Page 5 of Justified Lies

Until a few weeks ago, they had started to grow close. Gabe and Jacob accepted almost weekly Sunday night dinner invitations. The three kids would run about alternating playing and fighting, while he sat at the kitchen island chatting with her. They shared a love of football, so it was always on the TV in the background.

Combined with the smell of something delicious in the oven, Sundays had quickly become his favorite day of the week. Lianna would ask him about his caseload at work and with her legal knowledge she was easy to talk to. As a sergeant in Vancouver PD’s Major Crimes Unit, he never had a lack of stories for her. The electricity that buzzed between them was palpable, and in his weakest moments he considered being foolish enough to ask her for an adults only dinner.

Then one day, he got a taste of what it would be like to let himself get too close. The boys were working on a science project building a volcano. When Jacob got overzealous with the vinegar, it erupted all over the kitchen. The kids immediately took off in the opposite direction, but when Lianna just stood there in the line of fire, gaping, he reacted.

Acting as if it were Mount Vesuvius and not merely a laundry headache, Gabe grabbed her waist and pulled her into him. And damn if it didn’t feel like the most natural thing in the world. She clung to his shirt, her body quaking with laughter. Time slowed and Gabe knew right then he was done for. Lianna had the power to crumble him. It was an innate knowledge he felt from the top of his head to the ends of his toes.

He still remembered every detail. His gaze traveling down to her mouth. The overwhelming compulsion to kiss her, despite all the reasons he shouldn’t. Lianna whispering his name, her lips parting. Just as Gabe began to lower his head,

“You’re going to be in trouble!”

The sounds of the kids’ squeals snapped him out of the hypnotic trance she had him in. Until that moment, he hadn’t admitted to himself the depth of his attraction to Lianna. If he didn’t back off, he was moments away from plunging over the crest of something terrifying, something real. Gabe didn’t know how to do real because his life was based on a lie.

Clearing his throat, he removed his hands from her waist. “Are you okay?”

Pausing for a second, she forced a laugh. “Yes, it’s just baking soda, vinegar, and dish soap. My kitchen has never been cleaner.”

Gabe nodded, words failing him in the moment. Instead, he decided to tuck tail and run.

“Boys, get in here and get this mess cleaned up,” his voice had boomed.

That was the last time he stepped foot in her home. It had taken all his willpower to push her away, both physically and emotionally. He thought maintaining some distance from her would subdue his feelings, but it only made his longing for her more intense.

Just the glimpse of her coming to the door earlier that evening, made him crave her so badly that he ached. If only he could pause time and hold her, absorbing all that comfort she radiated. Lianna had such a warmth to her, she always felt like home to him. Like a happy, healthy home. A home he longed for, a home he had never known. So, as any rational adult would do, he acted like a complete jerk whenever she was near.

The Seahawks fumbled the football onscreen, and it snapped him out of his pity party. The Hawks were having a horrible start to the season and that was good. Anger was much easier to handle than longing, regret, and the multitude of other emotions he felt when it came to Lianna. He knew he could never truly have her. It was a risk he just couldn’t take.

Chapter Three

Lianna had just finished watching the children trample into school when the clouds started to slowly spit down on her, threatening to open at any moment. Putting her head down, she tried to escape without making small talk with any of the other parents. The last thing she needed was to show up at the office with frizzy hair and wet clothing.

This morning the radio said new evidence was found in the Justine Starks case. Lianna had quickly shut off the sound to keep the kids from hearing any grisly details, but she imagined that’s what all the hushed whispers among parents were about.

“Lianna!”

She had made it halfway across the school’s front lawn when a delightful Spanish accent called her name. Stopping in her tracks, she turned to see Dolores, Jacob’s nanny, hurrying towards her. The sweet woman could best be described as squishy and smiley. Dolores was quite possibly the most cheerful woman Lianna had ever met. It bemused her to think of Dolores humming about Gabe’s kitchen each morning as he grunted through the motions. The woman doted on Jacob as if he were her own grandson.

As Dolores closed the distance between the two women, Lianna noticed the Tupperware in her hand.Please let this be cookies. Dolores could do damage in the kitchen. Lianna knew firsthand, never turning down an opportunity to sample her sweets. When it came to most indulgences, Lianna had pretty good self-control, but put dessert in front of her and it was over. Dolores extended the container with a smile.

“Good morning, I baked up some blueberry muffins and thought you would enjoy them.”

“Oh, my God, these are my favorite!” Lianna exclaimed happily, taking the offering. She gave Dolores a quick squeeze.“Thank you so much. They remind me of when I was little, and my grandmom would bake them in the summer.”

“Yes, Gabe mentioned that when he smelled them baking. I thought I would bring you some.” Dolores beamed at her. Lianna was momentarily taken off guard by the fact that Gabe remembered blueberry muffins were her favorite breakfast food.

Just as she was about to go digging for more details from Dolores, Lianna’s sister-in-law approached the duo. Nicki was dressed to the nines with a black silk blouse neatly tucked into black, form-fitting trousers, her long blonde hair providing a striking contrast in color.

Dolores excused herself just as Nicki leaned close and whispered, “Did I tell you about the new mom that was with Justine Starks at Parent’s night? Well, she’s right over there in the purple capris. I swear, how can someone cry so much for a woman she had just met? She’s so fake. Did I tell you I got an eyeful of her itty bitty’s as well?”

Looking in the direction her sister-in-law was pointing, Lianna responded, “Yep, you mentioned it. I’m jealous she had such memorable boobs.”

“All boobs are memorable when they are being thrust in your husband’s face,” Nicki scoffed.

Ah, so that’s it.Darren seemed to like the party mom’s goods a little too much. Lianna opened the container of muffins, breaking off the top of one. She extended the muffin container to Nicki, who looked at them as if they were dog food before shaking her head.

“I bet Darren feels like a perv for drooling over a missing woman’s boobs.” Nicki said in manufactured disgust.

“In fairness, she wasn’t missing when he was drooling.”

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