Page 122 of Free to Fall

Feeling the weight of my brutality resting on my heart, I still know one thing. “I can’t live without Laura in my life. But I ... I need your help.”

Caleb studies me, his gaze unwavering. The tension in the room is palpable. I stammer, “I messed up, Caleb. I’ve been trying to apologize without realizing what I was trying to say I was sorry for.”

Keene snarls, “So, what? You want to have a clear conscience?”

“No, because I’m so in love, I’m falling apart without her,” I snap back. A hushed silence descends on the room. “I love Laura, Caleb. How do I fix what I broke when she’s not here?”

Caleb opens his mouth, but it’s Keene who injects, “Keep doing exactly what you’re doing, Liam. Fix yourself first.”

My head jerks to the side as a feeling of helplessness washes over me. Then, because I can’t hold the question back, I rasp, “Is she coming back?”

“Eventually.”

“Eventually isn’t a date I can plug into my calendar, but even if it’s years from now, I’ll still be waiting.”

Keene’s voice is like battery acid. “You’ve shattered my niece’s trust, Payne. You expect us to believe you had this epiphany—as good as Alice is—and suddenly we’re expected to believe you’re never going to hurt her again? You’re never going to take out your emotions about your ex on my niece?”

These men—my bosses, my friends—have every right to challenge my word. I outline the commitment I made to myself—not to seek Laura out until I resolved my issues with Bailey’s birth mother.

“And what about Bailey? How are you handling that?” Keene challenges.

“One day at a time.” My head hangs down between my shoulders. “As you might imagine, I’m not her favorite person right now.”

Caleb grunts at that. “You’ve caused a lot of pain, Liam. So did I. If I’d listened ...” His words hang in the air between us before he finishes. “She wanted me to tell you.”

“How long before?” I ask.

“Almost as soon as she started working for you, she asked if it was safe. I read Caleb’s notes,” Keene confirms.

Almost from the beginning. Another shaft of pain lances through me when I realize the accusations I hurled at her and how utterly wrong I was.

Caleb laughs bitterly. “I have no leg to stand on here, Liam. I owe you an apology as much as I owe my daughter one. She gave me an ultimatum.”

“When?”

“I had two days left when she went to her house. I was furious with her, thinking she would have endangered her life further because I worried Al would have given that information to Olivia Tiberi. That somehow, we’d have been protecting three of you instead of just her. Instead, we almost lost your little girl. I should have trusted you. That’s my cross to bear.” His expression is bleak.

“Two days and Laura would have told me herself. I fucked up because of forty-eight miserable hours.”

“You fucked up because you have issues,” Keene reminds me. Then he encompasses both of us in his next statement. “Both of you have a lot to make amends for. Keep working on it.”

With a brusque nod, I agree. Until I can apologize, I’ll carry the weight of my mistake as well as the determination to prove I’m not going anywhere.

To my employers.

To Laura’s family.

And especially to the woman I love.

Chapter

Sixty-Seven

“Daddy, did you find out from Mr. Caleb when Laura’s coming back?” Bailey asks as I tuck her in.

Dinner, a silent affair I’ve grappled with since Laura left our lives, is done and over with. Bailey has PT early in the morning. With luck, we’ll find out if she can move to crutches. Maybe that will give her something to be happy about, I think morosely as I shake my head.

Her lower lip quivers. “She won’t be here tomorrow for my appointment?”

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