Page 107 of The Reno
Brian, Sandra, Lydia—Family
Pat’s brownies—they are fucking insane
The house is paid off, so I could take an interior design course…
Liam (again)
Cons
Willa (I’m pretty sure she’s hiding how bad work is)
I’ll miss London, probably???
CALL MUM, DON’T BE A WIMP
Liam and I stood on Sandra and Brian’s porch, holding foil-covered plates and a bottle of white wine, but neither of us had knocked on the door yet. Neither of us had moved our hands towards the large gold knocker on the door. Liam shifted on his feet, and I glanced at him. I wished I could have climbed into his head and read his mind. I had a feeling I would discover he was feeling the same as me—protective of the little bubble we’d had this morning. We lazed around in bed, sipping coffee—black for him, a latte for me. We chatted about inane things, the kind of questions you ask when everything is fresh and new.
I asked Liam about what he was like at school. Predictably, he’d been the sporty type on all the school teams—football, rugby and even cricket in the summers. I asked how he felt about becoming a dad so young, and he asked me about London—all my favourite places to visit and where I would take him if he ever visited. I saw his face tense just a second when I suggested he visit and swiftly moved on to talk about the restaurants in London—something I knew would distract him.
When we finally got out of bed, I tried not to go bright red when Willa gave me a smug look as I traipsed around Liam’s kitchen barefoot and in my short pyjamas. It felt weird having someone else witness our mornings.
Apart from Abigail, they had just been ours.
Liam didn’t seem bothered at all. He still kissed the top of my head as he went around the kitchen preparing breakfast for Willa and me. Sweet potato hash with smoked salmon and poached eggs. Blueberry pancakes with hand-whipped cream and a strawberry compote. He poured us mimosas and handed Willa herblack coffee.
Willa’s eyes went wide as Liam plated up. She mouthed,He cooks too.
When we dropped Willa back at the station, I tried not to get too tearful as she hugged me tight and whispered, “Be brave, Kat. He seems like a good guy.” Her eyes flickered to Liam, standing by his van waiting for me. “And if he hurts you, I’m chopping his balls off.”
I laughed and hugged her tighter, and then she was gone.
In the van, I sniffed. Liam kept glancing over at me.
“Do you still want to go?” he asked. “I didn’t think you might be upset, we can go home—”
I threaded my hand through Liam’s.
