AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Just a few days ago, he was confident she would have continued to push back against his offer. Politeness and stubbornness seemed to go hand in hand sometimes. He could understand where she was coming from. While her roommate might scoff at the very idea of it, most people wanted to be sure they weren’t bothering others when help was offered.
It was a clear sign that they werebecoming closer as friends, seeing how Anna no longer worried quite as much as she might have just a night or two ago.
“Good morning, Liam,” Tess soon said, glancing up from the couch as he and Anna entered the room.
Nothing. Not anywhere on her beautiful person did she let slip that things had drastically changed between them. A pleasant smile warmed his heart, but it was no different from the thousands of others she’d graced him with. The only thing he noticed, though she’d made this change well before he’d returned home from college, were the silver, presumably fleece-lined, leggings she’d changed her lighter, more summer-appropriate pair out for during his time away.
Hoping he could accomplish the same level of normalcy, he answered with, “Hi, good morning.”
“Did you dissuade Anna from trying to walk all the way through the neighborhood tomorrow?” the gorgeous woman asked.
“Afraid not,” he said, shaking his head. “I actually offered to walk her there if she does decide to go.”
“Hmm.” Pursing her lips briefly, Tess looked between them. “I suppose that’s better than the alternative of you going alone, Anna. I won’t make any more fuss if you let Liam walk with you.”
With that solved, the next few hours went by without much excitement. Television, small talk, and plans to head out to the igloo for a late lunch. It was the kind of day any three people might spend together. You know, just a relaxing day snowed in, sitting on the couch between a woman he was pretending to date and a woman he was secretly in love with and now amorously involved with.
Yeah. A normal day.
Eventually, enough stomachs growled, and they decided it was time to draw up their lunch plans, and the three of them began completing them. Tess worked on cutting up some persimmons in her fridge, Anna handled the hot chocolate, and he plated some simple ham sandwiches.
Once Tess added the fruit to the plates, they each gathered a plate and a piping hot cup, and out they went. Forging into the snow, he set his food and drink down, then crawled inside the igloo. Afterward, he stuck himself back halfway through the entrance, accepting everyone’s plates and cups. Only once he’d set them all down did the two beautiful women join him. With sunlight beating upon the pale walls surrounding them, they no longer needed any extra lighting to see.
Before long, their body heat had warmed its interior enough that their jackets ended up sitting beside them. Lounging and eating and chatting, another pleasant hour passed them by.
It came to an end because of a simple phone call.
Anna had set her phone down beside her after catching a text from Avril a little while ago, which had confirmed their plans for her pickup tomorrow morning. It sat on the towel between him and Anna, and when it buzzed, his gaze instinctively shifted toward it.
Father.
To begin with, the fact that she’d listed her dad’s contact information as “Father” was telling enough, but the way in which Anna’s expression wilted spoke volumes. Her merriment vanished so abruptly that it stole some of the heat from the igloo. For two rings, Anna just stared at it.
“Excuse me,” she said, picking up her phone as if it were covered in razor-sharp thorns. “I’m going to step out and take this.”
The act of “stepping out” required more crawling than anything, which belabored Anna’s departure enough that she had to answer while still getting up to her feet outside the entrance. Liam knew he shouldn’t have eavesdropped, but his ears perked up all the same.
“Hello,” he heard through the ice, followed by a brief pause. “I’m sorry, I was with some—I answered as quickly as I was able to. Yes. I know. I—yes… yes.”
At that point, she’d moved far enough away that Liam could no longer make out what Anna was saying. The last he heard was the subtle sound of Tess’s sliding door as it opened and closed.
Yet, with just the few words he had overhead, the way in which Anna’s voice had quieted, grown more docile with each response to the voice on the other end, he knew for a fact that he would never get along with Arnold Royce.
His sentiment was plainly shared in the visage of the woman sitting across from him in the igloo.
“Detestable man,” Tess muttered under her breath.
“Is that how it always is between them?” he couldn’t help but ask.
Vitriol coursed through Tess’s response. “Yes. I’ve met Arnold a few times, and it gets no better in public. I’ve never met a man as openly devoid of tenderness and affection for his child. Most horrible parents at least try and hide it, but not him. Arnold Royce is a pall upon his daughter. If Trent is a pest, Arnold is a full-blown pestilence. Regardless of the fallout, if she were to find a way to unshackle herself from him, I have no doubts she’d be far happier in the long run.”
Liam glanced toward the igloo’s entrance, and silence followed. Eventually, he returned his gaze to Tess, who remained visibly distressed over what had just occurred.
“I promise I’ll keep doing everything I can to help her out. Whatever she thinks I can do to help, I will.”
A smile relaxed some of the tension brewing within the beautiful brunette. “Thank you, Liam, truly. The more people around her who truly care for her, the better. It’s certainly an uphill battle, but I know your help will matter. Until today, the only other person her age I think I’d seen her be this relaxed around is Avril. Even if it doesn’t evolve into romance, I hope you two will become good friends.”
“I think it will,” he assured her. “I want it to, at the very least.”
