Lyin: Eyes (AU,M/L,MATURE) ch 53 4/17/15

[mary mary]

Eve: Thank you and the Maria mystery will be made clear soon. Honest, as for cleaning the fish, well, I'm not so sure I would clean them but I will say I didn't mind cooking and eating them. Especially fresh lake cat fish, God were they good. My husband used to laugh at me when he'd come home from one of his fishing trips...I was always waiting at the garage door asking if he had trout or catfish, he knew I wanted the catfish above anything in that lake. I've never purchased catfish in a market but when it was caught that day, nothing like it.
Roswelllostcause: LOL, the thing that I remember from long long ago in biology class, earthworms...I almost hurled right there in the lab and my two best friends in this world, and still are, stood there and laughed out loud at me while I turned every shade of blue. Honest. Enjoy the new chapter...
Carolyn: God Carolyn, the only thing we can do with these grandchildren is smile and enjoy. Our jobs are to love and spoil them and I think we can be very proud of our accomplishments regarding our children and grandchildren. I don't think there are any temptations in this chapter for food so we'll just have to settle for some butterfingers or something. Enjoy...And thank you for the Roswell reunion website, I really enjoyed it and forwarded it on to Michelle in L.A.


Chapter: 11

When Liz woke up it was 3:30 in the afternoon and she couldn’t believe that she had slept that long. My God…the day is half over she thought to herself. She managed to roll over and hug her pillow for just another minute when she heard her door move open a little…she opened one eye and looked at the visitor standing there and smiled and said come on in as she sat up clutching her pillow to her chest.

“You going to sleep all day sleepy head?” Max asked as he walked across the room and sat on the edge of the bed.

“No not really. As a matter of fact I hadn’t planned on sleeping this long but once I fell asleep I guess I stayed asleep. Feels good though.”

Max gave her a big smile and said “Good, you needed it. Now…what would you like to do with the rest of the day? We are all downstairs and are open to any and all suggestions.” God, how he wanted to just crawl in that bed and hold her to him…just as you would a little babe.

“Hey, I’m up for anything the rest of the group wants to do. Although I don’t think I want to do anything very physical. I haven’t worked out in almost a week and my body is starting to feel it.”

“My God Liz, why didn’t you say something, you know I have a fully equipped gym at the other end of the house that I use daily. You can work out with me. Do you want to go there now?” Max wanted to kick himself for not thinking of it earlier.

“That would be great Max…just let me get some clothes on and I’ll meet you downstairs. Maybe everyone else would like to work out for awhile too…no?”

She looked so cute. Max started laughing at her and then thought for a minute…Izzy looked like she might work out regularly and Alex sure looked pretty buff…as a matter of fact so did his mom and dad…”Hey, I’ll ask them…come on down when you’re ready okay?”

And on that note Liz crawled out of bed and started to make it up…when Max noticed she was going to make her bed he just shrugged his shoulders and headed to the other side and flipped the pillows onto the chair and proceeded to help her…she just looked at him and grinned…the big over-paid millionaire athlete making beds. Will wonders ever cease? Max gave her a grin, shrugged his shoulders and continued to help. They were finished in no time and Max headed on down the back stair case.

*~*~*~*

When Max came into the kitchen Isabel was getting herself some water from the fridge, number 1, and she turned and asked Max if Liz had any ideas for entertainment. Max looked at her and grinned…”She wants to work out…”

“Fantastic…why didn’t I think of that, I’ll go tell mom, dad and Alex to get into some comfortable clothes and meet us in the gym?”

Max looked at his sister like she was from another planet…who would have ever thought that she would want to work out? He shook his head and headed over to the pantry to retrieve a case of water…he wasn’t sure just how much water was left back there so it was better to be safe than sorry…at least he’d heard that once or twice before.

Soon Liz came down the back stairs and Max was waiting for her…”Do you need anything to eat or drink before we head on back…everyone is already back there waiting for us

“And by everyone do you mean they are all up for this?” Liz asked, wide eyed.

“Yes they are…much to my surprise. As a matter of fact they were put out with themselves because they hadn’t thought of it. Put another feather in your cap Liz Parker, this is another first in the home of Max Evans. Family exercise!” And with that Max took Liz’s hand and they headed down the long hallway toward the work-out room (aka: the gym.)

*~*~*~*

When Liz walked into the gym she was flabbergasted…the entire room was lined with mirrors and one whole side of the room was set up with a ballet barre. Whoever this ice skater was he had to have been a billionaire in his own right to have afforded all of this. It doesn’t get more elaborate than this except in the movies. There was every piece of gym equipment imaginable in the place.

The first thing Liz did was head for the stair master. No one else was using it so she took possession and positioned herself, turned it on and started a steady rhythm to imaginary music. Max noticed the look in her eyes and pulled out a portable tape player with earphones and handed it to her. She gave him a smile, put the plugs in her ears and turned the player on. She smiled as the tunes of Alabama came through, all of the music choices were set to the same beat so it wouldn’t interfere with the pace of the stair master and after listening to a few of the songs she looked over toward Max and smiled her appreciation. He remembered how much she enjoyed Country Music when they were in school; she had always said it was so much easier to understand what was being said and that each song told a story.

Soon everyone was talking and working away at their own comfort level while Max did his usual regimen. He really gave his body a work out and to say the rest of the people in the room were impressed was an understatement. He wore a tank top and sweats that looked like something he had retrieved from a roadside trash can and paid no more attention to anyone else in the room than if the place had been vacated for more fun activities. He was really in his own little world. The sweat was rolling down his back and his muscles rippled with each and every movement of his body.

Liz was getting a little turned on at the sight of him and had to avert her attention before anybody noticed the way she was staring at him. She twisted her neck and moved her head in a sideways maneuver and thought ‘God forgive me’ to herself…I shouldn’t be thinking thoughts like this, I am still married and I will not degrade myself or the words spoken in that ceremony regardless of how badly the situation turned out. I will continue to conduct myself like a lady and treat my friend as just that, my friend. And ‘please, God, help me to do this’ she prayed silently to herself, she knew she couldn’t do it alone…

An hour after the workout started an alarm went off in the corner and Max stood up and gave everyone a big smile. “Come on, we’re going swimming”.

“Oh no Max, I don’t have a suit and I don’t want to go outside, not like this.” Liz begged.

“Ah but Liz, remember I told you I had an indoor pool…it’s right next door and through that room right there you will find many bathing suits just begging to be worn. Now get in there with Mom and Iz and find yourself something to put on.

“Dad, Alex and I will go into the room next to it and find something for us. Mom and Iz know where we’ll be when you come out. Now quit fretting and enjoy…there’s a Jacuzzi Liz…” He looked at her and grinned as he teased her into joining them…

“Oh, okay…come on Diane…Iz, let’s get this show on the road.” And with that the ladies retired to the ladies dressing room and Liz was amazed once again. There were every kind of swim suit in just about every size you could imagine hanging on racks. She found a cute little white two piece number in her size and stepped behind a privacy screen and proceeded to change.

Diane and Isabel both grinned at her and started stripping. They didn’t see the need to hide themselves from each other but if Liz wanted privacy then she should have privacy.

There were full length mirrors along the one side of the dressing room and a bench down the center for seating. Liz thought to herself that this had to have been one of the best places in the world to train, no matter what sport it was for any person young or old. How positively wonderful to be able to live a dream in a place like this. She was sure it was very hard work but it had to be pleasant as well and to have lived in these surroundings would have been absolutely the most pleasant,

She was soon finished daydreaming and stepped out into the dressing room and eyed herself in the mirrors. She really didn’t look too bad…she found a stray ribbon on one of the racks and grabbed her hair up into a high pony tail and tied it off…she was ready. She grabbed a towel from one of the shelves and headed out the door and found Isabel and Diane standing there waiting for her; she apologized for taking so long neither of the ladies were upset to say the least.
“Liz, please don’t apologize, we just got here ourselves. Come on lets go relax and see what we can conjure up for tonight.” Isabel said as Liz and Diane followed her to the pool next door. This was going to be fun…she just knew it.

When the ladies entered the pool area Liz had to stop and catch her breath. The room had glass walls on two sides as well as the ceiling. The water was possibly the bluest blue she had ever seen, although she knew it wasn’t the water at all but the color of the tiles and the entire area was all marble. There were chairs and tables around the one end of the pool that outlined one of the glass walls which gave the impression of being outdoors. Outside of those glass walls was a beautiful garden with a large hedge that provided privacy from the outside world yet gave the feeling of being outdoors. It was breathtakingly beautiful.

The men were already seated around the Jacuzzi but Liz just had to try the pool. She had been on the swim team at the Y when she was younger and she really loved swimming. She dropped her towel, Max took one look at her and gulped, and then she took a run and dived right in. She swam about ten laps before stepping out, leaving her hair tie floating in the water, and then joined everyone else in the Jacuzzi. “Max, this is wonderful.” She sighed and Diane and Isabel both started laughing. She looked at them puzzled and Diane was the first to speak…”Yes it is Liz…we are just surprised at how well you swim.”

“Oh, I love to swim. I belonged to the YWCA back in Roswell and I was on the swim team until…well…until Mom felt that when young ladies reached a certain age they should not be baring themselves…” Liz trailed off and let it drop.

Max looked at his dad and Philip just raised an eyebrow again and shook his head no…Max let it go. Max was beginning to understand his dad’s remarks about Nancy Parker. Things were starting to make sense to him now. Why didn’t he know all of this before? Maybe he was just too young to have seen and understand it all. Is that why she went to the prom from Maria’s house…did her mother not want her to go? This is just too weird Max thought.

Soon the discussion got around to the subject of dinner and Liz started to laugh.

Everyone looked at her and then Alex asked, “What’s so funny Liz?”

“Have you noticed that no matter what we are talking about we always wind up discussing food?” She giggled as she spoke.

Diane looked at her and said “You know, you’re right, but we really should decide…don’t you think?”

“Sure we should, I just thought it was funny. Why don’t we eat the leftovers from the bar-b-que before we have to throw all of that good food out? There’s enough chicken, potato salad, three bean salad and vege’s to have at least three more dinners, and the pantry is still full of pastries. What do you say…leftovers anyone?” Liz wasn’t trying to take over she just didn’t think that the rest of them knew just how much food Olivia had prepared before she left. They all agreed with Liz, leftovers sounded like a great idea and then Philip popped up with...

“Max, do you still have that trivial pursuit game?” and Diane and Isabel both groaned…

“Yeah Dad, as a matter of fact I do…boys against the girls?”

“Sounds great!” Alex piped in and Diane and Isabel groaned even louder.

Liz looked at the other two ladies and wondered what the problem was and asked as much…”We never win…that’s the problem…” Said Isabel.

“Well there’s a first time for everything.” Liz retorted and stuck her tongue out at Alex and Max who in turn said in unison “You’re on Parker.” They all laughed as they stepped out of the Jacuzzi, grabbed their towels and headed back to the dressing rooms to change.

After they all took their showers they met in the kitchen again and started to pull out the leftover food from the bar-b-que and it was Liz’s turn to choose the eating place…she decided that they should just sit around the island…that way the clean up would be faster and they could get on with the game of trivial pursuit much faster. Again Diane and Isabel groaned and the guys just laughed at them…Liz thought…’just you wait Max Evans…I am going to beat you even if I have to cheat,’ and then she blushed pink and started giggling.

“What’s got you so tickled Parker?” Max asked. Liz looked up at him innocently and thought…’I may have to go to confession after tonight’s game’…

“Oh nothing, nothing at all Max.” And Max looked at her with a big question on his face. Nothing my ass he thought…she’s up to something and I don’t think we’re going to like it.


After they finished dinner Liz, Isabel and Diane offered to clean up the kitchen and Max, Philip and Alex all headed to the library in search of the Trivial Pursuit game. Liz whispered to Diane and Isabel to go get their cell phones and to bring hers down with them…it was in her purse on the dresser in her room. They both looked at her with big eyes and wondered what the hell she had in mind but they did as she suggested. Liz kept cleaning up, humming along and dancing her way around the kitchen putting leftovers away and rinsing dishes for the dishwasher as the other two went on their mission to retrieve cell phones.

When they got back to the kitchen Liz had all of the food put away and all they had left was to load the dishwasher.

“Here’s the plan…we are going to set up a conference call on our cell phones and text each other the answers. When we know the answer we’ll just pull our hair behind our ear…even if there isn’t any to pull and check the text messages on our cell phones. If we aren’t positively sure of the answer don’t text…we’ll just take our chances at a guess, but if we are sure text it in. Okay?”

“Liz, you are positively the most devious person I have ever met…what on earth made you think of this?” Diane asked.

“It was that pompous son of yours and his superior attitude that got me to the point of cheating. I’ll go to confession next week but I am contemplating sinning tonight.” Liz huffed out.

Both Diane and Isabel laughed out loud. My God was she fun to be around…this was going to be the downfall of those three pompous asses in the library tonight…good for Liz.

About that time Max came in to tell them the game was set up and to be prepared to eat dust. Liz just smirked at him and said “We’ll see who eats whose dust big boy.” And again Max got a weird feeling about this game. Diane and Isabel both piped up and said “Bring it on Max…” And it was at this time that Max knew something was seriously wrong here.

*~*~*~*

About three hours later the men were still trying to catch up with the women and the women were ready to give them the game. They were all tired and Max had a big day tomorrow…

“Give it up Max…you lost, now let’s go to bed.” His mother practically begged him…

“No, not until we redeem ourselves.” Max retorted.

“Ah…is the big boy upset because he didn’t win the game?” Liz chanted…

Max just glared at her…”What did you do you little minx? I know you did something sneaky and I want to know what it was.”

“Max, are you accusing me of being underhanded…me of all people…you should be ashamed of yourself.” Liz could hardly keep a straight face…she was texting behind her back ‘naner, naner, naner’ while they were arguing and pretty soon Max’s cell phone started buzzing in his pocket. He whipped it out and saw a message from Liz and when he read it he just looked at her and then started to chase her around the table.

Philip and Alex both wondered what in the hell was going on and then Diane and Isabel both held up their cell phones for the men to see. Philip and Alex couldn’t believe that their wives could be so underhanded as to cheat at a board game.

Isabel saw the look on both her dad and Alex’s faces and she just burst into laughter…no one would have ever believe that Liz Parker could dream up something like this. Oh, this was more fun than winning fair and square.

Finally Max out maneuvered Liz and he had her pinned to the floor and was tickling her unmercifully. “Promise me you will never cheat again? Promise…” Liz crossed her fingers behind Max’s back for everyone to see and yelled “I promise…”

“Good, you should be ashamed of yourself.”

“Oh Max, but I’m not the least bit sorry…you deserved it. You had that ‘holier than thou attitude’ going and it was just too tempting.”

“I never have a holier than thou attitude. Tell her Mom…have I ever acted like that?”

“She’s got you there Max…now let’s go to bed.” And with that the group headed upstairs. Max hung back to make his rounds and then started to laugh…she really got him good. He loved it. The entire day was just wonderful.

