AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“It takes a lot of strength to break the cycles of abuse,” Carol added. “I give you and your mother all the credit in the world for doing that.”
“I didn’t do shit,” I said. “She’s the strong one.”
Neither woman argued with me, and I was thankful for that. But I was too busy staring down at the floor to know whether they wanted to.
“Can we be done for today?” I asked in a raw voice that I hardly recognized.
“I think that’s a good idea,” Carol answered. “I hope you’ll come back, Liam. My door will always be open to you. Both of you.”
Zoe stood, and as much as I didn’t want to look at her, I found my attention shifting to her face.
Her eyes were slightly red from the tears, and she was smiling softly at Carol.
When her gaze moved to mine, my legs threatened to buckle. I knew that if they did, I’d end up on my knees in front of her, my head pressed against her stomach and my arms around her.
No one in the world had ever looked at me like that.
The understanding in her face was more than I could handle, especially with the sharp buzz of vulnerability still hanging thick in the air.
But there was so much more buried there, things I couldn’t name and didn’t dare try to define. All the things I’d insulated myself from, if I was being honest.
Zoe would be able to gut me with the simplest of actions because I’d all but rolled over at her feet.
“Ready to go?” she asked.
No.
Yes.
I didn’t know anymore, but I nodded all the same.
The only thing I knew for sure was that there was no going back from this. And based on the look in her eyes as we loaded Mira into the car and started on our way home, the conversation that waited for us was about to get a whole lot bigger.
Chapter Twenty-Three
ZOE
The rest of the day seemed to conspire against us.
Not that any sort of meaningful conversation could happen with Mira running around in the same room. I had a client call me shortly after we returned home from the therapist’s office, prompting me to dig out my laptop so we could discuss how to categorize some of his spending.
Liam stayed with Mira in the playroom so I could have some quiet.
By the time I was finished, he’d received a call from his quarterback, Trey, about some last-minute drills. Training camp was just around the corner, he said by way of explanation. That meant extra eyes on them.
He changed into practice gear. His shirt bore a small Denver logo on the chest, and he wore a black hat turned backward on his head.
“Probably won’t be home until after dinner,” he said quietly.
As Mira hugged his legs, I smiled. “I’ll save you a plate.”
The line of Liam’s throat revealed a heavy swallow when he ruffled her hair. “I’ll be back soon, duck. Maybe you could practice your big-girl kicks in the pool with Zoe?”
But she buried her face into his thighs and shook her head vehemently.
I exhaled a soft laugh.
His gaze locked onto my mouth, then slowly lifted higher. “I’ll see you later, then.”
