Sunny’s heart constricted. “I’ll be here,” she promised softly.
“And the next day?” Maddie persisted, even as her eyes drifted closed.
“And the next,” Sunny confirmed, gently brushing Maddie’s hair back from her forehead. “Sleep now, sweetheart. I’m not going anywhere tonight.”
Within moments, Maddie’s breathing deepened, her face relaxing into the peaceful abandon of childhood sleep. Sunny remained seated between the two beds, watching over them as the minutes ticked by, absorbing the precious sight she had feared she might never see again.
Sunny
Eventually, Sunny rose and padded silently to the door, turning off the main light and leaving only the soft glow of the unicorn night-light to keep the darkness at bay. At the threshold, she paused for one last look, imprinting the scene on her heart — these two precious girls, sleeping peacefully, trusting in her return.
“They’ve missed you so much,” came Beth’s quiet voice from the hallway. “We all have.”
Sunny turned to find the housekeeper leaning against the wall, arms crossed over her chest, eyes soft with understanding.
“Can we talk?” Beth asked, nodding toward the staircase. “Liam’s in his office on a call with his agent.”
Sunny nodded, following Beth down to the kitchen. She’d missed this too — the quiet late-evening conversations with the older woman, who had become something of a maternal figure over the months Sunny had spent in the Anderson household.
Beth put the kettle on, moving with the efficient grace of someone who had spent decades in this kitchen. She didn’t speak until two mugs of chamomile tea sat steaming on the island between them.
“It was bad, Sunny,” she said finally, her normally cheerful face solemn. “Worse than I think even Liam will admit.”
Sunny clutched her mug, the warmth seeping into her fingers. “The girls?”
“They were devastated,” Beth confirmed, her tone gentle but honest. “Hailey cried herself to sleep every night. Maddie stopped talking almost entirely — just like after Kate died. It was like watching them go through that loss all over again.”
The blunt assessment landed like a gut punch. Sunny had known her departure would hurt them, but hearing the details made the pain visceral.
“And Liam?” she asked, unable to stop herself.
Beth sighed, stirring her tea absently. “I’ve known that man since he was a rookie with more ego than sense,” she said. “I’ve seen him through championships and injuries, marriage and fatherhood, and Kate’s death. But I’ve never seen him as lost as he was these past five days.”
She fixed Sunny with a penetrating look. “He tore this city apart looking for you, you know. Called in favors, threatened his management, held that press conference that’s all over the internet.”
“I saw the newspaper,” Sunny admitted. “Liam showed me at the cabin.”
“What you didn’t see was what it cost him,” Beth continued. “Standing up to the team like that — it was like watching someone shed a skin they’d worn their whole life. He chose you, Sunny. Over everything he’s built his life on.”
Sunny’s eyes burned with fresh tears. The weight of Liam’s choice — a choice he’d been unable to make just days earlier — pressed against her chest.
“I don’t know if I can trust it,” she whispered, giving voice to the fear that had nagged at her even as she’d agreed to return. “What if he changes his mind again when the pressure mounts? When the team pushes harder, or the press gets crueler, or it all becomes too much?”
Beth reached across the island, her weathered hand covering Sunny’s. “That’s a fair question,” she acknowledged. “And only time will give you the answer. But I will say this — I’ve never seen him fight for anything the way he fought to find you. Not even hockey.”
Sunny nodded, absorbing the observation. Tomorrow would bring new challenges — the public scrutiny, the practical negotiations of her return. Tonight, she could only take one moment at a time.
“I should go unpack,” she said, rising from the stool. “It’s been a long day.”
Beth nodded, understanding in her eyes. “I made up your old room,” she said.
The consideration brought a lump to Sunny’s throat. “Thank you,” she managed.
As she climbed the stairs toward her bedroom, Sunny’s mind whirled with conflicting emotions. The joy of reunion warred with lingering hurt, the comfort of familiar surroundings with the caution born of recent pain. She had agreed to try again, to rebuild what had been broken, but the path forward remained uncertain.
Outside what had once been her room — what might become her room again — Sunny paused, her hand on the doorknob. From down the hall came the low murmur of Liam’s voice from his office, the cadence familiar yet distant after their days apart.
Drawing a deep breath, she pushed open the door to find the room exactly as she’d left it five days ago. Same cream-colored bedspread, same watercolor prints on the walls, same view of the garden from the wide windows. It was as if the room had been suspended in time, waiting for her return.
