Chapter Eighteen – Liam #2
Frowning, I replied, “No worries. I’m at the house if you want to head this way.”
I was going to have to talk to Mallory about Chad coming over.
“Bubba has Piper, want me to bring her with me since I’m heading that way.”
Rubbing the back of my neck, I said, “Yeah, if you don’t mind.”
“Great, I’ll say goodbye to the guys and be up that way soon.”
Quickly hanging up, I went back into my room, only to find my bed empty. The shower was going, and I cursed my brother for his rotten timing. I would have given anything to slip into the warm water with Mallory.
I lightly tapped on the open bathroom door. “Hey, you.”
She turned and gave me a beautiful smile. My shower was clear glass, so I could see her, and my body instantly reacted.
“Hey. Want to join me?”
I groaned. “As much as I would love that, I can’t. My brother is on his way here to talk to me about something.”
“Okay.” She instantly looked worried. “Should we tell him about me?”
Drawing in a deep breath, I shook my head. “I don’t think so. Not yet. We’re not close, and I have no idea what he’s going to ask me. Let’s just keep him in the dark for a bit longer. Is that okay?”
She opened the shower door, giving me an even better view of her body. “He’s your brother, Liam. Only you can know for sure if we can trust him. If you don’t want to tell him, I’m okay with that.”
I nodded. “Let me see what he wants. With Chad, it could be anything.”
“Okay. I’ll just hang out in your room and read a book.”
“Thank you. I’ll make you a snack really quick before he gets here.”
“Okay. This water feels heavenly, by the way.” She winked, and I slowly shook my head.
“Minx.”
After leaving Mallory, I grabbed our suitcases and put them both in my bedroom closet. There was no way I was going to let her sleep upstairs anymore. Not with the change in our relationship.
I quickly made a plate of snacks for Mallory and placed it on the bed. “I put your food on the bed!” I called to her in the bathroom.
“Thank you!”
I heard Chad’s truck driving up, so I headed out of the bedroom, shut the door, and made my way to the front porch. Chad parked, turned off his truck, and got out. Piper dashed out of the truck and made her way over to me, barking like crazy the entire time.
Dropping down to greet her, I laughed when she licked all over my face. “I haven’t been gone that long, girl.”
Chad walked over and smiled. “She clearly missed you.”
I stood and reached for his outstretched hand. “She misses me if I’m gone for an hour.”
Motioning for my brother to go before me into the house, I asked, “What’s going on that you need to talk to me so urgently?”
Making his way into the kitchen, Chad glanced at me over his shoulder. “Do you have any beer?”
Nodding, I said, “Yeah, let me grab you one.”
He tilted his head as he regarded me. “You seem different. Happy.”
“Are you saying I never looked happy before?”
He shrugged. “Not at all. You just seem different. Then again, it’s been a while and I have no idea what’s going on in your life.”
Opening the fridge, I grabbed a beer and handed it to him. I decided to ignore his last statement. That was his choice, not mine. “So, what did you need to ask me?”
He looked at me and smirked. “I guess you would want to cut to the chase. After all, we’re not that close anymore.”
I raised a brow at the second dig in as many minutes. “Were we ever close?” I leaned against the counter and folded my arms over my chest, waiting for his response.
Holding up his hand, he said, “Fine. I’ll get to the point. You know Krista is pregnant and well, she is insisting I ask you about the names she’s picked out.”
“You didn’t help with the names?”
My brother shrugged. “Truth be told, I didn’t want kids right now, she did. So, here we are. She wants to name the baby, depending on if it’s a boy or a girl, William or Lillie.”
A strange pain hit my chest, and I had to fight the urge to reach for it. “After Mom and Dad?”
“I know. I thought it was a strange request, but that’s what she wants. I didn’t feel right telling her okay until I talked to you about it.”
“Me? Why?”
“You’re the oldest, you were closer to them than I was. What if you get married and have kids someday?” he said as he glanced around the kitchen. “Although, if you keep living all alone and not moving on from Emily, you’ll never meet anyone.”
I pushed aside the rush of anger I felt toward my brother. He didn’t know the first thing about my life. “For your information, I have moved on.”
He studied me, then slowly nodded. “That’s why you look so happy. You must have been out of town with someone.”
“As a matter of fact, I was. I’ve met someone. And I care about her a lot. She’s been through some pretty traumatic things. The trip was to help her with some of that.”
Suddenly, my brother let out a bark of laughter, like I’d said the funniest thing he’d ever heard. “Some things never change, even after all these years you’re still the same, Liam.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“Always playing the hero, aren’t you, big brother.” He slapped me on the side of the arm and laughed again.
The sound of something breaking caused us both to look toward the hall that led to my room.
“Is she here? Now?” Chad asked, a wide grin on his face. “I guess I don’t blame you for not wanting me to meet her. Have you even told her you have a brother?”
A sense of panic hit me, and I pointed to my brother. “Wait here. I’ll be right back.”
He lifted his beer. “Not going anywhere.”
I started down the hallway and noticed my bedroom door was slightly open. Piper rushed in first, and I shut the door quietly behind me. We both saw the broken plate with food on the floor at about the same time, and Piper headed toward it.
“Piper, off!”
Mallory walked out of the bathroom and stopped when she saw me. “I’m so sorry! I knocked the plate off of the bed and it broke. I started to head to the kitchen when I opened the door to see if Chad was here yet. I’m sorry.”
My racing heart slowed a bit as I pulled Mallory into my arms and held her. “You scared me, Mallory.”
She wrapped her arms around my neck. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to.”
Pushing her back to look at her, I let out my breath. “For a crazy moment I thought you heard my brother laugh and…”
Her eyes went wide. “No! Oh my gosh, Liam. I did hear him laugh, that’s how I know he was here, but that isn’t the laugh. I didn’t mean to scare you.”
I let out a long breath.
“Do you want to introduce me to him?” Mallory asked.
Something inside of me was saying no. “Not yet. Don’t worry about cleaning this up.”
She waved me off. “I’ve got this, go back out and talk to your brother.”
I took a few steps back and watched as Mallory picked up the glass pieces and put them in the small garbage can in the bathroom.
“Let me at least get something to clean this up with. I’ll be right back.”
Turning to Piper, I said, “Stay with her, girl.”
As I walked back out into the kitchen, Chad was sitting at the island looking at his phone, frowning.
“Everything okay?” he asked when he heard me walk in.
“Yeah, broken plate is all.”
He nodded. “You’re really not going to introduce me to her?”
I glanced back at him. “Like you introduced me to Krista? I had to meet her by getting an invite to your wedding—from her and not you.”
Chad rubbed at the back of his neck. “Listen, Liam, I know we’ve had our differences, I get it, but I’m going to be having a kid of my own. I don’t want to mess this up, and maybe I just used the excuse of the baby names to come over today…but I would like to try and fix this between us.”
After reaching under the cabinet for cleaner and a rag, I sighed. “A truce?”
He laughed. “Hell, I don’t even remember what we were fighting over.”
I held out my hands. “The ranch, Chad. The ranch.”
Rolling his eyes, “Yes, I was pissed at first, but I’m over it.”
“Okay,” I said with a nod. “I’m willing to give it a shot if you are.”
He smiled. “I am. And once I get back from Chicago, I think we should spend some time together.”
Freezing, I asked, “You’re going to Chicago?”
“Yeah, I have to go there a lot for work. Why?”
A chill ran over my body as I stared at my brother. “When was the last time you were in Chicago?”
He thought about it. “I don’t know, maybe a month ago.”
This time it was me who dropped what I was holding.