[mary mary]

Eve: I don't think she's malicious, a little sneaky maybe?
Roselllostcause: She does have a bit of the "orneriness" in her doesn't she? Hey, I don't know if you're the one who mentioned the latest "Outlander" by Gabaldon or not but I just finished it earlier and it was great, of course. Title: "Written In My Own Heart's Blood", some really funny dialogue among the wars and drama. She's left some room for another novel but no cliffhangers so we'll see. Glad you enjoyed the chapter, here's a new one for ya'.
Carolyn: Oh Carolyn, you should hear my youngest grandson regarding my I-Pod he and his brothers gave me a few years ago as a gift...we have for your listening pleasure: Gary Alan, Dwight Yokum, Glen Miller, Bach, Beethoven, The Drifters, Josh Turner, Wagner and the list goes on. The kid, "young man, 21", rolls his eyes and curls up in my backseat with his ear plugs and laptop. I just smile and keep on truckin'...I love it!!!


Chapter: 12

Very early the next morning Liz awoke to some activity out in the hallway and opened her door to see what the commotion was. Max was trying to get his dad to go along with some prank he had conjured up for the women and his dad was trying to convince him to get his ass back in bed.

“What’s going on guys?” Liz asked…

Max glared at her and Philip shrugged his shoulders and told her he was going back to bed…”wake me up when the sun comes up you two.” And with that he went back into his room and closed the door behind him.

“Max? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong, go back to bed.” And with that he headed toward his room. Liz followed him all the way into his room; this was the first time she had been here since she got turned around on Monday. God, what a place she thought to herself.

“Well, if I slept in a room like this I wouldn’t think anything was wrong either.” And she stared at the back of his head until he turned around and looked at her…then he started laughing.

“You’re right…I just hate to lose.”

“I know Max…but it was funny. I never realized how much fun it could be to cheat and win. I’ve never cheated before in my life and I really did enjoy it. It was a blast!” Max gave her a knowing grin and patted the side of the bed next to him, “Sit”.

“Just how big is this suite anyway? I turned the wrong direction the other day but I turned around the minute I realized where I was.” Max smiled at her, took her hand and stood up, motioning her to do the same. He led her into a huge sitting room equipped with a huge flat screen TV and surround sound stereo system hooked up to it. There were two love seats posed across from each other in front of a large fireplace and a large foot stool between the two love seats with a tray perched on top of it holding a coffee pot and cups.

Beyond the sitting room was a small kitchenette. That answered her original question. It had a sink, refrigerator, small 3 burner stove, microwave and a wine refrigerator, like something you would find in an efficiency apartment. There were cupboards built above the sink and stove unit that held a small amount of cups, saucers, bowls and plates. There was also a small dishwasher under the left hand side of the sink. Very basic stuff but not so basic when you considered where the room was situated.

On the other side of the bedroom was a pass through to the large bathroom. It had a Jacuzzi bath tub, a large shower, double sinks and the toilet and bidet were in a separate room altogether. Beyond the bathroom were two large walk in closets each about the size of her bedroom at home. These things were huge.

She looked at Max and he grinned…”take a look in there if you want to.” She opened the one door and saw absolutely nothing…she turned around and looked at him wide eyed and he said…”nobody needs to fill these things up.” She laughed and proceeded to open the other door. On one side of the closet were all of Max’s clothes and on the other side were trophies and various awards sitting on built in glass enclosed shelves. “Why don’t you display these downstairs Max?”

“No reason to Liz. They don’t mean anything to anybody but me and I know I have them, I don’t have to look at them, knowing they’re there is all that matters really.”

“I guess you’re right. Now tell me, why are we up so early?”

“Well I wanted to get even with you guys but Dad wouldn’t go along with it so I guess I just have to suck it up and admit defeat.” Max said.

“Ah Max…you know we cheated, you probably would have won. Look at all of those library books you’ve read. We didn’t stand a chance.” Max just looked at her and grinned. “You’re probably right… not a chance in hell.”

“Why you snot…look at you all puffed up like a toad. You deserved to lose … you, you turkey.” Liz huffed.

Max swatted her on the backside and told her to come on … “Let’s go have some coffee. Truce?”

“Truce.” And with that they both headed down stairs to enjoy some coffee and more conversation.

After they got their coffee and were seated on the sun porch to watch the sunrise Max looked over at Liz and he just had to ask…”Liz, when we went to the prom why did I pick you up at Maria’s?”

Liz bit her lip and looked over at Max for a minute while she thought about the question and how to answer it.

“Well, my mother felt that proms were the devil’s work and nice girls had no place there. That is when all of the young men supposedly rented motel rooms to take their dates to for their first experience at sex. It wouldn’t have done any good to tell her that not all young men were like that and that I had no intention of having sex with anyone but she just wouldn’t have bent so I went without her knowing it.”

“What if someone would have told her you went, what would you have done then?”

“Then it would have been too late, I would have already gone and had a wonderful time and experienced some joy for a change. The only time I ever had any enjoyment was at your home or Maria’s. Even at Maria’s I had to be very careful with what I said and did because Amy would have told Mom…not to get me into trouble…just in the course of conversation without knowing she was doing anything wrong. Although Amy did know how Mom felt about the prom and would never have told her I went.”

“I see…then how about when you went off to school. How did she deal with you being across the country alone?”

“Well, that one wasn’t so tough…I had a full ride to Harvard and there wasn’t anything she could say or do about it. I was 18 and you might say emancipated.

“I worked after school to buy the necessities I needed and the rest was all paid for as long as I kept my grades up, which I did. I saved about every dime I earned so I would have enough money to visit you once in awhile and I rarely went home for any holidays or summer breaks.

“I stayed at school and took summer classes and even some night classes. That’s how I graduated in 3 years and how I managed to get my doctorate in another three.

“I haven’t seen my folks in four years and I haven’t talked to them in almost 19 months. The last conversation I had with her was when I called to tell her that I was getting married. She didn’t ask me to whom or where, she said that she hoped I was happy and that was it.”

“You haven’t mentioned your husband since you arrived here Liz…how is he, who is he and are you happy?” Max watched her face very closely this time…he really wanted to see her reaction.

“Ah Max, what can I say…” she shrugged easily, “I don’t think there is such a thing as perfect happiness, do you? We get along.” She smiled at him. And that was about all Max was going to get out of her on that subject…he looked into her eyes and saw nothing but sadness there, her smile never reached her eyes…’why did he push it’ he asked himself.

Liz looked up at him and smiled again and got up to get another cup of coffee… “Do you want a refill?” she asked…Max smiled and shook his head yes…

(Honey you can’t hide your lyin’ eyes.)

*~*~*~*~*


Pretty soon the kitchen started filling up with people and the subject of food became the topic of the morning. What else?

“It’s the men’s turn to choose breakfast today, so what’ll it be guys?”
Diane asked as she got herself a cup of coffee…

Alex piped up with “French toast?” Max said “Waffles?” and Philip said he didn’t care what else they had as long as he could have some sausage.

“Okay, sausage and a coin toss for French toast or waffles. Whoever loses this morning gets their choice tomorrow. Is that fair?” Diane asked and the men agreed. So, French toast won the coin toss and then it was Philip’s turn to decide where they ate this morning…”Since we’re eating French cuisine let’s eat in the dining room.” He smiled at Liz as he gave his answer.

“The dining room it is Philip and it’s your turn to set the table.” Said Liz. “Oh I’ll help him said Diane…Liz, I know you make delicious French toast and Izzy can do the sausage. Alex, you and Max can take care of the juice and coffee okay.”

“Fair enough mom.” and with that they all got busy with their assigned chores.

Soon they were seated around the dining room table gabbing up a storm and then Philip asked Max if they should be ready by 11:00 again today. Max told him no…it was a twinight game so they didn’t have to be at the park until around 4:00 p.m.

“Good, I’ll have time to play nine holes then. Liz, are you up to a half a game of golf?”

“You bet I am…when do you want to leave?’

“Just as soon as we’re finished with our chores.”

“Fair enough. I’ll meet you on the back patio when I’m ready.”

When they had all finished their breakfast Liz headed upstairs to take a quick shower and to change her clothes. Max went upstairs shortly after her and when he passed her room she was making her bed again. He just shook his head and walked in and took his place on the other side and started helping. She gave him a friendly smile, keeping her remarks to herself and when they were finished she looked up and said “Come on.” He looked at her and then saw where she was headed. He followed her to his room and she started to make his bed “turn about is fair play Max…you helped me now I’ll help you.” Max smiled and said “Thanks Liz, I think” And he worked right along with her. When she was finished she headed downstairs and told everyone she would see them later and headed toward the back patio to meet Philip.

Philip already had the golf cart out of the garage and the clubs loaded in the back. There were all sizes of clubs in the bag so they didn’t need anymore equipment than they had. Philip didn’t know when the right time would be to break the news to Liz about Don and Tess but he felt the timing was not right just yet so he kept the morning fun and light hearted.

*~*~*~*

Back at the house Max found his Mom on the little porch off the small living room reading and he went out and sat next to her on the swing. “Mom did you know about Nancy and the way she treated Liz?”

“Yes Max, we all knew…that’s why we tried to take her places and do fun things with her. She always had clean clothes, a warm bed and meals but she never had much of anything else. I don’t think Liz knows this so please don’t ever repeat it but Nancy got pregnant the night of her senior prom and she has judged everyone by her actions ever since. She thinks of Liz as her punishment for having pre-marital sex and she wanted to prevent that from ever happening to Liz.

“How that girl managed to grow up into the lovely woman she is today in spite of that woman is beyond me. I don’t think she would have known what to do when she started her periods if it hadn’t been for Amy. Amy told me that Liz came to her in hysterics and told her that her mother would kill her because she had done something to herself and she didn’t know what it was she had done so how could she ever explain it to her Mom.

“She was very young when she started her periods, barely eleven, and she had no idea what was happening to her. My heart just ached for her but there wasn’t anything we could do about it. She really wasn’t being neglected, at least not in the way social services would have looked at it…but there are many ways of neglecting a child Max…so many ways and she was a victim of Nancy Parker.”

“Well, is Jeff her father then?”

“Yes, of course…Philip and Jeff were in the same graduating class. Jeff is much older than Nancy and should have had his head examined for dating a high school girl but that’s none of our business…Jeff had told Philip what his plans were for the evening of Nancy’s senior prom and Philip warned Jeff to be careful but Jeff was a little on the wild side at that time and I guess he wasn’t as careful as Philip suggested. But had he been careful we would have been denied the privilege of the beautiful young woman out golfing with your father, wouldn’t we?”

“yeah Mom, we sure would have.”

“Now son, can you answer a question for me. Why didn’t you ever pursue a relationship with Liz?”

“Chalk it up to inexperience, age and stupidity.” Max answered.

“No Max, I won’t. I know how you felt about her and I think you still do…now tell me the truth Max…I won’t hold it against you.”

“Mom, I only know what Maria told me. She said that Liz had met someone when she was in her sophomore year at Harvard and that Liz didn’t want to tell me because she didn’t want to hurt my feelings. I backed off because I couldn’t let her know how I truly felt while I was in another state busy with my own education and I didn’t really know how to deal with it so I just let her go.

“I have just found out that what Maria told me was a total fabrication and I fully intend to find out why Maria said the things she did. That is all I know Mom honest.”

“Oh God Max, what would ever possess Maria to do a thing like that? Liz and Maria were such good friends. Has Liz said anything to you about Maria at all? Do they still keep in touch?”

“I don’t know. Liz and I talked a little this morning over coffee and she mentioned that she hasn’t seen her parents in four years and she called them when she was going to get married and her mother told her she hoped she was happy and hung up. They haven’t spoken since. Then I asked her if she was happily married and she said she didn’t think there was any such thing as perfect happiness. Then the kitchen started to fill up and that was the end of our little talk. Maria never came into the conversation but it would be interesting to find out wouldn’t it?”

“Yes, I think it would. I think it’s time to have lunch with Amy…what do you think?”

“I think that’s a hell of a good idea Mom…I’ll even pay for it.”

“Oh Max, you’re such a nut sometime. Anyway, how are you really doing son…is the world being good to you?”

“You better believe it Mom…couldn’t be better.”


“Good, now go do your work out and then we can plan a nice lunch somewhere before heading to the ball park…what do you say?”

“I say you are wonderful as always…see you later.” And with that Max bent over and kissed his mom on the cheek and left her to her reading and went to work out.

*~*~*~*

[mary mary]

Roswelllostcause: Hey, I think they will all make sure Liz is taken care of,,,
Carolyn: I used to tell my kids that patience was a virtue, although I don't think I'm that virtuous when it comes to patience myself...but here's some more for you. It is Thursday and I didn't forget you guys so here goes, such as it is.
Eve: We all know that Max has always been Liz's dream but in this case Liz had a lot of help thinking that she was entirely on her own. Hopefully things change for the better...we'll see.


Chapter: 13

Back in Connecticut Don, who was watching Tess through adoring eyes, made a phone call to Liz’s office to make sure he didn’t have to go home none too soon and was informed that Liz was still out of town on business and they weren’t sure just how long it would be before she returned. He thanked the receptionist and hung up.

He gave Tess a great big smile. “It looks like another perfect day.”

Tess just smiled at him and thought…’oh shit, go home already!’ Then she had a brain-storm… “Hey sweetie, I really need to go get some work done at my office before I lose everything. Why don’t you go check things out at your place and we can catch up with each other later. You know we have to finalize this thing with Liz before we can get on with our lives don’t you.”

“What do you mean you have to check up on your office? I thought it ran perfectly well by itself. And as for Liz, she is totally clueless as to what is going on around her; all she cares about is her slides.”

As he came up behind Tess he wrapped his arms around her waist and nuzzled her neck…She rolled her eyes and said in the sweetest voice…

“The place does run very well but someone has to keep it running.”

“Oh well, if you insist…what time do you think you’ll be finished?” He moaned.

“Why don’t I give you a call on your private cell and we can talk about it later?”

“Okay, if that’s what you want.”

In the meantime Jesse had contacted his PI and instructed him to get his partner to watch Tess’s place with him because if Don left without Tess he wanted Tess followed as well. So when Tess left the house Joe’s partner took off in his own automobile to follow her and then Joe followed Don.

Don went straight to his and Liz’s home and remained there until much later in the day.

Tess went into an office building located in the city’s main business section and Joe’s partner followed her at a reasonable distance but close enough to not lose sight of her. It was one of the larger buildings in town housing mostly offices and a couple of small café’s along with a donut shop. The P I was totally surprised when Tess met up with another man at the other end of the building, left, and took off in a car with the guy.

Joe’s partner immediately hailed a cab and followed Tess and the other person to another house on the opposite end of town. Joe’s partner wrote the address down and gave Joe a call on his cell phone. Joe then hooked up with Jesse and gave him the information that he just received and Jesse in turn checked the yellow pages in his computer to cross reference the address with a name. It was Kyle Valenti’s address. ‘God this is really getting weird’ Jesse thought. ‘What in the hell are these two idiots up to?’

Jesse made a call to Philip’s cell and left a message for Philip to call him the minute he had a chance.

