Chapter 26 Sabrina
SAbrINA
One Week Later
It had been one week since Liam sprinted out of my life. One week since I’d returned home and reconciled with Abigail. And six days since Emery left for New York with Noah and Timothy after we’d instantly bonded over being single moms to boys.
I was determined now more than ever to move forward with my life. My time with Liam nothing but a distant memory.
“Sabrina!”
Abigail’s call had me yanking the bathroom door open and rushing out into the hallway.
In my haste to see what the matter was, I’d burned my left pointer finger on my curling iron and was currently sucking the sting off my skin.
Half of my hair was up while the other half was down and freshly curled.
“What?” I asked as I headed into the living room. It was the only logical place for her to be.
“Sabrina!” Abigail shouted again just as I rounded the corner.
She was holding a roll of packing tape in one hand and a flattened box in the other.
She was staring at the TV with her eyes wide.
Bash was standing next to her, bouncing a squealing Samuel.
In our efforts to heal our sister relationship, she finally admitted that she’d refused to get a place with Bash so she could keep tabs on me.
She offered, in the spirit of reconciliation, to move out so I could officially start my life as a single mom—if that was what I wanted.
I’d agreed, grateful for her offer. I needed to know that I could do this on my own.
“Sab—”
“I’m right here,” I mumbled around my throbbing finger. I glared at her, frustrated that I’d almost permanently disfigured myself because she was overly dramatic about something on the TV.
“Isn’t that…” She glanced over at me. “Liam?”
I frowned as I stepped up next to her and glanced at the screen. Sure enough, there was Liam and the rest of the Fading Atlas crew. They were standing behind a Miami police chief who was talking about how the band had been instrumental in putting some guy name Frankie Vane behind bars.
I could feel Abigail’s stare. She was no doubt waiting for my reaction more than she was paying attention to the press conference.
Not wanting to talk about Liam or Fading Atlas, I shrugged and moved back.
There was no way I was going to stand there and stare at Liam.
My heart was already pounding from the adrenaline caused by Abigail’s scream.
I wasn’t going to feed that fire with thoughts of the man who broke my heart.
Samuel started to squawk, and I moved to take him away from Bash and effectively remove myself from this situation, but Bash just held Samuel tighter as he moved past me.
“I’ll put him down for his nap,” he said over his shoulder as he disappeared into my room, leaving me alone with Abigail, whose gaze hadn’t relented.
So I took a breath and shifted my focus to her. “Why would I care what Liam’s up to?” I lied.
If that were true, if I really didn’t care about Liam, I would have turned on my heel and headed back to the bathroom.
I wouldn’t have continued to stand there, pretending not to listen to the police chief recount what had happened.
And I certainly wouldn’t hope that Liam would be invited to speak so I could hear his smooth voice once more.
“He was being extorted.” Abigail’s eyes were wide as she turned to look at me.
Apparently, my attempt at apathy was lost on her, and she was determined to involve me in the story. Which, I would never admit out loud, I was thankful for.
It had been seven days since Liam abandoned me, and I’d spent every second of those seven days wishing that I could see him again.
Hoping that I’d turn the corner and he’d be there with his arms outstretched and an apologetic smile on his face.
He’d tell me that he’d made a huge mistake and he wanted me back.
“Did you know about that?”
I blinked, forcing myself to the present. Daydreaming about a man I could never have was neither healthy nor wise. “What?” I asked, trying to remember what we’d been talking about before I started wishing that Liam would come back for me.
“That he was being extorted. Did you know about that?”
I shook my head. “I had no idea,” I breathed out. I’d spent every waking moment with that man, and yet, he’d never even hinted that something like this was going on. “I mean, he’d get random texts and would look worried while he read them, but…” The memory of his busted-up face flashed in my mind.
Had that been Frankie?
I shook my head and then startled when Abigail suddenly appeared in front of me.
“What?” she demanded. “What are you remembering?”
I frowned at her and took a step back. “Nothing.”
She narrowed her eyes. “That look wasn’t nothing.” She paused. “Something happened.”
“He said he got in a bar fight.”
With every word, Abigail’s nod got faster and more pronounced. “I knew it,” she whispered.
I stared at her. She was connecting dots that I couldn’t even see. “You knew what?”
