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“Hello,” he tells me, as though we’re starting over. “I missed you.”
“I missed you,” I tell him honestly.
He slides his fingers through mine, taking the gift bag out of my other hand, and leads me up the stairs to the door. Eli lifts a brow at him and Myles looks at me and mouths, “You okay?”
And I know he’s asking me if I’m okay with this. With Liam outing us. I nod at Myles and he smiles. The next moment, Ava is putting Charlie into his arms and pulling me away from Liam, hugging me tight.
“You and I have a lot to talk about,” she tells me.
“I know. And I’m sorry.” I should have warned her about this.
“Don’t be. I’m just happy for you both. Come on in, I’ll get you a drink.” She slides her arm through mine.
The noise levels reach a high point as we walk inside. Liam’s brothers are teasing him, but he seems to be taking it in good humor. His dad is there, too, but his mom and Deandra along with Julia – his dad’s other ex-wife and his current one, who is carrying their little girl – walk ahead with Ava and I.
“Thank you so much for giving me the storm warning,” Linda says, sliding her arm through mine. The hallway is so large it can easily allow us to walk three abreast. “I would have panicked when I woke up this morning if I hadn’t already made contingency plans.”
“I just wish I could have chased the storm away,” I tell her.
“Ah well. Maybe next time.” She leads us into the kitchen, a huge room with windows that look out over the hills and lake. There’s a patio right outside, filled with tables and chairs, and a path that winds down the hill past beautiful flowering bushes and ornamental trees until it reaches the lake.
A pair of arms encircle me. I smile and lean my head back on Liam’s chest. “I’ll take you down to your cabin,” he tells me. “Help you get settled in.”
From the hard ridge pressing against my bottom I’m pretty sure that’s not all he has planned.
“Can you wait for ten minutes?” Linda asks. “Ria will be here with her girls. I’m putting Ariel in the cabin with Sophie, and Ria and Claire will share the last room in here.”
Liam stiffens, but not in a good way. “What?”
“You’ll like Ariel,” Linda says, ignoring his pissed tone. “Ria’s my oldest friend. Ariel and Claire are her daughters. They practically grew up with my boys.”
“Give them all Eli’s cabin,” he says to his mom, his voice louder this time. “Sophie can share with me.”
“That won’t work,” Linda tells him. “Linc and Brooks need to go in with you. Their cabin flooded this morning, didn’t they tell you?"
From the look on Liam’s face, I’m guessing they didn’t.
“It’s too short notice to get the plumber out. They’ll just bring some sleeping bags and hunker down on your floor for the night,” Linda continues. “Which leaves Ariel needing somewhere and there’s a spare room in Eli’s cabin.”
“Won’t Ariel want to be with Claire?” Deandra – Liam’s stepmom – asks.
“No, Claire needs solid electricity for her machine.” Linda glances at me. “She has sleep apnea so she and Ria will share the last room in here. But Ariel’s very much looking forward to meeting you, Sophie.”
I nod. “I’m looking forward to it, too. I’m just grateful you’ve found somewhere I can stay.”
“Well of course.” Linda smiles. “You’re part of the family now.”
Ava pours me a lemonade and drags me over to one of the tables on the deck. Myles is still holding Charlie and from the corner of my eye I can see Liam walk over and tickle Charlie’s chin. His expression still looks like thunder.
“Uhoh,” Ava says as soon as we’re out on the patio. “Somebody’s mad.”
Liam turns and looks at me, his gaze unwavering. I feel myself blush. “We haven’t seen each other for a couple of days,” I murmur.
“Oh, I remember those days. That was Myles and I when we came here for his dad and Julia’s vow renewal. There was so much sexual tension I thought I might explode.”
“Do you know Ariel?” I ask her. “This woman I’m sharing the cabin with?”
“No. I only know that Linda’s best friend is from London. They met when she was studying for a year in New York when they were both students. Her husband was a diplomat, I think, so they’ve lived all over the world.”
