Page 67 of This Heart
Liam took the seat my mother had vacated on the outdoor sofa. We remained quiet for a few moments, both of us simply staring out at the lake. What was he thinking? Why wasn’t he saying anything? Should I go first? What should I say? Oh hey, Liam, I’m not trying to replace your dead wife, but at the same time, I would love to roll around in a bed with you.
I closed my eyes and pushed that image away. The heat of my cheeks caused me to place my palms over my cheeks.
“I need you to know I didn’t tell Kim about that day. She read it in my journal.”
Turning, I stared at him. “She read it in your journal?”
He nodded. “And what I wrote was not what she said to you. It was more of an admission as to why I said what I said.”
Confused, I shook my head. “I don’t know what you mean.”
Liam drew in a deep breath and exhaled. “I did write about how Hope had become jealous of you in the end, and that she had complained to me that you were trying to replace her.”
“Lia—”
He held up a hand. “I know you weren’t doing that, Aurora. You don’t have to defend yourself once again. We both agreed to leave it in the past.”
“Why didn’t you tell me at the coffee shop that she had read it?”
“I didn’t work it out in my head at the time. I couldn’t believe what she was saying when she mentioned it on the phone the day I called her about the stuffed animal. She claimed I drank too much and had confided in her.”
My eyes went wide. “You knew she knew, yet you didn’t tell me anything? You let her blindside me at the bookshop, Liam.”
He closed his eyes and exhaled. “I know. I didn’t want to believe that I would have done that. I mean, I knew deep in my heart I didn’t tell her, I just couldn’t figure out how in the hell she knew. Plus, that day I had decided to let her go, I just needed a couple of days to work it all out. I never dreamed she would go straight to you and lie. About everything.”
I turned my head away from him and looked out over the horizon. “How did you find out how she found out?”
“At the coffee shop, when you said that Kim said we slept together that night I told her. I knew that was a load of shit because I fell asleep on the sofa that night and woke fully clothed.”
I turned away. “That’s none of my business, Liam.”
“It is, Aurora. Kim tried to drag you into something because she wanted to rekindle something with me, and she lied to push you away.”
“Why would she want to push me away?” I asked, then instantly regretted my question. If everyone else around me could see I had feelings for Liam, Kim probably had as well.
“Because she read about my feelings for you and she wanted you out of the picture,” he said in an almost whisper.
“Wait! Your feelings for me? Do you mean our friendship?”
Liam simply stared at me, but didn’t answer my question. It was a stupid question. Of course he meant our friendship.
My head was swimming. Kim had been jealous of our friendship.
“I’m sorry, please go on,” I softly said.
Liam opened his mouth then quickly shut it. He closed his eyes and let out a long breath before he spoke again.
“Anyway, I remembered that Hope had bought this doll that she set on Winnie’s bookshelf. It was a nanny cam. She bought it to use on top of the baby monitor for whatever reason. I didn’t question a lot of what Hope did.”
Glancing at him, I frowned. Why did his voice sound so…cold?
“I asked Declan to watch the video with me.”
“Why?” I asked, genuinely confused by that.
Liam shrugged and let out a soft laugh. “I don’t know. No, that’s a lie, I do know. A part of me was worried I might see something…well…I just thought it would be a good idea to have someone else watch it with me. The fact that Declan is a cop was a plus.”
Afraid to ask but needing to know, I asked. “What did you find out?”
