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There it was. His “Oh, Avril” moment. Just like Tess had experienced when he and Victoria had been transporting presents.
Even though it wasn’t a question, Anna still affirmed his statement with a nod. Honestly, based on his earlier conversation with her troublemaking roommate, he should have expected this outcome.
“She insisted that everyone was dressing up for this. She’d even laid out her own dress on her bed asproofthat she was being honest. I… fell for it, and when we emerged from our rooms a little later, she was dressed like she is now.”
“And I’m guessing that she then insisted that there wasn’t any time for you to change, or else you’d be late?”
“That is what she did,” Anna confirmed, sighing. “So, here I am, completely overdressed.”
Liam silently commiserated with her troubles, which they knew wouldn’t end anytime soon. Thinking momentarily about the best possible reply, he decided to stick to his guns and complete the mission that Avril had laid out for him.
“Well, I won’t thank her for tricking you into wearing something you didn’t want to wear, but I did mean what I said about how nice you look. So, I do get to benefit from one of Avril’s schemes, though probably not this one.” He lifted the hammer sitting in front of him.
The softspoken, beautiful heiress’s next blush was several magnitudes less than its predecessor, like the aftershocks of the original earthquake. However, that meant that he could focus on another part of her. As traces of elation glimmered in her eyes, Liam smiled. It quickly found a friend on the face of one of the loveliest women he knew.
The sound of the front door opening heralded an end to their time alone, but Avril’s response reached his ears a few seconds before Avril’s return.
“Thank you, Liam. I’m very happy you like it.”
Tess and Victoria timed their returns a few moments before Avril reappeared, clearly interested in what the troublemaking senior had just lugged inside.
Lugged indeed,Liam thought, planting a palm on his face as Avril grunted with exertion as she reentered the living room.
“Avril, what in the world are you doing with that?” Tess asked, sighing on behalf of the entire room.
“Not getting any help from my best friend, that’s what,” she complained while hauling an unwrapped object into the room. The shivering wracking her body probably didn’t help matters, either.
“I told you several times that I wouldn’t help you carry that in,” Anna retorted, the only one among them who’d known what had been sitting in the back of Avril’s car for the past couple of hours.
“And I doubt she’s likely to help you carry itout,” Tess said, pointing back the way Avril had come. “I don’t know what you think is going to happen here, but it’s not happening in my house.”
What Avril believed was about to happen was as obvious as the gift she’d first placed before him. She’d given him a hammer. Now, lugging in an entire cinder block, it became plain as day what she wanted him to use it for.
To everyone save for the maverick herself, it was understandable why Tess wouldn’t want Avril’s scheme to be completed in her home.
“Oh, come on. It’s not like it's glass or anything. It’ll be easy to clean up. Just throw a towel down.”
“Absolutely not, and don’t you even think about setting that down,” Tess ordered, detecting the beginning of Avril’s motion to place it on her rug.
“Don’t be an Annabelle,” the redhead complained, arms quivering slightly due to the fatigue of carrying the forty-pound object for a prolonged time. It might weigh even more than that, Liam judged, letting Tess and Avril talk while he examined it.
Its shape and coloration were typical for what it was, but it had a couple of oddities. For one, it was completely solid, lacking the standard two or three holes most had, which would undoubtedly have reduced its weight considerably. The second oddity, which was much more intriguing, was the fissures marring its slate gray body.
Intentionally put there, I bet,Liam mused. Although he and his older brother weren’t particularly close, Charlie’s love of all things Asian culture had seeped across the ocean a few times. This, Liam realized, reminded him of a Japanese art style, kintsugi, where a piece of pottery would be broken and then repaired in such a way, often with gold or silver powder, that the cracks remained visible.
He heavily doubted that this was explicitly what Avril was alluding to with the fractures all over the cinder block’s body, but he thought that he’d figured out enough of her scheme to throw his voice into the fray.
“I think it’ll be okay, Tess,” he said, drawing all eyes to him. “It won’t make much of a mess if we put a towel down.”
Tess’s brow remained knit together as she looked between him and Avril. Eventually, she focused on the block. It didn’t take long for her to reach his conclusion, or at least understand why he’d thrown his support behind Avril’s goal.
Sighing loudly, Tess began departing the room just after having returned to it. “I’ll get a beach towel. But thisallgets cleaned up. I don’t want to step on a tiny piece of cement a week from now.”
“Please, hurry,” Avril grunted, arms shaking more frantically, though she looked pleased that things were back on schedule.
Tess continued departing the room at a very natural speed.
“Want me to hold that?” Liam asked, offering a morsel of kindness to the beautiful redhead.
