Page 15 of Love Under Review

“Use your finger to push one of the middle pieces,” Danielle said, whispering to Liam. They were so close to each other, her lips only inches from his.

Liam moved their hands closer to the tower, sticking out his pointer finger to test a few of the pieces. “I’ll push, and you pull it out,” he said, focusing on the block.

Danielle waited until he was done and guided their hands over the tower. It took a few moments to figure out how to grab the block with their hands tied together, but she was able to get it without pulling down any extra pieces. She went to place it on top, when Liam’s phone rang. He shifted to grab it, pulling their connected hands over the top of the tower and toppling the blocks to the table.

Liam’s expression flickered a wave of emotions, and he said, “I’m so sorry. I just need to get this.” He moved his left hand again, pulling Danielle with him.

“Let me help you with that.” Danielle worked her finger and thumb into the knot around their wrists, freeing them from the handkerchief.

“Thanks. Just give me a minute, and we’ll finish the games.” His eyes were more pleading that she was used to, but she brushed it off as he moved away.

“I think the two of you look good together.” Becca’s voice sounded like she was singing notes for a warm-up concert.

Danielle shook her head, walking back over to her uneaten sandwich. Maybe with time away from Liam, she could get her pulse to return to normal.

Chapter 9

Liam felt bad about losing the game, especially when he could see how much Danielle wanted to win. Playing the games with her had been fun, and he’d been able to read even more about her. She was highly competitive but had a sort of people-pleaser attitude about her.

He’d set up a certain ringtone for the hospital, and when it had sounded, he’d lost his focus, hoping nothing had gone wrong with his sister.

“Mr. Pearson, this is Dr. Grant over in Grand Junction. The radiation helped get rid of some of the cells, but we found a few more tumors in her leg. It’s not safe to do surgery again just yet, but we think it will be best to do another round of radiation to see if we can reduce their size.”

“Do it.”

“These tumors are usually resistant to this kind of treatment, but we can try—”

“We know. Just do it. My sister wants whatever time she can have with her daughter. If this will help her get better faster than waiting another several weeks or months for the tumors to grow, do it.”

Liam ran his hand over his face. He hung up the call, wishing they’d been able to tell him a date they could work toward for Kara’s release. Cari was doing okay, but it would be nice to have her mother back.

He looked back at the party where Colton and Becca were opening presents together. A dull ache formed in his chest, the feeling that had come more and more often over the past several weeks. The engaged couple had a bright future ahead of them. All Liam had wanted was to have someone at his side, but the chances of losing her were higher than he was comfortable with. After losing his parents, his brother-in-law, and possibly his sister, he wasn’t sure he could take any more heartbreak.

On that thought, his eyes turned to rest on Danielle, his curiosity triggering several alarm warnings in his mind. Was she worth the risk? His brain kept telling him he didn’t want to find out.

Chapter 10

Danielle wished she had wings to fly all over town on Friday as she was busy finalizing last-minute details for the wedding. They’d successfully convinced the wedding planner to have the wedding ceremony up near the reservoir above the town hall, and Danielle smiled as she remembered the look of dread on the woman’s face. She didn’t seem to be one for nature, and anytime they were outdoors, she would look around for birds, afraid they’d poop on her.

The bridal shower had been a huge success, and what Becca didn’t already have, there were gifts to cover it. The fact that Liam had left suddenly caused Danielle to wonder what had happened. There was still a lot to learn about him, but hours later, she could still feel the electricity in her hand from when they’d been tied together for the game.

Friday morning had been spent helping Colton and Tanner with the gazebo they’d put together up by the pond. The only large section of flat ground big enough to hold chairs for the guests was to the left and tucked up into the mountain a bit. But as the few decorations were set out and the gazebo decorated, Danielle grew excited for the wedding to take place. She just hoped all went well for Becca this time around.

“Do you think the weather will hold out?” a familiar deep voice asked behind her.

Danielle turned slowly, coming face to face with Liam. “We can only hope. What are you doing up here?” Danielle didn’t mean for the remark to sound so harsh, like she was shunning an outsider.

It seemed as though the comment just rolled off the man standing in front of her. “I closed the store a bit early. Thought I’d come up and see if the guys could use any more help.” He motioned to the gazebo. “That’s impressive. Sometimes I wish I had those kinds of craftsman-like skills.”

Danielle studied his face, the strong jaw and piercing blue eyes. A tingle zipped through her chest, and she shook it off, knowing it was best not to start down that road. The guy was handsome but irritating, and if she could just remember that, she’d leave this town in a few weeks without any more trouble than she’d arrived with.

But her curiosity got the better of her, and her journalistic persona emerged. “What brought you to Sage Creek?” She glanced at the long-sleeved fitted tee accentuating a trim figure. Runner, maybe?

Liam shifted his weight to his back foot and looked her in the eyes, those blue irises making it hard to look away. “I lived in New York for a few years and just needed a change of pace. My mother always had this dream to open up a bookstore, so my sister and I decided to do that here, in her memory.”

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t know.” A stab of guilt hit her chest. The loss of a parent had been hard for Danielle, and this piece of information drew her in, making her want to know more.

He shook his head and waved off the comment. “It’s been a while. Our parents were older when they got married and had the two of us, so it wasn’t completely out of the blue when they passed. My dad would be seventy-seven and my mother seventy-five now.”

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