Kissing Livvy

14

CHAPTER ONE

Standing in the middle of one of the biggest debacles since ditching her fiancé at the altar that morning, Livvy was just now beginning to feel the full magnitude of her sorry life. Actually, it wasn’t the altar, but the courthouse. A small detail in the storm of hurt that erupted first with Julian and then his family, but she couldn’t do it. As much as she craved a family all her own, and as much as the Hall’s pinned their hopes on marriage dispelling their sons dream of rock-stardom, she could not overlook one small detail. Julian was having an affair. Now it seemed, the bit of clarity that told her she could not go through with the marriage, was the last shred of self-awareness she possessed. Her life was in a tailspin.

The only thing she knew for sure - she was somewhere outside the town of Butternut Creek, surrounded by a pristine piece of northern Wisconsin forest. Oh, and the fact that the only person left to her in the world was Carly, her best friend, sort of. The fact that she’d ended up with a misguided band of environmentalists because of Carly only added to her sense of defeat. It had seemed the perfect vehicle for getting out of Dodge quickly, but like all decisions made in haste and desperation, this trip was a big mistake. Olivia Sherman could rally for the good of the Earth with the best of them, but this…this was not what she had in mind.

You lied to me, Carly. Livvy pointed a finger at her supposed best friend. If you had been straight with me, I wouldn’t have come here. She shifted her sandaled feet and crossed her arms over her chest. I’m not helping you and your buddies. The only thing worse than the fact that this was supposed to be my wedding day would be finishing it out as a convicted felon.

Quit being so dramatic. Seems to me, I’m not the only one with truth issues. Carly looked up with arched brows and a condescending glare. Let’s be honest here. You forgot all about your disaster of a wedding when you heard we were heading to Butternut Creek. I don’t think you cared if we were here to chase the pope down Main Street. Admit it. You have an ulterior motive for all this. Now lighten up and unload some of those sand bags from the back end of the van. Carly sprayed the letter ‘k’ in orange on the side of a yellow bulldozer then looked up. I never lied to you. Now put Bitchy Livvy away and let’s finish this so we can get out of here before we’re caught.

Trust me, you have no idea what Bitchy Livvy looks like. Although, neither did she. She nervously pulled on an ear lobe.

I think the letters should have been bigger, more eye-catching. Carly stood back to critique her work.

Livvy felt her stomach turn. This is against the law. For crying out loud, defacing equipment, filling gas tanks with sand, and trespassing. This isn’t the way fairly intelligent women with half a lick of common sense should spend a beautiful Sunday afternoon in June. It was becoming glaringly apparent her best friend was not the person she had held her up to be. Much like her ex.

Carly pointed the spray can at her. Look, Livvy, you had options. I offered you my apartment, but let’s face it, you were afraid Julian’s mother would track you down. I don’t blame you. That woman could scare the skin off a rat. Besides, we were heading in a direction you’ve been toying with for a long time. It all worked out quite conveniently, didn’t it? Now you can find your Dad and start over.

Livvy swallowed the uncomfortable knot in her throat at the mention of her search for the father she had never met. It wasn’t that easy. What if he didn’t want her? He hadn’t so far.

Your big mistake, Carly pointed the spray can at her, is you wrapped your whole life around Julian. You moved into his apartment, you worked at his music store, you were his little gofer for the band, and your life became everything Julian. Now that’s caput and you’re on your own with nothing to your name but a backpack full of stuff. How did you let that happen?

I don’t know. Forget the earlier reference to intelligent women. Suddenly, she didn’t feel it applied to her.

We better get busy. I wouldn’t mess with these guys if I were you. They are extremely passionate about ‘the cause’. You know that.

Livvy breathed a silent sigh of relief at the conversations return to the current mess at hand.

I’m beginning to think I’ve fallen into the environmental mafia. Look, if you want attention for ‘the cause’, she brought up two fingers to accentuate, there’s got to be something other than this high school vandalism stuff. I was under the impression this was a peaceful protest to save the forest. We weren’t supposed to sabotage someone’s livelihood. Why did you make all those signs?

There is no other way. Ecotage works. At least that’s what Scot says.

Livvy rolled her eyes. Scot was the real reason for Carly’s sudden interest in the environment. It was becoming crystal clear that her choice in friends rivaled right up there with her choice in men.

You’re going to have a long walk home if you don’t get your act together. Carly gave her a pleading look. I am sorry, but I really like this guy. And I am sorry your day has not turned out the way you planned. Please go along with this.

