Chapter 16
“You’re fine, Marcus,” John says as he lounges in one of the cushioned chairs I have out in the pool area. He takes a sip of his beer. “Yeah, everything is happening all at once, but your feelings for her have been a slow build, and the same is true for hers. It’s not like this came out of nowhere.”
“That’s true,” I say on a sigh. “I’m just worried, you know?”
“And I think that’s a good sign. Shows you care about her.”
I nod.
“As for Nate…” John shakes his head. “You did your best with the little time you had with him, but it’s not like you had much say in how he was raised. This isn’t your fault. And as for Liliana choosing you, that’s her decision.”
“Still think I should feel a little bad, though.”
“Why? Because you care about her ten times more than he does? Because you prioritize her when all he does is fucking abandon her? He’s being a selfish ass, Marcus. He should feel bad.”
I chuckle. “That’s pretty damn close to what I told Liliana the other day.”
“Good! It sounds like she needed to hear it.”
Again, I nod, but I don’t go into more detail. I don’t want to spill all of Liliana and Nate’s relationship to John. She gave me permission to talk about a lot of it, but I want to respect her privacy.
I glance at my watch. The girls should be back soon. Most of the shops closed fifteen minutes ago.
“Anxious to see her again?” John gives me a sly smile.
“So what if I am?”
“You’re acting like a lovesick teenager.”
I raise a challenging brow. “You’re one to talk considering you’ve been texting your wife every fifteen minutes.”
“She’s been sending me outfit pics!” He grins. “They’re almost back, by the way. Oh, and Char says Liliana has been having a great time.”
“Good.” I stand. “Maybe we should wait out front.”
Despite my urges, I’ve managed not to send Liliana more than a single text to check in. I didn’t want to distract her even though I missed her an embarrassingly large amount.
No.Not embarrassing. My affection for her is something I wear proudly.
When Char pulls into my driveway, I all but run down the sidewalk to meet them. I open Liliana’s door for her before she can get the chance, sweeping her into my arms the moment her feet touch the ground.
“Hi,” she says with a happy laugh.
Burying my face in her neck, I inhale deeply. I don’t care if she was only gone a few hours. I’ve missed her, dammit.
“Let’s get Liliana’s stuff inside,” Lori says. “That way we can get out of these lovebirds’ hair.”
Liliana places a chaste kiss to my lips when I finally release her. The trunk is already open, and the girls direct me toward which bags to take. Liliana helps, too, since there are quite a few of them. I’m glad she took what I meant seriously. What’s mine is hers, and I have more money than I know what to do with.
Once we’ve said our goodbyes, I close the front door and turn to Liliana. She’s still holding one bag in particular and eyeing me carefully.
“What?”
“I got you something.” Liliana pulls a small black box out the bag. “I’m not sure you’ll like it, and maybe it’s silly, and you don’t have to wear it, but it made me think of you. Here.” She presses the box into my palm.
Carefully, I take off the lid, revealing a bracelet of round, green beads. Taking it from the box, I hold it up to the light. The patterns in the beads are captivating.
“It’s moss agate,” she says nervously. “Apparently it represents stability. And it… you… well, that’s how you feel to me. Safe. Like home.”
My gaze snaps to her. Home. I feel like home to her.
“I know you don’t really wear bracelets, but—”
“I do now.” I hold it out to her. “Help me put it on?”
Her fingers work nimbly to undo and then re-hook the clasp once it’s around my wrist. It’s a perfect fit, and I like the way it looks. Even better, I’ll think of her every time I look at it.
“You like it?” she asks.
“I love it.” Cupping her cheek, I kiss her forehead. “Now show me everything you got. I want to see.”
She gives me a bewildered look. “You do? It’s mostly just clothes, and then some lotions and candles and—”
“Show me, little star.” I push her toward the bags. “I want to see all the things I bought for you.”
One by one, she pulls out the items she picked. Shirts, dresses, shorts, a burgundy bikini, a few candles, a nice-smelling perfume, and then some lotions. All in all, it looks like they had a productive evening.
“And you had a good time?” I ask as we bring all the bags upstairs and stick them in my room. We can wash all the clothes tomorrow, and I can clear out space in my dressers and closet for her things.
“I did, yeah. They… they made me feel included.”
Her phone goes off, and when she looks at it, her face falls.
“What’s wrong?” I ask.
“Nate will be home tomorrow morning.” She sets her phone on my nightstand and lowers herself onto the bed with a sigh. “I know I was just crying about him this morning, but I had such a good time with Char and Lori that I—” She shakes her head. “I forgot about him.”
“That’s good, Liliana.” I sit next to her. “I wanted you to have a good time.”
“I just wish we could fast forward through the breakup process.”
“You don’t have to do it alone, though.” My hand finds hers, and I lace our fingers together. “I’ll be with you every step of the way. Tomorrow, packing, moving, getting you settled in—all of it.”
With her head on my shoulder, she relaxes. “That makes it a lot better. Thank you.”
“Of course.”
While I’m not dreading tomorrow as much as Liliana, I’m definitely not looking forward to it. Given my son’s behavior lately, I don’t think things will go over well. I don’t know if it’s possible for something like finding out your girlfriend is leaving you for your father to go well.
We’ll take it one step at a time, though. And if it gets messy, I’ll be there to back Liliana up. From now on, I always will be.