Chapter 31 #2
His gray eyes caught on mine with that smirk in place.
“No, that’s not it. I love you. That’s it.”
Keep it together, heart.
I had to change topics.
“You kept the investment?”
He nodded, clenching his jaw. “Yeah, but I added a requirement with my lawyer.”
He did what?
“I thought you liked the offer.”
He looked hesitant as he set his bottle down and leaned forward.
“The condition is that you stay on with R&H.”
I let my blanket fall free. “Liam…no. I want you to take it and be free of me.”
“I don’t want to be free of you.”
My head fell a bit as I searched for the right words.
“Not like that, I just mean in business.”
His lips thinned as he stared at me, openly showing so much emotion it was unnerving.
“You have a stubborn heart,” I remarked, tucking the blanket back around me.
He laughed, shaking his head. “Still belongs to you.”
My stomach flipped.
So I pressed again. “You have a prideful heart, too.”
His smile grew as he watched me walk past him, and when I was near the sliding glass door, he muttered again, “Still belongs to you.”
I left our bedroom door unlocked that night.
Another note was left by my bed the next morning, this time with a piece of lilac resting on top of it.
Today’s List:
Haley’s eyes when she saw her lilac bushes
Hearing Maddy call Haley Mom for the first time
Hope
Haley’s hair under the lights last night
The way Haley looks at me when she thinks I’m not looking
Family Photos
I crinkled my brows in confusion at the last one.
Before I could think any longer on it, Mila ran into the room and jumped on the bed.
“Daddy wants to be in the pictures that are on the wall, and he wants you in them too, Mama.”
I hugged her to my chest and tried to work out what she was saying. Thankfully Seraph came in next and curled under the blankets with us.
“Dad woke us up and said he wants us to get ready in our nice clothes. He wants new pictures taken so you and him are in them.”
Okay, that’s what Mila had said, but why? I mean, I guess I understood it.
I had purchased photos from a local photographer a few months back. Who had Liam found? I hadn’t wanted him to feel left out of the pictures, but he wanted me in them too, so I suppose it made sense.
“Okay, well, let’s go get ready then. If your dad wants some photos, we’ll get ourselves dressed.”
Seraph tipped her head back and stared up at me. “Can I wear black this time?”
I knew last time I was pushing it with the burgundy color.
“Of course you can, but I reserve the right to keep the picture that’s down there now depending on which shots she gets.”
Seraph crinkled her nose and laughed. “Fine.”
An hour later, we were all dressed. Liam wore a nice blue button-down shirt that hid all of his ink and somehow made him look like he was headed to Easter Sunday.
I wore a cream-colored dress this time with navy flowers randomly placed all over them, and my hair down.
The girls wore whatever made them feel the most comfortable, while still being stylish enough for professional photos.
Liam drove us in his truck out to a gorgeous spot on Mount Macon that overlooked the river. The girls hopped out, and I realized our original photographer, Lindsey, was here.
“Hey, you booked Lindsey?”
Liam looked over and gave me a warm smile then stroked my knee through my dress.
“I looked her up, found her info.”
Okay, that was sweet. I liked Lindsey’s work. Suddenly a swarm of butterflies erupted in my stomach as I realized I was about to be included in family pictures. My family pictures, with my family.
We exited the truck and began walking to the small opening in the field where Lindsey wanted to get our photos.
She took a few of the girls, then some of all five of us together.
Liam was holding my hand in each of them, and I noticed Lindsey continued to push us together every time I tried to put the girls between us.
And then Lindsey asked for just Liam and me to be in the shot.
I felt a little anxious but decided this would be for the girls, a photo they could have of both of us.
Lindsey got into position and told us to face each other, and I did as she said.
“Okay, Haley, can you look up at Liam?”
I did.
“Now can you wrap your arms around his neck?”
Taking a deep breath, I did as she said, keeping my eyes on his.
“Liam, grab her waist.”
Oh God, this was the most physical contact we’d had in two weeks.
His eyes searched mine frantically as he followed her directions.
“Now, both of you close your eyes, and Liam—go ahead.”
My eyes were closed when I realized what she said, then Liam’s lips were on my forehead, and he was slightly tilting us back.
My breath hitched as the air caught under me, and within a second, he was straightening us with a smile.
That was…
“Okay, one more pose,” Lindsey called.
I brushed down my dress, trying to calm my nerves, but there was something about how he’d just held me so possessively that was slowly knitting my broken heart back together. It was done without my permission, and it irked me.
“Haley, you stand, and I’m going to have Liam kneel next to you.”
I tried to focus on what she was saying, and Liam seemed to as well. But he was kneeling weird, not in the right place.
“Haley,” he rasped, from his spot next to me.
I looked down, and my breath staggered in my chest.
“What are you doing?” A tear was already welling in my eye.
He held his hand out, where a small velvet box sat open, revealing a diamond ring.
“I need to ask you something.”
I wanted to look over—see the girls, see Lindsey—but my eyes were glued to him.
Kneeling in front of me was a broken knight, on his knees, asking for a second chance.
“Yes.” I breathed it before he’d even asked the question.
Because regardless of his speech or what he was going to say, the answer was always going to be yes.
He smiled, lighting up his silver eyes, which were brimming with tears.
“I haven’t asked it yet.”
A tear slipped free. “Yes you have, but if you need to say the words then say them.”
He slipped the ring free of the box and cleared his throat.
“I told you that you have my heart. Prideful, stubborn, jealous—it’s always you at the center.
I can’t be away from you, but if you tell me to go, then I will.
We’ll co-parent and it will be okay. I just want you to be happy.
But if you think you can forgive me, then I was hoping you’d marry me and save me from a life of loneliness, because you’re it for me. ”
I heard Lindsey clicking her camera as the girls were sniffing.
Mila yelled something, but Maddy tried to smother it.
Liam laughed.
“Our girls are waiting.”
“I already told you yes, you idiot. Now put that on my finger.”
He finally stood, slid it on, and kissed me.
Lindsey kept clicking, and I realized then––as Liam’s arms held me and the wedge between us slowly fell away––that he’d planned our engagement photo shoot, and I hadn’t even had a clue.
I thought I would save this man, but his love—this life he offered me—ended up rescuing me. I’d spend the rest of it loving him and raising our girls.
Together, as a family.