Playing Pretend by Cassie-Ann L. Miller

Fifty-One

Liam

I spill out of a taxi,dodging clay-filled rain puddles and getting soaked to the bone as I sprint toward the sandy-toned brick cottage. I should have bought that umbrella from the peddler outside the airport. They say it never rains in the desert but it’s just my luck that the day I touch down in Reno, Nevada, it’s coming down in buckets.

I must be quite the sight in a soggy dress shirt, trying to keep my duffel bag lifted over my head to shield myself from the cold, heavy raindrops.

Droplets roll off the sides of my temples as I repeatedly jab the doorbell, following it with a hearty knock on the door.

Fuck—I’m probably about to make a terrible first impression but I don’t care. My only concern is setting my eyes on Eliza.

I’m almost tempted to think that nobody’s home but through the door, I hear a baby’s happy shrieks and giggles. I jab the doorbell again, my nerves chafing at the pleasantness of the bell’s whimsical melody. Really out of place right now.

After a long pause, the door swings open and I’m confronted by Eliza’s face on a stranger’s body. Same chocolate eyes. Same shape to the woman’s lips. Except her waist-length hair is dark brown, her cheeks are gaunt and her pale skin wears a smattering of freckles.

Her curious stare squints on my face but before she can open her mouth to ask who the heck I am, a male voice booms from behind her. “Dana! I told you not to open the door!”

“But Dad, I—” She halts to cough violently into her fist.

A short, broad-chested middle-aged man brushes into the doorway, protecting the young girl like a human shield. “How can I help you?” he asks me pointedly, anxiety filling the many creases in his face.

I search his features for any resemblance to my wife and I can see it. It’s faint, but it’s there. Beyond his shoulder, I see a worried-looking woman bouncing a gurgling baby on her hip. When our eyes meet, she holds her child closer. She’s Eliza’s mother. Definitely Eliza’s mother.

He watches me warily, angling his body, trying to block my view inside the house. “Look, buddy. I don’t know who the hell you are but you’re not getting anywhere near my daughter.”

Based on the small bit of information Frank was able to dig up, I understand the man’s determination to protect his home. There are some very bad people trying to hunt this family down.

A terrified-looking Eliza appears around the corner, a handmade quilt wrapped tightly around her shoulders like a scared child clinging to a security blanket. “L-Liam…?”

The minute I see her, I’d do anything to get to her. Even if it means bowling her father over with my overeagerness. “With all due respect, sir, I’m not going anywhere until I talk to Eliza.” I push my way past the protective man.

“Who the hell do you think you are barging in here like that?!” The man barks, flinging his arms up in the air.

I rush across the room and gather my woman up in my embrace. “I’m Liam Kline. Eliza’s husband.”