Finding Forever(37)

She stood there staring at the empty hallway for a long while, but she couldn’t seem to move. Her knees had turned to rubber and she felt as if her spine had up and dissolved. And all that from a simple touch of Liam’s lips.

When her legs finally convinced her that they might be able to keep her upright, she staggered inside her room. But she had a restless night, tossing and turning and dreaming all sorts of erotic dreams for the entire time. In her fevered imagination, she and Liam were doing a hell of a lot more than kissing. Or a heaven of a lot more.

And when she awoke in the morning, she knew something had to happen. She just wasn’t sure what that something was.





Chapter Twenty


Liam, you can’t both court a woman and plan to use the law to take away the children she so obviously loves. Not at the same time, dang it. It just won’t work out for you. In fact, it could all blow up in your face.”

Liam gazed out the window as his father spoke to him. The man was right. But saving his brother’s children had been his entire focus from the moment he’d learned about them, and he just didn’t know how to get off that road he was on.

Liam wasn’t good at changing directions, especially not when he felt he was doing the right thing. Hell, wasn’t he always?

“Have you heard a word I’ve said? Are you listening to me at all?” Frederick asked.

“I’m listening, Father. I’m sorry. I’ve just been so …. so, hell, confused, I guess, is the right word. I think the children would benefit so much more by living here, but I do see how much Whitney loves them. I didn’t factor that into my plans — not even once,” Liam had to admit.

“Well, you should certainly factor it in now,” Frederick said. “Especially since it’s obvious that you have some sort of feelings for her.”

“I don’t know what I feel for her, Father. I just know that I’m a bit … I don’t know … infatuated with the woman.”

“That’s a start,” Frederick said, and he sounded disgustingly satisfied.

“Don’t get any ideas, father. I think I just like the fact that she’s different from most of the women I date. She’s … spontaneous, loving, nurturing. I don’t know. Those things that my mother never was.”

Liam was almost shocked when those words came from his mouth. He and Frederick didn’t speak of his mother, not ever. She didn’t deserve to be spoken of, not after taking her own life. For so long, he’d blamed his father for her death, but after losing his brother, he’d come to realize how wrong that was.

If she’d hated the marriage so much, she should have divorced his father, not killed herself to escape. And something greater, something more dire must have been going on inside her. Suicide was a drastic act, after all, so maybe she’d been struggling with drug abuse or mental illness. She’d certainly been cold as a mother, and that wasn’t normal, was it? Anyway, she’d still been his mom. He’d still loved her, and he supposed that he still did love her.

“It was your mother’s choice to do what she did, son. I felt completely responsible for a very long time. I wasn’t a good husband and I wasn’t a good father. It’s not surprising that your brother hated me enough to leave, and though you stayed, you’ve been bitter and angry for as long as I remember. Still, I’m seeing changes in you — significant changes — since the children and Whitney have arrived.”

“Perhaps you have,” Liam said. “Okay, yes, I’ve had to examine who I was and who I want to be. I’m not saying I disliked the way I was, but I’m just realizing I wasn’t always the most pleasant company.”

His father was silent for several moments and then shocked his son when he began snorting and guffawing. Liam gave him a withering stare while he waited for his father’s merriment to pass. He was trying to open up here — it’s not as if it was easy for him — and the man was laughing. Where did he get off?

“I’m sorry, son, but I remember feeling and acting just the way you are right now. I was so pompous, so vain. I believed the world revolved around me. That sort of existence can be a very lonely one.”

“I’ve never been lonely. I have companionship whenever I want,” Liam informed him haughtily.

“There’s a difference between having a crowd of greedy strangers around you and being with a few loved ones. I’ll take the latter any day of the week,” Frederick said. “Meeting my beautiful grandchildren finally brought that home to me. I’d never understood that before.”