Chapter 4
4
Liam
I t had been a few days since Liam had seen Margot. She stayed away from the Callahans’ ranch and didn’t call or message him. It got to the point that he almost wondered if he should go out to her house and make sure she was okay. The way they’d left things after their eventful night only made him worry more.
Something was off. He’d observed her at the country club. When she was out in public and around other people, she wore a mask. It was fascinating, really. Margot knew how to blend in and be the confident woman that everyone expected of her. It was only when they were alone together that he could see parts of her crumbling.
It wasn’t that she was opening up to him—at least not on purpose. Maybe she was just so comfortable with him that she allowed some of her walls to come down.
Either way, he knew she needed someone in her life that could support her. He wanted to be that person more than he probably should. It all went back to when they were kids. Margot was that person for him. She’d paved the way for him to become the person he needed to be, and all because she was there when no one else was. That little girl was still inside her somewhere. He just had to help her find her way out.
His shift at the Callahans’ ranch was nearly over and with one more day of Margot’s absence, his disappointment grew. What if she was avoiding him because of what had happened? Or worse, what if she’d left?
Liam’s stomach knotted at that thought. Would she up and leave without telling him? He wouldn’t fault her for wanting to get a fresh start somewhere no one knew her. But wasn’t that what New York had been for?
He had a few errands to run in town. It was the perfect excuse to stop by and see her. He could pick up a bouquet of her favorite flowers and offer to take her to dinner so she could get out without worrying if she was spending time with someone who wanted to take advantage.
By the time he made it to her house, he’d all but talked himself out of knocking. The flowers were in his hands. He stood in front of the house. But his legs wouldn’t budge. He couldn’t bring himself to walk the few steps to the door and ring the doorbell. She was probably going to turn him down, anyway.
Everything she’d said to him since she’d gotten back had all been about how sweet he was and that he should already be taken. Not once did she flirt with him the way she flirted with that guy at the club.
Why were his palms so clammy? His heart worked in overdrive until he heard the sound of tires crunching on the fancy gravel driveway—then it stopped entirely. Slowly, he turned around to find Rhett Bennet pulling in front of the house. They locked eyes, and Liam could have sworn in that moment that Rhett had turned him to stone.
Everyone made a big deal about Zeke. Was he intimidating? Of course. But ever since his daughters all got married, he’d softened up quite a bit. Rhett? Now, that was a guy you didn’t want to turn your back on. He ran the bank, and money was power. The man knew how to use it, too.
Liam coughed when he tried to clear his throat, but it did nothing to ease the squeak in his voice. “Good evening, Mr. Bennet.”
“Liam, isn’t it?”
He nodded.
“You were friends with Margot as children if I’m not mistaken.”
Another nod. “Yes, sir.”
The man’s eyes dipped to the flowers. “Are you here to ask Margot on a date?”
Liam glanced at the flowers as he lifted them slightly. “I thought it might be nice to take her to get something to eat.”
Rhett was hard to read. But what was more frustrating than anything else was the distinct feeling Liam got that he didn’t approve. Everyone liked Liam. Even the fathers of the girls his age in town. He hadn’t made one enemy his entire life despite what his surname was. Usually, when someone heard the name Keagan, there was a certain expression they plastered to their face—like they’d just eaten something sour dipped in vinegar.
But Mr. Bennet was different. He didn’t seem to really dislike the Keagans. But he also didn’t seem to approve of them either, and Liam was lumped in with that assessment. Rhett lifted his chin, eyes narrowed, then glanced toward the house. “Well, is she coming?”
“I haven’t… knocked… yet.” He could feel the heat crawling up his neck and flooding his face and his ears. It wasn’t easy to get him to blush. He’d perfected the ability to keep that particular embarrassment at bay when he was a child and the target of most bullies at school.
Unfortunately, Mr. Bennet managed to sneak past his defenses to get him to show exactly how he felt with only a single look.
Liam cleared his throat again. “I was just about to, though.”
Rhett looked at him pointedly. “Well, then, get to it.”
He lunged forward without another word and knocked on the door. A quick look over his shoulder confirmed that Rhett was watching with veiled interest. In no time, the door opened, with Margot saying to someone behind her, “It’s fine, Mr. Clark. I can get the door.” Her eyes shifted to Liam and she smiled, but it quickly faded when she caught sight of her father. “Oh, you’re home.”
Rhett motioned to Liam. “Is that any way to treat a guest?”
Liam jumped and glanced once more at Rhett. “Oh, it’s fine. I’m not?—”
“No, he’s right,” Margot assured him. “Would you like to come inside?”
