Jenna’s stomach was in knots. So much was riding on this visit—Bonnie’s future relationship with her grandparents, the custody suit, the healing of a family. And the vow she’d made to herself about leaving...
She heard Liam’s smooth, deep voice. “She’s in through here, in the living room with her nanny, Jenna Peters.”
Then Liam appeared through the archway, a tight smile on his face, followed by a middle-aged couple. The woman was carrying a teddy bear the size of a five-year-old child, and the man’s face was obscured by a bunch of about twenty helium balloons in an assortment of pastel colors.
“Bonnie,” the woman squealed as she rushed to the sofa. “Oh, my darling girl.”
Jenna looked to Liam for guidance on how he wanted to handle Rebecca’s mother, and in two strides he was beside her, lifting Bonnie from her lap.
“Would you like to hold her, Mrs. Clancy?” he asked.
“Desperately.” She thrust the bear at Jenna with barely a glance and took Bonnie into her arms. Meg gurgled her pleasure over the teddy, and Jenna positioned it on the sofa so Meg could climb on it.
“Oh, my sweet, sweet girl,” Mrs. Clancy said with tears in her voice. “If the world was fair, your mother would be with you.”
“I completely agree,” Liam said, his tone and expression somber.
The woman jerked her head up, narrowed eyes fixed on Liam. “If only you’d shown that sort of consideration to my daughter when she was alive.”
Liam bowed his head in a conciliatory gesture. “Mr. Clancy, Mrs. Clancy, I have to tell you I couldn’t be more sorry with the way things have worked out.”
Rebecca’s father harrumphed. “You’re only saying that because you want to convince us to drop the suit.”
“I would like you to do that, yes, but it doesn’t make what I’m saying any less true. I’ve recently realized,” his gaze flicked to Jenna, “that Rebecca and I probably had different perceptions of what our relationship was.”
Jenna’s heart swelled to bursting. He’d taken their conversation seriously and was doing his best to make amends. He was a good man. An honorable man.
“You toyed with her,” her mother spat at Liam. “It’s what you do with women.”
“Perhaps that’s a fair comment, but Rebecca and I were always open about the limits of our relationship.” He slid his hands into his pockets. “If I could go back and change things, I promise you, I would.”
Mrs. Clancy looked pointedly down at the baby she held. “And Bonnie?”
“I love Bonnie with everything inside me. More than I thought it was possible to love.” His eyes shone with genuine emotion. “She might have only been part of my life for a short time, but now she’s my everything. My reason for getting up in the morning and my reason for coming home early in the afternoon. The center of my world and all my plans for the future.”
Mr. Clancy scoffed. “I suppose this is what you’re planning to tell the judge. Someone else probably even wrote those words for you to say.” But Jenna could see they were softening, that Liam’s heartfelt words had hit their target.
Bonnie grew restless and Mrs. Clancy tried to soothe her, but Bonnie had obviously reached her limit of time spent with an unfamiliar person and started to cry. Mrs. Clancy turned to hand her to Jenna, but Liam stepped forward.
“I’ll take her.”
The room stilled. Even Meg, always sensitive to the moods of the adults around her, stopped playing and looked around. The only sound was Bonnie’s plaintive cries. The Clancys obviously hadn’t been expecting Liam to back up his words with action.
Liam reached over and took Bonnie, putting her up on his shoulder so she was close to his face. Then he began to croon “Edelweiss” very softly. The love in his voice and in his every move was unmistakable and Jenna couldn’t hold back the tear that had slipped down her cheek. Bonnie stopped crying and turned to see her father’s face.
Jenna drew in a long breath. She couldn’t deny it any longer. She loved him. Loved Liam Hawke with everything inside her.
She’d told herself not long ago that she wouldn’t let herself fall in love with him, but that had been a staggering case of denial. How could she avoid it? The love was so big, so strong, she couldn’t have outrun it. It simply was.
Not that he’d welcome her revelation. He’d been so exquisitely polite since the night they’d made love, she didn’t know whether she’d killed any feelings he’d had for her, or if he’d smothered them in his anger. Either way, he’d made it quite clear that they had no future.
She gave herself a mental shake. The focus right now needed to be on helping Bonnie’s family to come together.
