14. Liam
CHAPTER 14
LIAM
T he week flew by.
On Sunday, Liam, Amelia, and Grace spent a quiet day at home. Amelia made them all breakfast, with “help” from Grace. Then they went to the park for a long, slow morning of play. Liam had expected to be bored, but he actually enjoyed the time spent playing with Grace or sitting on a bench watching her play while he and Amelia talked.
Monday, Liam returned to work, somewhat begrudgingly. Things had started to pile up over the weekend, but he still left the office at four to enjoy dinner with Amelia and Grace. A similar pattern followed on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
Slowly but surely, Liam was feeling more confident around Grace. He was realizing that she wasn’t scary at all — she was just a little human with the most charming thoughts and opinions on all manner of things. She frequently made both Liam and Amelia laugh with her antics. Occasionally, she grew upset. Sometimes, Grace seemed to miss her mother, and other times, she was just going through normal toddler problems like not wanting to leave the park or eat her dinner.
With Amelia’s help, Liam had come to understand that Grace’s struggles were normal and that they could get through them, together. All in all, he felt much more comfortable and competent around Grace than he’d ever felt around a child.
Amelia was a different story. As the week went on, Liam felt less and less competent and comfortable around Amelia. After the day at the zoo on Saturday, Liam had taken Amelia’s hand and thanked her for everything. The moment had deepened and, briefly, he had thought he might kiss her. And from the way Amelia’s lips had been parted and the look in those beautiful brown eyes, he’d thought she might want that.
But then Amelia had pulled away and recommended that they get home. It had been the push Liam needed to end the moment. Now, in retrospect, he wasn’t sure what he’d been thinking. Amelia had been clear that she didn’t want to kiss him, which he would obviously respect. But more than that, he had surprised himself. He couldn’t kiss Amelia. He couldn’t pursue anything real with her. This was all temporary, and each moment he forgot that was a dangerous moment.
Now, here he was, back at the office with a mounting pile of work looming over him, and he was still distracted by thoughts of Amelia. The more time he spent with her, the more he realized how much depth there was to this woman. She was not only a wonderful mother figure to Grace, patient and caring and loving, but also whip-smart, funny, and insightful. And sexy. Liam ached just thinking of how the sundress she’d worn to the zoo had accentuated her feminine curves.
As if Liam’s thoughts had summoned her, his phone buzzed with a message from Amelia.
Hey. Shall we take Grace to Skillet and Mug this evening?
Liam grinned as he remembered their conversation about the local diner. They’d talked about taking Grace there, and this was the perfect time. After all, the long-awaited barbecue was the next day. After that, Liam would have to dedicate himself to work again — his fewer hours this week were starting to have an effect.
I’d love to , he replied.
Four o’clock?
Perfect.
It was already two o’clock, which meant that Liam didn’t have much time to work before he’d need to leave. He threw himself into a review of Lilypad’s growth over the last quarter and tried to banish Amelia from his mind.
Two hours later, he hadn’t made quite as much progress as he might have liked, but it was time to go. He gathered his things and headed out, nodding at Ryan on the way past.
“Hey, boss?”
Liam turned back to Ryan. “Yes?”
“Did you get around to reviewing those advertising briefs? Our marketing team said they were pretty urgent.”
Liam felt a surge of annoyance. Ryan had never asked something like this before.
“Yes, I did.”
“And the quarterly growth figures?”
“Those too.” Liam frowned slightly. “Why are you asking?”
“It’s just that you haven’t been in the office as much lately. I wanted to be sure all the boxes were still getting ticked.”
“Everything is under control.” Liam hesitated. It was true that things had been slipping a little over the last week — but he’d needed to prioritize Grace. “I’ll be in on Monday as long as is needed.”
“Have a nice weekend.”
Liam left, still bristling from the conversation with his assistant. As he stepped out into the fresh summer air, though, thoughts of work began to drift away. And by the time he arrived at Skillet and Mug and spotted Amelia and Grace in a booth near the window, he wasn’t worried at all.
Grace loved the pancakes, just as Amelia had said she would. When the waiter brought out a stack of pancakes with chocolate chips and a whipped-cream smiley face, Grace nearly bounced out of her seat.
“Pancakes! I wuv pancakes!”
“Is it just me, or is she getting better at full sentences?” Liam asked Amelia in a hushed tone.
“She is. Kids at this age learn new skills very quickly. I’m sure you’ve noticed that Grace learns new words every day.”
