Closing Costs Read online

  Closing Costs

  by

  Liz Crowe

  Liz Crowe's series, Stewart Realty, garners critical acclaim from readers and realtors alike!

  "In Closing Costs, the third installment in Stewart Realty series, I was again transported to a place of anger I was somehow unprepared for. The book takes place over several years, and while I was ready to despise Jack again, it was Sara that ended up being the object of my ire. Stubborn to a fault and determined not to allow anyone to help her raise Katie, she essentially shut herself down and became a cold and heartless hermit. The spiteful words hurled between Jack and Sara throughout Closing Costs, along with the obvious agony they were both in as a result of being apart, was so tough to digest! While the sex in Closing Costs was a lot less prevalent than in the first two books in the Stewart Realty series, the drama ran just as high. When Sara and Jack did come together, the sex was incredibly passionate and highly charged… you could taste the agony, frustration and deep unbridled love between the two. Closing Costs is a fitting closure to Sara and Jack’s stormy story, ripe with anger, tears, love and loss. Amazing job, Ms. Crowe, for an incredibly realistic and dramatic story line that grabs you by the heart and mind and refuses to let go!"

  ~ Silla Beaumont, Just Erotic Romance Reviews

  “Closing Costs was all I expected and more. Liz Crowe writes characters who are frustratingly human. I found myself wishing I could smack Jack and Sarah upside the head numerous times. Seriously? Can two people make their lives any more difficult? Knowing these two, I'm sure they can. And haven't we all known people just like them? The reader is lucky enough to get an understanding of Jack and see emotions and motivations that Sara seldom has access to. If he would just let Sara see what we see, everything would work out. Of course, the same goes for Sara... Crowe's writing is so realistic and enjoyable, I found myself alternating between extreme frustration, tears and happiness. I literally could not put the book down and read it all in one sitting. This is a book I will read more than once.”

  ~ Jeanne Stone-Hunter, My Book Addiction and More

  “Perfection. That is the word that best describes Closing Costs, the third installment of Liz Crowe's Stewart Realty series. Believe me when I say, when it comes to books and/or series, perfection is not a term that I use very often. There is always some thought, direction, development or aspect that hangs me up, but there is NOT one thing about this book that I didn't like or think fit the overall series arc perfectly. Now I know that everyone's idea about perfection is different & some may disagree - but for me, if the Louboutin's fit, you bet I'm wearing them!”

  ~ Alyssa HesperMathews, Hesperia Loves Books

  “Liz [Crowe] has done it again with her third installment in the Stewart Realty series with Closing Costs. The turbulent journey of Jack and Sara's relationship continues leaving the reader feeling emotions for each character while keeping the reader engaged to the book. This book is full of surprises that will have you laughing, crying, and wanting to throw your e-reader as we journey further into Jack and Sara's relationship. Jack and Sara are so realistic that you will be thinking of them for days, feeling their emotions throughout their journey, and even wishing you could do something for them.” ~ Ashley Carver, Amazon.com

  Closing Costs (Stewart Realty, Book 2)

  Copyright 2012 Liz Crowe

  A Tri Destiny Publishing – Sizzlin' Books Line

  Cover Art Copyright 2012 by JJ Silver Designs

  This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. They may not be re-sold or given away, except as provided in promotions sponsored by Tri Destiny Publishing or the author. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you are reading this book and you did not purchase it, win this copy during a promotion or, if not purchased specifically for your use only, then please delete this copy, notify us at [email protected]. We encourage you to purchase your own copy and support the author's hard work in their craft.

  To the Jacks--

  May you live long in infamy, at least in your own minds.

  Contents

  Cover Page

  Reviews

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Epilogue

  Preview

  Biography

  Prologue

  Sara struggled to throw off the blanket, to open her eyes, to get her feet to the floor; anything to get out from under the smothering darkness enveloping her. She tried holding her eyes open with her fingers, but that didn't work. Counting to three and heaving herself up and out of the bed didn't either. She simply could not move.

  The room smelled funny; just like the rubber gloves her mother used to keep under the sink for the dreaded cleaning marathons of her youth. The gloves were tight, hot, make-hands-sweaty, and gross. They had come directly from her parents' medical practice, designed to peel off and toss when the task was finished, but the weird, sweaty rubber odor lingered for days no matter how much Ivory soap was used.

  Why was she so thirsty? Dear God her throat felt like the Mohave Desert, in a drought.

  She could sense the dried out rivulets of flesh in the back of her mouth that seemed coated in a disgusting, coppery, medicinal slime. But the thirst – it was like a live thing, crouching in her gut. And the saliva that coated her mouth only made it worse. Teased her throat with its slightly nauseating dampness. She moaned, and threw a hand over her face as lights flooded her bedroom.

  Something held her back. Wires or restraints. Did Jack do this? After all these months of avoidance, had he talked her back into the sex play they used to enjoy once when they could still stand the sight of each other? Something about that thought made tears spring to her eyes.

  That's when she really felt it. Massive capital letter "P" Pain. Cutting her in half.

