Chapter 29
29
Margot
One month later
M argot shouldered her duffle bag and turned around to look at the room she’d called home for the past five months. She’d stayed longer than she’d anticipated when she’d first arrived, but she didn’t regret it in the slightest.
The last month had been the easiest. Liam and Courtney had made sure to visit every weekend. The drive for Liam had been a long one. She’d insisted that he didn’t need to come, but he insisted that he did, and she was glad he had.
There was something different about him. She couldn’t put a finger on what it was exactly, but she’d noticed it when he’d first shown up to tell her he wasn’t going anywhere. The only way she could describe it was that he was finally prioritizing his life differently. He wasn’t letting her call all the shots anymore.
She felt a sense of security in his new personality. Liam was a perfect blend of the strictness her father had raised her with and the gentle friendship he’d offered when she first arrived. It felt like he’d grown just as much as she had over the last thirty days.
“You ready?”
Margot jumped and spun around to find Liam leaning in the doorway as casually as if he’d been there his whole life. She grinned at him. “Absolutely.”
He grabbed her duffle bag from her shoulder and handed her a bouquet of wildflowers. “I have a surprise for you.”
“You do?”
Liam slipped his arm around her waist as he guided her out the door. “Well, it’s not just from me.”
She gave him a strange look. “Why are you being so cryptic?”
He shrugged. “Maybe it’s because I want it to remain a surprise, and you have a knack for ruining all the surprises I want to plan.”
Margot laughed. “No, I don’t. You surprised me when you showed up here a month ago.”
“That’s because I surprised myself.”
She couldn’t stop grinning. Today she would not only have her freedom but also a fresh start with the man of her dreams. “It doesn’t have anything to do with my father, does it?”
Liam grimaced. “While he’s aware of what’s going on and did contribute to it to a small degree, he’s still not my biggest fan.”
Leaning her head on his shoulder, she let him guide her out of the facility and toward his truck. “Yeah, I think it’s going to take a while for him to warm up to you. He doesn’t trust people easily.”
“But I’ve never given him any reason not to trust me.”
“I know, and I’ve told him that. But he’s stubborn.”
He kissed her temple. “Sounds like someone else I know.”
She sighed, trying to stop herself from feeling the guilt that came with any trait she found as a weakness. “Have I told you how much I love you?”
“Tell me again.”
“I love you,” she said. Her eyes landed on the truck, and she gasped when she saw who was standing beside it. “Courtney? What are you doing here?”
Her friend pushed away from the vehicle and pulled her in for a hug. “I wanted to surprise you on the day you broke out of this place.”
Margot laughed as she wrapped her arms around her friend as tightly as she could. “I can’t believe you came. Don’t you have to work?”
“I quit my job.”
Margot pulled back with another gasp. “You didn’t. That’s not smart. You’re not supposed to make any sudden changes, you know that.”
Courtney lifted a shoulder and glanced at Liam. It was brief but just long enough that Margot caught it. Her friend returned her gaze to Margot and said, “I got another offer somewhere I think will be a better fit.”
Margot glanced at Liam, then at her friend. “What are you guys planning?”
Liam didn’t look at her directly. He placed her duffle into the back of the truck, and she moved closer to him. “Liam,” she drawled, “what’s going on?” Her eyes landed on the boxes and luggage in the back, then she swung her accusatory gaze back to Courtney. “I mean it, what’s going on?”
Courtney pulled her toward the truck, but Margot didn’t miss the knowing look that she sent Liam. For a brief moment, Margot wondered if the two of them had been getting closer for reasons she wouldn’t approve of, but just as quickly as the thought appeared, it disappeared. She was better than that. No more intrusive thoughts.
“I don’t know what you two have been planning, but?—”
“You’ll find out soon enough,” Courtney chirped. “Just get into the truck, and we’ll take you there.”
Margot gave her a strange look but did as she was told. When Liam climbed into the truck, she leaned closer to him and whispered, “Am I going to like this surprise?”
He picked up her hand and kissed it. “You’re going to love it.”
The drive was long but entertaining as Courtney talked about how well things were going for her. She told Margot about the way she left her job and how excited she was for the future.
“And what exactly is the job you’re excited for?” Margot turned around to look at her friend in the back seat.
Courtney beamed. “I managed to snag a job as an assistant. My boss is really cool. She has a knack for bringing her vision to life, and she just needs a little bit of help to bring it to fruition.”
“That’s not vague at all.” Margot laughed. She turned to Liam. “And what about you? Have you been staying busy at the ranch?”
