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“Yes, ma’am.” His body freezes when my mother hugs him.
“Oh my gosh, this is such a pleasant surprise,” she gives him another quick hug. “For a minute there, I could have sworn I was hallucinating. It felt like I stepped into the past seeing you and Penny on the couch together like this.”
Liam’s body relaxes, and he smiles.
“I haven’t seen you since the hospital. Nor did I get to thank you properly for saving my daughter.” She gives him another hug, and this time, he returns it. “How are you?”
“I’m doing okay.”
“Good. And how is your mother, Sarah?”
“She’s doing great. I will let her know you asked after her.”
“Yes, tell her I said hello.” My mother walks back toward the door to pick up the bags from the store. Liam immediately rushes forward to help her.
“Thank you, Liam. Penny, I’ll have dinner ready in a little bit.”
“Okay, Mom.”
When Liam comes back, he lets out a big breath. I playfully narrow my eyes at him. “What’s with you? You looked nervous.”
“I was!” He agrees. “You know, I haven’t seen her in a while, and to have her just walk in caught me by surprise. I don’t know, I felt—” he pauses. “Never mind.”
I lean back on the couch and curl my legs under me. “Now that you mention it, I haven’t seen your mom in a while either. I rarely run into her, and after everything, I stopped visiting.”
“Why?” Liam’s eyes widen. “You and my mother used to be best of friends.”
“I know.” A sliver of sadness slinks up my spine for another relationship I lost after my breakup with Liam. Sarah O’Connell was like a second mother to me. After Liam and I broke up, I didn’t want to talk about what happened, so I stopped visiting her.
Liam and I fall into a comfortable silence, but my mind is loud with chaos—a catastrophic slideshow of past and present.
“Are you okay?”
I glance up to see Liam’s eyes on me, and for a second, my befuddled brain can’t think about anything.
“I’m fine,” I finally respond. “Just hungry.”
Liam gestures to the dining table where the donuts and cupcakes are. “You can eat something.”
“If I continue eating that, I’ll ruin my appetite for dinner. They’re so good, but not really healthy.”
“I feel you. I try to avoid it as much as possible, but I am rarely successful,” he chuckles. “I accuse Evelyn of putting crack in them.”
“You may be on to something. That would explain why I keep going back for more even when I swear to stop. Especially the doughnuts.”
“Don’t tell her we had this conversation,” he smirks. “She’ll never forgive me.”
I narrow my eyes, put my finger on my chin, and tilt my head. “I may have to hold on to this information for future use. You better make sure to behave yourself,” I tease.
Liam’s eyes turn serious, and the air around us shifts. “I’m always on my best behavior around you, Pen,” he says softly.
My mouth falls open, and a flush of heat runs up my body.
“Dinner is ready,” Mom calls from the kitchen. “Liam, will you be joining us for dinner?” She pops her head through the kitchen door. We both sit up straight and jump apart, like we’ve been caught doing something we weren’t supposed to.
Liam rushes to his feet. “I was actually just about to leave.” This catches me by surprise.
“Oh?” I raise my eyebrows at him.
