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A moment of silence fell between us before he cleared his throat and said, “Guess what? You couldn’t have called at a better time. I’m in town.”
He didn’t know it. Didn’t even see it. But the grin on my lips spread so wide, my cheeks hurt. Pure happiness and excitement spread down to my toes, cramped up in worn black pointy-toe flats. My heart leaped for joy, and I almost did too.
I teased him a bit for not calling sooner to inform me and promised to visit him soon before his next trip. Then, we hung up and, even then, I couldn’t stop smiling.
Liam Fetcher was the only true family I had.
He was everything I needed: a cousin, a brother, a father, and a friend. It didn’t even matter that there was almost a decade of age difference between us.
He had been there when no one else was, comforting, and encouraging. I might not have known my father or had a mother who cared if I had breath flowing through my lungs, but Liam filled their shoes and made bigger sacrifices no other person could measure up to.
But he’d left when things got rough. After his parents got involved in a messy car accident and died eight years ago, he grew more distant and spent less and less time in town, and I couldn’t even blame him.
Now he is back. I gave the blue sky a wistful smile. And that’s all that mattered.
“Who’s got you grinning like a Cheshire cat?”
I heard soft, familiar footsteps approaching and turned around. Her luscious auburn curls bounced off her shoulders and her fingers pointed to the curve of my lips. I slipped my cell phone into a narrow pocket of my skirt.
“Who do you think?”
Ava switched the strap of her YSL cross-body bag from one shoulder to the other. She crossed an arm over her black sleeveless tank top and jerked her chin. “Is it a guy? It has to be a guy. That’s the only possible explanation for that—whatever that is—on your face.”
I eyed her bag. It was a new one. I knew because she’d brought a Prada hobo bag to work two days ago. Ava and I were close. There was no boyfriend in the picture, and I’d heard her father was some average guy involved in multiple businesses and a few behind-the-scenes political connections.
People like Ava Turner already had their lives set up for them. Sometimes, I wondered why she bothered with a job.
I pointed at it. “Cute.”
She rolled her eyes, almost like she’d been forced to remember a terrible thing, and said, “Gift bribery from my dad. Long story. Ignore it. Back to the giggles and snow-white stare. What’s up with that?”
I couldn’t suppress my excitement any longer. I clapped my hands over my mouth and squealed. “Liam’s back!”
A sudden animated look swept her face, and she joined in a delighted squeal. If I had an out-of-body experience, I knew what we’d have looked like; two young ladies outside a restaurant shrieking like teenage girls who’d been asked to prom by their crushes.
“I’m so happy he’s back!”
“Me too.”
“I think I’m happier.” Ava blushed.
A snort flew past my lips, and she rubbed her palms on her jeans. “There’s no way you’re happier than I am. Hey, would you join me? I told him I’d visit him soon, before his next trip out of town, but Liam’s sort of unpredictable these days. I’m thinking a surprise visit today wouldn’t be such a bad idea.”
The door to the restaurant opened and lively chatter filled the air. She nodded absentmindedly and glimpsed at the group of friends trooping out and taking selfies. “Sure, I’ll go with you. That reminds me; wasn’t his birthday like a week ago? We should take a cake. Liam likes cake.”
I made a tiny, throaty noise that pulled her eyes up to my face and wiggled my brows.
“What?” She smiled. “What’s that look?”
“You’re keeping track of Liam’s birthday. That’s not suspicious, at all.”
“What do you mean, I’m keeping track. Aren’t you?”
I pretended to think, tapping my chin with a finger. “Maybe I would, if I had a crush on him.”
“Oh my God!” She massaged her temple with an exaggerated groan. “Number one, you’re his cousin. You should know when his birthday is. Two, are you still on with the ‘crush’ thing? I’ve told you so many times—emphasis on ‘so many times’— that I don’t have a—”
“Crush on Liam.” The air carried the sound of my laughter past the happy group strutting to their flashy Porsche’s and Tesla’s. “It doesn’t matter how many times you say it, I don’t believe it. Besides, my cousin is a good-looking man. You two would be like a match made in heaven.”