“And then some.” Liam nodded. “I’ve been working on a special project, and it took a lot more time than I thought it would. But it’s just about done, and I can’t wait to share it with you.”
Her eyes narrowed, suspicion continuing to grow. She didn’t mention it, however. For now, she was just going to revel in the anticipation that also continued to build. More than once, she caught Liam looking in her direction with a smile that gave her butterflies. Her trip to Copper Creek this time around was filled with so much more joy than the last one she’d taken, and she found herself unable to contain her excitement.
What more could she ask for than a fresh start with her boyfriend and her new best friend? Margot spun around as the realization hit. “Wait, you’re moving to Copper Creek!”
Courtney nodded.
“You have to tell me who you’re working for. I bet I will know them. And I can give you some advice depending on who it is.”
Courtney grinned as she glanced in the rearview mirror, catching Liam’s eye.
“Okay, that’s enough. I know you two are in cahoots with each other, and all these sly glances with each other is only adding to the ridiculousness of the situation. You might as well tell me what’s going on.”
The truck came to a stop, and Margot looked out the window to find that they were parked out front of a small, nondescript building. It looked like at one point it might have been a yoga studio or a small gym. The signage was missing, but there were lights on inside. Unfortunately, it was difficult to see through the tinted windows what might be inside.
Margot looked at Liam, and the confusion was likely evident on her face. “What is this place?”
“How about we go inside and find out?” Courtney offered. She pushed her door open and climbed out before opening Margot’s door for her. She linked her arm through Margot’s, and together they strode toward the entrance where Liam stood waiting at the door.
The second Margot stepped inside, she was met with a reception desk and a waiting area. There was a long hallway past the desk with doors on either side. What looked like one-sided glass lined the walls, but the rooms on the other side of the glass were dark, so she couldn’t tell what was there.
Liam motioned for her to head down the hallway. Her heart thundered with each step she took. Her stomach knotted and her palms went clammy. Margot paused at the first door to her left and looked up at Liam. He nodded with encouragement, and she pushed the door open.
Courtney was the one to flip on the lights. Margot found herself in the middle of a room where two walls were covered in mirrors—one of them being the one-sided glass she’d noticed behind the reception area. On the other two walls were life-size pictures in black and white.
Generic pictures of ballet shoes, tap shoes, and tutus lined the walls, but there was one picture in particular that caught Margot’s attention.
She wandered toward the image of her silhouette dancing in the fields at Liam’s property. She wasn’t dressed in dance attire, but her movements weren’t any less graceful. Liam had shown her this picture after he’d taken it, showing her just how beautiful she still was.
Her wide eyes turned to her friends, who had stayed back to let her drink everything in. “What is this place?” she whispered.
Liam was the first to move toward her. He pulled her close, his forehead touching hers. “I have never seen you happier than I did when you were dancing. No matter how stressful your life became, you could count on dance to ground you.”
She shook her head in disbelief. “But… this place… it’s not what I think it is… is it?”
His boyish grin said it all.
“You…” She looked over to Courtney. “How…”
“It was Courtney’s idea, actually. She stopped me after our first visit and asked me what I thought about you running a studio of your own.”
Margot dragged her eyes to her friend again. “She did?”
He nodded. “She’s the brains of this place. She had a background in project management but found it hard to get a job worthy of her skills. This was a passion project for her when she left the healing center.”
Tears burned behind her eyes. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. It was hard to fully grasp what had been placed before her. “This studio… it’s mine?”
Liam nodded again. “Your father helped finance it. I got my brothers to help with the renovations needed to separate the space into four different dance rooms. There are changing rooms and a bathroom in the back. And there’s even a storage room for costumes and props upstairs. I hope it’s okay?—”
Her arms flung around him, and she held on tight as if she’d float away without him. “Okay? This is a dream, Liam!” She peppered him with kisses, her heart overflowing with unmeasurable joy.
When she pulled back, Liam was staring at her in that certain way that could make her feel both seen and vulnerable at the same time. “I know you can do anything you set your mind to. But I know, more than anything else, that this is where you belong.” He gestured around them. “Surrounded by music, dance, and the people who want you to shine.”
There was no holding back her tears. She didn’t even try to wipe them away as she placed her hands on either side of his face. “Do you know why I love you?”
He didn’t answer, but the smile that touched his lips prompted her to answer her own question.
“Because you loved me when I couldn’t love myself,” she said.
“And I always will.”