Frustration wrapped its ugly arms around Livvy and held on. Her choices were few and far between. Being left in the boonies for bear bait wasn’t exactly appealing. She went to the rusty Suburban with ‘Earthenista’ painted on the side door in wild colors and quietly took her backpack from the back seat. Reaching inside, she found her cell phone stuck under her stack of pictures. She pulled the tattered envelope out that held pictures of every family she had ever loved, or tried to love and thought about going through them again for the millionth time. This was not exactly the time or the place. She pushed the envelope into the corner of the backpack and took out the phone. She considered calling for a cab but hadn’t the slightest idea where to tell them to find her.

In utter frustration Livvy brought the cell phone up to her forehead and clunked herself a few times to fight the hopelessness permeating her soul. Not to mention the tears threatening. Every person in her life had faded away with the years and all that she had now was Carly. The knot in her chest was overwhelming.

This pity pool could not continue. If her life had shown her anything, it was that giving the reins over to loneliness and despair was self-defeating.

With a deep, cleansing breath, she took control.

Besides, Mother Nature was calling – with good timing. Livvy needed a break from all this lawlessness. Surreptitiously, she made her way into the forest. Actually, she needed just a few more minutes to bulk up her nerves before attempting to lose these people. If she made her way back out to the highway, she might just find a kind soul to take her to town.

Of course, then what? Call Daddy Dearest? That thought terrified her more than the band of miscreants she was traveling with. Now she truly felt like a coward. Hadn’t finding her father been the fuel behind her sudden interest in the environment? She simply wasn’t ready.

But she was so alone.

She slipped the cell into the backpack, found a leafy spot under a maple clear of sticks and stumps, loosened her khaki shorts and squatted.

A thought occurred to her. A piece of toilet paper would be nice. Too bad she was protesting the logger who would cut down the tree, haul it to the paper mill where, in turn, a white, fluffy piece of toilet paper would be made just for her. Oh well, life’s little luxuries. A few fallen maple leaves would have to do.

Suddenly the air split with shouts echoing through the trees. Scot yelled orders to the others and Carly called her name. A motor roared to life as Livvy grabbed her backpack and began running toward the melee, trying to button her shorts as she ran. She tripped in a divot and fell forward.

A gunshot split the air.

Staying put seemed best, but only for a moment. Being left behind terrified her more, not to mention the source of the gunshot. She jumped to her feet and began running in earnest, hugging the backpack to her chest. More shouts filled the air, then tires clawed the dirt and created a cloud that enveloped the trees.

Livvy burst through the cover of the forest onto the bumpy woods road frantically searching for the others. All that remained was the dusty remnant of a hasty retreat and cans of spray paint alongside the bulldozer. They left her. In the woods. Alone.

Her best friend left her here. Somehow, that seemed only fitting.

Panic pushed the air from her lungs. What if there are no cabs in this God-forsaken part of the country? Where was she to go? And if she were lucky enough to get out of this mess, what would she do for transportation? She could follow the road out of the forest, but then what? And the animals. For all she knew, bear and wolves were watching her from the bushes at this very moment savoring her scent and licking their chops. With the luck she’d been having lately, she’d end up as summer sausage hanging to dry in some nutcase’s cabin. A prickle at the back of her neck gave her the feeling she was not alone.

Slowly, she turned and…Holy Mother of God, she wasn’t alone.

A man bore down on her and fast. A very large man in a flannel shirt and jeans, a billed cap on his head, and boots that sent dust clouds with every stomp. Paul Bunyan lives and breathes–that is except for the very large shotgun swinging from one very large hand and the dangerous fire lighting his eyes.

As the wall of fury advanced upon her she scanned the landscape for a place to run, a way to disappear. There simply wasn’t time. She held the backpack to her chest for protection and thought of screaming, but who would care? She couldn’t breathe anyway much less produce a scream. Running might have worked if her feet weren’t more than two lumps of cement.

Before Livvy could blink, a wall of chest was in her face and her arm caught in the iron grip of his rough mitt of a hand. She opened her mouth, but no words would come. She angled her chin and raised her eyes only to see his black eyes licked with a blaze of fire and the reddest face she’d ever seen. Hell hath no fury like a mad Bunyan.

What the hell do you think you’re doing? Paul’s booming voice echoed off the trees. She took a step back but her arm didn’t budge from his grip. He roughly yanked her forward and her head snapped backwards.

Ow. I . . . I, she felt like a caged animal and all reason fled. I don’t know. The dangerous snarl on his ruddy face told her he didn’t like her answer.