“Impressive.”
“Fanks.”
Amelia and Liam turned to Grace, who beamed up at them with a chocolatey smile. Liam’s heart almost burst with an unexpected pride. His daughter was so smart.
The waiter returned with two plates piled with Amelia and Liam’s food.
“I have the farmer’s plate and the sunrise scramble with home fries.”
“The farmer’s plate is for me,” Liam said. “And the sunrise scramble is for my beautiful wife.”
“Here you go.” The waiter set down their food. “What a sweet family.”
“Thanks.”
He left and Amelia caught Liam’s eyes.
“Your beautiful wife?”
“I’m practicing for tomorrow.” Liam winked. It was true that he’d been trying to introduce her as his wife a little more often, but that wasn’t the only reason he’d done it. Both Liam and Amelia had gotten used to people assuming that they were a family and were good at not correcting them. But over time, Liam had found himself imagining, here and there, that it was true. It was easy to picture an alternate reality in which Amelia really was his wife, in which he would come home to her every day for the rest of his life, and in which he would share her bed.
Liam knew that none of that was true. Amelia would leave, sooner or later, when their agreement ended. When she left, Liam would need to hand over most of Grace’s care to nannies — just because he was bonded with his daughter didn’t mean he could quit his job to take care of her. This sweet little world the three of them had created was temporary, and that was for the best. Liam was not a family man. That didn’t mean he couldn’t live in this world as long as he could, though.
“Of course.” Amelia nodded. “And how are you today, my handsome husband?”
“I had a nice day, thanks. And how was your day, my little princess?” Liam had started calling Grace his princess, and it had stuck.
“Good.” Grace took another big bite of pancake. Then she grinned that chocolatey grin up at Amelia. “Pancakes is good, Mommy.”
Liam and Amelia froze. Amelia looked stricken. There was a beat but, as always, Amelia recovered quickly.
“Oh, honey, I’m not your mommy.” Amelia put her arm around Grace, who was sitting next to her. “I love you, and I’m here for you, but I’m not your mommy. You remember your mommy, right?”
“Yeah. Mommy.” Grace nodded importantly. “Mommy and Mommy.”
“I think she’s saying she can have two mommies,” Liam said slowly.
“I think so too. I guess we didn’t explain that all this is temporary.” Amelia looked slightly teary again. She took a breath. “Grace, honey, I’m Meel. Remember?”
“Okay, Meel.” Grace went back to her food. She didn’t seem to have noticed how momentous this conversation had been for the adults in the room.
After a few moments, Amelia and Liam went back to eating, too. The evening fell back into a familiar rhythm of eating and chatting.
When they arrived back at Liam’s penthouse, Amelia smiled at him. “I think you’re ready to handle bedtime.”
“On my own?”
“I’ll stick around, but yes, I think you can do it.”
“All right. Grace, are you ready for a bath?”
“Yay!”
Liam filled the tub with warm water and bubbles, checked the temperature just the way Amelia had shown him, and helped his wiggly, excited daughter into the warm water.
“Sing, sing!”
Liam chuckled. “No, no, I’m not a good singer.”
“Sing, Daddy!”
His heart melted at the word. It was the first time Grace had called him Daddy. He looked up at Amelia, who was leaning in the doorway, and she gave him a thumbs-up.
“Okay, okay. One song.” Liam bust out a rendition of “Old McDonald Had A Farm” that was so bad Amelia was in stitches after the first verse. Grace didn’t seem to mind, though. She just sang along, as happy and enthusiastic as Liam had ever seen her.
After bathtime, he got Grace into her pajamas and tucked her into bed. Then he read her three stories. By the time he closed the last book, Grace’s eyes were closed and her chest was rising and falling with the peace of toddler sleep. He leaned down and kissed her forehead. His heart was full with love for his daughter — and appreciation for Amelia. He never would have gotten this far if it weren’t for her.
Liam tucked the blankets in around Grace’s small, sleeping form, then got up and tiptoed out of the room. Amelia was waiting in the living room and, when Liam appeared, she got to her feet.
“Hey. Is she sleeping?”
“Yep. It was a successful bedtime.”
“I knew you could do it.” Amelia smiled at Liam and took a step closer. “I think we need to talk about what Grace said today, though.”
Liam nodded. “I think we do. Have a seat. It’s time we talked about Grace’s mother.”