Page 88 of Finding My Forever

“I was surprised to hear you were in town.” There was no warmth to his voice. It was moments like this that I was reminded why my dad was called a pit bull in the court. He was using every imposing method he knew. His arms were crossed over his broad chest, and he was using a stern expression that was usually reserved for when my sisters or I were in trouble.

“It’s my first time in Oregon, sir, but I came for a very specific reason.”

Dad’s left eyebrow rose.

I wanted more than anything to grab Liam’s hand and run far away. This didn’t seem to be going in a fun direction.

“I came here to tell your daughter how much I love her and that no matter what happens in the future I will be there for her.”

I bit my lip to keep from beaming, or crying. Instead, I watched Dad’s face for a clue of what he was thinking.

His eyes narrowed.

My breathing became shallow.

“Glad to hear that. She’s a handful, but you seem like someone who can handle her.”

“Hey!”

Dad finally cracked a smile. “I’m kidding, honey.”

He offered his hand to Liam and grinned. “It’s nice to meet you, Liam. Welcome to the family.”

Liam seemed to relax. If the comment about being in the family bothered him, he didn’t show it.

“Let’s go inside and get to know each other while April showers.” He gave me a look and shook his head. “Rough day?”

My hand instinctively went to my hair and patted it down. “Maybe.”

As they walked into the kitchen, I ran up the stairs and got ready at a record pace. I didn’t want to leave them alone for too long, but when I went back downstairs it wasn’t just them. Mom was home and Grandma was sitting at the dining room table talking to Elise and Dallin.

“Are we going out or staying here?”

Mom looked over. “We’re going out. Some of us were just too excited to meet your guest to wait until we got to the restaurant.”

I looked at the table and the three guilty parties just smiled.

After we were seated, Beth and Finn arrived, looking excited. “We saw the baby!”

Finn squeezed her shoulders. “She didn’t even make it until we sat down.”

I leaned over to Liam. “They just announced they’re expecting a few weeks ago.”

Liam grinned. “They’re first?”

I nodded while watching the waiter try to get our attention. Poor guy. It was him versus a baby.

Luckily, Dad noticed and got everyone to stop talking long enough to place our orders.

The second he left the conversation continued.

Liam pulled his phone discretely from his pocket, stared at it for a second then shoved it back.

He looked up and smile. “Excuse me for a moment.”

My mom smiled at him but the conversation continued. Everyone was listening to Beth and Finn relive their first sonogram, so we were the only ones to notice his departure.

“I couldn’t tell the legs from the head, but the technician pointed everything out and so far, things look like they’re on track.” Finn was beaming at Beth and my heart swelled, just a bit more.