13. Chapter 13
Chapter 13
Sophie
“I s he coming?”
“Is who coming? Can you be a bit more specific with your questions, Lily?” I ask.
“Don’t pretend not to know who I’m talking about.”
I do know who she’s talking about. It’s the same person she’s been trying to get me to talk about all day.
Ever since I started dating Liam again, Lily has been quite careful about how she broaches conversations about him. However, she seems to have let go of all forms of patience now and just wants answers.
Lily snatches the balloon out of my hands, forcing me to face her head-on.
“We have barely two hours before the guests arrive for dinner. We don’t have time to waste.”
“Then answer my question. Is he coming? Did you invite him?”
“No, I didn’t,” I answer, plucking the balloon out of her hand. “I can’t invite him. Mom doesn’t know we’re back together.”
And there’s no way I’m telling her. She’ll disapprove of it. Just like Lily, Mom was there all through my first heartbreak, so she knows how much I’ve been hurt by Liam before.
I can’t tell her I’m back with him.
Also, there’s every chance things won’t work between us this time either. Actually, I went into this relationship knowing fully well that he still considers love impossible.
But I harbored the hope that I could change his mind.
In a week’s time, the three-month shooting period will be over, and Liam Ryder will be out of Surfside Haven for good. It’s clear our relationship will die a natural death after that.
He’ll go back to his life in LA, and I’ll remain here.
Our future is clearly set in stone.
So I can’t get him involved with my family.
Especially with my Aunt Kate and Uncle George at dinner. They’ll take things up a notch and start planning our wedding. Throwing in Aunt Linda and Uncle Derek, Lily’s parents, will make it hard to control the outcome of the dinner.
Even the mere thought of that happening makes me shiver.
Lily lets out a heavy sigh, and I roll my eyes at her.
“What now?”
“I’m just worried, Sophie. Are you sure about this?” Lily asks, scooting closer to me. “I remember how you were the last time you two broke up, and now you’re back together with him. I just don’t think you’re making the right decisions here.”
I know I’m not, but apparently, my heart missed the memo. I want to be with him despite knowing that we won’t ever have a future together.
From how this whole affair is going, I’ll definitely end up getting hurt because I’m rapidly falling in love with Liam. I just hope there’s a safety net to catch me when I finally fall.
“Can we not talk about this and just focus on the dinner?” I plead.
Lily huffs and stands up. “I’ll go check the cake.”
“Thank you.”
As soon as she leaves, I relax against the couch. I know she’s looking out for me, but honestly, I’m just too confused to think about what I’m doing with Liam right now.
I know this is going to end eventually, and I just want to live in this moment and enjoy it to the fullest. Now that I already know when it’s going to end, I should appreciate our last few days together as much as I can.
I focus my attention on decorating our sitting room for Mom’s dinner party. I join Lily in the kitchen later to decorate the cake and finish up the side dishes we prepped earlier.
By the time seven o’clock rolls around, Uncle George, Aunt Kate, Aunt Linda, and Uncle Derek arrive at the house. They all have wrapped presents with them, and we wait for my mom to get back from the diner.
She doesn’t know I’m planning this. I told her I’d make dinner for us to eat together, but I didn’t mention that it was going to be a full-on party.
I even managed to get Aunt Kate to come here from Georgia. I know Mom will be delighted to see her little sister unexpectedly.
“Surprise!” we all yell as Mom enters the house. “Happy birthday!”
She gasps, her mouth hanging open in shock.
Mom squeals when she sees Aunt Kate and rushes over to hug her.
“Sophie, how did you do this without me knowing?” Mom asks, grinning as she clings to Aunt Kate. “And how did you hide the fact that you were coming here when we spoke on the phone this morning? You don’t know how to keep a secret!”
“Yes, and I told you specifically not to talk to her so you wouldn’t let the secret out,” I say, glaring playfully at my aunt.
“I had to pinch her every time she was about to let out the truth,” Uncle George says, laughing.
We joined him, laughing heartily.
Mom pulls me into a hug. “Thank you, pumpkin.” She drags Lily into the hug. “And you, too.”
Emotions clog my throat, and I hug Mom tighter.
The doorbell snaps us out of our emotional moment.
“Who else did you invite?” Mom raises a brow.
“No one.” I glare at the door, wondering who’s disturbing us at such a peaceful time. “Let me check. It could be one of the neighbors.”
I hurry to the door, eager to get whoever it is on their way. However, every carefully constructed excuse in my mind dies down as I come face to face with Liam.
I gasp, my heart jumping dangerously. And it isn’t just because of my shock, but also because of how handsome he looks.
