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“Don’t worry, I’m sure that it isn’t your mom.”
She doesn’t reply, but sits frozen up on the bed.
“Anyway. Long story short: Harriet is why I went to prison. I would have done anything she wanted me to do. And what she wanted me to do was rob and steal for her. So I did.”
Willow takes his hand and pulls it under her chin, dropping kisses across his knuckles.
“We got on the wrong side of some very bad people. Harriet set me up to keep herself out of trouble.”
Quiet stretches between them. Finally, he hears Willow say softly against his hand, “I’m sorry. Are you sure that it’s not my mom? It sounds just like her. But I’m not sure about her being much of a dancer. Then again, no one’s seen her for years, so who knows?”
He presses his lips into her sunshine hair. “It doesn’t matter. All I know is that you’ve got nothing to be sorry for. It’s done. I know Harriet never loved me. She only ever loved herself. And I survived.”
“I survived too,” Willow finally says, “But are you sure that it’s not my mom?”
He laughs, “You miss the point. I don’t care. I just need to find her and then…”
“What?”
“That’s the crazy part. I don’t even know what I want to do. I’ve spent so fucking long looking for her. I had it on my mind all those years I spent in the joint. But for the first time in a long time.”
“What?”
“I don’t even know what I’m going to do when I find her.”
Liam pulls his hand from Willow’s and rakes his fingers through her hair, smooth and gentle, over and over, lulling her into an easy relaxation.
“I was in Vegas, too. And I knew bad people.”
“I wouldn’t expect less from a city named for sin,” he says against her temple.
“Frank’s dad was the worst of the worst. All I wanted to do was sing and I thought working in a casino would help.”
“All casinos help with is emptying people’s pockets.”
“Yeah, I know now. He kept me locked up in his hotel, under his “protection”, he said. Which basically meant a guard on me at all times.”
Liam starts to get a gnawing sensation in the pit of his stomach as he listens to Willow tell him how her ex kept her locked up like a pet, only to be taken out when he wanted to show her off.
“When I found out I was pregnant I knew I had to run. He was violent and horrible and I didn’t want my kid growing up like that, no matter how much money he had. One night, he took all his men out for some reason and I slipped past the other casino security.”
Liam feels hot tears patter his arm but he doesn’t move to rub them away. He lets Willow cry on him, lets her feel the safety of his arms.
“I ran from Vegas, took the first bus I could find and changed buses in every city until I wound up in a little town in Montana. I found work in a diner and the old widower who owned the place took pity on me. Let me stay at his place. Called me his daughter. I didn’t want to go back home, because I was scared that he would find me. He’s such a cruel man that if he did find me, he’s the type that would make everyone pay. I didn’t stay there for long. I sometimes felt guilty about putting someone else’s life at stake.”
“One day I started noticing a big, black SUV with tinted windows cruising the main street. Even before I saw the Nevada tags I knew it was him, or his goons. I headed out the back door of the diner and hid until dark. Then I had a friend drive me three towns over and I got on a bus and headed for California. I figured, a bigger city might hide me better. I’ve bounced from San Diego to San Francisco and in between.”
“Cali’s a good place to be anonymous in,” he says to her.
“I know. We still move every six months or so. I can’t risk staying in one place too long. If I do, he’ll catch up. I know it. He’ll take Frank and he’ll…” her voice is rising, tinged with panic now.
“I don’t know what to do. Frank will need to start school in a year or two.
I’m always broke. How much longer can I run? And how far? I don’t know how far is far enough.”
“Hey, hey, shhh,” Liam murmurs as her chest heaves in a sob.
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be dumping this on you.”
