Chapter 35
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
brIAR
I thought my father was only testing me because I’d shown him I was weak. If I passed the tests, if the brewery was successful, he’d be proud of me. Finally, he’d be proud.
But that was never going to happen.
Sometime over the past year, Melly’s father must have brought hi m an offer he didn’t want to refuse…but it happened too late. My dad had already made someone else a different offer. Namely, me.
He’d convinced me to come home by offering me a signed-and-sealed promise to take over the brewery—a decision he’d surely regretted after Melly’s father came to him with a deal.
So my dad had tried every manipulative tactic in his personal toolbox to get me to give up.
And, when that didn’t work, he’d tried to make me outright fail—so when I did, he could sweep in with his friend’s offer and convince me to sell.
My dad would take a “fair” cut, no doubt, along with whatever golden prize he’d been offered in exchange for making the deal happen.
I’m tempted to walk back to Liam’s bike. To let him take over and lead me away from this awful tomb of a house. But I’m not the weak woman my father thinks I am. Maybe I never was. And right now, I’m angry.
Liam helped me understand that anger doesn’t always have to be a bad thing, something to stuff down until you can scream into a pillow. Anger can be powerful.
“You set me up,” I say coldly. “All this time…you weren’t trying to help me. You were trying to make me fail and trick me into thinking it was my fault.”
Liam presses his palm to my lower back, and I nearly cry. He’s being present in exactly the way I need—showing me he’s my backup but not trying to take over. He knows I have to handle this myself, and he cares about giving that to me.
He cares about me, full stop.
My mother retreats into the house. She won’t want to be part of this conversation, not that she minds my father’s cutthroat nature. After all, she immortalized it in wood and hung it on the wall.
“Of course not.” My father wraps his arms across his chest. “Look, it’s cold out there. Why don’t you come inside, and we’ll talk all this over in a civilized way. Your…your friend can come in too.”
“Great,” Liam says, shoving in past him.
I stare at his back in confusion for a second.
“I need to take a leak,” Liam adds. “I assume Alicia wouldn’t want me to go on the bushes.”
“Go, go.” My father waves him away with an expression of total disdain that Liam probably loves.
Speaking of which…
What the hell is Liam up to?
Maybe he actually needs to use the bathroom, but it seems unlikely.
My father and I stand silently staring at each other until Liam emerges a couple of minutes later. He heads toward us with easy grace, like he’s completely oblivious to any tension.
I’m sure he knows it’s exactly the sort of thing my father finds most aggravating.
“Just stay inside,” my father hisses. “Come in too, Briar. You might as well come in.”
“No. I’m not going in there. We came here, and you refused to feed us.
You invited two guests instead of the agreed-upon one.
I’ve fulfilled my end of the contract. We’ll be back next week at the same time…
until you tell us you don’t want us to come.
But this brewery will be successful, Dad.
There’s a ton of interest in the New Year’s party, and we have distributors who are coming just to try Liam’s beer at midnight.
The waitlist for our dining experience is two pages long. Silver Star isn’t going anywhere.”
He pouches his lips. “Now, I wasn’t going to put you out in the cold, sweetheart.
The property is yours, if you continue to abide by the terms of the contract.
You’d get most of the profits from this exchange, and there’ll be a job for you once I get my next venture up and running.
” He shoots a hateful glance at Liam. “Hell, we could even find a janitorial position for your—”
“I haven’t reneged on our contract,” I say tightly, calmly, in the only tone my father will listen to. “Will you?”
“You haven’t even heard what our friend has to offer.”
“And I won’t. Because the property isn’t yours anymore, and it’s not for sale.”
“Now, Briar.”
“You heard her,” Liam says, his hand once again on my back. “And if you knew about even half of the work she’s put in—oh, hell, what am I saying. You wouldn’t be ashamed of yourself. You just should be. Your daughter is worth more than you could ever understand, and you don’t deserve her.”
“And you do?” my father sputters.
“No, I don’t, sir. But that doesn’t mean I have to stop trying. I think we’ll be leaving now. Isn’t that right, Briar?”
“Yes,” I say, heat filling my eyes. But I won’t let my father see me cry. If he does, he’ll assume my tears are for him and not for Liam.
The truth is, I don’t have any tears left for my parents. They were cried out years ago, into a pillow that didn’t care about me either.
“Goodbye, Dad. Don’t feel like you have to come to the New Year’s party. And definitely—”
My words are cut off by a silver car pulling up to the gate.
Melly. I can see her in the driver’s seat.
“Stay, Briar.” My father reaches out and wraps his hand around my wrist. He’s squeezing too hard. Liam sees me wince and tugs my father’s hand off.
“Don’t you ever grab her like that again,” Liam says, his tone hard. Like he’d definitely have more to say with his fists if I weren’t here beside him. My father seems to recognize it too, because he steps back, his face ashen.
“Let’s go.” I take Liam’s hand and turn my back on my childhood home and the old dream of belonging there.
By the time we reach the bike, the gates have opened for the car. My mother must have buzzed them in from the interior of the house.
Liam gets on the bike, and I cling to him, needing to be close to him right now.
The car parks, and Melly gets out. Just Melly.
“You ready?” Liam asks, handing me the helmet he bought for me, but I hand it back.
“There’s something I need to do first.”
I stalk up to Melly, who’s watching me with a wary expression.
“You got me into trouble, you know,” she says in an undertone, glancing at the front door of the house.
“Good.”
She shifts her attention more fully to me, her lips parting in surprise. “Good?”
“You deserved it. It was about time someone called you out for lying.”