  "Help!" She croaked, still trying to sort out why her bedroom resembled a hospital room, why there were not one but two IV's stuck in her, one in her left hand, the other currently straining against the inside of her right elbow, and quickly filling with blood. "Somebody, I'm gonna..."

  A couple of people rushed in dressed in annoyingly bright pink scrubs, one dotted with – Sara strained her eyes just before she puked into the plastic kidney bean shaped container the woman held – Hello Kitty faces. Tears streamed down her face as she laid back. "Is it possible to throw up your pancreas? I think I just did." The Hello Kitty nurse hustled out with Sara' gift as the other one fussed around with her IV, took her pulse and temperature.

  "What's your pain on a scale of one to ten?" Sara tried to hold her eyes open, to remain this side of conscious, but slipped, slowly, back under as she croaked: "Forty-five." And remembered too late she still needed a drink of water.

  ****

  "Sara."

  A disembodied hand patted hers, which woke her immediately. She gasped, tried to sit, glared around in
terror. Soft green eyes met hers. She sucked in a breath. Tears slipped down her cheeks. Agony still blossomed from every inch of her body. She lay back, gingerly, tried to curl in on herself, hide a little so it couldn't find her. A strange whimpering sound whistled in her ears.

  "Honey, want me to call a nurse?" Her mother hovered, her eyes nervous. Sara shut her eyes. Her mother held something in her arms; something she kept looking at. "Do you want to see her Sara? Your daughter – she is so beautiful."

  "No, not yet. I can barely breathe right now, Mom. Please, just go away." She clutched her stomach, which seemed just as big as it had been before. "How long have I been in here?" Her dry lips split. "Can I have some water?" She could barely hear her own voice as the pain tore through her body again. "Jack?" But he didn't materialize. The best defense seemed to be passing out. So she did.

  ****

  "Okay Sleeping Beauty, enough already." A firm voice pierced the fuzz that felt packed around her brain. Dark brown eyes met hers as she fought to the surface again. "C'mon, there's someone here that wants to meet you."

  Craig.

  Sara sighed and rolled onto her back. "Water. I have yet to get any water." Blake appeared on her other side, a giant white cup in one hand. The glorious liquid soothed her throat, wet the sides of her mouth. She gulped and gulped until Blake took it from her. "Slow down sister." His deep green eyes were red rimmed but he smiled and she relaxed.

  "Now, let me present you with, Miss Katherine Elizabeth Thornton." Craig stuck a pink-blanketed something in the crook of her arm. She blinked at him. He smiled and nodded down at it. Suddenly more afraid of anything than she'd been in her entire life, her whole body broke out in a giant chill. The bundle shifted, a mewling sound came from its depths. Sara gasped as a sudden mild tingling her breasts became a roar of agony and her mouth dried out again so fast she cried out. The baby wiggled, made some strange noises. Sara tried very hard not to panic.

  At that moment, a strange woman strode in, took the baby and declared herself the "lactation coach," summarily dismissing Craig and Blake from the room. Sara stared at her, hands over her aching, swollen boobs. "I thought this was a natural act. Why do I need a coach? I didn't need a breathing coach. Ow!" The woman plunked the bundle on her still tender stomach and pulled one side of Sara's hospital gown down, exposing a giant, leaking breast. "Holy shit, that hurts!" Sara tried to flinch away, but the crazy woman kept holding her freakishly giant tit, rubbing her leaky nipple against the baby's cheek. It took about three seconds for her to latch on and bite down. "Jesus!" Sara winced, bent over, trying not to smother her own child during her first few days as a mother.

  "That's it," the evil torturer smiled. "Perfect. You two are naturals at this."

  Sara glared at her. "Water?" The woman handed her the cup.

  "You'll want to always have water around as you nurse."

  "No shit." Sara muttered, as the painful tugging at her nipple ramped up, then settled into a soft rhythm. She leaned back and sighed, finally taking a peek down at her baby's face. The girl's huge eyes were open and locked on her with an intensity that was unnerving. Then her tiny, perfect face broke into a grin and she stretched her small body, curling it tighter against Sara's chest.

  A surge of something she'd had never felt in her entire life shot through her then. A strange, almost painful energy that started in her scalp and worked its way down her spine, lighting up every nerve ending she possessed. I will be the perfect mother. She smiled down at Katherine Elizabeth. Her daughter. I will read you books every night, only serve you organically grown non-junk food your entire life, and always listen to you. I'll be home every day when you get in from school, with homemade cookies and plenty of time to sit and hear about your day. I'll take you to dance lesson, piano, violin, anything you want. She ran her fingertip down the impossibly small nose, making the girl flinch and lose her concentration. She glared at her mother for a split second.

  The look said everything to Sara. You won't either. She seemed to accuse already. You'll work too many hours, I'll be a latchkey kid, and an evil, pot-smoking adolescent and we will do nothing but fight. Then, that goofy smile-like thing Sara knew was likely gas lit the girl's face. But it's okay. The child appeared to say. I'll love you anyway.

