Chapter Twenty-seven
“Y es,” I said. No hesitation. No doubt. To spend my life with him, I would have given up everything.
“Oh, surfer girl.” Liam cupped my face. His thumbs wiped away my tears and then he kissed me.
I had never been much of the polished princess type, you know, the sort who believes in true love and happily ever after. I was too wild and untamed and, I suppose, volatile. But if ever there was a moment where I believed in true love’s kiss, this was it.
His mouth fit mine perfectly, just as it always had. He was gentle, even tentative at first as if the honesty between us begged a new beginning. But the heat that always simmered just below the surface bubbled up and as I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him in close, our kiss became fierce.
He lifted me up off my feet and strode toward the bed. I wrapped my legs around his waist, perfectly okay with the direction this kiss was taking. I dug my fingers into his hair, holding his head at the perfect angle so I could kiss him as deeply as I’d wanted to for days, weeks, or a few years at the very least.
“Liam,” I gasped his name. “I need—”
Whatever I’d been about to beg for was interrupted by the bedroom door slamming open against the wall.
“Jules, we have a problem.”
Liam and I turned to find Soph standing in the doorway, with Dante and Jessie right behind her, looking like they were trying to see what was happening. Judging by the smile on Jessie’s face, she was a-okay with finding me clinging to Liam like a sloth hugging a tree.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“Much as I love talking to you when you’re hanging off your boyfriend, do you think you could put your feet on the ground for a sec? We have a crisis happening,” Soph said with exasperation.
“Someone’s salty,” I said. “I thought the crisis was averted.”
Liam relaxed his hands, and I slid down his front with deep regret; make-up sex was going to have to wait.
“Paisley is now looking for Babs,” Soph said.
“Huh?”
“Mom’s urn is missing,” she explained. “It’s not in the windowsill where it’s supposed to be. You don’t have it, do you?”
“No,” I said. “She specified in the will that it was to stay in the window.”
“Yes, and it’s not there. I told Paisley you had probably taken it out to be cleaned,” Soph said.
I gave her a look. “That doesn’t even make sense.”
“Don’t criticize, I was panicking.” Soph flapped her hands at her sides. “You have to help me find it!”
Soph turned and led the way back to the main room. She pointed out the window toward our house and I saw Paisley in the yard, looking up at my bedroom window. As Paisley swung around in our direction, Soph grabbed my hand and yanked me down beneath the window ledge. My knees hit the wood floor hard, and I grunted.
“Who is that?” Dante asked.
“Our evil cousin,” I said.
“Oh, my god, she’s looking our way,” Jessie said. “What do we do?”
“Just act natural,” Soph hissed at the three of them. They all stood still like they’d been hit with a Superhero’s freeze ray. “I said act natural. Move, throw a football around, do something!”
“No ball in the house.” Liam gestured for Dante and Jessie to follow him into the kitchen. “Let’s get some coffee.” He glanced at me. “I’ll tell you when the coast is clear.”
Soph and I stayed huddled on the floor. Minutes passed. I heard the three of them talking and, be still my aching heart, actually laughing. More minutes ticked by. Good grief, how long was Paisley going to search the yard for Babs like she was an Easter egg?
I glanced up to see Liam, standing in the doorway drinking a hot cup of coffee. At that moment, I would have given my first born for a cup of coffee. The java lust must have shone in my eyes because he strolled into the room and lowered the hand with the coffee mug, all casual like, until it was right in front of me and hidden by the wall below the windowsill. I took the mug, feeling the warmth seep into my fingers just before I took a big restorative gulp. It was safe to say I had never loved this man more.
“Is she still out there?” Soph asked.
“Yep,” Liam said out of the corner of his mouth. Then he raised his hand and waved.
“Oh, my god, is she flirting with you?” I asked.
“Well, she just unbuttoned the top three buttons on her dress, and now she’s bending over,” Liam said.
