Page 98 of Rejected Heart

They could kick me out. Scream, sneer, throw things at me. Demand I leave and never come back.

That would be the worst-case scenario. And this was the Westwood family. Would I need to consider the worst-case scenario?

My palms felt sweaty, and I couldn’t stop swallowing.

It was insane that I was even feeling this way. I had just accomplished what I thought would be my biggest hurdle ever. I should have been able to let out a sigh of relief. To some degree, I guess I had.

Liam and I had taken the first steps toward reconciliation. I wasn’t so foolish to believe everything would be fine from this point forward, that we could just go back and pick up where we left off. But at least he was willing to give me a chance, to give us a chance,to fix things between us. I was going to do everything I could to make it right.

But even if I felt good about the direction things were heading between him and me, there was still a fair amount of concern I felt about his family.

And that was a strange phenomenon. Because I’d never felt anxious around the Westwoods, especially never in a setting like this.

“Wait. Wait. Something’s not right.”

Liam and I had been walking back from the lake to join his family at the house so we could celebrate his niece’s birthday with them. But at those words, he’d ground to a halt and turned to face me.

“What do you mean?”

His eyes roamed over my face, searching for something with questions in his gaze. “You’re tense. Unsettled. What’s going on?”

Of course, I was.

I shouldn’t have been surprised that Liam knew I was struggling with anything, only by having my hand in his as we walked along.

“This is your family,” I declared. “What if they hold a grudge? What if they hate me for how I left?”

It seemed crazy to even say those words to Liam, but I refused to lie to him about how I was feeling. I’d hidden far too much from him as it was. If I intended to fix what I’d broken between us, I couldn’t start by lying to him.

His features softened, and he took both of my hands in his. “That’s not going to happen.”

“It could. They have every reason to feel that way,and I honestly can’t say I’d blame them if that was the case.”

“They don’t hate you. And they aren’t going to hold a grudge. You’re here, and that’s all that’s going to matter.”

I desperately wanted to believe that was the truth. Liam wasn’t a liar, which gave me hope. But I couldn’t help fearing the worst. I didn’t deserve much grace from them after what I’d put him through.

“Do you think… Should I trust that Cooper meant what he said? Do you think he told the truth?”

A crease formed between his brows. “What did my brother say to you?”

I licked my lips, recalling that tense encounter with Cooper a week ago. “When he stopped in at the store to confront me and, ultimately, invite me to this party, he said that you, along with the rest of the family, would love to see me here, where I should have been all along. Was that true?”

Something washed over Liam’s expression. He seemed to go from being concerned to feeling relieved. And perhaps a touch appreciative. Clearly, he approved of what Cooper had said to me. He hesitated for half of a beat before he confirmed that was the case. “Yes. Without a doubt, I can confirm that’s the truth. I’ve always believed that you should have been here all along. It’s what I wanted, Layla. And my family wants me to be happy. If you being here now makes that happen, they’d never do anything to make you feel uncomfortable.”

“But do you think they’d want to?” I pressed, shifting nervously on my feet. “Is it possible they’ll harbor agrudge without acting on it? I know I screwed up, Liam, and as much as I know I need to work to prove to you how sorry I am, I’ll do anything for their forgiveness, too.”

He lifted our hands to his lips and kissed my knuckles. “This is my family.” My knees wobbled at the tenderness in his voice. “Jules invited you to Westwood’s the first day she saw you. And Cooper invited you here. While I won’t say that my family wasn’t upset about what happened between us, I can promise you, they’ve never spoken badly about you. Not once in all these years. If you feel it’s necessary, apologize to them. But trust me, Layla, you’ve got nothing to be worried about.”

Liam was right. I knew this family like they were my own, and they weren’t the kind of people who would do any of what I was fearing they might. The reality was that I likely felt far too much guilt for how I’d hurt all of them that I was fearing the worst because of it.

“Okay. You’re right. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

After squeezing my hands, Liam wrapped his arms around me and hugged me tightly. “Not that I expect they’d ever do anything like what you were imagining, but you’ve got to know how I feel about you. I think you know I’d never stand by and watch as anyone treated you poorly.”

With my arms wrapped firmly around his waist and my face against his chest, I inhaled deeply. Why had I ever walked away from this, from him? “I guess I know that’s true, but there’s this part of me that realizes I’d deserve it after what I did to hurt you.”

Liam drove his hand into my hair, tugged back, and urged me to look up at him. When his eyes were on mine, he said, “You need to forgive yourself, Layla. If there’s any hope of us making this work, you can’t continue to punish yourself or think you don’t deserve to be treated with respect. I know there’s a lot we need to work through, but that’s between you and me. And we’ll do it. It’s going to be hard. I realize that. Like I said, if you want to apologize to them, I don’t think they’d be upset about it. But beyond that, especially for today, we’re celebrating my favorite little girl in the world, and that’s all that today needs to be about.”

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