Page 43 of Impossible

Chapter Eighteen

Riley

It’s my final day with Harper today and I have been a bit emotional as we go through our usual routine. Harper obviously doesn’t know that today is our last day so she is her usual happy self. During our book reading this afternoon, we got into a peek a boo game which had her gut laughing. I was able to catch a glimpse of it on video and sent it to Liam. Speaking of Liam, he told me not to cook dinner tonight because he wants to take Harper and me out as a thank you.

We have not told anyone about the two of us so I'm not quite sure what to think of it. Are we supposed to hide what we are doing and act like mutual friends having dinner together? It’s really no different than him and I going out to dinner a couple months ago so I'm not sure why I am worried about anything. I guess now I know things are different between us, even if the outside world doesn’t.

The sound of Liam’s garage door opening knocks me out of my thoughts. He walks in with a mischievous smile on his face and one hand behind his back.

“Good evening, beautiful,” he walks over to me and gives me one hell of a greeting with his mouth. When he pulls away, there is a beautiful bouquet of flowers between the two of us. They are filled with oranges, yellows, and greens with a touch of purple and pink. I am not a flower connoisseur but I spot some sunflowers in the bouquet.

“What are these for?” I look up into his beautiful blue eyes.

“I just wanted to give you something to smile about. I know you're sad about today being your last day.”

I'm speechless as I take them from him and bring them to my nose. “They are so gorgeous, I love them. Thank you.”

“Of course! Now, are my girls ready for dinner?” he rubs his hands together.

Hearing him call me and Harper his girls makes my heart flutter. My feelings for this man are growing exponentially fast, I feel like I can't keep up with my own heart. We have not yet discussed what happens after today. Are we dating now? How often will I get to see him? I don’t want to scare him so I'm hesitant to ask these questions. He has enough going on in his life.

Liam grabs Harper and we head out to dinner. He takes us to a restaurant in Highland Park which is only a couple of blocks away from the water. They have this lovely outside seating area on the ally side of the building. We are sitting between the two buildings with brick surrounding us, offering a rustic feel to the evening.

“I love this spot,” I tell him as we sit down.

“I figured you would like it. It’s distant enough from the noise of the crowd but has a nice scenery out here.”

They were able to bring out a high chair for Harper which will make the evening much more enjoyable since she is a huge fan of high chairs right now. My guess is that it will change when she learns to crawl and walk which she will then want her freedom.

“I'm guessing you have been here before. What’s good?” I ask him.

After we walk through the menu, putting our order of salmon and crusted whitefish into the waiter, Liam orders a bottle of red wine. The waiter appears quickly after with our bottle and pours our glass for us. After he disappears, Liam begins to raise his glass.

“Cheers! To an amazing woman who Harper had the pleasure of spending her summer with.”

Before we clink our glasses, I can't help the smile that takes over at his simple but kind words.

“Thanks! I'm sure I enjoyed it more then she did.”

“Well, now that can't be true, can it Harper?” Liam says to her as she sits there chewing on her fingers. She smiles her innocent toothless smile at us which gets a laugh from Liam and myself.

The evening seems to have flown by. The conversation was awesome, food was great, but the company was the best part of it all. I try to focus on how amazing the night was and not the fact that we are getting back in the car to end the evening and my summer with Harper. I stay silent most of the ride home, lost in my thoughts. Liam startles me when he reaches over and grabs my hand. He doesn’t say anything, just smiles at me and gives my hand a squeeze. When we get back to his house, Liam needs to get Harper in bed, so I opt to hang out on the couch until he's done. I think the emotions running through me all day has made me more tired than usual. I feel my eyes getting heavy within minutes of lying down.

“Riley,” Liam whispers next to me.

I open my eyes, realizing that I must have drifted off while waiting for him.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to fall asleep on you.”

“It’s okay. I didn’t want to wake you but it’s actually getting kind of late.”

When I look down at the clock, I see it’s ten. I feel horrible, knowing that he has to get to work early in the morning. Sitting up, I stretch my arms and can't contain the yawn that breaks away. Liam smiles at me which reaches his eyes and shows the creases forming in the corner of his eyes. Those creases are enough to make me weak in the knees.

“You should have woken me up. I didn’t want to be asleep this whole time. I’ll get out of here so you can go to bed.”

When I look up at him, he looks like he is thinking something over.

“Do you want to spend the night?” he asks in a more serious tone.

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