“I think what pains me the most about my brother’s death,” Liam said,” is that we had become so disconnected. I often thought about him through the years, but my stubbornness and anger over what had happened prevented me from looking for him. Since learning he’s gone … that we won’t have a chance to make it better, I’ve felt as if there’s a wound that just won’t heal.”
Oddly enough, she found herself sympathizing with this man. But who was she to comfort him? He had tons of people in his life to do that. She had no real connection with him, and in the future she’d have even less. They might see each other once in a while, but his interest was in the children, not in her — not really.
“He was happy, truly happy. You can take comfort in that.”
“It’s a little bittersweet. I’m glad he found happiness, but disheartened that he had to get away from us to do it.”
“I wouldn’t think about it that way, Liam. We all leave the nest at some point.”
This topic of conversation was obviously too much for him — he took a long breath and then plastered a false smile on his lips before replying.
“Enough of this sadness. I think I mentioned that I had you investigated,” he said. Was that a hint of shame in his tone? It wasn’t possible.
“And did I come out poorly?” Should she have even asked?
“You’ve had a rough life. Losing your parents a decade ago must have been difficult.”
“Wow, you really do your research,” she said with a sigh. She should be more offended, but this was how the wealthy operated. It did her no good to fight it.
“Yes, it was hard, but my sister was married to your brother at that time. Newlyweds, actually. They didn’t hesitate, though, to take me in with them. The day I moved in was, to use your word, a bittersweet day for my sister. We’d just lost our parents, and she’d found out she was pregnant with Brayden. I think that pregnancy was the only thing that kept my head above water. Just that prospect of new life in our family. I missed my parents so much, but because of your brother and my sister, I at least wasn’t alone. I’m hoping I can give Brayden and Ally the same feeling, but a lot of the time I feel like I’m failing so badly. My sister was perfect. Yes, she married very young, but she was perfect.”
“I think you’ve done the best job you could possibly do in your circumstances,” he told her.
She was so lost in memories of her sister, she continued speaking of the past, not picking up the subtle distinction of his words. The sentence would certainly come back to haunt her later that night.
“I lived with them until I went off to college. It’s probably the reason we were so close, and the reason I loved Vince so much. He was so good to my sister, and then me, and of course, to the children. We were a small family, but a very happy one.”
“Your strength of character is one of the things I find so attractive about you, Whitney.”
“Again, you barely know me. You can’t determine from a piece of paper whether I have a backbone,” she said with a laugh.
“I can determine it by what you’ve accomplished.”
She turned to look at his profile as she shook her head.
“Yes, I’ve accomplished so much,” she said with sarcasm. “I finished my bachelor’s in mathematics, but didn’t get to complete my master’s or the education courses that would allow me to teach high school classes. I’ve been working in crappy customer service jobs since I was sixteen. I rented a small studio apartment until my sister’s house was willed to me, and I can fit all of my possessions into one room. On top of that, I don’t know how to heal the children’s pain. There are days when failure is the only thing I know.”
Stupid, stupid, stupid! Why was she telling him all of this? Did she want to give him more reasons to take the children from her? Of course not. But sometimes it was so damned difficult to hold it all in, to stand strong.
Liam stopped and turned her toward him. He rubbed his hands up and down on the outside of her jacket as he looked into her eyes.
“We’re allowed to pity ourselves once in a while,” he told her. “As long as you don’t let it consume you. Focus on your strengths, and you’ll find that you’ve done a lot more than you realized.”
“I don’t understand you, Liam. I really don’t. What does any of this matter to you, anyway?”
“I like you. I told you that,” he said as if it were the simplest thing in the world. “And I want to know that you’ll be okay.”
“Well, I’m not interested in getting into a relationship with you. It’s far too complicated, and I won’t be around long anyway.”