*~*~*

Back in Philadelphia there were two very happy people riding around in a golf cart enjoying the morning and each other’s company. Philip kept the conversation light and told Liz just how much he had enjoyed these past few days and Liz gave Philip a smile that reached up from her soul to her face…

”Oh Philip, you have no idea just how much fun I’ve had as well. I don’t think I’ve had this much fun since you and Mrs. Evans took Max, Izzy and me to Six Flags for three days. Of course living here is almost like living at Six Flags.” Then Liz had a brain storm…”You know what we should do tomorrow?”

“No, what?” Philip grinned…

“Tomorrow we should make use of that beautiful ice skating rink!!!”

Philip damned near choked on that and then he saw the anticipation on Liz’s face and he couldn’t resist.

“If that sounds like fun then that is what we will do Liz.” Then he thought to himself…’God help us, we’re all gonna’ die and if I don’t die ice skating Diane will kill me, either way I’m a dead man.’ Liz just kept on smiling while swinging her golf club in the air and watching a bird land in a tree close by as Philip tried to take his shot. He looked quite worried for a second and then he smiled and swung.

*~*~*

Max walked out onto the deck of his private suite and looked out over the greens where he saw his father and Liz working their way around the course. ‘They get along like two peas in a pod’ he thought with a huge grin. He hadn’t been this happy in years.

He had never realized before just how close his family really was to Liz and how much his mother really cared for her and for how long.

Kids really don’t pay enough attention to what is going on around them…maybe we should teach them to be more aware of their surroundings…I think I will take the time to point out other people’s surroundings to my children and try to help them to understand their friends and associates better. Not that Mom and Dad didn’t do a good job on Izzy and me; it’s just that I wish I had known more about Liz. We need to make her happy again. And as these thoughts occupied Max’s mind he went back into his bedroom and headed to his office to take care of some business. His father may be taking care of her private affairs but Max wanted some answers of his own.

“Jason, hi, this is Max. Do you remember that lawyer you and I had when we first decided to take on the Arizona project?”

“Yeah Max, he’s still my lawyer…what’s up? Is your dad sick?”

“Oh God no…nothing like that, I just wanted some advice on a private matter and I don’t want to bother Dad with it. He’d get all concerned and wig out on me and then I’d get nothing done.”

“Oh, well okay then…check your e-mail…I’ll get the information right over to you.”

“Thanks Jay…see you at the game.”

“Yeah Max, for sure. Hey is Liz coming? The wives have wanted to hang out with her again. They really like her a lot.”

“Yeah, she’s coming but her and my parents have been having such a great time catching up that I don’t think we will be able to separate them. Why don’t you have the wives sit up in the VIP box with them this evening? I know everyone would love to see all of you again. Maybe we could do some burgers or something after the game…”

“Oh damn Max, you know the kids would never miss a playoff game and I don’t think the VIP box is ready for them just yet. Why don’t we plan on meeting somewhere after the game? Somewhere where we can all just hang out? I know…how about the pizza parlor, the BACKROOM of the pizza parlor?”

Max started laughing…”The pizza parlor it is Jay…you have Katy call everyone and set it up and I’ll take care of this group.”

“Sounds good Max…play good!”

“You too Jay…see ya’ in a few.”

After Max got off the phone with Jason he made a call to the stadium and asked to be connected to the gift shop. When the manager answered he was surprised to find Max on the other end.

“Hey Max, what can I do for you?”

“Well Tim, I need three ladies tee shirts with the Philly’s logo, one very small and the other two medium. I need a small ladies sweat shirt and 3 ladies base ball caps and 2 men’s as well. Here’s my credit card number and can you have them waiting in the VIP box for this evening’s game?’

“Sure thing Max…they’ll be there for you. Good luck tonight.”

“Thanks Tim…we’ll take all the well wishes we can get; we’re playing against a good team you know.”

“Yeah I know, but so are we Max.”

Max chuckled at that and told Tim thanks and goodbye and then opened his computer and waited for Jay’s message.

He knew his dad may have PI’s following everyone on earth but he also knew he would never get any information out of him until the dust had all settled and he didn’t want to wait that long. If Liz was in any kind of danger then he damned well wanted to know about it right now.

‘God, what in the hell is going on?’ He was so frustrated he could hardly see straight. He had to get himself turned around and turned around quickly or he was going to blow it tonight. He decided to follow his mother’s suggestion and go work out.
*~*~*

When Max came back into the kitchen to grab some iced tea Liz and his dad were sitting at the table munching on cold fried chicken and the last of the potato salad. He looked at his dad and shook his head while grinning at the two of them …

“Is that all you do Dad, eat and play?”

Philip returned Max’s grin and said, “The kind of playing I do really makes you work up an appetite…right Liz?”

Liz nodded her agreement with her mouth full of chicken…then she swallowed and grinned at Max…”Want some?” and she held out the hand that was holding the chicken and pointed to the platter that had a few pieces left as she wiped her mouth with the back of her other hand.

“We really do have to finish this up Max…it is positively sinful to waste it.”

Max chuckled and got himself a plate from the cupboard and joined the two golfers for some fried chicken. “Do you suppose we can eat all of this now so we won’t have to look at it again?” Max asked.

Liz and Philip both laughed at him.

“Max, it doesn’t make any difference what it is as long as you’re not hungry.” Liz replied and Max looked at her and then his dad and said, “Bullshit!!!”

They all started laughing and then noticed Diane standing in the doorway taking in all of the tom-foolery…”I think I’ll have a piece of that chicken too. Does anyone know where Iz and Alex are?” she asked…

“Nope” they all said at the same time and about that time Isabel and Alex came into the kitchen in their tennis clothes just as hungry as everyone else.

“Get yourself a plate and help us finish up this chicken and potato salad before she feeds it to us again tomorrow.” Max said.

Isabel and Alex both laughed and headed to the refrigerator to get out all of the other leftovers and brought them to the table… then they got their plates and joined the rest of the group.

Diane announced, “I thought we would have lunch out before going to the game but since everyone is already eating does anyone have any other suggestions?” They all shook their heads no and then Philip popped up and said…

“Well, you’d better all get rested for tomorrows activities because Liz wants to go ice skating.”

Max started choking, his mother pounded him on the back and Isabel and Alex just flat out laughed.

“You’re kidding, right?” asked Isabel with those big brown eyes of hers practically bulging out of her head.

“Nope, tomorrow we are going ice skating so bundle up.” Philip looked over at Diane and she had the biggest twinkle in her eye…Philip knew what she was thinking…they met at an ice skating rink over 35 years ago. But…that was 35 years ago; he just hoped they didn’t bust their asses, oh this should be fun.

Max just looked over at Liz and then he said…”I knew I should have skipped that part of the tour.” They all laughed and knew for sure they were going ice skating tomorrow.

*~*~*

After they finished cleaning up the kitchen they all headed for their separate quarters to shower and get ready to go to the stadium. They did manage to finish off the leftovers and that made Liz happy. She did not want Olivia to think that they had thrown out all of her hard work.

Liz poked her head out of her room and yelled across the hall for Isabel; Isabel poked her nose out of her room and said “Yeah Liz?”

“What are you wearing?”

“Jeans…”

“Okay...” and both girls went back to the business of getting ready. Liz put on a pair of her new jeans and a tee shirt…She remembered Max told her not to wear her good jacket because he would get her a sweat shirt in her size so she put on her new tennis shoes and called it good. She put her hair into a high pony tail, (she had found some rubber bands in the kitchen from the newspapers) she put some blush and lip gloss on and called it good. It was a baseball game after all not the queens’ ball.

When she entered the kitchen Max was the only one there and he had to gulp big time when he saw her. She looked sixteen; he just couldn’t believe that she could be as unhappy as she was. She certainly was capable of hiding her feelings.

“Max, I didn’t bring my jacket down because you told me you would get me a sweat shirt…is that still the plan?”

“It certainly is, as a matter of fact I got you a tee shirt and a baseball cap as well. There are also tees for Mom and Izzy and baseball caps for everyone. They will be waiting for you at the VIP room”

“Oh” she looked a little disappointed…

“Okay Liz, what’s wrong. Don’t you want to sit in the VIP box?”

“Well, I thought since it’s a night game we could sit in the bleachers with the other families.”

Max didn’t want to tell her why they wanted to keep her identity out of the news so he just went along with the program…”Liz, dad doesn’t really like the bleachers all that much…he needs to be closer to the rest rooms.”

Philip heard this as he was coming down the stairs and wondered why in the hell Max couldn’t think of something better than that for God’s sake. Then he gave him credit for coming up with something at all.

“Oh…” was Liz’s only reply. “I really enjoyed Anne, Katy and the rest of the girls. They are so much fun…not that I don’t think the family isn’t fun because I do, but I told Anne and the rest that I would see them before heading on home.”

“Well, we are meeting up with them after the game and heading over to the pizza parlor for awhile. The kids need room to romp and Jay and I figured, well Jay figured, that would be the safest place to hang out with all of those kids.”

“Great, why don’t we invite them to go ice skating with us tomorrow?”

Max looked at her and grinned…”You’re serious about this ice skating thing aren’t you?”

“Of course I’m serious, why would you not use that beautiful ice rink Max?”

“Oh I don’t know Liz, maybe because I don’t want to bust my ass or something worse.”

Liz started laughing hysterically…”Max Evans, I won’t let you fall.”

Max thought to himself…’I already have Liz, I already have.’ then he smiled at her and said

“Fair enough, we will ask them to join us tomorrow. How about you check out the walk-in refrigerator and see if we have enough hamburgers and hotdogs for lunch. I’ll give Olivia a call and see if she can come over in the morning and give us a hand.”

“First of all Max…what is the walk-in refrigerator…where is the walk-in refrigerator and why do you have three refrigerators? Next, we can all pitch in and fix whatever we need…you don’t have to bother Olivia when we are all capable of making a sandwich…For God’s sake Max you’re starting to act like the rich and famous.”

Philip swallowed his mouth full of coffee on that remark and kept reading the paper. He had been in the kitchen since Max made up that cock and bull story about him needing to be close to the restroom and tried to ignore the conversation between his son and Liz. They really were entertaining though, better than watching a sitcom.

He never thought money would ever spoil Liz Parker…and after checking with her accountant he knew very well money had not spoiled Liz in the least. She was quite wealthy in her own right. She had invested well and was being very well paid by the company she worked for. Life was just full of surprises.

Max’s voice went up a few decibels…“The rich and famous? The rich and famous Liz? Well for your information I am rich and famous.” Max retorted …’Oh this is getting good’ thought Philip as he took another swig of his coffee.

Liz leaned forward, her brow creased and her face red and getting redder as she shouted back…

“Oh, look at the big man on campus would you…thinks his shit doesn’t stink!" she rolled her eyes and moved her tiny shoulders, loaded for war. “Well Max put this in your pipe and smoke it…you may be rich and you may be famous but you are no better than anybody else, so there.” And then she nodded her head in a final attempt at getting her point across.

Philip had to leave the room. Max just stood there sputtering and then he started laughing…he grabbed Liz around the waist and twirled her around the kitchen…

“You’re right Liz Parker…and I know I am no better than anyone else so let us call a truce and check out the hot dog and hamburger situation. We will make our own sandwiches.”

“Good, now where is this refrigerator number 3 hiding?” she said as she blew a hair out of eyes…

*~*~*

Diane came into the kitchen just as Max was leading Liz to the other side of the first pantry when she spied Philip coming in from the sun porch.

“What in the hell was all of the shouting?” she asked with a puzzled look on her face.

Philip couldn’t stifle his laughter any longer… “Oh God Diane, they are priceless…they argue like two little kids and neither wants to back down but Max always gives in to her … they truly are funny together.” Philip could hardly get the words out…

“Well, I’ve seen them interact all week, what was it about this time?” she asked.

“Oh not much…Max wanted to call Olivia to come in tomorrow to make lunch for the ice skating party and Liz accused him of acting like the rich and famous.

“She informed him that we were capable of making our own sandwiches and then she told him, quote “his shit doesn’t stink” unquote, and he was no better than anybody else…Diane you should have seen her face…I swear to God she looked like she could have chewed him up alive and spit him out with no effort at all.

“And then, Max just stood there sputtering like a fool and then he started laughing at her. It was like a scene out of a movie. Max then picked her up, spun her around and now they are making sure we have enough hamburgers and hot dogs for lunch tomorrow.”

“Hmmm…I’m sorry I missed that one. Temperatures are starting to rise it seems.”

“Diannnnnne…I told you, let it rest.” Philip warned…

“I know Philip, but they are starting to rise...” And then she went to the cupboard and got herself a cup for some coffee. Philip just shook his head in wonder.

He excused himself to go check in with Jesse. He didn’t want to do it while Diane was in their room…he didn’t want her to overhear anything. It’s bad enough that Max knows what’s going on. He bent over and kissed his wife on the top of her head and told her he would be back down shortly.

“Okay Philip, see you soon.”

Diane had no idea what was happening with Liz. She just knew that she needed to have some lunch with Amy and soon.

[mary mary]

Eve: I think that Liz is finding out just how much friendship means and I'm not so sure she will be very choked up about Don and what he's doing. I believe she's reached a point of not caring about him at all.
Roswelllostcause: You are so smart!!! You're right, I think Max and Liz have to much character to act on urges until Liz is free to do so.
Carolyn: Philip doesn't skate this chapter but I believe the next one will be the party. It should be, we've talked about it enough...

Oh, happy fourth of July everyone...U S and all other places on earth as well.

Chapter: 14

When the group headed into the VIP box at the stadium the head waiter came over and seated them at the table right in front of the large window then gave them a huge box from the gift shop.

“I was told to tell you that Max Evans had it sent this up here from the gift shop for you. You are to open the box immediately and everyone is to wear the shirts and caps.” The man looked at them and smiled,

Liz looked in the box and saw a beautiful rose colored sweat shirt that zipped up the front with a hood attached to it in her size and she stood and smiled at the entire group…he remembered. Then she, Isabel and Diane headed to the ladies room to put their tee shirts and caps on. Liz and Isabel each put their tees on right over their tank tops but Diane had a tee shirt already on so she removed it before putting on the new one, it would simply be too warm for both shirts even in the evening.

Liz and Isabel pulled their pony tails through the back of their caps while Diane put hers on over her hair, they all looked darling and now they were headed back to the lounge area to join the men.

When Philip saw the three of them he smiled so broad his face hurt; they all looked 10 years younger than they were, especially Isabel and Liz. They looked 16 again. He couldn’t believe a cap could make that much difference in a person’s appearance but it did. He continued to smile at the three of them and told them they all looked lovely. They all posed for a quick snapshot for Alex and then they thanked Philip and took their seats.

*

It was the bottom of the ninth…If the Philly’s held the Dodgers down this inning it was all over…there was a crack of a bat and the batter started to first, …the runner on first headed for second and Max, at short, caught the hit for out number two. Batter out.

Just as the runner from first turned around to head back to first to tag up, Jay on second backed up immediately and covered second base as Max lobbed the ball to him…Jay caught it with ease and the runner, who had turned around to head back to first had Jay following him while holding the ball… Pete was covering first base and slowly started toward the runner … the runner turned around and looked at Jay who returned his look and shook his head no with a grin on his face and then the runner took off for first base again…Jay lobbed the ball to Pete and Pete tagged the guy out in a forced play for out number three and the stadium went nuts. The Philly’s were going to the World Series.

