Page 73 of Begin Again, Part 2

"It almost killed him when you left. He suffered two more blows in that period—his father almost died, and he had to give up racing, the one thing he loved the most in the world," Dave said. "I never thought he'd recover. But over the past few weeks, he's begun to smile again and looks almost like his old self. I think we both know why."

"He's my boss," Eden said. And my baby's father. And the man I love. And I'm still so angry with him, she thought.

"You can't vanish again," the butler said. "It will kill him. Plus, with the little one—"

Eden paused and gaped at him. "You know about Aiden?"

"Everyone knows about him," Dave grinned. "Mr Anderson shows us his photos and videos all the time. Follow me. I have something to show you."

Eden reluctantly did, down the hallway, her breath dying a slow death in her throat when he opened one of the doors and pushed her inside.

Liam had sent her the photo of the nursery, and while she'd been mildly impressed with his handiness, she never acknowledged his effort because she was still furious with him. But now that she was here, in this very room with the furniture he'd put together himself for their son, she realised the photo didn't do it justice.

The nursery needed a few accent pieces to make it more homely. But it was still lovely, more so because Liam had put so much thought and care into it.

It's beautiful, she thought, not realising she'd spoken out her words until Dave nodded. "He's spent the past few days working on it. He wanted to make sure it was ready before he leaves, in case you decide to move in while he's gone."

"Thanks for letting me see it," Eden said as they headed back to Liam's bedroom. "But there's still a lot to be done to childproof this place."

"You should let him know," Dave said. "He'll get someone to do it while he's gone."

"Where does he keep his passport?" she asked when she checked the time and saw she was slightly behind schedule.

"I'll get it for you," Dave said over his shoulder as he left the room.

Eden sat on the platform bed and took in the room. It was the first time she'd set foot in here, and she found the bareness a little unsettling. She wondered now why Liam was such a fan of minimalism when her house was so cluttered it was starting to resemble one of those places from the TV show about hoarders.

Other than the bed and the two end tables, the only other furniture was the wing chair propped in front of the floor to ceiling windows and sliding door leading to a spacious balcony lined with a hot tub and a couple of deck loungers. A massive mirror hung on the wall in front of the bed, and for the life of her, Eden couldn't understand its placement—

"Here you go," Dave said, interrupting her train of thought when he came back with Liam's travel documents.

"Thanks," she said, checking the passport. It was still valid, just barely, though. She made a mental note to renew it when Liam returned from his trip.

"Wow, he's been all over the world," she mused as she mentally counted the stamps from various countries.

"It's mostly for work," Dave explained as he watched her slip the documents inside the outer zipper of the luggage bag. "But Matthew and Julian do their part too. Too bad his sisters are spoilt princesses. They could lessen the pressure on him, but they love to freeload."

Eden gave him a wan smile, wondering why Dave thought he could unburden himself to her. The man had shared too much, and he wasn't about to stop.

"Ms Willow's still okay, she's the middle child, but Holly is as spoilt as they come. Even as a little girl, she was always selfish—" he ranted and would have carried on if Eden didn't interrupt him.

"Thanks for your help, but I have to dash," she said quickly as she left him in the room and ran downstairs.

Chapter

Twenty-Seven

DROP DEAD GORGEOUS

After leaving the penthouse, Eden headed straight to Franco's for her hair appointment. For a hefty price, the stylist trimmed her hair and retouched her ombre locks, insisting on a side-swept look when she told him about her dress.

"It will show off your beautiful neck and chandelier earrings," he said as he layered the cut in the now-familiar soft medium curls.

"I trust you," Eden said. After all, she'd received tons of compliments when she switched up her look.

Later, when she saw the stunned looks on her girls' faces as they crowded around her living room with Brenda and Aiden, Eden was glad she'd listened to Clara.

"Mommy!" Aiden cheered when he saw her. But she knew he was just excited to see her. He was still too young to appreciate her dress and hair. Her friends and Brenda, though, approved of the look. They gathered around her, gushing over her outfit.

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