Page 57 of A Forgotten Mistake

He hesitates before his head snaps around like it’s finally dawned on him. When his eyes settle on Davey, I make a break for the car.

“Let’s go.”

Liam makes some “Hmmm” noise while his eyes remain fixated on the neighbor. It’s like they’re prepared to have a stare-off until one of them breaks.

“Liam, let’s go.”

He holds up a finger. “But Liam’s not done with his stare-off.”

“Liam!”

He’s prepared to stay here all day and night at this point. I’m confident if I left for work and came back this evening, neither of them would have moved… or one of them would have stopped breathing, and I’m all too confident that Liam would win that fight.

“Darling,” I choke out. “Get in the car,darling.”

That snaps his attention to me and he’s all smiles when he hurries over to get into the car with me. “What was that?”

“I said, ‘Liam, get your ass in the car.’”

“No, no… I heard the D word.”

“Dick?”

“Close enough. I close on the house tomorrow, and then it’s all yours… mine. Definitely mine, not yours. Say something… catastrophic happens to your house… like a natural disaster, you know… where would you go? Would you move into the phenomenally large home with everything you’ve ever wanted or…”

“Probably stay with my sister or mom and you could babysit Lucille again,” I tease. I mean… he really shouldn’t give me such a fun reaction every time if he didn’t want me harassing him.

“What if…”

“You’re not destroying my parents’ and sister’s houses,” I warn him.

“But there’s a little lawnmower shed out back they could cuddle in. I’ll even put a little heater in there for them because I am quite kind.”

“Absolutely not.”

“Sometimes, I feel like you’re picky for no reason at all,” he says with a sigh.

“Do you? Am I?”

Liam just gives me a delightful smile, like that’ll solve everything. It just makes me shake my head and question where it all went wrong.

“I think I want to have a housewarming party,” he says as he heads toward the hospital.

I raise an eyebrow, instantly alarmed by this declaration. “You… do? But don’t you hate people?”

“I want your parents to see the nice home I’ve supplied for you. Are arranged marriages still a thing?”

“You think my mom will join your side?” Why do I feel like she very much would? “Why don’t you have her move in with you if you’re so lonely? I bet Matthew would.”

“The only reason Matthew would be invited into my home is if he was delivering us breakfast in bed.”

“That’s not awkward at all,” I say.

“I’d also allow him to enter the house to tell me that I’m right and he’s wrong. That would be permitted.”

“Of course it would.”

When we reach the hospital, he heads inside and up to Abby’s room as I trail along beside him.

---