“That’s it. I’m going to curb stomp her,” I said, rising to my knees. Soph grabbed my arm, holding me down.
“Later,” Soph said. “First we have to figure out where Mom is.”
“Okay, now she’s hiking up her skirt and showing me some thigh.” Liam frowned down at me. “I’m kind of scared. And for the record, she does not have your hot bod, your finesse, or your boots.”
Mollified, I drank my coffee. I turned to Soph and said, “I thought I heard someone in the house last night. You were in bed and Em was out. I was alone and I could have sworn I heard someone but when I looked no one was there.”
“My god, do you think we were robbed?”
“And the only thing they took was an urn?” I asked.
“Weird.” Soph slumped against the wall.
Jessie and Dante came in with their own mugs of coffee and Jessie handed hers to Soph. She looked as grateful as I’d felt. After Sophie took a sip, she seemed calmer.
“All right, we need to think about who might have taken Mom,” Sophie said.
“Paisley, obvi,” I said.
“Wait a minute.” Liam stared out the window and then glanced down at me. “I know her.”
“Oh, no, please tell me you didn’t sleep with her,” I said.
“No...urgh.” Liam made a gagging sound. “But she’s come into the coffee shop in LA with Courtney.” His expression turned suspicious. “She’s friends with Courtney.”
I narrowed my eyes. “The same Courtney who was here last night?”
“Yup.” Liam crossed his arms as he studied my cousin. “She might have helped Paisley.”
“Wait. I’m confused,” Soph said. “Who is Courtney?”
“Yeah.” Jessie tossed her hair and echoed Soph. “Who is Courtney?”
“Liam’s ex-girlfriend,” I said. “And quite possibly the person who took the urn given that she is friends with our cousin.”
“Liam, then you know where she’s stashed the urn. Let’s go get her,” Soph said.
“It might be complicated,” Liam said. He turned away from the window. “Okay, your cousin went inside but I’d stay down just to be on the safe side.”
“Wait, is Courtney the one from the art festival with the fake bazooms?” Soph put her hand in front of her chest as if to demonstrate the enormity of Courtney’s rack.
“Yes,” I said.
“Oh, yeah, she was furious,” Soph said. “This could get ugly.”
Jessie gave Liam a look. “I didn’t think you were a boob guy.”
“I’m not,” Liam said. “I much prefer a smaller package.”
I tipped my head and frowned at him. His face went pink. “There’s no saving me is there?”
“Nope,” I said.
Liam hung his head and I laughed. Soph gave me a look and I said, “What? He’s cute.”
She rolled her eyes but there was a small smile on her lips, and I knew my older sis was happy for whatever was happening between Liam and me.
“People.” Dante clapped his hands. “Jessie and I are booked on a flight out of here this evening, so if you want our help, and I’m thinking you do, then we need to make a plan.”
Just then Liam’s front door burst open, and Em stood there. She was still in her bathrobe and stared at all of us with a crazed look in her eye.
“OMG, my FOMO was literally spot on,” Em declared. “Why didn’t you come get me?”
“FOMO?” Soph asked. “It’s like she’s a foreign exchange student and I only get about half of what she’s saying.”
“It means fear of missing out,” Jessie said. She rose from her seat, crossed the room, and pulled Em into a hug. “Em, sweetie, come in, sit on the floor with your sisters. We’re making a plan.”
“Oh, yay, I’m right on time then.” Em wedged herself between me and Soph and in her best Joey from Friends voice, said, “So, how you doin’?”
This is why it is impossible to be mad at Em. Soph grinned and I threw my arm around her and hugged her.
“Here’s the thing, Em-bolism,” I said.
“That’s just mean,” my baby sis said.
“We have another situation,” I continued, ignoring her frown.
I went on to explain everything that had happened and what we suspected about Courtney and Paisley and Bab’s missing urn.
“Wow,” Em said. “Okay, first we need to distract Paisley. She called Mr. Loren three times while he was in a meeting and now he’s finally on his way over.”