Up in the VIP box there was mayhem…Liz was jumping up and down and screaming…she was waving her arms around in the air looking like a whirly gig and then she was beating Alex about the head and shoulders with her fists as she screamed even louder if that was possible…Isabel ran around the table to hide behind her dad who was protecting Diane from the tiny hurricane that had just been turned loose on them and then Philip looked up at the TV monitor.

Apparently the camera’s had caught up with the action taking place in the VIP box and when he saw who they were honed in on he knew there wouldn’t be a soul watching this game in Fayette County who wouldn’t recognize that 16 year old looking frenzy cheering her heart out. She looked as young as the day she graduated from high school…He only hoped that the couple in Connecticut would be too busy to notice. Oh well, if they did he would deal with it. One thing for sure…they were not going to let anything happen to her, and, they were going to the World Series.

The team was down on the field hugging and patting each others backs and smiling like damned fools when Jay pointed up to the monitors...”Max, look at the TV, we need to have her lead our cheering section.” Max looked up at the TV monitor and could only laugh…poor Alex might not live through this and, holy God, is Isabel hiding from her? He knew this wasn’t good but he didn’t think anyone was enjoying themselves as much as Liz. Not even the owners of the team would be this excited. She was punching air, she was punching poor Alex, she was screaming and jumping up and down, turning around in circles and grabbing her head and Max was laughing so hard at her his sides hurt. He and his dad would just have to protect her that’s all there was to it.

Soon Anne, Katy, Marge and Susan gathered their kids and were getting ready to head to the parking lot designated for the teams when Pete yelled from the dugout below…hey, wait for us by the gate, we’ll meet the Evanses there and caravan it to the pizza parlor. Anne nodded in understanding and the kids went nuts. “You mean Max is going with us?” they all shouted…

The women had tried to keep it a secret from them in order to maintain some calm before the storm but now the cat was out of the bag and the kids were hell bent for recess. They didn’t know what it was about Max that made these kids act up but there was something that drove them. All of the women just smiled at each other and nodded in assent toward the kids. Oh this was going to be a night to remember.

After they all met in the parking lot and said their helloes Max herded all of the kids into his Escalade and the rest of the group had to hitch rides with the other team members. Liz rode with Pete and Anne and she told them of their plans to have an ice skating party tomorrow at Max’s and asked if they could come. Anne turned around and gave her a big smile and told her of course they could come. The kids would love it…”What time Liz?” Anne asked.

“Oh, Max and I didn’t discuss the time we were too busy arguing over whether or not to have Olivia come to make hamburgers or hot dogs for us.”

“Oh I’ll bet that was fun…who won?” Anne asked.

“I did, we’re going to make our own sandwiches and fries. Since when do you hire someone to fix a hot dog?”

Anne and Pete started chuckling and then Pete said…”You’re right…we can certainly make our own hot dogs.” And Pete kept driving with a big grin on his face…Anne knew Pete well enough to know what was on his mind and she jabbed him in the ribs and mouthed “Adams!!!” Pete just nodded and kept on driving.

When they arrived at the pizza parlor everyone headed to the back room.

Max had called ahead and asked if he could reserve the room for 7 kids and 14 adults and the manager was more than happy to accommodate him and when he found out who it was he headed to his office.

The group went through the double doors at the pizza parlor and lo and behold there was a huge sign plastered on the back wall congratulating the Philly’s. Max, Pete, Jay and Joshua all stared at it and then the manager whispered…”Computers are a marvelous invention aren’t they?” Max and the guys shook their heads and thanked the man for his thoughtfulness.

After everyone got seated Anne brought up the subject of the ice skating party tomorrow and wanted to know what time and what could they bring.

Max suggested that if the kids had ice skates of their own they might want to bring them with them. He wasn’t quite sure what the supply looked like in the skating rink then Liz piped up…”What are their shoe sizes. We can run to the mall in the morning and I’ll spring for the ice skates.”

“Oh I don’t think so” said Katy… “All of the kids have ice skates already, its Jay and I who don’t. We’ll stop at the sporting goods store on our way over and get some for ourselves tomorrow.”

“Before you buy them, Max and I will check out what’s in the rink. We’ll call and let you know the situation. How’s that? Just give us your shoe sizes.”
Katy smiled at Liz and said “sure…that sounds good. Don’t call before 8:00 though…it takes that long to settle the kids for the day.”

“Okay” Liz agreed… “Oh give us your shoe sizes now so we won’t forget before we leave and we can check it out in the morning. Anyone who needs skates raise your hands…” Isabel and Alex were the first ones to comply and Liz giggled at them, “you mean you aren’t going to come to the rink and check out the skate situation?”

“No miss smarty pants, we are not going to come to the rink and check out the skate situation…You get up with the chickens so you go check out the skate situation…we will all give you our sizes and you are in charge of seeing to it that everyone is outfitted.” Isabel was very proud of her dissertation on the skate situation. Then she added in a lower tone so the kids wouldn’t hear her…”If we are all going to bust our asses you can at least outfit us for the occasion.”

Everyone laughed at her…and the kids pretended they hadn’t heard a thing…

Then Anne piped up, “I have a pair but Pete doesn’t and our kids have theirs as well…they all play hockey on the same team so this should be interesting. Just check out Pete’s size for us…Now to get back to the subject of what we can bring. I wasn’t talking about ice skates, I was talking about something to add to the lunch menu.”

“Yeah, piped in the other wives…we want to bring something too. What were you planning on having anyway?” Marge asked.

“Well, so far we have hot dogs, hamburgers and fries. Right Max?” Liz answered and Max nodded.

“Great, Katy does a great salad platter, Susan really makes some great baked beans, Marge does a delicious chocolate cake and I’ll bring my mother’s famous home made hot dog and hamburger buns.” Anne said.

Max looked at the ladies and said, “You guys make that stuff, I always thought you bought it somewhere.”

They all looked at him and started laughing…”Yes Max, we make that stuff…you have never let us bring anything before…now just relax and enjoy the pizza.” Susan said.

Then Susan added, “We even pack our kids lunches Max.”

Liz looked at Max and grinned…”Oh great rich and famous one.”

Max said “shut up” and ate his pizza…Diane and Philip chuckled at the two of them and Isabel and Alex enjoyed the kids and some computer games. Isabel wasn’t as good as Alex but she could hold her own with most of them thanks to Alex’s tutelage and she was having a great time.

“Oh, by the way Liz…we think you should hire on as our head cheer leader.” Jay said.

Liz looked at him with a puzzled expression on her face and then Pete said…”Max tapes all of the games to check out errors and bad plays. I am sure he will be more than glad to replay the last half hour for you. By the way Alex, how are the head and shoulders?”

“Just great Pete, I think I’ll live. I’m just glad Isabel ran for cover.”

They all laughed at him including Isabel but Liz still had no clue as to what they were talking about. She had been so wrapped up in the moment that she didn’t even remember beating on poor Alex.

When the last of the pizza had been eaten and the kids had wound down everyone headed out to their vehicles and started for home. Max and Philip had made sure they walked on either side of Liz when exiting the building; they didn’t need anymore ammunition for the rags than was already available and soon she was safely tucked away in the Escalade and they were on their way home. All in all it was a great day.

*~*~*

When they finally arrived home it was almost midnight and Diane said goodnight as they entered the “great hall”…Isabel did the same and Alex told her he would be up as soon as he had a cup of tea. Liz told Alex she would join him for that and told Izzy and Diane that she would see them when they got up in the morning. It was decided that everyone could fend for themselves when they got up and then Philip motioned Max to the library after Liz and Alex headed to the kitchen.

*~*~*~*

[mary mary]

Carolyn: Philip and Max's conversation is in this chapter.

Cody is home for the summer and working for his dad. He will go back to Tx. in August to finish a lab that interfered with baseball last season and then he's finished. I personally hope he takes the offer from U C and goes for his masters. Maybe after a couple of months off and has some time to think he'll go for it. Let's say a prayer, I think it would be good but hey, it's his life.

Eve: I think Liz's life will be changed dramatically if she stays involved with the Evans'. They are all good people so let's hope they help her find happiness.

Roswelllostcause: I'm sure you're right about Alex taking that beating, they all love Liz and with good reason. Liz is a wonderful person and deserves some fun in her life. As for the publicity getting her into trouble, we can only hope it doesn't.

Chapter: 15

Philip motioned Max to the library after Liz and Alex headed to the kitchen.

Max followed his Dad and when Philip closed the door Max really got concerned.

“Dad, what’s going on?”

Philip immediately saw the concern on Max’s face and decided to confide in him a little because he was unsure of just how to go ahead with the problem at hand.

“Max, I know you saw the TV monitor at the stadium and I am sure the entire baseball population saw it too. I am hoping that Liz’s husband was too busy to see it though…because I think something sinister is happening. Don Adams is having an affair with Tess Harding.

“According to all of Tess’s neighbors he arrives about 8:00 a.m. every morning and is there until 4:30 p.m. every night. Then we find out today that Don left to go back to his and Liz’s home and Tess met Kyle Valenti at some office building and headed to Kyle’s residence. Apparently this Don has been visiting Tess for over two years.

“Now, when do we break this news to Liz and just how do we go about protecting her from bodily harm if that’s what she needs? She is having so much fun and I don’t want to upset her but after the national coverage she got today I don’t know if we can protect her the way that she needs to be protected.”

“Good God dad, Tess Harding? What in the hell? Tess Harding!” Max scratched his head… “JeeeeZus God! She has been a thorn in my side since we were 16…isn’t there anyway to stop that conniving little tramp. Why in the hell would she hone in on Don Adams? And poor Kyle…he has had the ‘hots’ for her forever. Will he ever learn?”

“Max, I just don’t know what to say about all of this right now. Jesse has a P I working on tailing both Don and Tess but my main concern is Liz. What are we going to do about her?”

“Well Dad, now that we’re bringing this out in the open I guess I can confess my part in this as well. I hired an investigator too but I haven’t heard back from him.

“As far as Liz is concerned I think we should tell her when she is ready to leave and let her help us make a decision together. I know she doesn’t want me to know anything about this and if you think it will make her feel better we won’t tell her I know. We can just play this part of it by ear. With both of us investigating this creep and Tess maybe we can find out what the story is.

“I also want to speak with Maria Deluca and find out what her part in all of this is. Dad, I think it’s all a vindictive scheme to hurt Liz and I want to know why. I may lose Michael’s friendship over this but I intend to find out the whole truth and I think Maria knows some of it.”

“God Max, that is a surprise…I can’t believe Maria would want to hurt Liz.”

“Well I know she fed me a line of bullshit and I would like to know why she did that…I also know that she has had Tess over every time I visit her and Michael’s home when I’m in Roswell…there’s something going on and I want to know once and for all what the hell it is.”

“I agree Max…now about Liz, we just wait until she’s ready to leave?”

“Yeah Dad…let her enjoy herself…I think she needs it.”

“Fair enough Max…better get to bed…we have to ‘bust our asses’ tomorrow.”

“Oh God, did you have to remind me?” Max scratched behind his ear and told his dad goodnight and Philip laughed at Max as he told him goodnight and headed up the grand stair case to join his wife.

Max found Alex and Liz talking over a pot of tea and asked if he could join them.

“Of course m’lord…” Alex said as he grinned at his old friend and his brother in law rolled into one.

Max told him to cool it and got himself a cup from the cupboard and settled into a chair at the end of the kitchen table. Soon the old friends were laughing and telling stories on each other and having a nice visit when Alex raised his hand to cover a yawn…

“Sleepy?” Liz asked.

“Yeah, it’s been a big day. I think I’ll call it a night, and Max, congratulations. It was a beautiful game today.”

“Thank you Alex, yes it was.” Max agreed and with that Alex took his cup over to the sink, rinsed it out and set it on the counter. Liz smiled at him and said “Good night Alex…I’m sorry I beat you up.”

Alex gave her a grin and said he would watch where he sat from now on…certainly not next to her. She just laughed and waved good night.

“Come on Liz…I’ll show you the cheer leading highlights of the game.”

“Are you sure Max…isn’t it too late?”

“Nah, don’t be silly. We’ll watch it in the living room, okay?”

“Okay.” They took their tea cups and headed to the small living room to watch the end of the game and Liz couldn’t believe she had pounded Alex like that.

“Oh God Max, this is so embarrassing…poor Alex. I’ll bet he’s black and blue tomorrow.” Max laughed at her and told her he was sure Alex could handle it. Then he asked her if she got her sweat shirt? “Of course, it’s in my tote, and thank you. It’s beautiful.”

“Good, I’m glad you like it. Now are you ready for bed?”

“I sure am, have to be ready to take on the ‘magnificent seven’ tomorrow.”

Max chuckled and said, “I don’t think they’ve ever been called that before, I will have to remember that.” And with that Liz bid Max goodnight and headed to the kitchen to rinse the tea cups. She put the three cups and the tea pot into the dishwasher and then headed up the back stair case to her room. Max checked all the doors and lights and then headed to bed himself.

It had been a great day and tomorrow was going to be another one. He would see to that. He again thanked God for making his life so wonderful and then he said a prayer to help them straighten this thing out with Liz. The poor thing…all she wants is a divorce and to get on with her life. Will her life ever be happy? And then he had an afterthought, "If I have anything to do with it, it will.”

*~*~*

Liz managed to sleep until 8:00 a.m. the next morning but she was still up and about before everyone else. She went to the bathroom and took her shower, brushed her teeth and pulled her wet hair back into a pony tail, made her bed, got dressed and headed down the back stair way. She had grabbed her dirty laundry and her used towels from the basket in the bathroom and took them down with her to throw into the washing machine because she was rapidly running out of clothes. She had no idea she was going to be here this long. It was Saturday and she would have to give some serious thought about returning to Connecticut soon.

She had her list of shoe sizes in her jeans pocket and after loading the washing machine with her towels and underwear she headed to the kitchen to make some coffee. Soon Philip was there to join her and he gave her a big hug good morning. She told him she was headed out to the skating rink in a second to check out skates for their guests and asked him if he would like to join her.

He gave her a gentle smile, thought about it for a second and said “Of course I will. I need skates and so does Diane. We’ll just see what’s out there.”

So as soon as the coffee was finished perking Liz and Philip each poured themselves a mug and headed to the garage to get the golf cart. Liz remembered that Max had a little key cupboard just inside the garage entrance and she opened it up and took the key marked rink and put it in her pocket before crawling in next to Philip then the two of them headed toward the ice rink.

It was another beautiful autumn day in Philadelphia and the leaves were starting to fall; the colors on the trees were awe inspiring. Liz looked at Philip and said…”You know Philip, God certainly knows how to paint a picture. Isn’t this beautiful? The desert is pretty in its own way but the leaves on these trees are positively the most beautiful sight on earth.”

Philip smiled at Liz’s description of the turning leaves and then he looked down at her and his heart ached. She was so sweet and lovable…how any man, any person, could treat her badly was beyond his wildest imagination. “Yes Liz, they are that indeed.” He replied and they continued on their way to the rink.

When Liz opened the door the sudden chill hit them right away. Max had called Charley the day before and asked him to make sure they had good ice for today so Charley had checked it all out and things were ready to go.

