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Liam waited to respond, and when he did my eyes burned.
“Honestly, she may still choose you. She’s not technically with me right now, but you should know if she does choose you that she will always be mine. I love her. I’m in love with her. She’s our missing piece. So, if she chooses you, or anyone else…I’ll fight it. With everything I’ve got, I’ll fight it, but in the end, I’ll respect her choice. Just know, she comes with three little girls.”
How could Liam honestly think that I would ever move on from him? I was angry, but I loved him. He was mine too.
I wasn’t moving on. The notion that he’d accept it, and still be willing to allow me to have the girls, made something inside of me turn to mush. It was unrecognizable, as if all the reasons that had seemed so substantial and insurmountable just looked like mashed-up nothingness that was keeping us apart as effectively as a puddle on the ground.
Why weren’t we just stepping over it?
I didn’t hear the way their conversation ended, and it wasn’t until Jeffery drove off that I realized Liam was moving back toward the garage. I hustled inside, not ready for him to see me crying again. I had a little pride I was still clinging to.
It wasn’t until later that evening when the sky looked like a bottle of merlot had been spilled across it, that I wandered out front to see what had kept Liam so busy all day.
The scent hit me first.
I inhaled deeply as the tart and sweet fragrance rolled over my taste buds, taking me back to the first time I had smelled my favorite scent in that garden, on my thirteenth birthday.
Then I saw the color.
There was a burst of purple to my left, as fresh lilac bushes converged all along the base of the house and around the corner to the fence that bordered the backyard.
Damn him.
I was going to cry again. I needed to see it from the street. I walked to the curb of the sidewalk and choked on a tiny sob. Lilac crawled up the stone wall, nearly touching our bedroom window and then crossed over the arch, and back down. Our home wasencasedin lilac.
It had to have cost him a fortune to buy, and how did he find a plant this mature? Did that mean he was keeping the investment money? My heart skipped a tiny beat as I wandered inside, needing to see him.
* * *
I foundLiam out on the back patio, under the pergola. He already had a beautiful set of patio furniture out here, but I added a string of outdoor lights and a table that had a space for a gas fire. Liam nursed a bottle of ginger beer in front of the flames.
I wrapped the thin blanket I’d grabbed around me and curled into one of the loungers, facing him. The night was breezy, but warm. The gas fireplace flickered as the scent of lilac hung in the air. He’d planted a lilac tree in the back, too. He was sunburned and looked like he was about to fall asleep.
“You’ve been busy today,” I said, gesturing behind me toward the tree.
His slow smile was felt down in my toes.
“It’s my favorite scent.”
I tipped my head back and caught sight of the stars through the glowing lights.
“That’s it?”
His gray eyes caught on mine with that smirk in place.
“No, that’s not it. I love you. That’s it.”
Keep it together, heart.
I had to change topics.
“You kept the investment?”
He nodded, clenching his jaw. “Yeah, but I added a requirement with my lawyer.”
He did what?
“I thought you liked the offer.”
