wasn’t sure he’d ever lose.

He watched as Liz circled the room like the pro she was. Hugs from everyone she knew, even from those who she was obviously being introduced to for the first time. More than one person held her arms out from her, taking her all in, as
Finn
had done the first night he’d seen her at the
Mine Shaft
.

My God, did the whole town share his feelings of lust for Liz? He wouldn’t be surprised, but he couldn’t help but feel there was something else happening with all the people gushing over Liz. He’d have to remember to ask her about it later.

Thinking about what he wanted to do with Liz when they were finally alone, he conceded that those questions could wait until
much
later.

She was checking in with Madge Goodson, the one running the show tonight. She stopped and chatted briefly with each of the queen candidates as they gathered around the stage, the crowning about to begin.

Finn
saw her face break into a huge smile and followed her line o
f vision to Pete
Ryan; the hockey star who was a friend and client o
f Liz’s. He saw the moment
Ryan
saw Liz and the wolfish smile that crossed the athlete’s face made
Finn
tense with jealousy.

Whoa, boy
.
She’s only yours on loan. She doesn’t belong to you, don’t go all caveman on her and scare her away before you get what you want.

Still,
his
fists were clenched and only eased as he saw Liz, instead of stepping into
Ryan
’s outstretched arms, punch him - playfully but hard - on the man’s bulging biceps. She grabbed
his
jersey as he pulled away from her, rubbing his sore arm, and yanked him down to her so she could whisper something into his ear.
Ryan
’s eyes went to the girl about ten yards away from him, the girl
Finn
recognized as last
ye
ar’s queen. He nodded at Liz,
then put his hands up in a surrendering motion to her as she laughed.

That was about right, what man didn’t surrender to Liz in some fashion? Lord knows way back when, he would have done anything to please her.
Anything but gracefully accept a shirt she h
ad especially picked out for you
.
Yeah, so he’d been an ass about the shirt, and probably would have been an ass if she’d bought him one today.

It hit home that Liz was all about giving. It was why she was able to pull off this fundraiser so effortlessly, or know exactly what his kids would need to feel special tonight. Or why so many people dropped everything to say hello when she entered a room.

Did a man who was so reluctant to receive, so distrustful of hidden strings, have any business being with a woman who personified giving?

She was whispering something else to
Ryan
now, and nodded her head toward Stevie where
he stood with a pack of boys.
Finn
watched as
the hockey player
listened, nodded, then followed Liz’s head as it swung toward a group of adolescent girls that huddled on the other side of the room. Again,
Ryan
nodded, accepted a squeeze on the arm from Liz and watched as she walked away. Walked toward
Finn
.
Ryan
’s eyes watched
her
stride to
Finn
’s table, then he looked up and saw
Finn
watching him watch
Liz
. Showing no embarrassment,
Ryan
nodded to
him
and
Finn
gave a short nod in return.

Total
guy thing. Without a word,
Ryan
had said, “You’re damn lucky, she’s a great girl” and
Finn
had sent the message back, “That’s right, she is, and she’s MINE.” They both knew where they stood.

“Get everything handled?” he asked Liz as she sat at the table with
Annie and him
. Gran was off getting them all some refreshments and Stevie had left the
m
to be with his friends since their arrival.

“Yep.” She placed her hand on Annie’s knee and gave a light squeeze. “Annie, when they get done announcing the queen, my friend
,
Petey
,
is going to call you up and he’ll announce the fundraiser, okay?”

A determined look fought the terror on Annie’s face and she nodded to Liz. “You’ll go with me, won’t you…” before
he
could assure his daughter of his presence she added, “Lizzie?”

His
heart felt like it had been lassoed and rustled to the ground. Stu
nned that his little girl didn’t
feel the need to cling to him, and overjoyed that the person she wanted near her for this momentous occasion was Liz
. H
e looked at Liz to see if she had garnered the importance of this request.

Her
eyes glistened. She pretended to fix her mascara as she gave Annie a nonchalant, “Sure, kid, I’ll be with you.” But
he
knew Annie’s words had affected Liz as much as they had him.

Shit. This was not supposed to happen. A summer fling, that’s what they’d decided, what they
’d
agreed
up
on. He didn’t want to feel this deep connection with her. But he couldn’t draw back now, not when they were so close to closing the deal, to sleeping together.
Finally.

He’d get through this night,
then they’
d slow things down. Most of the work for the fundraiser was done, so Liz wouldn’t need to be at the farm as often as she was now. They could spend the next month between now and the fundraiser just getting together for sex. No kids, no friends, no Gran, just the two of them, occasionally getting together to
scratch the itch. Not even friends with benefits. Just benefits
.

Yeah. Right. Like that was possible.

He
sighed, accepting his fate. Who was he kidding? Keeping things to a minimum with Liz would never work, wasn’t really what he even wanted if he was honest with himself. He loved when she was at the farm. The work wasn’t quite as back breaking when he knew there would be a few stolen
kisses
in the barn at the end of the day. He’d take every minute with her up until the moment she left for Detroit. Even that would be pure torture, to see her drive away from him, back to her life, her business and whatever guys
might be
waiting for her in the Motor City.

The queen cr
owning went smoothly, with
Ryan playing his role to the hilt. Hugging and chastely kissing each of the contestants until only the winner remained. As he quieted the crowd and told them he had an announcement to make, Liz got behind Annie and made her way toward the stage.
Finn
rose to help, but
she
waved him off.

The stage had a ramp on either side, and Liz was able to easily wheel Annie to the corner of the stage.

Once the queen and her court had been escorted from the stage,
Ryan
stepped to the
microphone. “I just want to let you all know about an upcoming event. Mark your calendars now. August eighth and ninth are going to be the most exciting two days the Copper Country has ever seen and it’s all to help out my good friend
,
Annie Robbins.”

Finn
snorted from where he sat. Annie had never even met Pete Ryan.

What the hell,
it was all about the
surgery
.
He
didn’t mind putting up with a little phony emotion if it meant his daughter would someday be able to
stand and
walk. He watched as Liz wheeled Annie to the front of the stage then went back to the curtains that served as the backdrop during the queen
coronation. She nodded to Ryan
and yanked on a cord, which opened the curtains.

Ryan
put on his best “let’s get ready to rumble” voice and announced, “Ladies and gentleman, it’s my pleasure to announce…Annie Aid!” The crowd, solely feeding off their hometown hero’s enthusiasm, began to applaud.

The curtains parted and a huge banner that read “Annie Aid” shown behind. It listed the dates, and in two neat columns, one for each day of the happening, summarized the events.
Finn
had seen some of Liz’s notes, but was floored by the sheer volume of things that she’d been able to plan and organize on such short notice.

“As you can see, we’re having a celebrity golf outing on Friday, a barbecue Friday night. A dance on Saturday, and throughout the weekend you can have your picture taken with…” he held the pause as long as he could before shouting, “The Stanley Cup.”