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He wasn’t wrong.
“I’m sorry,” I repeated. “I meant well. I thought I was saving you from a life you wouldn’t want, and if I’m completely honest, I was also saving myself the heartbreak I’d have experienced if you decided I wasn’t worth it.”
“I get it.” He sounded resigned but not angry. “You were young and overwhelmed, and couldn’t see a way out.”
“Yes,” I said, relieved he’d managed to sum up so many mixed emotions with one sentence. “I took the route I thought would be best for you and least complicated for me, but I was wrong.”
His hand landed on my knee, the warmth of his palm soaking through the fabric and defrosting my cold soul. I felt like I’d been numb for so long, and tingles of sensation were finally returning.
“This was years ago. What made you come back?”
“A friend of mine asked when I was last happy, and it got me thinking.” I was quiet for a moment, trying to determine how best to express the fact that while I’d had moments of happiness—some of which I’d never give up for anything—I hadn’t been content with myself since I’d been in Destiny Falls. “The last time I could remember being completely at peace, without worries dragging me down and without feeling like I had to play a part for someone else’s benefit, was when I was here. With you. So I came back.”
I was almost afraid to look at him. I’d opened up so much, and I wasn’t sure how he’d react. He’d been good so far, but I wasn’t used to making myself so vulnerable.
“Wow. That’s… wow.” He glanced at me. “You’ve had a crazy eleven years.”
“Yeah.”
“I’m amazed you seem to have come through everything so well.” He eyed me curiously. “So, how did the fame happen? I always figured that was part of the reason you stayed in L.A. That you must have secretly had dreams of making it in Hollywood but had never shared with me because you knew I wouldn’t have approved.”
I snorted. “Hardly. One of Malcolm’s former clients needed a last minute fill-in for a minor role in a movie he was filming. It wasn’t the kind of thing I’d ever thought of doing, but it paid well, and I was beginning to worry about how quickly we were going through my parent’s life insurance payout. It was nice to have the chance to earn some money of my own. It all spiraled from there, and somehow, I ended up going to fancy parties, wearing designer clothes, and starring in big films without ever having consciously made the decision to be an actress. Before I knew it, I’d set aside college funds for the kids, and I figured I may as well go with the flow, since everything seemed to be working out well enough.”
He shook his head. “It’s hard to imagine that happening when you always hear how difficult it is to have a career in the industry.”
I grimaced. Yeah, I knew how privileged I’d been, and that some people had it much harder. “It really is about who you know. I’m a decent actress because I spent a lot of my childhood around actors, but I became popular because I had the right connections and a reputation for being easy to work with.”
“You can’t say you didn’t enjoy the parties and premieres though,” he remarked.
I shot him a look. “There were definite upsides. I won’t deny it. But I never sought them out. I went out of obligation more than anything else. Production companies like their actors to be publicly visible. But getting back to the point—the kids are all grown, they have money to set themselves up, and I don’t have to play a part anymore. I can finally be myself again, and do what makes me happy.”
Liam gave a half-hearted laugh. “Strange to think you could effectively retire at age thirty.”
It was. I considered myself incredibly lucky to be in that position, and I wasn’t going to waste it.
“I feel so stupid for not seeing that there was more going on.” He squeezed my knee gently. “My girlfriend was going through a major crisis, and I missed it. I should have flown over there regardless of what you said, but instead, I let fear and a bruised ego get the better of me. We had something real, and I shouldn’t have let it go so easily.”
I pressed my lips together. The last thing I wanted was for him to beat himself up. That wouldn’t solve anything. Especially not when I couldn’t know how I’d have reacted if he did turn up on my doorstep in Bel Air.
“Do you think we could start fresh?” I asked, feeling the full force of more than a decade of longing build within me.
He met my eyes. Confusion roiled in the depths of his dark irises, but a lot of his bitterness seemed to have dissipated. “I’d like that.” He took a breath and turned to face me completely. “Will you get coffee with me before my shift tomorrow? It can be our official new beginning.”
My lips curled into a faint smile, and I let myself feel a little hopeful. “It’s a date.”
ChapterTwenty-Nine
LIAM
I waswrong about so many things, and now I’m not sure where to go from here. - unsent text message from Liam to Kennedy
I wasn’tsure of the proper etiquette for getting coffee with an ex who I’d spent years hating in a way that was apparently unfounded, and whom I maybe wanted to date again.Maybe. I wasn’t committing to that. With how mixed my feelings were, I wasn’t even sure I should have suggested coffee, but if I’d allowed a few more days to pass, we’d have been caught up in the New Year’s Eve rush, and I wouldn’t have had a free second. So while this wasn’t ideal, it was the best of the options available.
I pulled up outside Taste of Destiny, glancing around to see if Kennedy’s Outback was already parked nearby. When I didn’t see anything, I locked my Ute and headed in. This early in the day, the morning rush hadn’t yet begun, so I spotted Kennedy in the corner as soon as I entered. She was sitting on her own, reading the newspaper with a coffee at her elbow. I greeted Eden with a nod and made my way over to join Kennedy.
She looked up, and her features creased into a smile that looked as uncertain and hesitant as mine. “Hi.”
Butterflies fluttered in my stomach. I grimaced at the realization this felt like a first date.
