Fireproof (Book 4 in the No Control Series)

Liz tries her best to calm down, she pulls over and calls Caroline. “Will you please meet me at my house?”
“Of course, Sweetie. What’s wrong?” Caroline asks.
“Something happened with Sara and I’d prefer to only tell the story once.”
“I’m on my way, Liz.”

Caroline is already at the house when Liz arrives. The minute she opens the front door, Liam is there making sure she’s alright.
“I’m upset, but I’m alright, Liam.”

They move to the living room. After being assured that the kids are down for their naps, Liz begins recounting the entire story to Liam and Caroline.
Liz looks out the window at the backyard, unable to face Liam when she tells certain parts of the story.
“Why did this hurt you so much, Liz?” Liam asks, a bit fearful of her answer.
Liz turns around, long overdue tears flowing steadily over her cheeks. For Liam’s sake, she doesn’t discuss the Harry situation with him much. “Because this whole Harry situation can be hard on me. Sara was the person that I went to with my concerns, and my confusion.”
Liam looks down. “Confusion?”
“Not about you, Liam. About how to handle things with Harry without hurting him.”
Caroline speaks up. “The point is, that you trusted Sara and confided in her. Then she betrayed you in an extremely personal way.”
Liz blows out a breath. “Exactly.”
Liam begins to understand that this isn’t really about Harry...or himself. This is about Liz and Sara. “I’m sorry, Beautiful. I didn’t mean to make this harder for you. This isn’t the time for my jealousy, this is a time for me to support you.” He crosses the room to give Liz a hug and a kiss.
“Thank you, Handsome.”
“Liz, there’s something I should tell you. I’m afraid it will only make it worse though.” Caroline says.
Liz takes Liam’s hand, holding it tightly. “What is it, Caroline?”
“Sara called me this morning. She told me she hadn’t heard from you. I told her that you were going to her place this morning to talk to her, to work things out.”
“So she knew I was coming? It was all planned. The two of them fresh out of bed, her in his t-shirt, him… I don’t understand why she would do this.”
“She obviously has an agenda, Love.” Liam says as he rubs Liz’s back.
The tears return. “I feel horrible about the things I said. Does she not feel bad about what she’s done?”
Liam pulls her in close. “I’m sorry she hurt you, Liz. I can’t imagine there would ever be a good reason to hurt someone like you and you may never know why she did it. However, I do know that I love you with every part of me, Beautiful. If you need me to, I’ll hold you until the hurt is gone.”
Liz lays her hand alongside his face. “You are incredible, Handsome. I am so blessed to have you as my husband.” Liz looks to Caroline. “And to have you as a true friend.”
Caroline joins their hug.
“I’ll leave you two alone now. Call me if you need anything though.” As she hugs Liz goodbye, she whispers in her ear, “I’ll check on Harry.”
As they pull back, Liz mouths “Thank you”.

After closing the front door behind Caroline, Liz turns to Liam. “Did I do the right thing, telling you about today?”
Liam pushes her hair away from her face, catching it behind her ear. “You did the right thing by telling me. I’ll admit, it’s hard to hear that another man is thinking of your wife in bed.” He pauses to kiss Liz. “Then I remembered that it’s my bed you’re in and when I call out your name, you’re right there with me.” He leans in for another kiss as Liz rubs his whiskers.
“As a matter of fact, Beautiful, I have this sudden urge to scream out your name.” Liam smirks.
Liz grins. “Well, the kids will be waking up soon, it will have to be quick.”
Liam moves in to kiss her neck while his hands slide down to her ass. Whispering in her ear, “That’s alright. Quickie now...marathon later.”
“Mmm, I love the way you think, Liam.” Liz purrs.
He lifts her to him, kissing her sweetly as he carries her up to bed.





**************
Harry’s Journal Entry

As I sit down to write this, I’m still quite confused about today. When I opened that door, I never expected to see Lizzie standing there. I’m beginning to think that Sara did though. Perhaps the whole thing was a set up. I’m just not sure if it was meant to hurt Lizzie, or meant for me to see Lizzie angry and lashing out.
Lizzie only reacted the way anyone probably would when feeling so hurt and betrayed. Yes she said some hurtful things to Sara, however, they were also true. I did call Sara “Lizzie” a few times in bed. I always felt terrible and apologized to her. She did know what she was getting into with me though. I’ve always been honest with her about my feelings.
Sara has been calling me. I’m ignoring her calls right now, much the same way she was ignoring Lizzie’s. I just need time to try to process all this. I was beginning to have feelings for Sara. She’s lied to me though. Sara led me to believe that she had talked to Lizzie about us and that Lizzie was alright with it.
Unfortunately while I was falling for Sara, I was just part of some spiteful plot to her.

Lizzie called to apologize for the things she said. I assured her that there was no need to apologize. I in turn apologized for the unknowing part I played in this mess.
I also told Lizzie I’d like to get together soon to talk...

Notes