She deadpanned. “A man doesn’t do what you said that man did for his assistant.” She air-quoted the last word.
“What are you talking about?” I needed her to stop. Right now.
“It makes so much sense.” She was staring directly behind me like the answer to her unasked question was written there.
“What makes so much sense?” I asked as I followed her gaze. Just as I thought, the wall was blank.
“That man loves you, but he had to let you go because it wasn’t safe.” She pumped her fist in the air and then shot me a triumphant smile like her work was finally done.
So many emotions ran through me. Sure, her theory made some sense.
A guy in love with a girl wouldn’t keep her around if being with him meant she and her son were in danger.
And from what I knew of Liam, he was the kind of guy who’d put me first. There were plenty of times where he could have just walked away and left me to fend for myself, but he hadn’t.
But this wasn’t a Jane Austen novel, and Liam wasn’t Mr. Darcy. This was reality, and my life had taught me over and over again that I was not the main character of some love story. My happily ever after was not coming.
And it wasn’t fair that Abigail was encouraging me to believe otherwise.
“Even if that was true, I’m in Harmony and he’s in Florida. I’ll believe that he loves me when he knocks on the door with some grand romantic gesture to take me away.” I kept my expression flat so she would know exactly what I thought of her theory.
Just as the last word left my lips, there was a knock on the door. My heart began to pound as I shifted my gaze from Abigail over to the door. When I looked back at Abigail, her gaze was wild with excitement.
“That’s not…” My voice trailed off as I moved so I could see the TV screen. I needed to verify that, yes, Liam was standing behind the woman who was speaking now. “He’s there.”
Abigail had my arm in her clutches, and she was shaking it. “Go answer the door,” she squealed.
My mind was racing and my entire body felt like it was on fire. I was trying to process what was happening. I was attempting to ground myself in reality, but Abigail’s energy was too much. It was rubbing off on me.
“Go, go,” she chanted as she let go of my arm and started pushing me toward the door, where the knocking had become more insistent.
“Abi—stop—” I tried to speak, but I could only manage out a few half words before I was standing right in front of the door. Now that I was here, I felt frozen.
If Liam was on the other side, what was I going to say to him? If it was Liam—and I really doubted it was—the last thing I wanted was to have our reconciliation moment with my hair half curled. I reached up and pulled out the clip that was holding my hair back.
I glanced over at Abigail, who had slipped into the shadows of the kitchen. Her smile was wide and her gaze insistent as she studied me and then flicked her gaze toward the door.
My entire body felt numb and on fire at the same time. Images of Liam standing on the other side of the door, similar to our first morning together at Harmony Inn, flashed through my mind.
The sound of my beating heart whooshed through my ears.
There was no way Abigail was going to let me continue standing at the door without answering, so I took a deep breath, wrapped my fingers around the handle and turned.
I pulled the door open and froze. My brain tried to process what I was looking at. A middle-aged man with glasses and a hat with My Sons Move stitched on it was standing in front of me with a clipboard and a confused expression.
“Are you Abigail?” he asked.
“Is it him?” Abigail attempted a whisper but failed.
All of the adrenaline that had been pumping through my veins vanished. My head felt light, and the world around me began to tilt. The mover must have noticed because he knit his eyebrows together and took a step forward. “Are you okay?” he asked.
I couldn’t speak. My head hurt. My finger hurt. And my damn heart hurt.
I knew Abigail meant well, but this wasn’t fair to me. She got my hopes up only to have them pop and drift to the floor.
“She’s right here,” I whispered as I nodded to Abigail and then turned and headed back to the bathroom.
Abigail sputtered, confused, as I walked away. I thought I heard her say, “It wasn’t supposed to be you,” but I didn’t turn around to clarify.
I just wanted to get ready and get to the library. Isabelle had welcomed me back with open arms, and my first task was to host the book club for her tonight. Sure, it wasn’t my favorite thing, but I was willing to do whatever she wanted if it meant I could start fresh and move forward.
That was all I cared about.
Once I was inside the bathroom, I shut the door and then collapsed against it.
My entire body shook as I took in deep breaths.
I was so very obviously not over Liam, and that angered me.
Someone who was over her boss wouldn’t have reacted like I did at the thought of him standing on the other side of her door.