Chapter Five – Aurora #2
My heart suddenly felt like it skipped a beat.
I wasn’t sure why. Maybe it was because I wasn’t entirely sure I believed my brother when he said that Liam didn’t mean what he said.
I didn’t have time to go over it incessantly, so I slipped my phone into my back pocket and distracted my wayward thougths with work.
I pulled into Liam’s driveway and turned off the car. I drew in a deep breath, then exhaled before I got out.
“Aurora! Aurora, is that you?”
Turning, I smiled as I saw Mrs. Randall, Liam’s neighbor, across the street. She was walking over carrying a basket.
“Are you here to visit Liam and Winnie?”
“I am. What’s this?” I asked, pointing to the basket.
She smiled and opened it. “Homemade chicken pot pie.”
“Yum!” I replied. “I’m sure Liam and Winnie will love that.”
She handed it to me and asked, “Would you mind giving it to Liam? I’m in a rush and need to get to an appointment.”
“Oh, of course I will.” I took the basket and watched as she was about to turn around. She paused and leaned in closer.
“You might want to let Liam know he should keep his voice down when talking about what he was talking about with your brother Nathan.”
My interest was piqued. “What were they talking about?”
Her face turned red. “Well,” she said, glancing around, then focused back on me. “About Liam getting L.A.I.D.”
“Laid?” I asked in shock.
That made her face turn a deep shade of red. “Shh! Aurora!”
“They were talking about that where?”
“Well, Liam opened his front door and told Nathan it wouldn’t solve his problems. I’m sure half the neighbors heard. If I’m being honest, I think it would solve them all.”
I pressed my lips together tightly, trying not to laugh. “Well, I’m not sure it’s my place to say anything to Liam, but I’ll talk to my brother.”
She looked relieved. “Oh, good. Thank you, dear. I’m off!”
Turning, I walked up to the door, and it opened before I could ring the bell. Liam stood there, a smile on his face as he said, “Hey.”
“Um, hi.”
He looked past me to his neighbor. “I saw you pull up, and Mrs. Randall was making her way over, so I held back. Once that woman gets to talking, she will talk your ear off.”
“Probably a good thing she didn’t talk directly to you.”
Confused, he asked, “Why?”
Trying not to laugh, I held up the basket and decided to ignore that question. “She made you and Winnie chicken pot pie, but was in a rush, so she asked me to give it to you.”
He took the basket and then motioned for me to come in. I slid past him and set my purse on the table.
“That was nice of her to do that. Winnie loves her chicken pot pie.”
“Smells good,” I said with a smile. Glancing around, I asked, “Where is Winnie?”
He motioned toward the family room. “Crashed on the sofa. We went to the park, and she rode her little tricycle, but she was exhausted. I put on a movie, and she was out in five minutes. She didn’t nap this morning, but I can’t let her sleep too long or she’ll be up late.”
I smiled and followed him into the kitchen.
“How have you been?” he asked, taking the pie out and putting it into the fridge. “I know we just saw one another.”
“Good. The bookstore has been busy, so that’s a plus.”
He smiled. “That is good.”
We stood there for a moment, unsure of what to say next. It didn’t take long for Liam to speak.
“Aurora, I just want to apologize for what I said to you the last time you were here. I wasn’t myself with…the grief, guilt, and the confusion, and… Hope wasn’t herself at the end either, and I was just…scared. I was scared and didn’t mean anything I said.”
I swallowed and looked down at the floor as memories of that day reappeared.
I looked up and met his blue eyes. His dark hair was trimmed short on the sides and top, and I could see a few streaks of gray appearing.
Liam wasn’t old by any means, thirty-four.
But I’m sure the stress of the last year and a half had put most of that color in his hair.
“I can’t begin to understand how you’re feeling, Liam.
But I need you to know that I never, not one single time, ever thought of taking anyone’s place.
I miss Hope more than you could ever know, and it killed me to watch her get sicker alongside you.
If I ever gave you or Hope any indication I wanted something for you—”
He held up his hand. “No! You didn’t, Aurora. I swear you didn’t. That whole thing was between me and Hope. It had…”
Pausing, he looked down, then said, “It was an issue between her and me, and you got caught in the middle.”
“So you believe me when I said I never had any feelings for you other than friendship?”
He nodded and looked away for a moment before focusing back on me. “I’m sorry, I will never treat you like that again. I’ve…I’ve missed your friendship.”
“I’ve missed yours as well. And Winnie.”
A smile broke out on his face. “She asks about you all the time.”
I returned his smile.
“Speaking of, let me make some noise so she wakes up. If I wake her up, she’ll become a little monster.”
Before he had the chance, Winnie called out for him.
He motioned for me to go first. “She’ll love seeing you.”
I headed out of the kitchen, and the moment Winnie spied me from her sitting position on the sofa, she cried and ran toward me. I dropped and caught her right in time as she launched at me.