He rubbed the back of his neck, hating that there was an audience for what he was about to ask. Slowly, he shook his head. “Actually, I wanted to ask you if you’d like to come out with me tonight.”
There was a flicker of something in her eyes that he wasn’t sure he saw right—like she was uncomfortable with his request. Her eyes darted to her father, though, and she nodded. “Sure. I’ll get my jacket.”
Liam released an anxious breath as he took a few steps down, away from the front door. There. He’d asked her out. The hard part was done. Except there were a pair of eyes that were drilling into him from behind and giving him a headache. He turned around and offered Rhett a small smile.
“Have her home by midnight,” he muttered.
“She has a curfew?” Liam blurted the question before he had a chance to realize what he’d asked.
The man turned at the top of the steps and stared down at him. “Is that going to be a problem?”
Liam stiffened, shaking his head. “Of course not, sir. I’ll have her home on time.”
His hard stare continued until Margot slipped through the door. “Goodnight, Daddy.” She pressed a kiss to his cheek and then hurried down the steps toward Liam. Her arm slipped into the crook of his, and together they made their way to his truck.
Liam rested on his back, his shoulder pressed up to Margot’s. They both stared at the clear sky overhead. With each passing hour, he’d offered to take her home, but she’d refused. She also hadn’t eaten much—merely picking at the food they’d gotten from the diner.
Margot was slender—to an almost unhealthy level—so it made sense that she didn’t have a big appetite. While he’d eaten, she drank her lemon water, and they caught each other up on what had been going on.
“Carter ran away.”
Her eyes widened, and she twisted her head to look at him. “You’re kidding.”
“I’m not. He just up and left. Told us to leave him alone. But Wade says he’s fine. They’re keeping tabs on him. I guess he moved to the city to get away from us.”
Margot frowned. “You can’t believe that, can you?”
He shrugged. “There’s a lot of us. I’m not surprised one of us got tired and chose to leave.” Liam cleared his throat. “But that’s not the craziest story.”
“It’s not?” she asked incredulously.
He chuckled. “You’re in for a treat.” Liam relayed all the information from the issues surrounding Rachel’s horse sanctuary, starting at the very beginning. He could tell she was completely captivated from sentence one.
“… after the break-in, we had to deal with a fire.”
She gasped. “You’re kidding.”
He shook his head. “It was pretty crazy. Turns out the people who wanted that land… really wanted it.”
“Sure sounds like it.”
Liam nudged her. “What about you? Anything interesting going on in your world?”
She shrugged, going quiet.
“Come on. You can’t tell me that you didn’t have your own adventures. What was New York like? Is it as smelly and loud as everyone on television makes it sound?”
“Honestly? I didn’t really spend a lot of time just wandering around. Most of my days were spent at the studio, practicing. Then, in the evening, I’d perform. I didn’t get a lot of opportunity to get to know the city like you think I might.”
“Oh.”
She lifted herself up onto her elbow and gazed down at him. “But I did save a stray cat from the alley behind my apartment.” There was the barest hint of alcohol on her breath. He didn’t know when she had slipped past his defenses to drink it, but he could tell she’d gotten something.
Liam chose to ignore it. She didn’t need him telling her what to do. She was safe with him, and this was supposed to be a nice evening. He grinned as he shifted his arm around her. “Tell me about it.”
Margot dropped back down beside him, resting her cheek on his chest. “It was the cutest little thing, too. Scrawny and black. You could tell she was tough because part of her ear was missing.”
“Where is she now? Did you bring her back with you?”
“No.” Margot sighed. She shifted, snuggling closer to him. “I found a family for her. It took a little bit more time than I expected, and it was hard doing interviews because I didn’t want her to go to just anyone. But in the end, she got to be with a family that had a little boy.” She went quiet for a moment, then she sighed. “I haven’t told anyone that story yet. Not even my roommate knows.”
He squirmed, craning his head so he could get a better look at her. “How did you manage hiding a cat from your roommate?”
“She was on location for a modeling gig. When she got back, all evidence of the cat was gone.”
“Did you name her?”
Margot yawned. “Yeah. She looked like an Ember to me.”
He tightened his hold on her and rested his cheek against the top of her head. This evening had started out strained, but it had easily shifted into one of the highlights of his life. If this was what it would be like to date Margot officially, he couldn’t wait for it to get to that point.
The best part was that he’d been right. The little girl he’d known as a child was still in there. What prima ballerina rescued a stray alley cat from New York City and found it a home?
A small-town girl from Copper Creek, that’s who.
Margot’s soft snore interrupted his thoughts, only adding to how much he was enjoying the moment.