You’re part of that group, aren’t you? I heard you were in the area. If there’s any damage, you and your tree-hugger friends are gonna pay and pay dearly. I’m calling the Sheriff. You’re going to jail. He gave her a shake. She tried to pull free with no luck. Think of all the nice friends you’ll make. That’s if I let you live that long.

But I didn’t do anything. I didn’t. Okay, now she sounded like a silly schoolgirl. Enough of that. Time to use her imagination. Let me go. I have really important friends. You’ll pay for this if you hurt me. I’m a Senator’s daughter. If you kill me, they’ll make sure you get the death penalty.

He seemed to be considering her words with raised brows, but only for a moment.

I don’t give a damn. He dropped the gun, pulled a cell phone from the pocket of his shirt and clicked it open, keeping hold of her arm.

You’re hurting me. If I’m bruised you’ll have a lawsuit on your hands so fast it’ll make your head spin. The blood was pulsing through her in rapid bursts.

You think so? I guess we’ll just have to see who gets the longer sentence. He grimaced and looked at his phone. No juice. He pushed the phone into his pocket and turned a hard gaze upon her. We’ll have to go for a ride.

No way. I’m not going anywhere with you. For all she knew he could be planning a remake of ‘Deliverance’. Let me go. She yanked her arm, but he pulled back all the harder. You don’t own these woods. I have every right to be here.

I’m trying to make a living and you’re out here using your environmental group as an excuse to cause trouble. Thought you’d get away with your dirty tricks? Well, not this time. No, this time you cowards snuck onto the wrong job. He began pulling her toward his beat-up, rust-bucket of a pickup truck.

Livvy dug her heels into the dirt. Let me go or I’ll scream. She let loose with a blood-curdling scream.

To which he began to laugh. A dark, foreboding laugh.

Go ahead, yell your little head off. It’s not going to help. Besides, who do you think is going to hear? Your ass is mine whether you like it or not.

He had a point. But no, there had to be a way out.

Just hold on. Maybe, just maybe, she could reason with this backwoods goon.

He ignored her request and continued to pull her toward the truck.

W . . . Wait I said. I . . . She tried to create all the resistance she could, but it wasn’t working. Can’t we talk about this?

He stopped, pulled her to him, and angled his face over hers. The weasels you came out here with are long gone. I guess I could leave you here. After all, we’ve seen at least four wolves in the last month. That might be a more fitting end to someone like you anyway.

The idea was frightening to say the least. Livvy quickly weighed her odds and chose the better of two evils.

Look, I’ll go with you willingly. How can I make you see that I didn’t do anything?

You can’t. He dragged her to his pickup truck and opened the door. It was then she tried a tactic she had always longed to try as a child. She threw a tantrum.

Vigorously shaking her head she screamed like a banshee. She dropped the backpack and began flailing her free arm and kicking her legs. And kept screaming. Of course, she knew she looked completely insane, but it worked. He stopped yanking on her arm and looked at her as though she was by the devil.

What was that? You’d have thought she was an alien by the expression on his face. It was nearly comical except that her freedom and possibly her life hung in the balance.

Suddenly a piece of information burst into her brain. Information that just may save her. Especially since she had his attention after what she was certain had been an award-winning performance.

I have something to tell you before you haul me away. Livvy was quite pleased with her ingenuity at getting his attention. They stuck a spike in that Balsam over there. She pointed to the tree on which Carly’s Scott had been pounding. She watched Bunyan’s eyes narrow on the bulls-eye hole in the trunk. Clearly, he was distrustful, but she had his attention.

He considered her, then the tree, then back to her. Hoping she’d purchased time, or at the very least saved an unsuspecting life, she waited. Suddenly he dragged her toward the tree bending to retrieve an abandoned can of spray paint on the way.

Once there, he sprayed a ring around the hole where the spike resided.

If you think this will get you off the hook, you’re wrong. His voice was not nearly as menacing and his eyes softened just a bit. A spiked tree could kill someone using a chainsaw.

I didn’t know that, although I knew it was something bad by the comments they made after it was done. She let out the breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding. Maybe she had secured her freedom by saving the life of one of his co-workers.

She was wrong.

Without a word, he dragged her back to the truck, roughly stuffed her in the passenger side and threw the backpack at her. It occurred to her that she could bail out as he went around to the driver’s side, but what was the point? She didn’t want to be alone in the woods.

The inside of Bunyan’s old Chevy, strewn with gloves and tools, stunk of motor oil and gasoline. Weird, but her rear-end itched. He put the pedal to the metal, which set her back in the filthy seat. Hell-bent to turn her in, he had them fairly flying over the rolling country road.