“It wasn’t all—”
“All I ever wanted was to be your friend,” I say, giving a voice to that hurt little girl who never had one.
“And you never missed a single opportunity to hurt me. Maybe you think they’re all just funny stories, but they’re not.
I still have nightmares about you holding me down and cutting off my hair.
You may think that’s funny too. But you want to know something?
I’m happy with who I am as a person. I’m happy. Can you say the same?”
She doesn’t say anything. She simply stares at me. Finally, I’ve made Melanie Harris wordless.
I go back to Liam and reclaim my helmet, hooking it on as he turns to study me over his shoulder, his eyes full of admiration. “You’re not a princess anymore, Briar. You’re the motherfucking queen.”
And what do you know, I’m smiling as he revs up his bike and drives us out of the gates of Sterling Manor. I have no idea where we’re going, and right now, I don’t care.
I laugh as he parks his bike next to Sunshine Diner. “Really, Liam?”
“I have fond memories of this place. It’s where I first realized you were a genius.”
“I was drunk.” I take off my helmet, and he returns it to the top box on his bike.
“And you still made more sense than most people. Let’s have some food and a shitty whiskey, and then I’ll take you home.”
I catch his arm before he can take a single step toward the diner. He turns to me, his eyes full of a yearning that makes my heart quicken—and topples the last of the walls I’ve tried to build to keep him out.
“Thank you.” I feel the words deep in my soul. “You’ve been there for me through all of this. You said the brewery wasn’t ours, that it was just mine, but it feels like ours.”
“I’m glad I’m earning my ten percent,” he says, tucking my hair behind my ear. “I take it very seriously.”
“You take me very seriously.”
“I do,” he agrees, his gaze burning into me. “You deserve more than what you’ve been given, and I aim to see that you get it. Now, let’s get our whiskey and make Sharon’s night.”
“You honestly think she’d remember me?”
He reaches for me. My whole body begs for his touch, but he only tips my head up slightly so his eyes can fully search my face. “No one who’s ever met you has ever forgotten you. That woman back there…Ellie—”
“Melly.” I smile, certain he knows exactly what her name is.
“She’s jealous of you. She wants to be you, but she knows she could never compare. So her best bet was to try destroying you. As if she could hope to take down a queen.”
“Liam,” I say in wonder.
“I know.” He grins as he runs his fingers down the side of my face and then releases me. “I’m supposed to be a grumpy asshole. Don’t worry. As soon as I get in there and taste that whiskey, I’ll be grumpy as hell.”
“You wanted to hit my father,” I comment, barely noticing the brush of coat against coat as someone presses past me on the sidewalk. All my attention is on this big, beautiful man in front of me, capable of such stunning ferocity and gentleness at once.
“You’ll never know how badly. Who knows what would have happened if I hadn’t had one of those dumb elastic bands on my wrist. I mean, I broke it, obviously, but it helped. Let it never be said that a Moroney can’t learn from past mistakes.”
“Liam, I…”
I don’t know how to say the words—to tell him I’m still so scared of being with him, especially knowing what failure would cost us both, but that I want to try anyway.
“Liam…I don’t know if we’re going to be able to keep the brewery open.”
“I’m not going to let him take this from you, Briar,” he says fiercely. “It’s not happening. If your father or his friends try anything, every single person on staff, not to mention the guys in the band, will stand behind you and fight. We’re your army. Use us.”
“It still might not be enough,” I admit. “Those restitution payments we’ve had to make… I don’t know how long we can stay open. I’ve applied for a few loans, but my jewelry business tanked. I don’t think they’re going to approve them. This might all be for nothing.”
“No,” he says forcefully. “No. It won’t have been for nothing.”
“I believe you about the app. I mostly believed you before, but—”
“But you’re still wary.” He runs a hand over my hair. “I don’t blame you. I’m not a safe bet. I’m…what did Melly call me in that article? A loose cannon. Or we can go with your mother’s word for me.”
“You are a madman,” I say with a small smile. I’d like him to be my madman.
“I aim to prove myself to you.”
My heart swells until it feels like my body is all heart, no room for bones. “You have. You already have.”
His eyes glimmer with pleasure, but he shakes his head. “Not yet. I want to woo you, Briar. Don’t you think a queen deserves to be wooed? That’s what I did wrong from the beginning. I should have wooed you.”
“No, I think you’ve done a pretty good job of it. Right now, you could woo me in the bathroom of Sunshine Diner if you wanted to.”
He laughs. “Oh, I think we can do better than that. Have dinner with me tomorrow night.”
We’re closing early tomorrow so the staff has time to rest up before the long New Year’s party. I figured I’d spend the time at the brewery, preparing, or at home, worrying. But this? This is the dream I didn’t want to risk having.
Tears press against my eyes as I say, “Yes. But what about Hannah…?”
“I’ll talk to Hannah,” he says, his expression turning grim. “But if you’re willing to give us a real chance, I’ll be telling her, Briar, not asking her.”
And that’s it.
I grab the lapels of his coat and pull him down for a kiss. He groans into my mouth, his hand instantly lifting into my hair.
It’s so easy to get lost in Liam. It has been from the beginning.
At first I thought it was another sign that I was overly sensitive and letting my feelings about him get in the way of my better judgment.
But maybe this is how it’s supposed to be.
Maybe getting lost in someone is a sign that you feel totally safe with them.
He pulls back, grinning at me like a wolf. “Come inside with me. Let’s see if their food is as bad as their whiskey.”
“Oh, it is,” I say, but I follow him in, because I have a special fondness for this place too.
I fell into his arms for the first time just outside of it.