Liz and Philip had found the supply room directly off a dressing room. The dressing room was equipped with showers the size of the place was overwhelming. In the supply room they found boxes of new skates in just about any size imaginable. The really professional skaters had their skates custom made but those in training used very good, specially produced, skates and they were all here. Liz thought they would all be ladies skates but to her surprise there were men’s skates as well. She took the list from her pocket and found there were enough skates for everyone. She opened the boxes to make sure the skates were still in good condition and you could smell the leather…These are not cheap items here, she thought…these things are expensive. Her eyes were the size of saucers when she looked at Philip who was just as amazed as she was and then Liz checked her watch and saw it was well past 9:00 already and gave Anne a call.

“Hey Anne, its Liz…we found the supply of skates and there are enough skates here to outfit the Ice Capades. I don’t know what kind of skates you have but there are some seriously good skates in this room so if you want to try a new pair you’re welcome to them, be prepared for some good stuff. Do you want me to call the other girls or do you want to?”

Anne smiled at the woman on the other end of the phone, even if Liz couldn’t see her…”No Liz, it’s ok, I’ll call them. What time do you want us to come over? We never really settled that last night.” Unbeknownst to Liz, Anne had been quite the ice skater when she was younger. She would probably take her own skates but she would definitely check out the skate supply at the rink.

“Oh, why don’t you guys just come over when you’re ready? We can let the kids watch videos or something while we discuss the plans for the rest of the day. What do you say?”

“That sounds great Liz…we’ll see you later then…thanks and bye.” Anne had a grin on her face a mile wide…Max Evans was in some serious trouble and he didn’t even know it.

Philip had to chuckle to himself the way the girl just took over and made plans without even consulting Max…not that Max is going to mind but he just found it funny as hell. She had no clue what she was doing…she just jumped right in and got things done without even giving two thoughts to the subject. What a kick she is to be around…God, he hoped Diane was right…they need some life like her in this family. Everything is about the group with Liz, there’s none of this individual, do your own thing scenario with her. There are no age barriers, no segregating, just group activities that are fun for all. ‘She is one of a kind, no denying it’, and Philip’s smile grew bigger the more he thought about it.
*~*~*

When they got back to the house Max and Alex were in the kitchen having coffee and reading the paper. Charley always brought the paper up when he was out checking the grounds to see what needed to be done that day. Liz and Philip walked in and Liz headed right to the laundry room to put her first load of clothes into the dryer and then she loaded up the colored items. When she came back into the kitchen Max looked up and asked her what she was doing.

“Oh, I needed to do some laundry Max. I’ve been here longer than I intended to be and I had to wash some clothes or I would have had a new nick name by tomorrow.” Max raised an eyebrow questioningly and Alex caught on right away…

“Were we going to call you stinky or bubbles?” Alex asked. Then Philip and Max caught on to her meaning and they both started to laugh at her.

“I think either one would have worked.” She said with a grin and headed back to the coffee pot.

“Oh, by the way Max…there are enough ice skates for everyone and I told Anne to tell everyone to just come over when they were ready…is that okay?”

“Well, I guess it has to be okay doesn’t it…if you’ve already told them.” Max just looked at her with a scowl on his face and a twinkle in his eye.

His dad was standing behind Liz grinning like a Cheshire cat and Alex said he’d better get upstairs and get some clothes on. He and Max both were in pajama bottoms and tee shirts. Max, who generally slept nude, had put some pj’s on to come downstairs.

“Oh there’s no hurry Alex, by the time they get everyone together they won’t be here much before 1:00 or 1:30.” Max said.

“Oh, and how do you know that Max Evans?” Liz queried.

“Because Jay called me and asked me if I knew you wanted them to come over when they were ready?” He jibed back.

“Oh…” was all she said in reply. Then she dropped her eyes and wondered if she had done something wrong and again Max caught her reaction immediately and he said right away ….

“No, no, no Liz, I’m only kidding with you…Jay wanted me to know that the wives wanted to have time to prepare their dishes before coming over and that they figured they would be here about that time.”

“Oh, then you’re not upset with me?” Liz asked sheepishly.

“Liz, I could never be upset with you now come on…what’s for breakfast?”

“I thought we decided that everyone would fix what they wanted for themselves, when did that change MY LORD?” It didn’t take her long to fall back into her regular routine although she was testing my lord just a little with her last remark.

Max picked up on it and chuckled and then said “Since I decided that it really wasn’t a bad idea to be one of the ‘rich and famous’ that’s when.”

“Well ‘Mr. High and Mighty’ fix your own breakfast or starve…and I’ll tell your mom and Isabel not to feed you either because you are becoming entirely too uppity.” It didn’t take her very long to recapture her comfort zone and Philip and Alex started to laugh out loud at the two of them.

Max started toward her with a fierce look in his eye and she started to run around the island…”Max…” she warned, and Max just kept heading for her. She picked up a pot holder as she passed the stove and flung it at Max, he batted it away and just kept getting closer to her, he took one step to her two and was gaining on her rapidly.

Philip and Alex had to follow down the hall to see what was going to happen and the next thing they knew Max had Liz over his shoulder and was taking long, deliberate strides toward the indoor pool. Liz finally figured out where he was heading and she started yelling…”Max…NO…MAAAAX.” And that was the last they heard from her until she floated back to the top of the deep end of the pool spitting and sputtering water and pushing her hair out of her eyes.

“I told you that I would get you…” and Liz started laughing uncontrollably and then she swam to the side of the pool and got out… the three men stood there and waited, they all knew she wasn’t finished yet.

“Hey Max…” she said as she crawled out of the pool dripping water everywhere…”this isn’t over sweetie…just you wait…it won’t be pretty.”

Philip and Alex started to laugh like crazy…not so much at Liz but at the look on Max’s face. It was priceless…he didn’t know whether to believe her or not.

Liz made her way to the dressing room, stripped out of her clothes and wrapped a towel around her body and another around her head then headed to the laundry room with her dripping clothes and sandals. When she returned she looked at Alex and winked, “Just call me bubbles.” she said as she wiggled her tush and headed up the back stairs to her room. They all stood there laughing at her departure.

“You know Max…I think she will get even. “ Philip said as he gave it some more thought. “I don’t know son, I don’t think I would turn my back on her.”

Max just nodded in agreement as he pondered that statement.

*~*~*

[mary mary]

Carolyn: Thank you Carolyn...If I could sit pain free I'd be here honest. If I take a pill I fall asleep so it's six of one and half a dozen of the other...these are my golden years!!! I do want to finish the third in this series, which is almost complete but I had to reread 1 and 2 to remember what to do with 3 so I'm happy you're not bored to tears. Sorry I forgot to post yesterday...reading a book about fairies, pixies, dragons and vampires. It sounds like a fairy tale but it's about WW II and how the Germans used Vampires as agents. It's quite cute really, the vampires are really a bunch of Klutzes. "Bloody Good", "Bloody Awful" and one more. Very light reading and easy to put down. Not a Gabaldan tome. Oh, and that kind of sitting isn't like sitting up straight at a typewriter/computer.
Eve: I think maybe after my Dr. appt. next week we might be able to come up with some solution other than surgery. Glad you're enjoying the fic.

Roswelllostcause: you could just be right about that visit to Roswell...Not good for Maria at all.



Chapter: 16

Back in Connecticut Don Adams rolled over and wrapped an arm around Tess’ waist and pulled her in closer to him and nuzzled the back of her neck, his usual routine. Tess hid the scowl on her face and replied sweetly…”Good morning…did you find out when Liz was coming home?”

“No, there weren’t any messages on the machine at all…I guess her business is taking her a little longer than anticipated.”

“Yeah, I guess it is.” Tess said…and then her bedside phone lit up and started ringing. Tess pried herself loose from Don’s grip and reached for the phone…

“Hello.” Was her only word…

“Hi Tess…Maria here. Hey, did you see the ballgame last night?”

“What ballgame?” Tess asked…

“The baseball playoffs dummy…the Philly’s and Tampa Bay Rays…pre-world series stuff? You know, Max Evans? Baseball?” Maria asked in frustration…

“No Maria, I didn’t watch the ballgame last night…what’s your point?”

“Well, I wouldn’t swear to it but it sure as hell looked like Liz Parker was there with the Evans’ group up in the VIP box.” Maria said.

“That’s impossible Maria; Liz is on a business trip for her company. It’s been confirmed.”

“Well it was a night game on a Friday night maybe she was finished for the day and went to the ballgame; anyway it sure as hell looked like her. She hasn’t aged a bit…she looked just like she did in high school. Wish you could have seen it.”

“Thanks Maria. Hey I’m still in bed, if you know what I mean…I’ll call you back later.” Tess hung up the phone and thought to herself ‘that has to be the stupidest broad ever born. I’m sure as hell glad she was never a friend of mine.’ Then she rolled over and looked at Don…

“Are you sure Liz is on a business trip sweetie?”

“Well that’s what the message said that she left on the answering machine and that’s what the receptionist at her company said. Why?”

“Well, according to one of my friends in Roswell it seems that your wife was attending a major league baseball game last night; a baseball game between the Philly’s and the Blue Rays.

“Did you know that your wife and one of the Philly’s baseball players were best friends in high school? They never really dated but I think the player really wanted something more from Liz than just a friendship but she was so wrapped up in her test tubes and embryos that she wasn’t even aware of it. Half the guys in school wanted in her pants for God’s sake and she didn’t even know it.”

Don looked at Tess like she had lost her mind… “Liz? Who in the hell would want in Liz’s pants? The only reason I married her was because you said we needed her to have a husband so we could be sure to get her out of the way.”

“Oh God…Don what did you think I meant by that?”

“Well I wasn’t sure at the time, and I guess I’m still not sure but I am game for anything you want Tess. We’ve never really discussed anything about the situation since Liz and I got married but I do know that I am tired of this charade. We need to make some plans and make them quick because I am getting damned sick and tired of this double life.”

Now Tess knew she had just about blown it…but she needed some questions answered right now. She needed Liz to stay married and she needed her to stay happily married. And yet she couldn’t let Don know what her complete plan was. She needed to know what tack to take right now. She would have to occupy the idiot for the time being while she gathered her thoughts. Maybe Don’s idea wasn’t so bad after all…oh she needed time to think this out…she should have given this a whole lot more thought, now what?

“Don, have you been keeping Liz happy?”

“What do you mean by happy…I live there don’t I?”

“What do you mean you live there? Do you sleep with her? Do you keep her happy?”

“Hell, who cares if she’s happy…you wanted her married, she’s married.”

OH. MY. GOD! Tess thought, what has this idiot been doing? He’s ruining all of my plans. I swear if he keeps me from getting Max Evans I will have him taken out.

“ C’mere sweetie, let’s have some sugar. We can talk about this later.”

She went into her act and she wrapped her arms around Don and closed her eyes…maybe if I pretend he’s Max this will be easier. Christ I need to figure this out like right now.

*~*~*

Back in Roswell Jesse had the faxed copy of the “Cease and Desist” in his hand for Donald Adams and he had the process server on the phone…Jesse told the guy to hang on a second and he dialed Philip on the other line…

“Hello Philip, Jesse here. Hey, I have a faxed copy of the “Cease and Desist” for Don Adams…do you want to proceed…he’s still at Tess’s.”

Philip sighed…”Serve him Jesse, and serve him at Tess’s; I think it’s only right that he be served there. I will tell Liz what is going on tomorrow and we can decide how to take care of her then. We have a small gathering planned for today and I want her to enjoy herself.”

“Fair enough Philip, consider it done. As far as anything else that is happening we haven’t a clue.” Jesse replied.

“Just keep looking Jesse…Max has another company working on a theory from his end as well. We will soon figure out what in the hell is going on and why.” Philip told Jesse good bye just in time because Diane came into the room and he didn’t want her putting her two cents into this and he certainly didn’t want her getting upset over anything.

“Philip, who was that on the phone…is something wrong…who’s in danger?” Diane was a question machine turned loose and Philip had to think fast.

“Remember I told you it was confidential Diane?”

“Yes…”

“Well, it’s very confidential and I want you to relax…everything is fine.”

“Alright Philip, if you say so.” And then Diane thought to herself, should I call Amy instead of waiting until I get home? I’m going to have to talk to Max…I could use his help right now…I don’t think I like the sounds of that conversation…

Poor Philip, he knew his wife better than anybody…he’d better get hold of Max before Diane did; he knew she wouldn’t let this rest. He picked up his phone and dialed number 2 on his cell…Max picked up downstairs and got a puzzled look on his face…why in the hell was his dad doing calling him from upstairs…”Hello?”

“Max, get your ass to your room right now and come up the main stair case your mom is coming down the back way.”

Max said okay, and headed straight for the main hallway and up the steps two at a time. He met his dad at the top of the steps and headed straight for his room. Philip closed his door and they went into Max’s study.


“Dad, what in the hell is going on?” Max really looked worried.

“It’s your Mom, she overheard me talking to Jesse and now she wants to know who is in trouble, and she suspects it’s Liz. Oh, and Don is probably being served his Cease and Desist as we speak, he’ll be served at Tess’s. I think it’s only right don’t you? “

“Actually Dad, I think the whole damned thing is bizarre if you want to know the truth. And as for Mom, I think we need to bring her into the fold. She knows more about what’s been going on with Liz and her life than we are aware of…and she and Amy have always been pretty tight. Even if Amy is Maria’s mom I don’t think she’ll betray anybody’s confidence. But it’s your call Dad…if you want to keep Mom out of the loop its okay with me.”

“Well, Max, I don’t think I have ever had a case like this before in my life. Maybe it’s because we are so close to the person involved. No crime has been committed yet, that we know of, and it’s just confusing as hell. It should be a simple divorce case but I just have a gut feeling that it isn’t simple at all.”

“I know what you mean Dad…and I know that Mom will be cornering me before long…what do you want me to tell her?”

“Tell her we’ll all get together this evening and have a pow-wow…what do you say?”

“I think that sounds like a great plan, we can decide what to do then.”

“Good, now let’s get ready to go bust our asses…” Both men laughed and headed down the back stairs together.

“Dad, I think I’m going to head back to Roswell for a couple of days. I’ll just go with you when you leave. I need to talk to some people before we start practice for the series. I know coach will let me take a couple of days.”

“Okay Max…I think you should.”

[mary mary]

Carolyn: Thank God you have good genes! According to the Dr. I'm the healthiest unhealthy person he has ever met. Maternal and fraternal grandparents and parents all had arthritis...mine is in the spine and that's where all our nerves stem from of course...that's the pain. Anyway, glad you're hanging in with me. Things start to make sense soon, I hope.
Natalie: I think it's going to happen soon, then I think it gets hairy for a while...hang in there.
Eve: I agree with what you said:

Oh my, Tess should really stay with Don! They are like 'dum and dummer' and we don't know which one to choose...

Roswelllostcause: I like your description of Don...good word, "Dumbass" and congrats on the outcome of the ball game...I watched the "A's" lose on Sat. with my grandson and son, you would have thought it was the end of the world. Although it is interesting to hear their comments. They are very gentlemanly in their "criticism" I believe the word is.

