Page 35 of Changing Tides

“She is,” Liam nods. “I was so worried…” He stifles a cough. “But we made it through.”

I’m speechless for a moment, thinking about the articles I read yesterday and feeling my heart tug. It takes everything in me not to reach out for Liam and hug him. I shake off the urge.Silly girl.“Does she have clothes in her diaper bag? I can get her dressed. Is there a stroller somewhere if I want to take her for a walk?”

“Yes…plenty of outfits to choose from in there.” He gestures to the bag. “The stroller is on my front porch. Do you need me to get it down for you?” He turns toward the door.

I shake my head. “No, no. It should be fine. We’ll be fine, don’t worry.” I start to usher him out the door.

“Okay, well, I’ll be back at about three-thirty,” he says. He kisses Lucy on the side of the head. “Bye, Lulu. Be a good girl.” Then he meets my gaze and gives me a smile that makes my stomach flip. “Bye, Sophie. Thanks again.” And he pulls the door shut.

I have to fan myself after that conversation. “Woo!” I say to Lucy. “Your uncle is like a Greek god.”

From the kitchen, I hear Ellie bark out a laugh, and my face immediately reddens.

“He is quite handsome, isn’t he?” She giggles as if she knows that I must be embarrassed.

“You weren’t supposed to hear that!” I laugh as I walk into the kitchen. I bypass Ellie and set Lucy on the floor in the living room with some toys and books. “Besides, you can’t blame a girl for looking.”

Ellie nods her head in agreement. “No, that is for damn sure. But Liam is…well, he’s not really a relationship guy.” She pours two cups of coffee and sets them down at the table for us.

“What do you mean? What about Melanie?” I ask, fixing my coffee with cream and sugar.

“Oh, they’ve just been friends for years.” Ellie waves her hand in dismissal.

“Oh. That’s definitely not what I thought.” I swallow the hope I feel in response to this revelation. “I thought for sure they’d have been together for years.” I just assumed because of the articles I read, but I can’t let on to Ellie that I Googled Liam.

This changes things.

“On and off for years, I suppose. But this time it’sreallyoff.” Ellie pulls out her chair and sits down. “Now, I have already said too much. What should we do with Lucy today?”

I want to laugh about how much Ellie knows but pretends she doesn’t. She seems like the lady you see in movies, always peering out her front window or listening to private conversations when people think they’re alone. She knows it all. She sees it all. She seems to be very proud of it too.

20

LIAM

Iwork for Danny for the rest of the week and agree to work next week too. It helps me to go somewhere every day instead of putzing around my workshop and visiting with Ellie. It also helps me to stay away from Sophie. Every time I see her, I am struck by her beauty. She has been ready and waiting for me each day at 7 a.m., and each day I wish I didn’t have to leave for work so I could spend a little more time with her.

The problem is, seeing her hold and bond with Lucy is tugging at my heart in an unfamiliar way. It’s funny how much time I spent keeping Melanie away from Lucy, but when I see her in Sophie’s arms, everything feels right. Then I start to imagine us as a little family, playing on the beach, walking around the town, eating ice cream. It’s a very dangerous game I am playing with myself.

Somehow my attraction to her grows each time I see her. Sophie takes great care with her appearance, but even if she didn’t, she’d still take my breath away. The spring sunshine is starting to give her a pink glow to her cheeks, with freckles dotting her nose. She looks much happier and healthier than she did just a few weeks ago when she arrived. Cape May agrees with her. And whatever lip balm she has on every day makes me unable to look directly at her because if I do, I’ll only be looking at her lush lips.

So, I am in a jam. I don’t trust myself to get involved with her. I also think she has her own shit going on and she doesn’t need me wrangling up her headspace. The best thing I can do is keep my distance.

Friday evening, I pick up Lucy and take her home for dinner. I have plans to check out a yoga class at a new place downtown tonight for my therapy homework, and I asked Ellie if she would watch Lucy over here for me so she could put her to bed. Ellie arrives at 6:30 p.m. leaving me thirty minutes to get there.

I don’t know what I was expecting with this yoga studio, but it’s essentially one room with big glass windows and enough space for about thirty people to practice yoga. I wasn’t aware thatanyonecould walk by and see me in the window looking like an inflexible fool, and I am already embarrassed. I try to keep Doc’s message in mind about cooling my stress levels and getting out of fight-or-flight. I decide the safest option is to pick a spot up near the front of the room where I am least likely to be spotted from the street.

I open the front door and a young blonde receptionist, no older than seventeen, smiles at me. “Hi! Did you pre-register for the 7 p.m. class?” She reminds me so much of Cara that I think if it were twenty years ago, it could’ve been her.

My jaw opens and then closes. “Shit. I mean…shoot. No, I’m sorry, I didn’t realize I had to.”

“Of course you didn’t.” I hear a voice behind me, and I turn around to see Sophie grinning at me, her pink yoga mat tucked under her arm. “I bet you don’t have your own mat either,” she teases.

My cheeks heat up and all I can think about is how ill-prepared I am for this class. I duck my chin and scratch my beard, suddenly feeling shy.

The teen behind the counter says, “Hold on! You’re in luck. I just had one cancellation. If you want to take the class, it’s a $17 drop-in rate.”

I was already nervous about yoga and knowing there were no spots left was enough for me to consider abandoning the mission. But Sophie is here, and she smells like cinnamon and vanilla, and she is giving me those doe eyes. I imagine she fully expects me to bail. Without a word I slap my credit card on the counter, not taking my gaze off Sophie, calling her unspoken bluff.

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