Chapter 25 #2
It was strange that even through a photo Poppy was more attracted to one twin than the other.
It had been that way their entire life. It was very rare for someone to be interested in both brothers.
In most situations they had very strong, intense feelings for one or the other.
And thankfully, it worked the same way when it came to their attraction to the opposite sex.
Liam couldn’t remember the twins ever having the same love interest.
Poppy got a page, which thankfully ended this AJ inquisition. “See ya tomorrow.” She smiled, then turned on her heels.
Liam sighed in relief as he stepped on the sensor again, which opened the double glass doors. This time he actually made it out of the hospital and into the fresh evening air, leaving the hospital for the final time, at least in an official capacity.
As he walked to the parking lot, he checked his phone. He hadn’t had a chance all day thanks to the accident and everyone wanting to say goodbye. He had a text from Frankie from that morning at ten thirty.
Frankie: We need to talk. Something happened. I did something, and I need to tell you. Call me.
She’d never asked him to call her before. He pressed her name, and it rang four times and then went to voicemail. He didn’t leave a message. He texted back saying he just got off work and tried to call.
His mind was spinning as he drove home. He tried calling her two more times, but there was no answer.
We need to talk. Never a great start.
Something happened. Sounded ominous.
I did something, and I need to tell you. Nothing good in that sentence.
Call me. That request didn’t sit well with him.
He knew that the welcome dinner had already started. That could be why she didn’t have her phone on her.
Liam tried to relax on his drive to Hope Falls.
He rolled his head to the side and attempted to relax his shoulders.
Every part of his body had been wired tight since he’d left Frankie in bed this morning, her body tangled in the sheets.
Her words echoing in his head all day, “I love you.” Three words.
No hesitation, her voice soft and calming the way only Frankie could sound.
As she dozed off in his arms, and he told her that he loved her, she replied, “I love you, too, I always have.”
He’d finally admitted his feelings for her, and the world hadn’t stopped spinning.
No one had died. He wasn’t struck down by lightning.
He’d actually believed they could finally be together.
Maybe not tonight, or even this weekend.
He assumed despite his brother being a total asshat, she still wouldn’t want to do anything that might spoil her mom’s weekend, and he couldn’t blame her.
But she’d told him that she loved him, and he told her the same.
That meant something. It changed everything.
But now, now his body was wired for an entirely different reason because of her text.
The thirty-minute drive was a blur of pine tree shadows as he focused on the tunnel of light in front of him.
It passed in what felt like the blink of an eye and also a year.
As he turned onto Main Street in his truck, the crisp night air rolled in through the crack in the window, replaying the four words, I love you, too, on repeat.
The words, I always have, also played like a broken record, over and over.
They’d wasted so many years denying their feelings, an abyss between them, like two people on opposite sides of a frozen lake, always afraid to be the first to cross the ice.
But now, it wasn’t a secret anymore. Frankie loved him, and he loved her.
It sounded absurdly simple when he said it in his head, like something that belonged on a grocery store greeting card or in the corner of a high school yearbook. The truth of it made his chest ache.
In that time, she’d been with his brother.
He didn’t want to think about the fact that Tristan had touched her, kissed her, and all the other things he’d done with her.
He knew he had no right to be jealous, but the truth was, Liam felt like Frankie was his, he always had.
Which was fucking ridiculous. She didn’t belong to him.
But even more than the toxic bullshit he felt, Tristan didn’t deserve to be with Frankie.
His actions clearly demonstrated that. If he didn’t love her enough not to cheat on her, he should have broken up with her.
His fucking excuse that it was Emmanuelle, as if her being a supermodel somehow excused his behavior, made Liam want to break his fucking nose.
He turned onto the riverside road, gravel popping beneath his tires, the headlights catching the white canvas of a large tent rising up like a ship’s sail against the darkened sky. He pulled into a parking spot and cut the engine and sat in temporary stillness.
From his vantage point, he could see the welcome dinner was already in full swing.
Through his open window he could hear the echoes of laughter, the clatter of silverware against heavy china, and the giddy yelps of kids hopped up on sugar and emboldened by a lack of parental supervision.
There was a live string quartet somewhere inside the tent, their notes drifting out and mingling with the river’s soft hush.
Liam sat in the dim cab of his SUV and checked his reflection in the rearview mirror.
His hair was still damp from the world’s fastest shower he’d taken at the hospital because he’d had tunnel vision and just wanted to get to Frankie as fast as he could.
He ran his hands through it once more, then adjusted his tie, tightening it at his neck.
He picked up his phone, trying to call her once again.
He wanted to talk to her, alone, before he faced a crowd.
This time, her phone went straight to voicemail. He cursed beneath his breath.
Before getting out, he took a moment to mentally prepare himself to walk into a crowded room of people he hadn’t seen in years—people who most likely still remembered him as a troublemaking, rebellious teenager, whom some might even classify as intimidating.
It would be a sea of faces he wasn’t even sure he’d recognize, some of which belonged to family, some to his parents’ friends, and most he hadn’t seen since his mother’s funeral and he’d actively avoided.
With one final fortifying inhale, he opened the door, stepped into the night, and followed the path of solar lanterns down to the tent.
The ground was surprisingly soft underfoot, spongy from the afternoon’s heavy drizzle, and littered with a trail of pine needles and grass clippings.
He could see silhouettes moving inside the tent.
Two stood out immediately—his dad’s, broad-shouldered, formidable, and impossible to ignore, and Cora’s, fluttery, petite, and angelic.
There were Costases everywhere, a veritable army of cousins and uncles and aunts, chattering in English and Greek with equal ferocity and volume.
It hadn’t surprised him that the Costases had all descended on Hope Falls to support Cora in remarrying.
Frankie told him when they were younger, once they accepted you into their family, it was like the mob—you were in.
Cora was one of them, it didn’t matter that Frank died twenty-five years ago.
Yaya still treated Cora as if she was her daughter, there was no ‘in-law.’ And the rest of the Costases followed suit.
When he met the Davies clan, they reminded him of the Costases, in the sense that they welcomed him, and everyone it seemed, with open arms. Poppy’s mom was at every family gathering.
Poppy was treated no differently than Pippa, Phoebe, or Lina.
Just like he wasn’t. Everyone from Teresa to Bampi and Momo to all of his sisters’ husbands and their children and stepchildren were all treated the same, under the umbrella of family.
Liam could easily imagine them blending in seamlessly at this event.
Yaya was at the center of a large table, holding court as only she could, her hands flying as she narrated some ancient family drama to a captive audience.
He noted that Arthur Santino was sitting beside her, looking mild and unassuming, staring up at her with a look of adoration.
If only people knew what the man was capable of.
His dad was laughing at the bar with a half dozen old university fraternity brothers who Liam remembered meeting several times when he was growing up, his voice carrying even above the music.
He looked at him differently now. He hadn’t quite reconciled the man Cora described with the man he knew, but he did see him through a softer lens.
Mayor Henry Walker stood with Chief of Police, Eric Maguire, and his wife, Lily, who was tucked tightly under his arm.
There were several other prominent figures in the community, including Eric’s brother Jake, who was the fire chief, and Renata Blackstone, a leader in the Washoe tribe whose granddaughter was international popstar Karina Black.
Karina grew up in Hope Falls and was the first to start the Hollywood of the Sierra Nevada trend.
He’d met them all over the years at the hospital.