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“When my parents divorced, neither one of them put their children first. Jasper became our surrogate parent and he did right by us. When Boone became an adult, he took all of us under his wing. He helped me foot the bill for medical school. He played the role of surrogate father. Neither of my parents were the warm and fuzzy type. And the truth is, they have both kept a far distance from us. It hasn’t been easy for any of us, but Honor had it the worst since she’s the youngest.”
“I’m sorry,” Ruby whispered. “It’s unfathomable to me that parents would act like that.”
“It is what it is,” Liam said with a sigh. “All the Prescott siblings have had to come to terms with it the best we can. I think when they divorced they both decided they wanted to be footloose and fancy free. No real attachments or responsibilities.”
“For the life of me I can’t imagine that,” Ruby murmured.
“When we got married I stressed the part about sticking it out because I came from the opposite of that. More than anything, I believe in honoring the commitments we make in this life...to each other and Aidan and our faith.” In a strange way Liam felt as if he had just laid his heart down on the table for Ruby to dissect. He had told her in a nutshell his belief system and what mattered to him most of all. As a man who tended to go inward, it was a huge deal for him.
“Thank you for telling me about Gareth. I see why it was so tense the day he was here. I can’t blame you for questioning his showing up here unannounced after he’d pretty much bailed out of your life.”
“I appreciate your listening. As the saying goes, we can’t pick our parents. On the flip side, it made me want to be everything I could be in Aidan’s world because I never had it.”
“And you are,” Ruby said with a smile. “Watching the two of you together is such a joyful experience. You’ve done such a great job raising him.”
“Being his father has been such a gift,” Liam said, his voice breaking a little. When God had blessed him with the gift of fatherhood, it had been the greatest day of his life. He had never taken the responsibility lightly. And he never would.
Ruby bit her lip and ducked her head. She seemed to be having a moment of shyness. “I know things have been tense between us, but I wanted you to know that I had some flashes of you, in addition to the ones involving Rufus. Something opened up in me that day when Gareth visited. I remember the two of us being on a mountain and sledding down a hill. You were laughing and teasing me. You threw a snowball at me and it hit me right on the nose.”
Raw emotion rose inside Liam. He remembered that day, as well. It had been one of the best days of his life. “We were out at Deer Lake. That afternoon you told me that you were expecting Aidan.” He let out a ragged sigh. “Not many things in this life can ever compare to that moment.”
“We were happy, weren’t we?” she asked.
“Yes, we were, Ruby. I’d never call us perfect, but we sure had a great life. We laughed and we loved and we worked hard to build a life for ourselves.”
And it had been truly wonderful. He wasn’t exaggerating. They had been best friends. Co-parents. Two people who had been committed to living out their lives together with their son. Difficult times had come, but he’d never thought for a single moment those times had defined them.
A hint of a smile played around her lips. She twirled a strand of her hair around her finger. “That feels reassuring to me to hear you say that. It fills in the gaps.”
“I’m going to call Honor and see if she can watch Aidan tomorrow night.” Liam threw the comment out casually.
She frowned at him. “Why do you need a sitter?”
The idea had been percolating for a while now, but he knew this would be the perfect time to put his plan in motion. So far he hadn’t been able to spend much quality time around Ruby without Aidan being present. And although he loved his son dearly, he wanted “alone time” with his wife. They needed it.
“Because I want to take you out on a date tomorrow night, Ruby. A good, old-fashioned date. How do you feel about that?”
* * *
A date with her husband? After all the tension between them, it was the last thing she had expected to hear Liam say. How did she feel about it? Excited. Nervous. It was thrilling. But she wanted to try to keep her cool and not act too giddy about it.
“That sounds nice,” she had answered with a smile.
“Good. Tomorrow night at seven o’clock. Dinner.”
Now, almost twenty-four hours later, she was doing her very best to make herself look date-worthy. With Liam’s help, she had moved a lot of her personal items, including clothes, into the guest bedroom, so she was able to look through her wardrobe for an outfit to wear.
After narrowing her choice to three outfits, she settled on a burgundy wool dress that was flattering to her figure and stylish. She experimented with her hair, using the curling iron to create long, loose waves. Dangling earrings gave the ensemble a little pizazz. Having never mastered the art of makeup in the last two years, Ruby decided to stick with a mauve shade of lipstick and some mascara. She studied herself with a critical eye.
Yes, indeed. She sure cleaned up well. Hopefully, Liam would agree.
She smoothed her hand over her stomach. Butterflies were flip-flopping around inside, a direct result of her sudden case of jitters. This date was everything to her. It was an opportunity to test the waters with Liam, to see if these feelings brewing between them could serve as a foundation for the future. To know whether there was truly a place for her in this wonderful Alaskan community.
There was no need to be a bundle of nerves. This was Liam. She knew him. He wasn’t just some stranger who had popped up in her life. She had strong, joyful memories of him. Each day more moments from the past were coming back to her.
And even if she hadn’t recovered a few memories of her husband, he’d showed her in the here and now that he was a wonderful, kindhearted man. A giving man. Wasn’t that the most important thing of all?
A few times she had answered the landline and spoken to patients seeking out Dr. Liam Prescott. Ruby didn’t know of any doctors who regularly gave out their home phone number for emergencies. Each and every time, Liam had taken the call and spoken to the caller with compassion and warmth.