Livvy was beginning to wish she’d sucked it up and married Julian.

Jesse Tully gripped the wheel of his truck with everything in him. A hot knot of anger burned through and through. The fact that these jerks pulled out and left one of their own behind was sheer amateurish stupidity. He couldn’t wait to drop her sorry butt at the Sheriff’s Department. Maybe they could squeeze every last piece of information out of her. These thugs caused nothing but chaos for the industry that fed him and his family. Someone needed to stop them.

I heard rumors Earthenista was in the area. The whole northern half of Wisconsin is on the lookout. Tell me one thing. Why choose this part of the state? She wasn’t answering him. The paper mill is threatening a shut down. The whole area is in a panic. Nothing like kicking a dog when it’s down.

No response.

Where are they headed next? he growled. She shifted in her seat and glanced about like a caged animal. Rightfully so. The woman was in big trouble.

When she didn’t answer, he barked, Where?

I don’t know. With a hand she braced herself against the dash as they careened around a corner. Cripes, can you slow down? I’m not going to jump out and make a run for it. You’ve got me. I’m yours. If you kill me in this rattletrap you’ll be the one in trouble, not me.

I can’t imagine anyone would miss you enough to look for the body. He was quite satisfied with his response. What was such a petite little thing like her doing up here in the first place? She was as out of place in the middle of a forest as he was in the city.

Funny. Very funny. She placed a hand on the dash for support.

Suddenly a phone chimed. Jesse knew it wasn’t his. The woman quickly grabbed for her bag. Jesse slammed his hand on top of it. You’re not talking to anyone.

It might be an emergency. She wiggled her hand beneath his. The truck veered to one side of the road, then the other as he struggled to keep her from the phone. Unfortunately, her hand being smaller than his and so skinny, she found what she was looking for. He made one last grab, missed and barely kept the truck on the road. She huddled against the passenger door and clicked open the phone.

Oh, crud. She hesitated, looking a bit green.

Give it to me. He held out a hand while she stared at the ringing phone. Just his luck, he doesn’t have service but this criminal does.

You’re crazy if you think I’m giving you my phone.

You’re not taking calls at the moment. And he meant it. He was getting that phone from her come hell or high water.

Quickly she clicked the talk button, Hello. No, I’m being kidnapped by a logger. She paused for a moment, Seriously, I’m somewhere by the Butternut Creek area and this logger-guy is taking me to God-knows-where in his pickup truck. I’m not kidding, Julian.

Jesse punched the brake and swung to the shoulder. The truck ground to a halt as the she-devil pitched against the dash. The nasty look she sent his way almost made him laugh.

Julian, just a moment. She covered the phone with her hand and to Jesse said, One lousy phone call. Could you give me that? After all, I just saved the life of one of your employees. You know, the spike.

She had a point. Jesse was going to make another grab for the phone, but thought otherwise. The person on the other end wasn’t going to be able to help her. What could it hurt? After all, she was going to have to let her family know she is in trouble sooner or later. Family was important. A pain in the ass a good piece of the time, but important all the same.

Hurry up. He gave her his best glare.

She wrinkled her nose at him, took her hand from the phone and continued the conversation. I need help. What? No, this isn’t the time or the place. Julian, listen to me. Silence. I got myself involved with one of Carly’s goofy causes. This redneck, she mouthed ‘I’m sorry’ and gave a brief, strained smile before continuing is hauling me away in his filthy pickup and…no…no. I didn’t take your journal. I didn’t take anything from the apartment. Believe it or not, I actually have something more important going on here at the moment. Whatever Julian said on the other end seemed to knock the breath from her nearly flat chest. She stared at the phone, her mouth gaping, her demeanor fragile.

Jesse rubbed his chin, feeling the day-old stubble, and fixed his eyes on the doe crossing the road before them. Suddenly, he was feeling like an intruder in his own pickup.

The color in her face faded and tears gathered in the corners of her eyes. Tears. The first crack in his resolve reared. He tried to grab hold of his anger once again, but female tears. They did him in every time.

The caller wasn’t giving her much chance to speak.

Julian…Julian, please don’t hang up on me. She glanced at Jesse. Please. She clicked the phone shut. He hung up on me.

All fragility banished as she slammed the phone onto the seat. It bounced, ricocheted off the dash, hit the back window, and landed on the floor as Jesse shielded himself.

Holy buckets, woman. Those things cost money.

A tear trickled down her rosy