Page 13 of Reunion at Mistletoe Lodge
“No, Patrick, everything’s about to fall apart,” Liam seethed, trying to ignore the dull ache in his heart. “This wasn’t supposed to happen.”
“Maybe you need to put a bit more trust in those you love,” Patricksuggested.
Liam’s eyes met Patrick’s in the mirror before he looked back out at the city lights. “There are already too many people involved.”
“We’ll find out who tried to kill your brother and why,” Patrick assured him, his eyes flashing with resolve. “And you need to stop blaming yourself for his condition—it wasn’t your fault.”
“I should’ve been there,” Liam said, exhaling sharply. “What was my brother even doing in Denver?”
“Isn’t that why we’re here?” Patrick asked. “To try and piece together what happened.”
“According to Courtney,” Liam said, biting the side of his mouth in contemplation, “my brother made a secret trip to Denver. She found a receipt in his pocket for Mistletoe Lodge, where he’d checked out the day he was shot in Denver.” He blew out a breath. “Over the past ten months, while I’ve been managing the campaign for Montana’s Senate seat and this blasted investigation into why my brother was shot, we’ve checked everywhere else. Whatever my brother hid has to be either in Denver or atMistletoe Lodge. We’re even staying in the same chalet he was in at the lodge.”
“Who knew your brother was so good at hiding things?” Patrick snorted. “Maybe the two of you should’ve swapped jobs.”
“I wouldn’t want his job for the world,” Liam said, pulling a pained face. “I just want this to be over so we can all get back to our lives.”
Patrick glanced at Liam, his eyes filled with compassion. “But how normal will life be for you after this? You’re the one who’s made the biggest sacrifice to help your brother.”
Liam gave a tight smile, the dull ache in his chest intensifying. “He’s my brother. That’s what family does.”
“He’ll recover,” Patrick said reassuringly. “I’m sure of it.”
“The doctors agree with you. They reckon there’s no reason why his memory shouldn’t return,” Liampointed out. “Although one doctor hinted that my brother might not want to remember.”
“Makes you wonder what the heck happened that would make his mind shut down like that,” Patrick commented with a deep frown. “He remembers himself as Zac, an FBI Agent who’s in love with and engaged to Courtney.”
“Yeah, that is kind of weird.” Liam sighed, rubbing his temples, trying to ease the tension headache that was building. “And now Barb’s here. I wonder how that’s going to go down? There’s no way they won’t run into each other.”
“You’ll have to let Courtney know,” Patrick pointed out. “Especially now that Oscar’s here as well. He’s not going to understand what’s going on. I bet he’s already traumatized—Zac becoming his new father, then disappearing without a trace.”
"I will." Liam looked at his phone. "I'll call her as soon as we get to the hotel in Denver andlet her know."
"Don't forget to tell her about the new addition to Barb's family," Patrick stated. "That’s going to be an even more interesting dilemma, especially now that Barb’s filing for a divorce."
Liam frowned, his heart jolting. "Baby? Barb has a baby? Are you sure it's hers?"
"Well, she took the baby to the bungalow with her, and I might have followed along to snoop.” He gave a sheepish smile. “I overheard Heather telling Barb they’d installed baby gadgets in the bungalow, especially for her."
"Barb has a daughter?" Liam’s voice dropped as his heart hammered in his chest. "How old do you think the baby is?"
"I don’t know," Patrick shrugged. "About three months? The diapers were labeled three to four months."
"You saw the diapers?" Liam’s brows shot up. "Where were you hiding?"
"Close enough to see that." Patrick grinned.
If the baby was three months old, then it was definitely a Shields. Not that he had any doubt, but he wouldn’t have blamed Barb if she’d sought solace with someone else after seemingly being ghosted by her husband.
Liam took a deep breath. "So Barb has a baby, and I'm only finding this out now?"
"I think your contact has more explaining to do," Patrick commented.
"You’ve got that right!" Anger shot through Liam as another thought struck him. "I don’t even know the baby’s name."
“It’s Charlotte,” Patrick told him. “I heard Emily call the baby Charlotte.”
Liam gave a soft laugh. "That figures. Charlotte’s Web was Oscar’s favorite story." He cleared his throat. “It’s a beautiful name.”
