Page 48 of Joy to Noel
Freezing in place, I’m confident there’s a very guilty look on my face when Liam whirls around to face me, turning his phone screen away. Although, shielding the video screen doesn’t mute the voices.
Older female voice—“Who’s Madison?”
Young female voice—“Wait, I want to talk to her! Madison, this is Hana, Liam’s sister!”
British male voice—“Who is Madison?”
Liam stands as he yells, “I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
Meow. Hamlet yowls with disapproval at me as he comes slinking around the couch. He gives a disdainful scowl in my direction before trotting off to Liam’s room.
Liam,for his part, gives me an equally disdainful, narrow-eyed look as he crosses his arms. Which has the opposite effect of intimidating me, considering how attractive he looks in his baby blue dress shirt with rolled-up sleeves and two open buttons.
I’m too busy talking myself out of being attracted to scowling Liam to be intimidated by him.
“Pursuing a career in espionage, are we?” Liam asks.
Raising my chin, I say, “Exhausting all my vocation options, I suppose. Looks like I could hack it as a spy, if required.”
“You know, most people consider it rude to eavesdrop on private conversations,” he states.
I give him an annoyed look. “Yeah, well, most people don’t have to eavesdrop to learn basic information about their friends. What’s the family meeting about? Is something wrong?”
“Everything will be fine,” Liam says.
Cocking my head, I observe, “That’s an evasive non-answer.”
“Well, I was never planning to fill you in on thisprivatefamily conversation, so evasive is what you get,” Liam says. I continue glaring until he sighs and adds, “My grandmother will be undergoing a medical procedure next week. It’s nothing too serious, and she should be just fine. My uncle—my father’s older brother—lives close to them and is handling everything. But my sister is living with my grandparents in London while she’s doing her postgraduate study, so she was calling to fill us in and suggest my dad fly over to visit soon. That’s the story.”
I process this sparse information that told me more about Liam’s family than I’ve learned in the past months of knowing him. “Why wouldn’t you just tell me that? You get all huffy about me eavesdropping, but most people don’t have to spy on their friends to find out that something big is happening in their family. Most people don’t have to hear from third parties about the embezzlement schemes that their roommates have been uncovering at work.”
A muscle ticks in Liam’s jaw. “Talked with Beau, did you?”
“He said it’s public information now that charges have been filed,” I say, not wanting to get Beau in trouble. The town would never forgive me if I was somehow responsible for getting him fired.
“He’s correct. We shared the information with all of the employees today. They deserved to know why things had been running so poorly and to understand why operating procedures are changing,” Liam says matter-of-factly.
I grit my teeth to prevent my chin from trembling. “But you didn’t deem it worthwhile to fill me in on everything you’ve been doing? You’ve had the inside scoop to everything I’ve been working on since we met—since we started egging each other on about work—but I don’t get a single sliver of information from you?”
Liam’s face is impassive. “I didn’t think you’d care that much. It’s not like your life or future are directly tied to Pure Fur All in any way.”
“Friends tell each other things like this. Friends tell each other about their families—friends don’t have to walk in on a family video call to find out their younger sister lives in London.Youare the one who said in your note that I’m your friend,” I say, heat building in my chest. “Friends share personal information to get to know each other.”
Liam shrugs. His voice is cool when he says, “Well, I don’t.”
“Why?” I ask. “Why do you hold everything about your life so close to the chest? I opened up and told you about my childhood and why I didn’t want to go back to my family farm. It wouldn’t kill you to reciprocate even the tiniest bit.”
Deep down, I know his refusal to open up to me as a friend only hurts this much because I might want to bemorethan friends with Liam. But I keep that knowledge shoved down where the light of admission doesn’t shine.
We stand off in silence. Only Hamlet’smeowsfrom the bedroom pierce the quiet.
I sense the heightened pounding in my chest, the quiver of adrenaline in my fingers.
Taking a few steps closer to where Liam stands—arms still folded across his chest—I raise my chin. “You know, I’m usually the one who winds up being too abrasive for people. I get told I’m too direct, too honest, too blunt. So coming fromme, you should really consider this. You’re crossing the line. You’re very,veryfar over into ‘jerk territory.’”
His nostrils flare, but otherwise, he gives no response.
Pivoting on my heel, I walk to my room. “I hope your grandma’s procedure goes well,” I call out without turning back.
