Page 54 of This Heart
“You tell Liam your thoughts on Kim,” Brystol said as she looked to Cadie and Harper to agree with her.
Harper added, “I’m with Brystol on this one.”
“I know I should, but I have this horrible feeling that if I say something, Liam will tell me it’s none of my business. He already accused me once of trying to take Hope’s place.”
“Which you said he apologized for and admitted he was wrong,” Cadie stated with her brows raised.
I closed my eyes. “I know. I know.” When I opened them, I could see the concern on each of their faces. “Would any of you go up to Liam and tell him his nanny is up to something?”
They all looked at one another before Harper said, “No, I don’t think I would.”
“Thank you!” I said, dropping back into my seat.
“But we haven’t developed the type of friendship with Liam that you have, Aurora,” Harper stated. “You and Liam became good friends, and he knows how much you love Winnie. I think in this case, Liam isn’t going to react the way you think he is.”
“What if he thinks I’m jealous of Kim and want her gone. Which I’m not.”
Cadie leaned over and took my hand. “You’re not?”
I let out a huff. “No! I’m not.”
My eyes bounced around to each of my friends as I sucked in a breath. “Oh my God. Am I?”
It was Harper’s turn to take my other hand. “Aurora, you don’t have any feelings for Liam?”
“Other than friendship?” I asked with a humorless laugh. “No! Liam is a friend. That’s all. There is nothing else there other than…”
My words faded as a churning in my stomach started. When I glanced down at my hands, I saw that I had pulled them away and was twisting the ring my father had given me as a graduation gift. A rush of heat moved through my body, and when I slowly lifted my head, all eyes were on me.
“Oh shit,” I whispered. I closed my eyes and said, “Oh God. I’ve been trying to ignore my feelings and tell myself it was nothing.”
Someone reached for my hands and squeezed one of them. When I opened my eyes, Cadie smiled softly. “It’s okay to develop feelings for him, Aurora. With as much time as you have spent together, it only makes sense.”
I dropped her hand and stood. “No, I cannot have feelings for Liam.”
“Why not?” all three of them asked.
Pacing in Brystol’s living room, I tried to make sense of this new revelation. Or was it a new revelation? I’d pushed thoughts of how handsome Liam was from my mind. Or the way my body warmed if he brushed against me or took my hand. I only wanted friendship with Liam. That was all.
Right? That. Was. All.
“Aurora?” Brystol repeated my name until I stopped pacing. “What is wrong with having feelings for Liam?”
I felt tears build up as I slowly shook my head. “It’s Liam. I mean, I won’t lie and say there haven’t been moments when I’ve looked at him differently. Or thought maybe I might have seen something on his face…but it’s Liam.”
“You’ve already said that. So what if it’s Liam.”
I shook my head. “Hope was the love of his life.”
“Was she?”
All eyes turned to Cadie.
“What do you mean by that?” Brystol asked, patting Lily lightly on the back.
Cadie sighed. “When I first met Hope, she seemed so unhappy, and I always attributed it to her evil mother-in-law. I knew her first before any of you, and I’m telling you…something was off between her and Liam. They hardly spoke in each other’s presence.”
Confused, I sat down on the sofa. “You know, now that you say that, you’re right. Hope told me once she wasn’t sure how long she’d be in Moose Village, and when I asked her what she meant, she laughed it off.”