Jenna looked at Rebecca’s parents to see how they were reacting to Liam soothing Bonnie. Mrs. Clancy’s jaw gaped, and her husband’s aggressive stance eased before he dropped into a chair, the balloon strings still protruding from his fist. Meg clambered backward down from the sofa and over to Liam, trying to crawl up his leg. With his free hand, Liam reached down and scooped Meg up, and the babies’ delight in seeing each other after an absence of minutes was clear in the noises they made.
Mr. Clancy cleared his throat. “Is there somewhere I can put these damn balloons?”
Katherine appeared in the archway, threw Jenna a wink and said, “I’m Mr. Hawke’s housekeeper. I’ll take them for you.”
He handed them over without making eye contact. Seemed the Clancys weren’t big on talking to underlings.
“Now, listen here, Hawke,” Mr. Clancy said. “I’m not promising anything, but if, and I say if, we dropped the suit, we’d have conditions.”
Liam didn’t look up from the two babies in his arms. “Such as?”
“Regular visiting rights,” Mrs. Clancy said.
“Input into decisions on her school,” Mr. Clancy added.
Mrs. Clancy folded her arms across her chest. “You wouldn’t move out of the area.”
“A say in all important decisions in her life,” Mr. Clancy said, pointing a finger to emphasize his demand.
Liam finally looked up, his gaze fixing on Mrs. Clancy before coming to rest on Mr. Clancy. “I will make all decisions about my daughter’s future on my own. That’s not negotiable. However, I’ll take your opinions seriously, and I’ll ensure you have access to her as often as is practical. A strong relationship with both sets of grandparents is a good thing for Bonnie.”
Jenna watched the interaction with her heart breaking. Liam looked so strong, refusing to be bullied or swayed, yet fair and kind in his conditions. Oh, yes, there was no doubt she loved this man. He was going to make everything perfect for his daughter, and all Bonnie’s family would be able to work together. This was exactly what Jenna had wanted for her little charge—a father with the skills to care for a baby and now a healthy, strong extended family.
But Jenna wouldn’t be around to be part of it. She wasn’t family.
She needed to go home, to see if she could salvage her own family bonds and give her parents a chance to know their granddaughter. She had no idea if that was even possible, but she had to try.
“Well,” Mrs. Clancy sniffed, “I’ll concede that it appears Bonnie is happy here. We’ll consider the situation and let you know our decision.”
“I appreciate that.” Liam nodded once, confident, considerate. “Would you like some time with her now?”
Mrs. Clancy nodded but didn’t rush to take her granddaughter, probably remembering that Bonnie had grown restless with her only minutes before. Catching Liam’s eye, Jenna retrieved a play mat from the corner of the room and spread it on the floor, then relieved Liam of Meg.
He laid Bonnie in the middle of the mat, then turned to Mrs. Clancy. “Bonnie likes it when you play with the hanging toys. Especially the ladybug.”
For half an hour the Clancys played on the floor with their granddaughter—occasionally whispering to each other—until Bonnie was ready for a nap. Jenna had already made her bottle and settled in on the sofa to feed her.
As they left, Mr. Clancy shook Liam’s hand. “We’re prepared to drop the custody suit, Hawke. But we expect you to follow through on your promise of regular access.”
“You have my word,” Liam said. “We’ll stay in touch.”
Once they were gone, Jenna turned to Liam and smiled, hoping to hide any hint of the realization that she loved him. “That went better than I expected.”
As he let out a long breath, Liam sank down on the sofa beside her and lifted Meg onto his lap. “Thanks to you.”
She shook her head. “You did all of that. I think you blew their socks off with your relationship with Bonnie.”
“I meant in making all of this possible. This visit would never have happened without you. You’ll always have my gratitude for that.” For the first time since she’d told him her true background, he looked at her with something other than the polite mask he wore for most of the world.
In that precious moment, she glimpsed the real Liam again, saw his heart in his eyes, and knew he was as affected by her as he’d always been. So she had her answer—she hadn’t killed whatever feelings he’d had for her. But then he severed the connection by glancing down at Meg. Clearly, he was unhappy about those feelings. Which was probably for the best. She needed to leave the States, and soon.