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“Are you hungry?” He asks, sitting cross-legged in front of me. “Or should we—?”
I don’t hesitate to respond. “I’m starving.”
“That’s my girl,” he chuckles, and my heart skips at how easily he uttered those words. But Liam, occupied with grabbing the food from the cooler, is oblivious to my reaction. My mouth falls open as Liam lays out different meals he brought on the mat. There are pancakes, omelets, breakfast sausage, and fruits.
“You remembered!”
“That you’re a sucker for breakfast foods?” He grins at me, and my heart beats a bit faster. “Of course. As much as I want to impress you and say I cooked it, I didn’t. Evie helped me.”
Tex runs up and sticks his head in the cooler, and we both laugh. Liam asks him to lie down and then gives him a piece of sausage. He fills a bowl with water for him.
I glance at him and feel the tug that is ever present between us consume me.
“It’s perfect. Evie’s perfect, and you’re perfect.” I reach down to pluck a grape from its cluster, but not before I catch the gleam in Liam’s eyes at my words. I bite into the grape and close my eyes as the sweetness hits my tongue. When I open my eyes, I find him looking at me with a crooked grin. I feel heat creep up my face.
“Shall we eat?” Liam winks at me.
“Yes, please.” My laugh rings out, echoing around us.
We eat in a comfortable silence until Liam asks, “How did you become a librarian?”
“Hmm.” I pluck another grape and slide it into my mouth. “It was Andrew.”
“Really?”
“I was confused about what to do for a while, and I couldn’t seem to find anything that I actually enjoyed doing. Andy spoke to the library manager, and they said they had a job available. I interviewed, and the rest is history. I really love it.”
“That’s great, Penny,” Liam says, his face downturned and fiddling with his food. “I’m glad that you found something you love.”
Out of nowhere I am filled with an overwhelming feeling of regret, and a need to apologize.
“Liam?”
“Hmm?” He looks up at me, his eyes soft.
“I’m so sorry.” I push past the lump in my throat.
“For what?” His eyebrows pull together, and his head tilts.
“I’m so sorry that when you needed me the most, I wasn’t there for you.”
Liam lowers his head, but not before I see the flash of hurt in his eyes. I reach for his hand and entwine our fingers.
“I should never have broken up with you over your decision to join the Army. I was so very wrong.”
“No,” he says with a slow shake of his head. “You made the right decision for you, and I understand why you did it.”
There’s a hurt in his eyes and my chest tightens. Tex pushes himself into Liam’s side.
“Maybe, but I regret it so very much. I was selfish.” Liam silently pets Tex. “Not a day goes by that I don’t regret that decision. If I could go back and do it differently, I would.”
Liam continues to pet Tex mindlessly, but I see his eyes soften as he looks at me. I continue.
“My biggest fear was that something would happen to you, just like my father. I couldn’t get past the fear that engulfed me.”
“Penny…”
“But,” I interrupt him. “It felt like you died anyway when I let you walk away…”