He’s dressed in a white shirt and black pants. It seems simple enough, but on him, it’s bewitching.
There’s a bouquet of flowers and a gift bag in his hand.
He came for my mom’s birthday. Why?
Although a part of me is excited that he wants to do this with me, all I can concentrate on is the fact that my family is in the house.
“Liam, what are you doing here?”
“I came to join the dinner. We finished early on set today. I hope I’m not too late,” Liam says, smiling so warmly it melts my heart.
It breaks me to do this, but I have to.
“Liam, you can’t be here.”
His face grows pale. “Why?”
Oh my! What do I say?
“My family is here. I don’t think you’ll fit in. They can be quite a handful.”
“I’m sure I can handle them. It will be nice to see what a normal family dinner is like.”
I gulp, feeling even worse about what I’m doing. Liam didn’t grow up as lucky as I did, and I’m basically shoving the fact that I have a family in his face.
This must be done, though.
“I don’t—”
“Is that Liam?” Mom’s voice cuts through my words as she appears beside me. She gasps. “How are you, dear?”
Liam’s eyes brighten when he sees my mom. “Happy birthday, Helen.”
“Oh, thank you, my dear.” Mom smiles, opening her arms to hug Liam.
I watch the scene with my mouth agape. My mom is acting as though it’s a normal occurrence to see Liam this way, and Liam is acting as though he’s known her all his life.
“I brought you these.” Liam hands her the flowers and gift bag. “Now I don’t think the flowers were such a good idea, seeing as your beauty is overshadowing them.”
Mom giggles as she accepts the flowers. “What a charmer. Come in. The party is just getting started.”
It’s almost like I don’t exist to these two. They walk right into the house, and I hurry after them.
My fear that my family will go crazy over Liam is immediately justified. Aunt Kate stands completely still for several seconds, just staring at Liam.
“Am I hallucinating, or is the Liam Ryder in your sitting room, Helen?” Aunt Kate squeals.
Aunt Linda chuckles. “Get over it quickly before you weird him out.”
“How are you guys not surprised?” Uncle George asks.
“Well, he’s been in Surfside Haven for almost three months now,” Lily says, unable to hide her laughter as she watches the two stunned people try to process what’s happening.
“Still, what’s he doing here ?” Uncle Derek asks, staring right at Liam.
“Oh, is this a part of the surprise for you, Helen?” Aunt Kate yelps. “I know you’re a fan.”
“No, it’s not that,” Liam says, smiling. “I’m Sophie’s bo—”
“Friend,” I interject. “He’s a friend. He came over to see Mom because he’s a friend.”
A pin-drop silence falls over the room, and I feel Liam tense beside me.
My outburst must have made it seem suspicious, because no one seems to buy the lie I just told, especially Mom.
“Welcome, Liam,” Aunt Kate says, thawing the ice-cold silence. “We were just about to start dinner.”
She motions for Liam to join the family at the table. Everyone resumes chatting happily as they sit around the dining table.
Lily throws me a questioning glare that I just ignore.
Right now, I need to focus on dinner and making sure there are no more slip-ups about Liam.
However, my heart is heavy with the lie I just told.
Liam looks genuinely troubled about it, and I think I might have hurt him.
My worry slowly dies down as Liam gradually blends in with my family. Everyone seems to accept him as one of their own, and Liam is practically glowing in their midst.
Watching him this way and remembering the conditions he grew up in makes my heart grow even fonder of him.
He really does deserve all the good things in the world.
When we finish eating, the men take the party to the patio while the ladies stay in the house catching up.
I seclude myself in the kitchen, trying to re-energize from the evening’s events.
“You’re dating him again, aren’t you?”
I jolt out of my thoughts and turn sharply toward the kitchen door.
Mom! When did she get here?
My mouth dries as I try to make up excuses for Mom. But it’s clear she already knows the truth, and I can’t lie to her anymore.
I nod.
Mom sighs. “I could tell. You’ve seemed so much happier lately, and the moment he walked in today, I knew he had to be the reason.”
I don’t know what to say.
“I just want you to be careful not to get hurt this time. I don’t know what happened with you two the last time, but Liam genuinely seems like a nice guy.” Mom moves closer and takes my hand in hers. “I’d hate to see you get hurt again. Not when you’ve completely fallen for him just like back then.”
Even Mom can tell that I’ve fallen for him again.
Tears sting my eyes as my heart tightens with pain.
I’ve fallen in love with him again, and just like back then, he’s still not looking for that kind of commitment.
I’m only going to get hurt. I need to quickly end things between us. Maybe that way, I’ll be able to lessen the impact of the pain when he leaves.