Page 24 of Crushing On Dad's Best Friend
“Anna,” I say, shaking my head, “I don’t know what todo.”
“Yes, you do. Regret is something you’ll live with for the rest of your life. Every relationship has some drama eventually. Do you really want to throw away this man because you think it might be too tough? Picture yourself in five years. Hell, picture yourself infiftyyears. Picture yourself getting married. Picture yourself having kids. Picture yourself with grandkids and Christmases. Who is there with you? It is Liam? And if you think that’s a stupid way of thinking, if you think it’s impossible to predict the future, to that I would say I agree with you. But what do yousee?Can you see it beinghim?”
I wipe away the tears rolling down mycheeks.
“How do you know I don’t want the easyroad?”
“From the way you stood up for Liam last night,” she says. “You could have backed down and covered up the fact that you were sneaking around all weekend. You could have denied everything and honestly, Dad probably would have believed you. You could have swept this all under the rug, but you didn’t. You spoke up when it mattered. I think you should remember that. I think you’re capable of more than youthink.”
“Do you know if he’s still around?” I ask. “Did he leaveyet?”
“Nah,” she says, “he’s here. I drove past his cabin this morning, spoke to him for a few minutes. He said he’d be there all day. Something about buying a bed, buying a kitchen table? Something about lamps? I don’t know. He’s aweirdo.”
I huff out a big laugh through mytears.
“Anna, I think I’ve made a bigmistake.”
“Nah, you haven’t. You’ve just made a medium mistake. Go get your man. Do you want me to turn the cararound?”
“No,” I say, grabbing my purse. “I’m going to walk. No. I’m going torun.”
“I’m popping the trunk right now, lady. But wait. Before yougo.”
She leans into the backseat and grabs her overnight bag, unzips it and pulls out the pair of fluffy white socks I gave her onFriday.
“Here,” she says, “you take these. I ended up not needingthem.”
“Thank you,” I say, throwing my arms around her. I feel a chill go down my spine and goosebumps plump over myskin.
I run to the trunk and start to grab my suitcase, but I decide to leave it behind. I close the trunk, put the socks into my purse, and start off for Liam’shouse.
It doesn’t take me long to get there, and when I do, I march up to his front door, raise my fist, andknock.
The door swings open almost immediately, and I throw myself into Liam’sarms.
“I’m sorry,” I say as a grab his face, kiss his lips, wrap my arms around him. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I wasstupid.”
“No you weren’t. Don’t be sorry,” he whispers against my lips. I can taste the tears rolling down my cheeks as he kisses them away. “I would have waited forever foryou.”
“That’s notpractical.”
“Okay, fine. I called your dad this morning and asked if I could come over and visit you guys onWednesday.”
“So you would have waited a few days for me,notforever?”
“I can’t just stand around forever, waiting for the woman I love to come to hersenses.”
I wrap my arms around him so tight that he’s going to need a crowbar to pry me off ofhim.
“I don’t think I would have been okay with making you wait anothersecond.”
“Stay the summer with me,” Liam says against my lips. I feel my lips curl into an ecstatic smile. “I can work from out here, we can go into the city a couple days a week. I want you with me, Katherine, wherever Iam.”
“Really?”
“Yes,really.”
He grabs my hand, pulls me close to his chest, and kicks the door closed behind him. I kick and yelp and he throws me onto the sofa, puts his body over mine, slides his hand through my hair, and crushes his lips tomine.
I’m still a damsel after all of this. An unmarried woman. And maybe I’m still a little bit in distress, too. Distressed by how crazy I am for Liam. Distressed by how excited I am for a future with him, no matter what life throws our way. Scared, yes, but who wouldn’t be? All that matters right now is that even if it rains, and even if it wasn’t supposed to, I know Liam will be right there next tome.
