Page 33 of Gravity of Love
He glanced over at Frankie to see if she already knew. From her mouth hanging open so wide it looked like her jaw was unhinged and her expression being one of complete and total shock, it appeared she did not.
“Holy shit,” she breathed.
“Yeah. I went to bed. I was going to talk to her about it when she woke up the next day, but she never did. After three days we had the funeral, and then I went back to school. Six months later, I graduated. After that I was so fucked in the head I went into the Navy. When I got out, I put my DNA in a genealogy site, and I found out who my dad was. Michael Davies. He and his wife, Teresa, have three daughters, who are amazing. They’reall married and have incredible husbands and kids. I think he and my mom weren’t serious. He also had an affair with Poppy’s mom, but it lasted years, so she knew him growing up,” Liam explained as they arrived at the parking lot to hike up to the waterfall. “I’ve never said that to anyone.”
They both sat in silence after he cut the engine. “So, Michael, you’re named after him. Liam Michael.”
“Yeah, I think so. But I don’t think Mom ever told him about me.”
“You haven’t asked him? Is he not nice?”
“I don’t know. I think he was nice. He died two years before I found him. When I was serving overseas.”
Liam heard the click of the buckle, and next thing he knew, Frankie had flung herself across the console, and her arms were wrapped around his neck. For a moment he just sat, frozen. He wanted to move, but he couldn’t.
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered over and over. “I’m so sorry.”
After a minute or two, his temporary paralysis dissolved, and he wrapped his arms around her like his life depended on it, because it felt like it did. He held her and allowed himself to feel the warmth that only comes from being in an embrace with someone who cares deeply for you and who you care about on a cellular level. They held one another with a fierceness, a ferocity, a ferociousness that burned in him.
They may have stayed like that all day, but within a few minutes there was a high-pitched whining, and then the sides of their faces were covered in tiny puppy kisses as Lucy joined their embrace. She managed to wriggle out of her harness and was standing on her hind legs with her front paws on the back of his headrest.
“Okay, okay, okay. We’re good. I’m good.” Liam laughed.
He got out and went to the back to grab his gear before opening the back passenger seat, getting Lucy harnessed in herleash, and setting her down. He came around the car, and he saw that Frankie was wiping tears from her cheeks and trying to put on a brave face.
“Hey, I’m okay,” he assured her. “This was all a long time ago.”
“I know, but…” She tried to smile as she took a shaky breath. “Ihatethat you went through all that alone. I mean, I just wish I could have, orsomeonecould have been there for you. It’s just, meeting a whole new family and…that’s…a lot.”
He’d wanted to talk to her about it. After he got the results from the genealogy, he called Niko to take the temperature on where she was at. That’s the call he found out she was engaged.
“It was the May after you graduated from NYU. You were busy.”
Her eyes dropped to the ground, and she nodded.
“What did you need to tell me?” he asked.
She lifted her head, and her eyes met his, her brow knitted. “What?”
“Before Poppy texted, there was something you needed to tell me.”
“Um…” She looked up, pretending to forget what she had planned to say, then shook her head. “I don’t remember. I’m sure it’ll come back to me. Anyway, let’s go. This waterfall isn’t going to hike to it itself!” She clapped, and Lucy jumped in the air.
As they headed up the trail, he had a very real feeling that whatever she’d planned on telling him was, in fact, very important, and not for one second had she forgotten what it was. Thankfully, he had all day to get it out of her.
10
The sun was settingand dusk falling as they turned onto Yaya’s street. Frankie glanced down at Lucy, who was curled up on her lap snoring quietly. She stroked her back, running her fingers through her soft fur. “She’s sacked out.”
“She had a big day.” Liam reached over and rubbed her head, his knuckles grazing Frankie’s.
The accidental touch sent a shiver chasing down her spine. It had been occurring all day long. His body rubbing against hers. His hands steadying her. His arms supporting her. It had been a very special sort of torture.
As she sat in the soft glow of the dashboard, Frankie tried to find the words for how today had felt. Their hike up to the waterfall replayed in her mind in full, vivid color—how the world up there looked like a painting come to life, with sunlight cutting through mist and wildflowers nodding in the breeze, as if the whole landscape had been staged just for them. It was postcard perfect.
The trail had been slick in places, mud giving way to stone, and every time she started to slip, large, strong hands closed around her waist, catching her before she fell. She’d told herselfthe touches were innocent—and on his end they were. But on hers—she relished each contact, every press of his palm through the soft cotton of her shirt, every squeeze that lingered a fraction too long.
She tried to appear unaffected when underneath all of it, Frankie was acutely aware of the tension pulsing just beneath the surface. The few times when their hands met—reaching for a rock, steadying on a ledge—she felt the zing of static electricity, like the air between them was full of invisible currents. Once, at the top of the falls, she’d turned to say something, and he was right behind her, he reached out to grab her for stability, and she ended up with her hands on his chest. Beneath her palm, his heart was pounding so fast, so hard. She wanted to believe it was because of their close proximity, that he was as affected as her. But realistically, he’d also just hiked up to a waterfall, so it was wishful thinking on her part.