Chapter 17

Just as Max predicted the group started showing up between one and one thirty. They came in their separate vehicles this time and the magnificent seven couldn’t wait to get on the ice. They didn’t even know Max had a rink and they were wound up tighter than eight day clocks. They were all getting very comfortable with Alex, Isabel and Liz and they could hardly wait to show off their hockey skills.

Unbeknownst to Max and the group Joshua was one of their coaches and he thought it would be fun to have a game of hockey between the adults and the kids. He hadn’t brought this up to any of the adults yet but he had gotten the kids together and explained to them that Mr. and Mrs. Evans were not as young as the rest of them and they should be very well behaved and play by the rules.

Josh didn’t know that Mr. and Mrs. Evans were pretty fit for the older group and had, at one time, been very good skaters. The afternoon should be very interesting.

After Max took the first group to the rink along with his dad because his dad had been with Liz when they checked out the skate situation and knew where things were he headed back to pick up the rest. Liz made sure all of the meat was in the refrigerator before boarding the last van.

The kids were already laced up and skating drills all over the ice by the time Max got back with the rest of the adults and he found that the kids had put up temporary goals.

He yelled to get their attention.

“Hey guys, did you check out that room back there…I think you will find some real goals and hockey sticks. Even though this was a figure skating school there was some hockey stuff left here as well.”

It didn’t take the kids long to find what Max was talking about and they had everything set up and ready to go in no time.

Liz looked over at Joshua as he was lacing up his hockey skates and said… “So you skate as well as play third base I see.”

Josh gave her a grin and said… “Yeah, being from California we had the opportunity to play outdoor sports year round but we also lived close to a skating rink and I started out on a hockey team at a very young age. I truly liked it but I liked baseball better. Jeremy and the kids like hockey so we let them play as much as they want. None of us were aware that Max had this rink on his property, I think we would have taken advantage of it much sooner had we known.”

“I can understand why. This place is actually a wonderful place for kids, there are so many things around here to be taken advantage of…I can’t seem to wrap myself around everything that is on this property, even if it was a private school it is phenomenal.” Liz said.

“It certainly is…I can understand Max buying it. He’s told us that he doesn’t have a clue as to what to do with it yet but he definitely felt he had to buy it for some reason. He said it was like he was drawn to it.”

“I know what you mean…it is something that you would have to really think about seriously before making a final decision, there are so many possibilities.”

About that time the entire group had found skates to their liking and the kids all lined up with hockey sticks to pass out and were ready to give the adults some basic lessons in how to make a ‘slap shot’.

Liz giggled at them, took her stick and stood in front of the hockey puck…swung her stick back like it was a golf club and let’r’rip…She came into contact with the little round disc and sent it sailing clear across the ice. She put the stick over her shoulder and skated over to the side of the rink…spraying ice in front of her as she stopped in front of the kids and said “Next.”…

Jeremy stood there with his mouth hanging open and told Max to take the next shot. Max barely made it to the center of the ice on wobbly legs and used his stick to brace himself and the kids all groaned. Then Liz gave Max a look, raised an eyebrow and nodded…he straightened up…took his stick, got into position and made his shot as good as Liz had. The kids all looked at the two of them and then they all said…”you cheat”… “Cheat?” Max shouted…”How?”

“You didn’t tell us you could play hockey?” Jeremy shouted back, all red in the face, and then Jonah let a yell go and said…”Yeah!”. Joshua laughed at his sons and then gave them a look…that look did more good than their mother’s shouting ever had.

Max and Liz both started to laugh at them…”but we don’t know how to play ice hockey.” Max said. Liz and I used to play roller blade hockey at the park when we were younger so don’t get mad at us okay. Maybe the game is played the same as roller blade hockey, we don’t know. We lived in the desert and there weren’t any ice rinks for us. We still need to learn and you can teach us. Liz used to force me to go ice skating at Christmas when our town would put up a portable skating rink but we haven’t done that in a long time, so let’s just have fun guys…okay?”

“Oh Okay…” they all whined in unison and the fun began. They played hockey, they figure skated…they had races and all in all they had a wonderful day. It was almost dark before they called it quits and headed back to the house for their hot dogs, hamburgers and other treats the friends had brought.

Liz asked the wives if they would be willing to share their recipes and they all agreed. Then Liz had a brainstorm. “Hey, why don’t we all sit down and write our favorite recipes…get the other wives to do the same and we can put them all together in a book and call it the ‘Philly’s Cook Book’ and sell it and give the proceeds to charity…we could even ask the other teams wives to participate and call it ‘Favorite Recipes of the wives of the American League’ or something like that…wouldn’t that be fun?” The infielders of the Philly’s baseball team all looked at Liz, then their wives and then at Max who was just standing there shaking his head…. “Liz, doesn’t your mind ever take a rest?” and Liz just looked at him and said “HUH!”

They all started laughing then Anne said as an after thought…”You know, it’s not a bad idea…we have been looking for something to do as a group for a long time…this could work.”

Liz turned around and looked at Max and stuck her tongue out at him again for the umpteenth time since she’d been here…Max just grinned and kept talking to the guys. Pete looked at Anne and when he was sure no one was watching he mouthed “Adams my ass!” She just nodded…Philip and Diane caught the whole scene and when they were alone Diane said to Philip,

“You do know that I am not the only one that sees it don’t you?”

“Yes Diane I know…now let’s get back to the party.”

[mary mary]

Carolyn: These two seem to be picking up their friendship without any problems what-so-ever, let's hope it stays that way,. Never fear, fluffy's here. God, haven't used that word since Jan dubbed me that years ago. I still manage to do pretty much what I want to, not as spry and use a cane occasionally but I manage. I think when I can't drive anymore it's really going to be a bitch but so far so good. As for my parents, they both suffered this affliction as does my brother...maybe we chose poorly?

eve: It's funny how other people see us so differently than we see ourselves. I remember once, when my friends and I went to see a movie, how my one friend said some character reminded her of me...I was shocked, I really didn't care for the person all that much and it got me to wondering. Maybe I was like that and didn't realize it. Strange isn't it.
Rowelllostcause: I think, deep down, Liz knows...Max doesn't have to go deep down, he's sure. Glad you're stickin with me so far.
Natalie: You are suck a sweetie!!!

***
Chapter: 18

Back in Farmington a well dressed gentleman walked up to the white frame house with the well manicured lawn and knocked on the door. A petite blonde woman answered and the man asked “Mr. Donald Adams please?”

Tess looked at the guy like he had a hole in his head and he repeated “Mr. Donald Adams please, I was told I could find him at this address.”

Tess excused herself for a second and then a man came to the door dressed only in a pair of jeans. The well dressed man asked “Are you Donald Adams?” Don looked at the man strangely…no one knew he was here, and then he said “Yeah. So what?” Up until this minute the process server remained indifferent to the situation but now it pleased him no end to hand the envelope to Don. “Consider yourself served sir.” And with that he turned around and walked away.

“What did he want?” asked Tess.

“I’m not sure yet.” Don said…”He gave me this envelope.” And he held it out to Tess…she grabbed it and saw the name of a law firm printed in the upper left hand corner…”Evans and Associates”…Ahhhh Shit!

“Open the damned thing right now.” Don just stood there looking at her…”Right now Don.” She demanded. And so he did.

“It says here that I have 24 hours to remove my personal belongings from my home address and I am not to come within 500 feet of one Elizabeth Parker Adams for the rest of my life. What the hell is this Tess?”

“It’s a ‘Cease and Desist’ order you stupid son-of-a-bitch. What in the hell did you do to make her want a divorce? JEEEEZUS…YOU BASTARD!!! You have screwed up everything.” Tess was on a roll and Don just stood there dumbfounded. Now I’ll never get him she thought to herself.

“What in the hell are you talking about…we can still take her out before the divorce is final and I will get everything because I am her husband.”

“OH for Christ’s sake…I never wanted her ‘taken out’ you imbecile, I wanted her tucked away. Happily married…You rotten, stupid son-of-a-bitch.” Tess had no control; Don was seeing a side of her that he didn’t even know existed. He didn’t know anyone could get that mad without passing out from hyperventilation.

For as stupid as Tess was Don was coming in at a close second.

“What do you mean tucked away…happily married? How in the hell could she be happily married when she was married to a man who could hardly stand to be in the same room with her, wanting to be with you all of the time. You aren’t making any sense Tess. What aren’t you telling me?”

“Oh for God’s sake…do I have to spell it out for you. You can’t stand to be in the same room with Liz…well check this out ‘dopey’…I can’t stand to be in the same state with you.”

Don just stood there in a daze. He had given up everything for this woman. He had married someone he didn’t love because she asked him to…he had given up his job because it was the only way he could figure out to be with her and now she’s telling him she can’t stand him. What in the hell has she been doing for the past two and a half years if she couldn’t stand him. No one is that good of an actress…are they? And then Tess dropped the other shoe…

”Get dressed and get out…you can’t get within five hundred feet of Liz, well guess what? I don’t want you within five miles of me. IF you see me on the street you’d better cross it because I will call a policeman and tell him you are stalking me. Do you understand ‘dopey’? DO YOU?”

Don didn’t say another word. He went to the bedroom and put on the rest of his clothes, picked up his overnight bag and Left. He drove his car to his house and started packing his belongings. When he looked around he realized that he really didn’t own all that much, YET…he thought. He really had some thinking to do. He had to figure out how he could make this work to his benefit. Maybe Tess didn’t want Liz taken out but he had no qualms about getting rid of her. After all, he thought that’s what the plan had been all along. He would take care of this before this divorce was final you could count on it and there would be a little getting even with Tess Harding as well.

He loaded up his car with his personal belongings went back in the house and took all of the money out of the drawer…there was over $500.00 in there…that would get him to his mothers and last him a until he found something to do. He needed to contact his friend that was in the extermination business…and it wasn’t bugs he dealt in. He didn’t notice the car parked down the street from the house… (Joe was right behind him all the way.)Don thought out loud “By God I won’t be giving up without a fight.”

*~*~*
In the meantime Tess was on the phone with Maria trying to find out if she knew what was going on and Maria told her she knew nothing. The only thing she knew was she thought it was Liz at the ballpark. Then Maria asked Tess what was going on and Tess told Maria that Liz had just served her husband with divorce papers. Maria thought for a minute and then asked…

“Tess, how do you know her husband was just served with divorce papers?”

And then Tess did some backpedaling…”Well I knew him before he and Liz married and we sort of kept in touch.”

“Oh, by in touch…just how much in touch?”

“Well he knew that Liz and I knew each other and he sort of let me know when he was served.”

“Oh… and when was he served?”

“Today, I guess.”

“Oh, I see.” Maria said and then she got a really creepy feeling about this…something’s not right she thought. It’s only 10:30 in Connecticut; I wonder what the hell is going on. “Hey Tess, Michael needs me for something, I’ll call you later okay?”

“Oh you don’t have to Maria…we’ll talk another time. See ya’”

“Yeah, see ya’ Tess.” And the girls signed off.

*~*~*

That evening after everyone had left and the women had headed upstairs Philip asked Liz if he could see her in the library. Philip had asked Max to visit with his Mom for a couple of minutes while he talked to Liz and Max said sure.

Philip sat Liz down in one of the comfortable reading chairs and pulled another one in close to her and then he cleared his throat...

“Liz honey, I want to tell you something and don’t interrupt until I’m finished, okay.”

Liz’s eyes got really big and she nodded in assent.

“Liz, we served Don with the divorce papers today and Jesse called me earlier and told me that he has left your home and gone to his mothers. But that’s the good part honey…I think we have a big problem here and we need to figure it out…all of us together.” Liz got a puzzled look on her face and it looked as though she was going to say something, Philip shook his head ‘no’, held up his hand for her to wait a second and continued speaking….

“Don has been having an affair with Tess Harding for over two years. He was seeing her before he started seeing you, during your courtship and on into your marriage. We served him his papers at her house.” Liz started to say something and Philip said “Not yet Liz…please”

“We think that something sinister is going on here and we think you might be in danger. We need you to help us decide how to deal with this situation. We have to look out for your safety until we are perfectly sure everything is taken care of. Do you understand what I am trying to tell you?”

“No…not really. All I wanted was a divorce and to pick up the pieces and move on. Tess Harding? My God Philip, I haven’t seen that witch since graduation when she tried to get Max to take her to a party and he told her he had made plans with me. She asked him ‘why’ and he told her to figure it out for herself.

“I knew Max didn’t like her so I played along with the game and let Max lead me to his jeep. We drove straight to your house and Diane fixed us hot chocolate and we all watched a movie. I thought it was wonderful.”

Philip just smiled at her…she really didn’t have a clue. “Well Liz, if Don was having an affair with Tess and he married you and continued to see Tess then there has to be some reason for his behavior. It just isn’t normal behavior to be sleeping all day with one woman and going home at night and pretend you are drunk so you don’t have to sleep with your new bride. Liz…it just isn’t done.”

“You mean he was with her all day?”

“All day, every day Liz. The man was not drunk. I think he’s nuts myself but that’s just a thought right now. I do know that after he was served that he left Tess’s and he did not go back there so I don’t think there’s any love as far as Tess goes. He went straight to his mothers.”

“His mother’s? Don’s mother is dead.”

“No Liz, Don’s mother is not dead…as a matter of fact she lives about 30 miles from you.”

“God Philip, what have I gotten myself into?”

“I don’t know Liz but I think we need to bring Max and Diane into this so we can all figure it out together. We won’t tell Alex or Izzy just yet but I believe in my heart that Diane and Max can truly help us. What do you say Liz? I won’t call them down if you don’t want me to.”

“They know don’t they? About the divorce…”

“Yes, Max overheard our conversation in the kitchen and Diane overheard the tail end of a conversation with Jesse. She put two and two together and insisted that she could pump Amy Deluca for information over lunch and Max said that Maria had told him when you were a sophomore at Harvard that you were seeing a young man and you didn’t want to tell Max because you didn’t want to hurt his feelings. After he heard our conversation he felt that Maria had lied to him, did she lie Liz?”

“Oh God yes Philip…but why? Why would she say something like that, she knew how lonesome I was and how I wanted to see everyone. She just quit answering my e-mails and never returned my phone calls so I just gave up. What happened?”

“Well, Max thinks Tess Harding happened. He said she is a vindictive bitch and would do anything to anyone to get her own way. Why she had it in for you is something we need to find out and I don’t think we can do it without the help of Max and Diane.”

“Okay Philip…if that’s what you think then that’s what we’ll do.”

“Good…just sit here a second and I’ll go get them. Can I get you water or something.”

“No, I’m good…thanks.”

Philip left the library and took out his cell phone and hit number 2…Max answered “Hi dad…”

“Hey Max why don’t you and your mom come down to the library now, okay?”

“We’re on our way.” Max grabbed his Mom by the arm and told her they were needed in the library. She nodded and followed her son’s lead.


When they arrived in the library they found Liz curled up in the big over stuffed reading chair looking confused and lost. Philip was just coming in from the hallway carrying a tray of tea cups a pot of hot water and some tea bags. Max just shook his head…she has managed to bring out the best in all of us in the short six days she’s been here he thought.