  A fresh surge of panic gripped Sara's throat as the child nursed a bit more, then slept, as if a light switch had been turned off. Sara stared at her, watched a bit of thin-looking milk drip from the girl's mouth as she dozed. Feeling like a cliché, she held on tight, unsure of what the hell do to next. Would her coach show back up? Give her a high-five and send her to the showers? Waves of emotion pounded in her brain, as her pain level ramped back up now that endorphins had stopped flowing.

  "Sara?" She looked up, distracted as Jack's tall frame filled the doorway. He had on jeans and a soft cotton button down, and his face looked gaunt, worried. She sucked in a breath and glanced back down at the girl who'd fallen asleep at her breast.

  "Oh my God, Jack." She tried not to wake the child. He was at her side in a split second, holding tight as sobs racked her. "I'm sorry. I don't know why I'm crying." She managed to choke out. Jack plucked a tissue from a nearby box, tried to hand it to her. She shook her head. "I'm afraid to let go of her," her voice cracked. He shrugged and wiped her nose.

  "Blow." She grinned up at him but his face was utterly serious.

  She did as he said. He disposed of the tissue and climbed up on the bed beside her. She snuggled into his side, relief nearly making her giggle. Dear God my hormones.

  "You look like hell, my dear." He put a tentative hand on the baby then drew back as she stirred. Sara stiffened. "What, honey? Everything's okay. Baby's good. You made it, thank God." He pressed his lips to her temple. "We weren't sure there for a while. Although a shower is probably a good idea..."

  "I can't do this." She whispered, still gripping the child close. "I can barely take care of myself. What made me think…? Oh Jesus." Tears kept leaking down her face. Jack sighed and held her closer. "Ow. Sorry, I hurt all over." He reached back down to move the pink blanket aside. The baby startled. Sara saw something like fear flicker in his eyes. "So much for all those Lamaze hours huh?" Her arm was getting sore from staying in one position for long. But, having Jack here, holding her, felt more right than anything and she didn't want the moment to end.

  "Huh, yeah. Time wasted all right. Way to scare everybody, drama queen." He stayed quiet for a while. "Listen, Sara, you can do this. You made it through months of crazy medical bullshit, worked, bought a new house, moved. All of it. You'll be fine."

  "But Jack," she hated the sound of her own whine. "I don't know what do with her. I mean, how do I get her home? How does she sleep? Where does she sleep?"

  "Damn Sara, you have like a library of how-to books. Didn't you read any of them? And. if I remember right, painting this kid's nursery nearly cost us our friendship. So I'm pretty sure she has a place to sleep."

  Sara tried not to let the word "friendship" bug her too much. She'd asked for it this way after all. "Well, I sort of skimmed..."

  "They're saying you guys can go home in a couple of days. I'll help, if you want. I mean, you know…" He ran a shaking hand through his hair, stared at the baby, that weird look in his eyes again. Sara sighed.

  "Blind leading the blind, eh Gordon? Who would have thought a baby would scare you?" He glared at her, then sighed. She cursed herself for ruining a perfectly nice moment.

  "Something like that. But I gotta go. Hospitals make me antsy and you've got a virtual arsenal of people out there dying to get in here and help you. None of them too happy about my being here it seems."

  She let familiar anger grip her, pushing the abject terror at going home with the human being in her arms out of her head for a minute. "Go on. I'll call you." He stood, shoved his hands in his pockets.

  "You wanted it this way, remember? Just you."

  "I know," she looked down to hide the tears that kept forming. "So go." She looked up
at him, the man she loved but refused to admit it, and bit back the urge to beg him to stay with her. "Thanks for the pep talk. But I got this."

  He sighed, then looked up at a knock on the door. "Come in." Sara called out. "Jack was just leaving." By the time he had walked out Sara realized too late that she never even asked if he wanted to hold the baby.

  Chapter One

  Seven Months Earlier

  Sara stared out the window and willed the ever-present nausea away. Blake put a hand on her shoulder, making her jump. "Don't do that." He slipped his arm over her shoulder and she resisted the urge to step away, needing space.

  "Sure you don't want me here for this?" She nodded, biting her lip, watching for the two familiar cars to pull into her condo community lot. When they did she gasped, and made a dash for the bathroom, dry heaving for the millionth time that day. She rinsed out her mouth, listening to Blake greet both Craig and Jack, their deep voices mixing, filling her small condo.

  Glancing in the mirror over the sink, she sighed. "I'd give anything to be somewhere else right now." The reflection mocked her with its unhelpful silence. A soft knock made her open her eyes to see her brother standing in the doorway. "I'm coming." Blake gave her a quick hug, then gripped her arms and stared into her eyes.

  "You can do this. You know Mom and Dad understand. They get it. We are all behind you. Now go out there and tell them both to back off. It's the only way. You've been avoiding them both since the end of the year. Time to man up."

  She nodded, and leaned into him. Blake had always been there for her. She really wanted him to stay right now, but she had to do it – have this conversation – alone. "I could crawl in the bed right now and sleep for hours." She pulled back, ran a hand over her eyes. "I feel like an alien version of myself. I hate it." He put an arm around her shoulders and guided her out to the living room, kissed her forehead and slipped out the front door.