Ruined (completed) ✔️

36

Placing my hand on the small of Eliza's back, we head towards the house. I open the door and let her enter the house first.

As soon as we walk through the door Mom embraces Eliza and a smile spreads across her face. "It's so good to see you again, Eliza. I was hoping someday my son would come back home and sweep you off your feet. It looks like he's done that."

I sure have.

Eliza's face turns a bit red, but she changes the topic quickly and says. "Do you need any help with dinner?"

Mom never turns down help. "That would be nice." She turns her attention to me and adds. "Your father is in the study. You should have a drink with him. I'm sure he wants to catch up."

After Mom says that she leads the way to the kitchen and Eliza follows her. Leaving me on the entryway.

Walking up the stairs I head in the direction of my father's study. I knock on the door and wait for him to reply.

"Come in," Dad says.

Opening the door to the study I walk onto the room and see Dad behind his desk. He has a few papers scattered across the table. "Hey, Dad. Mom sent me up here to have a drink with you." I walk over to the liquor cabinet he has in the office and pours us two glasses of bourbon. Taking it over to him I place it on the table in front of him. "Mom thinks we should talk in here."

A smile spreads across his face. "That woman sure knows how to give us privacy. Especially when we need it. How was it catching up with Ronnie again?"

"It's the same as it is in the city. He just likes to know everything that's happening in my life. Ronnie doesn't know when to leave things alone."

"Are you sure you want him to leave things alone?"

"Yes, I am. Every time I see him he has a new scheme to hurt me. I don't know what I've done to him."

Dad opens a drawer and pulls out a folder. "This might be able to help you with the things you don't know about him. After you left I did some research and came across that."

Taking the folder from the table I open it and sift through some papers. Stopping at an article my heart drops as I see a boy and girl hugging while a girl is on a stretcher being taken to the ambulance.

No, he couldn't have known her. If he did why has it taken me this long to put everything together.

When I read through the article I see that Eliza and my names are put in there. While the other kid's names have been scrapped completely.

*Flashback*

Eliza and I are lifesaving at the lake when we see a kid raise his hand and yell that he needs help. "I've got this," Eliza tells me and she grabs the board and dives into the water.

The boy starts to sink and Eliza moves quickly towards him. When she gets to the boy she dives under the water and pulls him up.

Putting him on the board she swims over to the dock where I help her put the boy onto the dock.

She climbs up and feels for a pulse. "There's no pulse." She tells me and starts CPR.

The boy's eyes open and he starts kissing her.

Eliza pulls back and looks at me. "That little shit didn't need my help. He just wanted to kiss me."

The boy's friends pat his back and hi-five him.

Eliza pushes the kid back into the water and then she looks around at the kids that are in the water.

A girl is waving wildly at the back of the lake and this captures Eliza's attention too.