Page 56 of Persuading Liam

It’s time for the website to go live.

“Oh my God,” I freeze in his lap, moving to go check my laptop. I stop before I dismount. “Unless you wanted to say more?”

He chuckles. “Go check, you know you want to.”

I kiss him hard on the lips, spring from his lap, and dash to my laptop. With shaking fingers, I bring up the webpage and nearly collapse on the spot when it comes up all bright, shiny, and perfect. “It’s up,” I shout. “And working,” I add as I click through everything. “Check the mobile.”

“Already on it,” he tells me. He holds it up to show me. “Working perfectly.”

“Oh my God,” I freeze, half bent over my laptop, filled with joy, accomplishment, love, and a thousand other incredible emotions. “We did it.”

“Of course, you did,” Liam answers, pride dripping from his voice.

Happy tears start to slide down my cheeks when my phone rings.

“Fin,” Liam tells me, tossing my phone to me.

Instead of answering like an average human, I slide the call open and scream, “We did it!”

“We did it,” she shouts back, “Oh my God, we did it and it’s beautiful! I’m so proud of us.”

“I could not have done this without you, Fin. Thank you for having my back.”

She sniffles. “Thank you for letting me help, for letting me…” her sobs cut her off. “Grandad wants to talk to you,” she says and I hear her say ‘here’ in the background.

“Well, if it isn’t the brilliant Marley Green,” he chirps into the phone. “I knew you could do it. I knew you and Fin could bring this baby back to life. My dear, you don’t know what you did for this old heart of mine. I can’t wait to bring those printers back to life with your names on the top.”

I sob loudly, messily into the phone as Liam’s strong arms wrap around me from the back. “Thank you, Mr. Schuster, for trusting in me. For believing in me.”

“My dear, it has been my pleasure. Now hang up this phone and enjoy your day. We’ll talk more tomorrow.”

“Thank you,” I gush and when I hang up the phone, I feel it for the first time. That I’m where I need to be, where I’m going to stay, where I’m going to make my life, and as Liam turns me in his arms and kisses me, I know it came just in time.

EPILOGUE

MARLEY

“Fin,” I swat at her hand as she tries to dab lipstick on my lips before I dash out to have dinner with Liam. “I look fine. Stop it. I’m already going to be late.”

She scrunches her lips to the side as if she thinks differently. It’s been three months since the website launched and two since the printed paper hit the presses and it has been a whirlwind of success, more hard work, and more happiness than I could have ever imagined.

Liam is working hard in therapy and every day I see him become a little lighter, a little freer. He even lets the kitchen dishes sit until morning now without having to get up in the middle of the night to clean them. He still swiffers daily, but I’m learning to appreciate baby steps.

His love and this job have healed me in ways I didn’t know I needed. They have given me a purpose, a direction, and I did the last thing I thought I’d ever do—invited my mom to visit. I can’t wait for her to meet Liam when she arrives in a few weeks. I know she’ll love him as much as I do.

“Yes, you look fine,” Fin answers, “but don’t you ever want to liven things up?”

“My relationship with Liam is plenty lively.”

“Yes, so your face tells me every morning. Still. This is a big night, right?”

I scrunch my face. “Is it?” To my knowledge we’re just going to the Heartleaf, where we’ve eaten a dozen times before. “It’s just dinner, Fin.”

“But it’s yourthree-month anniversary,” she stresses as if that means something important. I don’t have the energy to argue with her, so I pucker my lips and let her artfully paint them.

She squeals at the result. “Perfect, now go have fun. I want a full report tomorrow.”

Shaking my head, I leave the Post and set out on the short walk to Heartleaf covered head-to-toe in winter gear. The snow crunches under my boots as I walk and the biting winter air cuts across my cheeks. Somehow, I love it. I love everything about this place—the people, the shops, the weather—even when it tries to kill me.

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