“Hello there, little angel,” I said, kissing her. “Look at how big you’ve gotten just in a couple of days!”
Winnie grinned and stood up tall. “I’m a big girl!”
“You are!” I said, pulling her in for a hug.
“C’mon, see my new toys!” Winnie said, pulling me up and trying her best to drag me toward the steps. “In my woom!”
Turning to Liam, he smiled and nodded. “I’ll be down here if you need anything. I’m sure she wants to spend some time with you.”
Winnie and I headed up to her room and played for the next forty minutes.
We played house, we played cats and dogs, and then she settled down with a book for me to read to her.
She must have dragged every toy out of her box to show me, like she hadn’t seen me in years.
After we read her story, we cleaned up her room.
I glanced up to see Liam standing in the doorway, smiling.
“She’s missed you.”
I turned to Winnie and said, “I’ve missed her as well.”
“Winnie, I’ve got pot pie for dinner!” Liam said.
Jumping, Winnie let out a happy little cry, then grabbed my hand and led me out of her room.
Liam followed us back downstairs. He hadn’t mentioned the nanny yet, and I wasn’t about to either. If he wanted my help, he could ask for it.
Winnie dropped my hand and turned to Liam, who promptly picked her up and put her in her chair at the table.
“Would you like to stay for dinner?” he asked.
“Thank you, but I’ve got dinner plans.”
He smiled at me as he put some pot pie on Winnie’s plate. “With the girls?”
I cleared my throat. “No, I’m going on a date.”
His brows shot up in surprise. “A date?”
I nodded. “Yep.”
Liam looked…almost upset. Then he shook his head and smiled. “That’s great. With who?”
“Um, his name is Gary Harris. He’s the new finance director with the city. Cadie introduced me to him.”
Liam nodded as he focused on dishing out Winnie’s dinner. “Where is he taking you?”
“To a new Chinese restaurant outside of town. Near Lake Placid.”
He closed his eyes. “Man, I haven’t had Chinese in forever. Eat some for me.”
I laughed. “I will. I should probably get going so I can get ready. He’ll be picking me up soon.”
Leaning down, I kissed Winnie on the cheek. “I’ll be back, okay?”
“Wuv you, Rora!”
“I love you too, Peanut.”
Turning to Liam, I let out a breath. “It was good seeing you both.”
“It was. Don’t be a stranger, okay?”
A strange aching feeling filled my chest. Was I upset he hadn’t asked me about the nanny? Or was I upset I wasn’t having dinner with Liam and Winnie instead of with Gary? Pushing those thoughts away, I replied, “I won’t.”
As I went to turn to leave, Liam called out my name.
“Aurora?”
“Yeah?” I asked, facing him again. He glanced down at the floor and seemed to struggle to say something before looking back up at me.
“I know I don’t have any right to ask you this, with how I treated you and all.”
“You’ve already apologized. Let’s put it in the past and move on.”
He nodded and gave me a weak smile. “I’d like that.”
“What did you want to ask me?”
“I need to find a nanny for Winnie, and I was wondering if you could help with that. I know what to ask, at least I think I do,” he said with a humorless laugh. “I’m not sure how someone would feel working for just a guy, and maybe having you there might help with the interviewing process.”
I wasn’t sure why I felt so relieved he had asked. Maybe it was because we were genuinely moving on from the awkwardness of what happened months ago.
“I’d love to help in any way I can. Do you have anyone in mind?”
He shook his head. “No. I know there is an agency in Lake Placid. I was going to call them tomorrow to discuss setting up some interviews. I can schedule a meeting with you on days that you are available. The sooner I hire someone, the better.”
“Will they be a live-in nanny?” The thought made my stomach roil.
He paused what he was doing and looked at me. “No. I don’t want that. Just someone to be here when I’m at work. I’d be with Winnie most of the day unless I need to be up at The Muddled Moose earlier.”
I nodded. “Why don’t we sit down and discuss what you’ll want from the nanny. Hours, days, things like that. It would be nice to have someone local, so if you needed them on short notice, it wouldn’t be a problem.”
He rubbed at the back of his neck. “I wasn’t thinking about that. Good point. Are you free tomorrow at all?”
My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I pulled it out to see that it was a text from Gary.
Gary Harris: I hate to do this at the last minute, but an emergency at work has arisen, and I have to cancel dinner tonight.
I glanced up and looked at Liam. “Well, if the offer for dinner still stands, we can talk about it tonight.”
He frowned. “No dinner date?”
I shook my head. “Emergency at work. He has to cancel.”
Liam smiled with something more in his demeanor than normal—or maybe that was just how I was feeling knowing I’d been stood up, not the least bit upset.
“Grab a plate.”
After sending off my reply to Gary, telling him no worries, I made myself a plate and sat down at the table with Liam and Winnie. It didn’t take long for us to fall back into friendly chatter, and I had to admit, it felt good to have my friend back.
It also felt good in other ways—but I wasn’t going there.