Liam made no move to take the ring back. Gripped by dismay, he stared at her, unable to believe that she was comparing him to some loser who’d used her shamelessly and broken her heart five years earlier.
“You’re overreacting.”
“Am I?” She crossed her arms over her chest. “When you proposed, you never told me you loved me.”
No, he hadn’t. He’d known he couldn’t live without her, but he’d been consumed with winning custody of Maggie and afraid that Hadley would receive a job offer in Houston that would cement her plans for the future. He hadn’t been thinking about romance or love when he’d proposed.
“That was wrong of me and I’m sorry. But I did tell you that I couldn’t imagine life without you.”
She shook her head. “You said you needed me in your life. That should’ve warned me that there was more motivating you than love.”
“What does it matter what motivated me when it all comes down to how much we want to be together and how committed we are to being a family?”
“I really want that,” she said, coming forward to set the engagement ring on the end table. “But I can’t be in a relationship with you and know that your reasons for being in it are based on something besides love.”
A lifetime of suppressed heartache at his mother’s abandonment kept Liam from speaking as Hadley reached past him and disengaged her cat from his snug nest. Waldo’s purring hadn’t ceased during their argument, and Liam felt a chill race across his skin at the loss of the cat’s warmth. It wasn’t until she began to leave the room that he realized his mistake.
“Don’t leave.” He pushed aside his laptop and pursued Hadley into the hallway. “Hadley, wait.”
She’d reached the entryway and slipped her coat off the hook. “I think it will be better if Waldo and I move back to my apartment. I’ll be back in the morning to take care of Maggie.” She didn’t point out that the new nanny was set to start work in four days, but Liam was all too aware that he was on the verge of losing her forever.
“Maybe you’re right and we moved too fast,” he said. “But don’t think for one second that I’ve changed my mind about wanting to spend the rest of my life with you.” He extended his hand to catch her arm and stop her from leaving, but she sidestepped him, the unresisting cat clutched to her chest.
“I think it would be better for both of us if we focused on our individual futures. I have to finish school. You have a custody case to win. Once things settle down we can reconnect and see how we feel.”
“If you think I’m going to agree to not see you for the next few months you’ve got it wrong.”
“Of course we’ll see each other.” But her words weren’t convincing. She set down the cat. Waldo stretched and wrapped himself around her legs while she donned her coat. Then, picking up her purse and the cat, Hadley opened the front door. “But I’m going to be crazy once classes start again, and you’ve got a couple hundred cattle set to give birth. Let’s give ourselves a couple weeks to see where we’re at.”
“You’re not going to be able to brush me off that easily,” he growled as she slipped through the front door and pulled it closed behind her, leaving him and Maggie alone in the enormous, echoing Victorian mansion.
Twelve
Hadley was still reeling from déjà vu as she let herself into her apartment and set Waldo on the floor. The silver tabby’s warmth had been a comfort as she’d sped through the early-evening darkness toward her tiny apartment.
How could she have been so stupid as to let herself get blinded by love a second time? So much for being five years older and wiser. She was obviously no less desperate; otherwise she wouldn’t have become Liam’s convenient solution the way she’d been Noah’s. Honestly, what had happened to her common sense?
With her emotions a chaotic mess, Hadley looked for something in her apartment to occupy her, but after straightening a few pillows, dusting and running the vacuum, she ran out of tasks. While water boiled for a cup of tea, she wished her classes had resumed. At least then she’d have a paper to write or a test to study for. Something to occupy her thoughts and keep her mind off Liam.
She could call Kori and pour her heart out. Hadley rejected the idea as soon as it occurred to her. She wasn’t ready to tell anyone that she’d screwed up again. The injury to her pride was still too fresh. Not to mention the damage to her confidence. As for the pain in her heart, Hadley could scarcely breathe as she considered all she’d lost tonight. Not just Liam, but Maggie as well.