Max took the tray from his dad and sat it on the coffee table that sat in the middle of all of the chairs and his mom smiled…Liz grinned at the two men as well. This was going to take some figuring she thought. She wished she could just put it all under a microscope and come up with some answers. Microscopes she understood, Tess Harding and this mess was something else. She was so glad they waited until the fun was over to spring all this shit on her…what a mess!

“Well, I think the first order of business is to bring Max and Diane up to date with today’s events. I have told Liz about the two of you eavesdropping and she is fine with the situation. We still do not want Isabel or Alex brought into the fold unless we need their help with anything and I can’t imagine why we would so let’s just go from there.”

Then Philip told Max and Diane about serving Don at Tess’s house, him leaving and going to his mothers’ house and about Liz thinking that his mother was dead. He also told them about Maria discontinuing any correspondence with Liz during her sophomore year in college and about Liz telling him that there was no boyfriend at any time.” Max just looked at Liz and shook his head…he really needed to talk to Maria.

“Now, to get down to brass tacks here…we need to figure out what to do for Liz’s safety.”

“Do you have any suggestions Liz?”

“I only know that I have to get back to work, they are reasonable to a point. Dear God, do you know how hard I have worked to achieve my goals only to have that asshole and this bitch come along and screw it up.”

“We know Liz…but if you get hurt or worse what good is the job?” Max asked… “Olivia mentioned that your boss told you to take as long as you needed. Liz, if you confided in him don’t you think he would understand the situation and want to help?

“I have an idea but I’m not sure how it would work out…You know I have a couple of large classrooms here in the house … could you work here? Would it be possible for you to conduct your experiments right here. We could hire around the clock security until this situation is under control. I don’t know what you would need but we can certainly get it for you.”

“Max Evans, have you lost your mind? Do you know what it takes to set up a lab like the one I work in? Have you got a clue?”

“Well…No…but I’m sure it’s possible. If your boss, Mr. Jarred, right? If your boss is as impressed with you as I think he is I am sure he would go along with it.”

“Hey, I am too tired and overwhelmed with all of this right now to think about living here, setting up a lab here and having to be afraid to go to my own home. Do you realize what you are asking of me Max?”

“Yes I do…and all I want is your safety, when I feel that it is safe for you to return to your home I will drive you there myself.” Max was scared shitless and knew he was starting to sound too pushy but he felt it needed to be said.

“Let me sleep on it…and Diane, if you think you can pump Amy Deluca for information about any of this and I do mean any of it, go for it. I would like to know what bug crawled up Maria’s ass too. I am so disgusted with the whole damned mess that I could just spit.” Liz was starting to reach a high boil now.

“I know exactly how you feel honey, and I will find out whatever I can and I won’t give up until she makes me happy…” Diane said…

With that they all laughed, put their tea cups back on the tray and headed for the kitchen. Diane gave Max and Liz each a hug and headed up the ‘grand’ staircase, Philip pulled Liz into a hug and kissed the top of her head and told her good night. Liz rinsed the cups and Max put them in the dishwasher then Liz bid Max good night…he pulled her close and gave her a hug, “Night Lizzy…sleep tight.”

“Will do Max, sweet dreams.” And off she went to bed while Max made his rounds to lock up and turn all the lights off. ‘What a day!’

God, could it get any worse?

*~*~*

Back in Roswell Maria was curling up next to Michael to get her feet warm and he grabbed her leg and told her to stop it…she turned over and looked him in the eye…”Michael, I think I screwed up.”

“What do you mean, you screwed up Maria?” Michael asked.

“I don’t know how but I have a funny feeling that I’ve done a bad thing…it’s like an ill wind Michael.”

“Maria, do you have your Cypress Oil on the night stand?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Use it and go to sleep Maria, I’m tired, it’s been a long day.”

“Longer than you know Michael.” And Maria turned over and tried to go to sleep but visions of Tess kept running through her head.

*~*~*

It was about six years ago that Tess came into the Crashdown for lunch and told Maria that she had run into Liz while touring the campus of Harvard with a friend and Liz had herself wrapped around some guy and they looked pretty serious. She had said hello to Liz and she said that Liz looked horrified…she begged her not to tell Maria that she had seen her because she didn’t want her to be telling Max about what she had seen. Tess told Maria that she didn’t think it was fair to Max for him not to know that Liz had moved on. He shouldn’t be wasting his time on someone who wouldn’t be returning his feelings and she, Liz, didn’t want to talk to Maria because she was afraid she would let something slip.

It didn’t sound quite right to Maria at the time because why would Max care if she had a boyfriend? He and Liz were never together, even though Max wanted a relationship with Liz he never pursued it because of the long distance thing… and why would Liz keep e-mailing and calling if she didn’t want to talk to her. And why would Tess be on Harvard’s campus anyway…she went to UNM Las Cruces. Maria was too pissed at the time to return Liz’s calls and e-mails to even find out the truth and eventually Liz stopped trying to contact her. Oh God, what have I done?

Was Tess telling the truth? She never was very close to any of us while we were in school…why did she pick then to start up a friendship with me? What were her reasons?

*~*~*

Maria was really confused…She had never taken the time to think this thing out before, but right now it didn’t seem right at all. How in the hell did she find out about Liz’s husband getting served with Cease and Desist orders so damned fast…I don’t care how good of a friend someone is it would take a little longer than that for the news to get out, unless you were pretty damn close to the action. Oh shit…I don’t even want to think about it and she reached for her cypress oil and started sniffing. Michael just turned over and faced the other direction…what in the hell has she gotten herself into now she thought.

*~*~*

[mary mary]

Carolyn: Liz is working on getting things straightened, as for Tess, well let's hope she gets straightened out too.
Roswelllostcause: So far you are spot on my dear...
Eve: "Lunatic Asylum" Very good Eve, I totally agree!!!

*~*~*~*~*

Chapter:19

Liz couldn’t sleep at all after she got in bed…after tossing around for two hours she found her now favorite fuzzy slippers, put on her robe and headed for the kitchen. When she came down the stairs she thought she heard some one so she went a little slower and there was Max standing at the microwave heating a cup of milk and he had the chocolate syrup sitting on the island.

“Hi.” He said with a smile on his face. “Couldn’t sleep either?”

“Nope, how about you?”

“Me neither.” He said….”Want some hot chocolate?”

“Sure.” Was Liz’s only reply…”You got any marshmallows?” Liz asked and Max just gave her a grin and pointed to the pantry. She nodded and headed in the direction Max had indicated in order to retrieve the marshmallows…when she returned she also had two bags of cookies…chocolate chip and sugar cookies. Max grinned and said “Are we making this into a midnight feast?”

“Maybe…Haven’t decided yet, but they sure look good.”

“Yes they do.”

Soon the two of them were at the kitchen table eating cookies and drinking chocolate, not saying anything to each other and not at all uncomfortable with the silence. Just eating cookies and drinking chocolate. Soon Liz headed over to the desk and retrieved a pad and pencil and sat back down. She started writing and Max looked over toward the pad and noticed numbers with words written next to them…

“What’s that Liz?”

“A list of things that I need to do immediately.” She answered as she kept on writing…

“What’s the first item?”

“Well the item in the number one slot is changing the locks on the house. I’m not so sure it’s the most important but that’s the first thing that came to mind.”

Max moved from his present position around next to Liz and looked at the list as she wrote…

2: Call Mr. Jarred
3: Get in touch with Hank
4:

“Who’s Hank?” Max asked…”that is if you don’t mind telling me.”

“No it’s ok Max…if you guys are going to help then I have to allow it. Hank is my accountant. He has been helping me and advising me since I graduated from Harvard with my Bachelor’s.

“I worked all through school while I attended and Hank was an accounting major when I was getting my masters. After he graduated and got his CPA a lot of us hired him immediately to take on our business.

“He has never failed me yet and I am sure he will be able to advise me what to do about my situation. I don’t know if I should liquidate my assets…try to hide them or what to do. I know your father will be able to advise me on this matter as well but I have to make a list or I’ll go nuts thinking about it.”

“Are you giving any thought to moving in here with me?” Max asked.

“I will consider it under one condition. We have to be totally sure that I am in danger.”

“Liz, we are practically positive that you are in danger, can we at least act like this is a fact…now have you given it any thought?”

“Yes, I have, but, if I do we will pay you rent on the lab and I will need at least one assistant who we will also pay room and board for including room and board for me. The company will purchase all of the equipment and supply everything that I need to run a proper lab and I do not expect any special treatment from you or your staff while I am here. The company will also pay for any security that is needed and when I am finished here all evidence of my work will go with me. If you do not agree to any of these terms there is no deal. Can you do that Max?”

Max just smiled into his cup and shook his head, “Yes Liz, I can do that.”
No special treatment my ass Max thought…there isn’t anyone on this property that wouldn’t show her special treatment right down to the paper boy who comes every morning and throws the paper over the gate.

“Fine, now on to number four, I have to find a way of getting my clothes out of the house and some notes that are in my safe upstairs in my closet. There isn’t anything there of any real value except my Grandmother’s journals and they don’t mean anything to anyone but me. I also have some of her jewelry in a safe deposit box at my bank but I have the only key and I don’t think Don knows about it anyway. The key is on my key ring in my purse.”

“Well, why don’t I drive you to your place and help you get your stuff?”

“No, if I’m in any danger I don’t want to give him any ammunition. Let him figure it out for himself where I am…he doesn’t need to see us together. If he has been with Tess then he knows we are friends…I hate to say this Max but I think you have more to do with this situation than you are aware of.”

“ME!!! How in the name of God would I have anything to do with this for Christ’s sake…we haven’t seen each other in almost 6 years.”

“I know that and you know that but does Tess know that?”

“What do you mean Liz…does Tess know that?”

“Well Max, you have been an obsession of hers since we were teenagers and maybe she never grew up.”

“Christ, do you really think she’s that crazy?”

“Who knows Max? I do know that she used to try and spread a lot of rumors around the school that I put out for everyone hoping it would get back to you because she thought you and I were an item. Maria almost punched her out once and Isabel stopped her and told her to get a life. Half the gym class knew about it, I’m surprised you didn’t.

“Then Sabrina Knowles told her that she didn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of ever getting you to notice her and to just move on. So you see Max…it just might have something to do with you even if we haven’t seen each other in all those years. She may still be carrying a torch and it has become a dangerous obsession. Maybe she just figures with me gone she has a chance…as ridiculous as that sounds there are people out there that think like that. Hell Max, you’re the psych. major you know about this shit.”

“Yeah, you could be right but I can’t imagine this scenario in my wildest dreams. I want to talk to Maria because I know she and Tess have become pretty thick in the past years since we left Roswell and every time I went to see Michael and Maria Tess has been there. I haven’t liked it but it wasn’t my house and I did want to see Michael so I had to take Tess with the package. It was uncomfortable as hell but I never said anything to Michael about it because I didn’t want him ragging on Maria.”

“You know what Max…I think we might be on to something here. We need to talk this over with your Dad tomorrow and see what he thinks. Why don’t I wait to call Mr. Jarred until after we have a talk with your Dad? We may not have to worry about me moving just yet. Maybe if we can corner Tess we can nip this in the bud before it gets any more out of control than it is.”

“Fine…we’ll do that but in the meantime, do you need any more clothes, or anything?”

“Oh no, I can get by with what I bought…although my sandals are a total wreck from the pool. As long as I wash regularly maybe I won’t need anything else. If I need any emergency supplies I’ll call Olivia.”

Max looked at Liz and grinned…”sorry about the sandals but you deserved it.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah…whatever you say Max.” Liz said trying to refrain from smiling.

It was getting close to 4:00 a.m. and Max started yawning…he looked at Liz and asked her if she thought she could get some sleep now and she said maybe. She’d give it a try. They cleaned up their mess and headed up the stairs again. They hugged each other goodnight for the second time and padded off to their rooms. Max hoping that Liz could get some rest and Liz hoping the same thing for him...

Liz did feel better after her talk with Max and it didn’t take her long to fall into a sound sleep…it was full of crazy visions and conversations but she did sleep even if it was fitful. Max lay there looking at the ceiling again for about another hour before he finally dozed off and when the rest of the house arose there was only four for breakfast.

Philip was the first to come downstairs as always and saw the pencil and paper laying on the table…he picked it up and glanced at it and knew immediately what it was and put it in his pocket before Alex or Isabel could see it. He wondered how long Liz had been up thinking. Poor thing must be exhausted. Diane came down about 8:00 a.m. and wanted to know if they were going to mass…Philip said he didn’t think he was really up to it today and why didn’t she just go with Isabel and Alex. He doubted that Liz and Max would be up for it and then he showed her the note he found on the table. She nodded in agreement and went over to the cupboard and got herself a cup for water and headed toward the microwave. Philip looked over at her and grinned… “How about making two cups this morning?”

“I certainly will…why not let me make us a pot and we can sit on the sun porch and work the puzzle together?”

“Hey, that sounds even better…I’ll get the pencils and tray while you get the kettle and cups.” Philip headed to the pantry and he saw two half empty bags of cookies and thought to himself…why not? Kids can eat cookies for breakfast why can’t we? So he put the half empty bags of cookies on the tray and walked out to the kitchen. Diane took one look at what he had put on the tray and started laughing…”Philip, for God’s sake what in the hell are we going to do with those?”

“I don’t know about you Diane but I’m having cookies for breakfast.” And with that he raised his eyebrows in a questioning manner and she looked at him and grinned and said “Great, I’ll join you.” And so our two senior citizens took their cookies, tea and crossword puzzle and headed to the sun porch for breakfast. “Isn’t this lovely Philip?” Diane asked as she squeezed the hand of the man she loved …”It certainly is.” And they both got busy checking out the clues in the puzzle.

Max and Liz didn’t show up until well after noon. They both looked exhausted. Alex wanted to know what in the hell they did all night and Max looked over at Liz and said in a very calm manner…”It’s none of your business Alex.” And he grinned at Liz who in turn punched Max in the back as hard as she could.

Alex started roaring with laughter and Isabel just shook her head and went toward the patio to sit and enjoy the fall leaves. You three act worse than the “magnificent seven” she said. Liz laughed at that… then she told Max, “I think the name is going to stick for the kids…what do you think?” Max nodded in agreement and followed Isabel out to the patio.

*~*~*~*

After everyone had eaten lunch Isabel and Alex headed down toward the pond on foot to take in some of the fall splendor. They were headed back to Roswell later and they wanted to enjoy some of the fall colors before leaving. They could have headed out toward the mountains but these gardens were just as beautiful as the surrounding hills and they could walk these rather than drive by.

Liz and Max took advantage of their absence and decided to tell Philip and Diane about their discussion at the table during the night.

Philip and Diane both listened to what Liz and Max related about their high school experiences with Tess and also Max of his visits with the Guerin’s in the past few years. Max and Liz both told Diane and Philip that they felt Tess was behind this fiasco and Philip tended to agree with them.

Philip told them, since he would be home tomorrow, that he and Jesse would see to it that they got some answers regarding Tess Harding and then Philip advised Liz to let her boss know that she was taking another week. “Don’t make any drastic plans about moving or opening a lab here yet Liz.” Maybe we can find all the answers we need before any disasters occur.”

