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Chapter 6
Kennedy
I dug through my purse,looking for a stray Tums.I’d never needed them before, but I’d picked them up this morning to fight the random stomachaches I’d been getting the last twenty-four hours.
Was I suddenly allergic to dairy or wheat?Was something about Lyme disease still affecting me?Was it stress?I started my new job in a little over a week.I was at the same school, but my role would be different.The kids would know me even if I’d never worked with them in their classrooms before.
That must be it.The summer job and how critical it would be to getting a full-time spot.
Liam’s house loomed over me.He was in there.Waiting for me so he could go on a date.With Laney Granger.
Did she know I was watching his kids so she could go out with him?
Did it matter?
I got out, hitched my overnight bag over my shoulder, and went inside.Eli was racing a fire truck against Owen’s police car across the floor.Nimbly stepping over the imaginary racetrack after getting hugs from them, I went to the living room.I was deciding between sitting on the couch or hovering like this was my first time at the house when Liam emerged from the hallway.
My breath whooshed out.His jeans were nicer than what he usually wore.Expertly faded in all the right spots.His long-sleeved dark blue shirt hugged his body and made his shoulders look wider.He’d styled his hair so most of it was brushed off his forehead except for one stubborn lock.And he smelled good.Like sunshine breaking through a dark forest.
“Kenny.”His arms hung loosely at his sides, like he was facing a reckoning.“Thanks.You know.For coming.”
I forced a bright smile, like I had yesterday when he’d asked about tonight.“Of course.What are friends for?”
He was my friend, but that didn’t mean I was the only person in his life.I couldn’t be the girl he helped all the time while sacrificing his own dating life.
I also had to remind myself to breathe again.Air in.Air out.He just…looked really good.He’d been in a tux at my wedding as Derek’s best man, but other than joking that I’d done the impossible and gotten Liam into a tux, I hadn’t dwelled on it.
I was dwelling now.
Liam nodded.I nodded.
He went to run a hand through his hair and stopped.He dropped his arm.“You sure it’s okay that I don’t know how long I’ll be out?”
Neither of us mentioned Laney’s reputation after Derek had broken up with her.She’d chewed through guys, making sure she’d earned all the small-town gossip.I had no idea what she was like now.All I knew was that if I were on a date with Liam tonight, I wouldn’t want to be home by eleven.
“It’s fine.”I lifted my gym bag that had never seen the inside of a gym.“I’m prepared.”
“Okay.I’ll say good night to the boys.”His expression flickered, but before it settled on an emotion I could identify, he disappeared into the kitchen.
I stood in my spot as he gave the kids hugs and went out the door.I gazed out the window as he drove away.
Owen popped his head into the living room.“Can I have a snack?”
His question got me to move my legs.“Yes.Then you two can help me make muffins for breakfast.”
“You’re staying over again?”
Activity in the kitchen stopped and then Eli appeared next to Owen.“Is Dad going to Williston?”
It took me a moment to understand what he asked.“No.He’s…out.Didn’t he tell you?”
Owen shrugged.Liam could’ve told them twenty times, but they were five and hadn’t cared until now.
But an explanation didn’t easily come to my lips.“I said I wanted to stay over again.Your dad is going out with…a friend.”I winced, grateful for no other witnesses.
“Holden?”Owen asked.
“No,” I said grimly, wanting this discussion over.It wasn’t my place to talk to them about Liam’s dating life.“What do you have for snacks?”
