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We stood back and stared at the setup.Simple.Understated.Like Liam.He kept the pickup backed up to the booth and left the tailgate down.Other booths did the same, only the canvas overhang and walls hid the vehicles.We had a table and the iPad Liam set up for transactions.
“This is it,” he murmured.
Engines buzzed around the park.We were on the opposite side from the playground where Liam and I had talked about us.
Us.
When we’d talked, I didn’t think about him leaving.All I could think about was not losing him.But his plans to move hadn’t changed.What did that mean for us?Was there enough of an us for him to stay?For me to leave?
Familiar panic clawed into my throat.The same as when I’d realized that if I couldn’t afford the house, I’d have to move.That old house was my first real home.Mom had moved us around fairly regularly and Coal Haven was the first place to feel like home.
Bruce and Willow were like a second set of parents.Just as smothering and overbearing, but they loved me.If Evander was home, maybe the guilt of leaving them wouldn’t weigh so heavily.But I was getting ahead of myself.Liam and I had time to figure us out.
The first customers arrived.A teacher from the high school and his wife.She worked in another town.For the next two hours, shoppers wandered through, several stopping to admire Liam’s work.Several people recognized Liam.A few knew his story.A few others gave his booth a wide berth as if they feared their livelihoods depended on it.If they worked at the gasification plant, then they probably did.
Charlotte Garcia stopped and discussed a custom job with Liam.She had several horseshoes that had been her dad’s and she didn’t want to throw them out.Liam discussed a few options, and they settled on a firepit.I had no idea how he got a firepit out of horseshoes, but she was thrilled, and because of her reaction, I was thrilled.
By ten minutes before close he’d sold the barstool set, both end tables he’d painted, and had an additional custom order to make before he left to go to Williston again.
Liam scanned his notes.“These will take some time.Good thing I decided not to finish fixing up the house.If Bruce wants it, he can deal with a new porch.”
In this case, I sided with Liam.He lit up a lot more when he welded for fun and sold his work than when he thought of selling his childhood home.
Eli and Owen played in the back of the pickup, throwing large bouncy balls onto the lawn to see who could throw the farthest and who had the biggest bounce on the grass.Customers were dwindling as the last ten minutes ticked away.
Liam was chatting to the soy candle couple next to us when I heard a man say, “You two need to knock it off before you hurt someone.”
Liam’s conversation cut off, and we both spun to find the source.
A tall man in a black suit with cowboy boots I hadn’t seen since Derek’s funeral glowered at the boys.Eli’s face was scrunched up like he was figuring out why they were in trouble, and Owen’s eyes were wide and fixed on the translucent blue ball in the man’s hands.
Cameron Barron.
His hard amber eyes landed on Liam.His lip curled like an automatic response, but his gaze swept the market, probably afraid his wife, Naomi, would witness him breathing the same air as Liam.
I was afraid Naomi was close.That woman was toxic.
“William.I should’ve known they were yours.”Cameron’s mouth changed from a sneer to a flat line.He had this thing about calling Liam by his full name.Derek had once asked Liam why and Liam had recited Cameron’s exact words.It’s the name your mother put on your birth certificate.Insinuating he didn’t agree about Liam’s full name, especially his last name, and he’d had no say.
Liam took a few steps away from the pickup and lowered his voice so the boys wouldn’t hear.“Yeah, you should’ve, but we all know why you don’t.What did they supposedly do now?”
Cameron tossed the ball to Liam.“They were throwing this at people.”
“Nuh-uh,” Eli said.“He just walked by.It hit his boots.”The lisp made Cameron wince.If Eli wasn’t in the bed of the pickup, I’d put a protective arm around him.
“He should’ve seen me,” Cameron said succinctly.“And he shouldn’t have thrown the ball.”
“It was Owen,” Eli countered.
Cameron didn’t look at him.“Perhaps you should be teaching your kids how to take responsibility for their mistakes.”
Liam lifted a brow.“Pretty lofty standards for a guy who could never do it.”
His father’s face flushed.“You and your—” His hostile gaze slid toward me.Animosity drained and his eyes widened.“Kennedy?”
“Hi.”I stuffed my hands into the back pockets of my shorts as if I could pretend this was a nice normal night and my worst fear of what would happen wasn’t occurring this very minute.
The sneer returned and was aimed at Liam.“I heard you were using her for free childcare.”