“Fine Philip, I will call Mr. Jarred later today and I do believe that I will inform him of what is happening just in case we need to make some permanent arrangements around here. It wouldn’t be fair to the man to have it all dumped on him at once.”

“You’re right Liz. I wouldn’t want one of my employees holding out information on me that affected my company. I know how important you are to your company…I have read the articles and kept up with your career even though we haven’t communicated lately…so I know how important it is that Mr. Jarred be kept in the loop. Just what is his position with the firm anyway?”

“Oh he’s the owner and CEO.” Liz advised as though she were talking about her next door neighbor. Then Philip’s eyes started to twinkle…One of the twelve richest men in the world and Liz has his private cell phone number. She really is a jewel…she just hasn’t a clue as to her importance on this earth. He just sat there and shook his head in wonderment. Diane knew something was making him feel all warm and fuzzy but she didn’t know what it was, yet. She would ask him later what Liz had said that amazed him.

*~*~*

[mary mary]

Carolyn: I am ashamed to say what I have for breakfast, I will say though that if my kids would have ever tried to get away with what I have for breakfast there would have been wrath the likes that had never been seen. But I think we all reach an age where we should do whatever we feel like doing and one of the things you really need to try is waffles with ice cream and hot fudge. MMMMM MMMMM good!

Eve: Believe me, there are some people like this Tess, I sort of pity her myself. Of course what she's doing is downright pitiful but you're right, a lunatic asylum is the place of choice.

Roswelllostcause: I personally think ice cream for any meal works...there was a time when chocolate cake was a good thing but there's a toss up here and can't really choose which is best. Tastewise that is, not necessarily best for you.

Natalie: Yes, I thought that was a nice touch too, he should have been strung up but I don't want Eve putting me in that lunatic asylum with Tess so we'll just be civil and have him served at Tess's.


Chapter: 20

Soon it was time for the Evan’s to get ready to leave. Max had made his reservation on line before going to bed at 4:00 a.m. and it was easy to be seated in first class with his family…first class seats weren’t that hard to come by these days.

As they were all congregated in the small living room Isabel asked “Liz, when are you leaving?”

“Oh Izzy, probably Friday or Saturday; I still have some work to do and Max has offered me his home until I’m finished with my business. I think I will go to Mass later on this afternoon and then go to the mall for a little window shopping. Tomorrow will be conference calls and I may have to go to one of our local offices for some meetings but I think most of the day will be spent here.”

Max Looked over and smiled at Liz while in serious thought and said, “If you are going to Mass later why don’t you take the Jag? I know you can drive a stick because you used to drive the jeep, would you like that? I have asked Charley to get his son to detail your car for you. I give the kid little odd jobs when he’s home so he can earn extra spending money and I don’t know what time he’s going to come over. He’s in his first semester at Penn State on a football scholarship.”

“Are you sure Max? I can wait until tomorrow to go to the mall.”

“Yes, I’m sure…you use the Jag while I’m gone Okay?”

Liz knew why Max wanted her to use the Jag…he didn’t want anyone taking pictures of her car going from and coming to the estate...they didn’t need any more publicity than they already had with her excited display at the ball game. They needed to get this thing dealt with and dealt with quickly. She really wanted to get home and get on with her life, what was left of it. Isabel didn’t need to know that the business she had to take care of was personal business. She needed to bring Mr. Jarred up to speed on what was going on in her life and they needed to make sure that it was safe for her to be in Connecticut.

After everyone left the living room to retrieve their luggage; they had a 3:15 flight and needed to be on the road by 2:00, “Hey Liz…good cover; now how long do you really think you’ll be here?” Max asked.

“I am not leaving until your father tells me I can Max; I have put my trust in him. So when he finds out from Jesse what the hell is happening in Connecticut I will make my decision then. Why, is there something wrong?”

“No sweetheart, my secretary will be here in the morning to work on some stuff for about four hours but she shouldn’t bother you. As a matter of fact, I am going to call her right now and give her the week off. I don’t know her as well as I know Olivia. Olivia is used to keeping private lives private and Kathy is just the opposite…she is used to dealing with the public sector and is not really good at keeping her mouth shut when she should so I think that she should just be kept away for awhile.”

“Oh Max, I am so sorry…I never dreamt in a million years that I would be bringing all of this turmoil to your home.”

“Elizabeth Claudia Parker, don’t you dare say that. You just get those thoughts out of your mind right now and you be here when I get back on Tuesday night…do you hear?”

“Yes Max...but I still feel badly about all of this.”

“Well Liz, I feel badly about it too, but for a different reason. I feel badly that you have to go through all of this shit because of that blonde bitch and that asshole. Now, let’s just make sure you have everything you need in order to be safe and then you can do whatever the hell you like. Okay?”

“Yes Max…and you have a good time in Roswell. Enjoy your visit and, well no, I can’t say tell everyone hello for me because everyone doesn’t need to know that I’m here. Right?”


“Right.” And with that Max reached over and gave her another hug. It was becoming impossible for him to keep his hands to himself and he knew he had to. She had enough on her mind without him making her uncomfortable.

About that time the rest of the travelers appeared in the grand hall with their luggage and Liz headed to the reception hall to visit with them before they took off. The Limo arrived right on time and they all gave her a hug good bye. Philip whispered in her ear that he would be calling her the fist thing in the morning, even if there wasn’t any news to report. Liz gave him a knowing smile and thanked him for all of his help. Diane hugged her and squeezed her hand and told her everything was going to be fine. Liz nodded and then gave Alex and Izzy a firm hug as well and told them how proud of them she was. And she truly meant it. They were on their way to becoming rich and famous just like Max. How lucky they all were to be so blessed she thought. And then Max squeezed her hand before he left and told her to be careful. She said she would and then they were all gone.

Liz went back to the kitchen and finished cleaning up after their lunch and headed upstairs to change all of the beds. There were three large washing machines and 2 commercial driers in the laundry room and she could have that bedding done in no time. She also found a laundry basket and put her dirty laundry as well as Max’s in it along with all of the dirty towels and headed down the back stairs. After she went into the laundry room she noticed a half door and opened it…lo and behold it was a dumb waiter. Of course there would be one here…I wonder where the elevator is? I’ll have to look around for that later, and then she headed up the stairs again to take a shower and get ready for mass. She checked the computer for a church close to the estate and wrote the address down before she did anything else…she also wrote down the address to the mall. She could key them into the GPS in the Jag…the ‘JAG’ SHE THOUGHT…Boy, this is going to be fun.

After Liz had finished getting ready for church she went back down the back stairs and headed to the laundry room and put the wet clothes in the driers, set the timers loaded up the washers again and headed out through the back door off to the garage.

Max had given her a set of keys and the code to the gate in case the remote opener failed on her and she was ready to go. She had worn her new silk dress minus the strappy shoes, jewelry and fancy bag and she looked gorgeous. She had pulled her hair up into a loose twist at the back and caught it with the clip that she kept in her purse for when she was running tests in the lab…sometime her hair just got in the way.

She had put on some foundation, lip gloss, blush and a little mascara and personally, she looked lovely. If anyone saw her they would have to look twice to recognize her because she rarely took the time to dress in anything but slacks along with her usual long hair with little or no makeup. She figured she couldn’t disguise herself too awfully much but she would work with what she had.

She sat in the dreamy silver car with the matching silver leather upholstery and the black accessories and sighed. Oh this is like dying and going to heaven she thought… what a beauty. I wonder what it can do on the highway, she really wasn’t the nerd that Don thought she was...she had her moments of a little fantasy as well as the next guy.

After she keyed in the address of the church she backed out of the garage, getting the feel of the automobile and by the time she was at the gate she was getting comfortable behind the wheel. There was one of those paparazzi sitting across the street watching for any sign of Max but when he saw the female behind the wheel alone he assumed she was one of the help and he just put his camera down and continued to wait. Max usually drove the Escalade, chalk one up for Liz.

When Liz arrived at the address she was truly surprised…it was the Cathedral of SS. Peter and Paul. She had remembered reading about it once…it had been built in the early 1900’s and it had taken twenty years to complete. She was so happy that this was where she was going to attend Mass that it took her breath away, it was absolutely beautiful. She loved anything old and antique. It said so much more than all the new straight lined modern architecture, which was okay but she liked the old.

She pulled into the parking lot behind the cathedral and parked as far away from the rest of the vehicles as she could get. She didn’t want anything happening to the Jag while she was inside the church. She had quite a walk getting across the parking lot but she felt better about the theory of leaving the car safe from door slams.

Quite a few people turned around to take a look at the lovely young woman exiting the very expensive automobile and when she started walking they really gave her a look.

“Have you ever seen a more elegant looking vision anywhere?” whispered one elderly gentleman to his wife…his wife wasn’t the least bit put out by his remark because it was absolutely true…”No John I don’t think I have. She’s elegant in the most simplest of ways. She carries herself like royalty, she is strikingly beautiful without being brassy and she looks positively innocent of the knowledge of it all.” Was her reply…John smiled and said “perfectly stated.” And they stood there by their car until Liz walked past. Liz looked at the couple, smiled and said…”Good morning, isn’t this the most beautiful church you have ever seen?”

“Yes, it is one of the most beautiful there is, are you new to our parish?”

“Oh, I’m just a visitor, I found the address on the internet and I am so glad that I chose this place. It’s like being close to heaven; I can’t wait to get inside. Well, you have a good day.” And Liz smiled and kept on walking.

“She’s beautiful inside as well.” Said John…his wife only nodded in agreement.

Liz entered the beautiful cathedral and made her wish as she entered the door. ‘Please God let’s get all of these problems sorted out for me.’ And then she made her way down the aisle close to the front of the church. She didn’t want to miss anything.

A/N (It’s an old custom, that when you enter a church for the first time you should make a wish. I don’t know when or who started it buy my deceased mother-in-law would always tell us to make our wish when we would go into a new church, be it for a wedding, funeral, baptism or whatever, and it didn’t make any difference what denomination the church was either. Being she was as sweet as they came and we all loved her we did as she said…yes I loved my mother-in-law…weird huh?)

Soon John and his wife found a seat and lo and behold it was right behind the lovely lady driving that Jaguar. It was hard for the elderly couple to concentrate on the service because they kept wondering what the story was with the lady in front of them. They noticed she wore a plain gold wedding band and that was the only jewelry she had on. Where was her husband they wondered? Well, it wasn’t really any of their business and when it was time to receive the sacraments the young lady did not leave the pew. The old couple thought this odd but then…when you’re that old I guess you have nothing else to concern yourselves with.

About an hour after having entered the church the service was over. Liz was a little disappointed in the sermon. She thought the deacon could have prepared a better sermon than that and then she asked God’s forgiveness for being so damned picky...then she felt she had to ask forgiveness for thinking about “damned” in church and figured she’d just light a candle while she was ahead of the game and get to the mall before she committed any more venial sins in the house of the Lord.

Upon exiting the church she found some teenagers standing around the Jag and smiled at them as she approached…”Like it?” She asked with a knowing smile. They all looked at her with huge eyes and said “Oh yeah!” Liz giggled and told them that if they studied really hard that someday they could have a job that paid them enough to own one of these. With that she got in the car and took off…she felt like a jackass telling those teenage boys something like that…what they really needed to do was get their asses to the batting cages and become one of the best baseball players on earth…that would probably get them a car like this quicker than any damned “A” In the classroom…but it’s a good incentive and she smiled once again.

Liz found her way to the mall and parked clear at the end of the parking lot again and walked the distance to the mall entrance. She couldn’t believe the number of people shopping at 7:00 p.m. on Sunday evening.

She headed straight to the drugstore where she purchased some female supplies she knew she would be needing and then decided to have something to eat. She turned around to make sure she knew which entrance she came in and then headed to the food court. She decided on a chili dog and cherry coke. She hadn’t had a chili dog in ages and it sounded soooo good…then she thought, also messy. She asked for a fork and picked up extra napkins then took a seat next to the railing where the people were walking. What could be better than a hot dog and people watching?

She almost decided to have another hot dog but knew she really didn’t need it, but it tasted so good. Turns out she was a good girl and had only the one and when she had finished her soda she got up and went window shopping.

She went into one of the larger department stores and saw a beautiful cashmere winter coat and immediately decided that her standard warm, button down coat that she owned was serviceable but very unfashionable so she bought the camel colored cashmere beauty. She really needed to get out of Farmington more often she thought to herself.

After she purchased the coat she continued on through the store and bought quite a few fashionable slacks, blazers and skirt sets, sweaters and blouses to match as well as shoes and bags to match. She found a pair of leather gloves to go with her coat and then she spotted a rack of silk scarves. She purchased quite a few of those to go with her suits and one very long, fashionable scarf to wear with her coat. Oh she was having fun…she actually had to go out to the car and put her purchases in the trunk so she could continue on with her shopping spree.

She started to giggle to herself. I am going to have to buy an entire set of luggage if I am going to get all of this stuff home she thought…and then she decided that she could just take it all home in the bags. She wouldn’t even take the bags into the mansion…she would just load the bags into her car and that would save her time. Oh this was fun…why hadn’t she ever done this before?

Isabel was a bad influence she thought. Isabel had an outfit for every occasion and accessories to go with each outfit and she looked beautiful…I want to be fashionable too Liz thought. I will never be the beauty that Isabel is but I can certainly make the most of what I have. There’s nothing wrong with that, is there? She thought to herself…’no there isn’t’ … and she continued to shop.

*~*~*

The plane landed in Roswell about 4:30 p.m. CMT everyone had to get luggage except Max so he headed to the waiting area and took a seat and made a phone call.

“Michael, it’s Max…how’s it goin’ buddy?”

“Pretty good Max…where are you?”

“At the airport waiting for the family to get their luggage. Hey big guy, can we get together this evening for a visit. I need to see Maria and, please Michael, make sure that Tess Harding is nowhere in my line of vision, Okay?”

“Oh hey, I don’t think Tess is even in town…she called Maria the other night about something and it really had Maria upset. What’s going on Max?”

“We’ll talk about it later okay…how’s eight? I figure we’ll be in town about that time.”

“Eight o’clock it is Max…will you be coming here right from the airport?”

“That’s right…as soon as I can get there.”

“Okay. Hey Max, great game the other night…was that Liz beating the shit out of Alex?”

“Sure was, I think she enjoyed the game more than anyone there. See you later.” Max cut Michael off rather abruptly…

“Okay Max…later.” And the two friends hung up.

Maria came into the room and caught the tail end of the conversation and asked Michael if that was Max.

“Sure was, he’s coming over this evening as soon as they get in from the airport. Oh, and in case the blond bomber is in town Max doesn’t want to be in the same vicinity with her so don’t go inviting her over, okay.”

“Is that what he said Michael?”

“That is exactly what he said Maria, only I was nicer!”

“Oh dear! OH DEAR!!!” Was all Maria could say…

“Maria, what have you done?”

“I don’t know Michael but I don’t think it was a good thing.”

“What in the hell are you talking about Maria?”

“Michael, let’s just wait for Max.” And with that Maria reached into her pocket and retrieved her cypress oil…Michael looked at her with concern on his face and decided he would have to wait for Max because it didn’t look like he was going to get anything out of his wife.

*~*~*