“Oh, shit,” Soph said.
“Exactly.” Em glanced at Dante and Jessie. “Do you two think you could help me with that?”
“Absolutely,” Jessie said.
“I’m in,” Dante agreed.
“Liam, you’re going to have to confront your girlfriend,” Soph said.
“Ex-girlfriend.” I felt compelled to correct her.
“Ex-girlfriend, just so.” Soph nodded. “If she’s friends with Paisley and she took the urn, she is either out for revenge against Jules for ending your relationship or Paisley is paying her.”
Liam’s expression became determined. “We’ll get the urn back. No worries.”
“We?” I asked.
“Yes, we.” Liam closed the shades on the window and reached down for my hand. “Come on, let’s go get Babs.”
“Wait!” Soph opened her purse and took out her keys. “Take my SUV. Your girl—ex-girlfriend might recognize your truck and there isn’t room for the urn on the motorcycle.”
“Good thinking,” Liam said. “Soph, if you are staying here, that makes you ground control for the operation. We’ll call when we have the urn.”
I could hear the others discussing their surprise visit to Paisley. Dante was arguing that he could pose as an architect or an interior designer while Jessie was thinking they should be town employees there to inspect the property lines. Meanwhile, Em was busily tapping on Soph’s phone, muttering something about a much better idea. I didn’t get to hear what they decided as Liam hustled me out of the room to the back door.
He paused to grab a Padres baseball hat from a peg on the wall and shoved my hair into it. Next, he slid a pair of sunglasses on my face and kissed my nose.
“Let’s do this!” He opened the back door and we sprinted around the side of the house to Soph’s car, which was parked on the street.
We slammed into the SUV, Liam fired it up, and we shot out onto the road and away. I didn’t realize I’d been holding my breath until I sucked in a big gulp of air.
“Okay, let’s devise a plan,” I said. “First, we need to figure out where Courtney is. You know where she lives, obviously.”
“She won’t be there...she’s at work,” Liam said.
I gave him a look, you know, the one that says How do you know that? And I had better like the explanation, buster.
“Settle down,” Liam said, correctly interpreting my expression. “We dated long enough that I know her work schedule.”
That made sense even though I desperately wanted to wrestle his phone out of his pocket and delete her from his contacts, along with any social media pictures, texts, emails, or you know evidence that the busty girl had ever been in Liam’s orbit ever. So mature, I know.
“Okay,” I said. I gave myself a mental back slap for sounding so reasonable. “Now we just have to figure out how to get into her house.”
“I have a key,” Liam said.
He turned onto the highway headed north. I waited until he had finished merging with traffic before I spoke. “You have a what?”
“A key to her place.” Liam’s eyes were on the road ahead, and I couldn’t tell if he was avoiding my gaze or just concentrating on driving.
“Well, that’s handy,” I snapped.
Irrational much? Yeah, talk to the hand. He had a key to her place! How serious had they been?
“It was while we were dating.” Liam gave me side-eye. “Are you telling me you haven’t dated anyone long enough to have a key to their place?”
Landmine! I skirted it.
“That’s not the point,” I said. “The point is that you said you two broke up so why do you still have a key?”
“Because when I tried to give it back to her, you know, the night after I found you crying,” he said. “She refused to take it.”
“Oh,” I said. That one I could understand. If I’d been Courtney and he’d tried to give me my key back, I’d have refused it, too.
“And isn’t that a good thing?” Liam pressed.
“I suppose so,” I said.
We were silent for several miles. Unable to take it anymore, I confessed, “I didn’t date anyone for three years after I left you.”
His head swiveled in my direction and we stared at each other for a few seconds. He nodded and then turned back to the road.
“I’ve dated,” I said. “But no one special and nothing serious. I just couldn’t find anyone that made me feel the way you did.”
“And how was that?”
He glanced at me, and I shrugged. This was easy. “Loved.”