Page 63 of Constantine: Britain's Story: Part 2
“Well, then everyone could move to Spearhead. With the garage apartment, and the basement, I have enough rooms.” He says it so nonchalantly.
“No, you don’t. You have the garage apartment, and three guest bedrooms. Do you know how to count? Caroline, Elodie, Jess, me, Damian,” I use my fingers to demonstrate, “You’re one short.” He gets a smile on his face.
“No,” I say, shaking my head vehemently.
“How am I going to keep an eye on you at night if we’re not staying in the same room?”
“Liam, be realistic.” He just chuckles, then takes a sip of his coffee.
“I am being serious.” He sets down the coffee, scooting closer to me and taking my hand in his. “Last time this happened, I wasn’t here to take care of you. Just let me do this. I need theboth of you to be healthy, okay?” I stare at him a little while longer.
“What about Matthias?” I ask him, gauging his reaction. He flinches. It’s barely perceptible, but I see it. He leans back a little.
“Would you rather Matt move in with you?”No. Not even a little bit.I just shake my head, unable to verbally say it aloud. He nods in response. “Then it’s all worked out. I’ll stay with you at your house tonight, and then we’ll all move up to Spearhead tomorrow.”Uh, no.
“No, I thought you were going to come stay at my house.”
“Well, doesn’t it make more sense for you to come up, what with the girls working for Sandy and everything? And it’s summer, it’s the best time to be at the lake. And Damian can have his own apartment. Or Jess can. Plus, I can have Carly come cook all your favorites, and the girls can go over to Sandy and Jim’s whenever they want.” He’s making some very valid points. The most compelling one being Carly.
“And is Alex welcome over to your house?” I ask warily.
“Yep, he is my brother-in-law after all.” Liam shoots me a wink and I roll my eyes. I feel like somehow, Liam has just tricked me back into his arms…and his bed. But I meant what I said about trust: Consistent actions over a prolonged period.We’ll see how he does.
“Fine, on one condition…” He nods, pushing me on. “You have to convince all of them to move to your house.” I shoot him a smirk. Fat fucking chance that’s going to happen.
All he says is, “Done.” And flashes me back a smile. I get the feeling I’ve just been played. As in “it’s done,” the decision has already been made — before he even asked me, he asked them.
It’s 8:30 P.M. when Liam pulls his Range Rover into the roundabout in front of the hospital while I wait in a wheelchair on the sidewalk. It feels weird. Definitely like déjà vu. I try to push the uneasy feeling away, though, as Liam walks around to the passenger side of his car. He opens the door for me then waits with an outstretched arm like a valet.
When the nurse who wheeled me down passes me off to him, she says, “She’s all yours, now.”
Liam smiles and says, “Yep, she’s all mine.” I roll my eyes. We still have so much to talk about and figure out. As soon as he gets in and buckles up, I plan to make things crystal clear for him.
“None of this means we’re getting back together. We arenottogether, you know that, right?” He looks at me, just giving a sort of sad smile.
“I know.”
“Okay, good. And we still have a lot of stuff to talk about and figure out, least of which is our relationship.” He just nods. “I don’t even want it to be a discussion, Liam. I have so much going on right now.” I start to feel the stress. Jesus, how weirded out are the girls going to be if we move to Spearhead…with Liam. I know logistically it makes sense, and makes some things easier in regards to doctors appointments and having Liam around to help. But there’s no way they’re going to want to do that. I’m pretty sure they hate him. Jess, too.
Liam slides a hand over to my leg while he drives and…damn him. I hate how good it feels. I hate that I don’t make him move it. I just settle back in the seat and watch the hills flash by as we drive to my house.
When we pull up, it’s dark out, but I can see a couple figures outside, like they’re waiting for us. Elodie is practically bouncing up and down with excitement and I turn to look at Liam, who just gives me a sly smile.
“What’d you have to do?” I ask seriously. I swear, if he bought them cars, I’m going to lose my mind. Liam puts the car in park and I move to open my door, but he stops me.
“Bambi, really?” He gives me the side eye and I concede, sitting back while I wait for him to come open my door.
“Hi, girls!” I call out to them, and Elodie immediately rushes over to me.
“Mom! Are you okay? How are you feeling?” I laugh lightly at her over-eager questions.
“I’m alright, feeling so much better.”Just deathly exhausted, but I can barely finish because she’s talking again.
“Liam got us Taylor Swift tickets!!!” she squeals with barely contained delight. Caroline joins her sister. She’s smiling, but not quite as ecstatically.
Once Liam has his bag, he comes to stand next to me, putting his hand at the small of my back, rubbing the area gently. I try to hide how much the gesture makes me want to melt into a puddle, right here. I’m surprised when Caroline speaks next, directing it towards Liam.
“I just want to say thank you, Liam, for being there for my mom. And also for the tickets, and the hotel…and the Disneyland passes.”Ohh, he went all out. I look at him, looking bashful.
