AllFreeNovel
Share Us
28
CERYS
Liam’s placeis less than an hour’s drive from the airport, out of the city and along winding roads overlooking the brightness of the painted blue sky and azure ocean. Already Wales is a lifetime away. Ella’s excited chattering slows and I look over my shoulder at the sleeping princess. Finally.
“You have no idea how happy I am you’re here,” says Liam, taking my hand and kissing my fingers as he drives.
I don’t want to let go of the warm hand encompassing mine and place our hands on my lap. “Thank you.”
“What for? This is pure selfishness on my part. I want you here, simple.”
I laugh softly and he squeezes my knee.
My knowledge of mansions comes from reality TV shows and American soaps. Behind electric gates and a barrier of pink frangipani and palm trees, a gravelled driveway heads away. A white building emerges as Liam drives through. The place has a Mediterranean feel to the architecture with a white façade and ornate pillars.
I climb out of the air-conditioned BMW, hit by the humid heat, and stare at the dream in front of me. On the journey over, Liam informed me his house is small by local standards, but five of the house I live in would fit inside this one that sprawls half the length of my street back in Cardiff.
Liam appears next to me holding a sleeping Ella. “You look as tired as her, come on.”
In a speechless daze, I follow him through glazed double entrance doors into the marble-floored hallway.
Liam strides through the high-ceilinged rooms towards the back of the house. “Come and see the view.”
Windows reach from the wood-panelled ceiling to the tiled floor and spread the length of the room, leading to a balcony. Expansive lawns perfectly tended, to the point they look like carpet, stretch to the edge of the cliffs, and a pathway cuts through towards the white sandy shore below.
“Private beach,” he grins.
“Wow,” is all I can manage.
The low whirr of ceiling fans circle cool air and the scent of nearby jasmine through the room. I sink onto the sumptuous grey cushions on the day bed and gaze out of the window.
Liam sets Ella next to me. “She’s heavier than she was at Christmas.”
“Christmas. That feels like five years ago, not seven months.”
“I wish you’d come back with me then.” He sits and pulls my legs onto his lap, rubbing my calves. “We could’ve avoided so much crap.”
“Everything happens for a reason,” I say. “Even the bad.”
“I want to keep you protected from anymore bad, Cerys. Starting with lots of good while you’re here.”
“Including Disneyland.”
He rolls his eyes. “Including Disneyland.”
“I suggest you buy a season ticket,” I say with a smile.
“I think I have a lot to learn about parenting, huh?” Liam rubs his cheek and looks at the snoozing Ella.
Then I see something. Liam’s fantasy is here too—his fantasy of me, him, and Ella all together and living an easy life. His clear love for Ella comes naturally from his huge heart and his easy empathy with people around him, along with his childish nature. At the back of my mind, a worry niggles. If this doesn’t work out, I won’t be the only girl left with a broken heart.
* * *
LIAM
Oh,crap, did I do the right thing?
I have trouble reading women sometimes but Cerys’s pink face and tight mouth are unmistakable as she studies the young woman in front of her. Emily sits on a white chair on the patio, long, tanned legs crossed, brown hair pulled back into a ponytail.
