Page 35 of Keeping Our Secrets

“If you’re not going to talk about anything else, I’m going to go back to the table.”

“Wait, don’t go,” she called out just as I reached the door. I stopped and looked back at her. “How do you even know that she’s pregnant?”

“Not that I need to appease you with a response, but Mairi doesn’t have a reason to lie to me.”

“She could be after your money,” she argued.

“What money?” I scoffed. “It’s not because she needs a place to stay, she already lives with me.”

She stepped closer until she was right in front of me again. “Then she’s after permanent residence.”

“You’re grasping at straws, she already has dual citizenship because her parents are from here.”

“How do you know it’s even yours? It would be just like you to fall for her lies so easily.”

I shook my head in disgust. “I won’t keep going round and round with you. If you can’t accept that I’ve moved on, then I don’t think we should be around each other anymore.”

She grabbed my wrist. “No, Liam,” she pleaded. “I’m still in love with you.”

I sighed. “Miranda, I don’t want to hurt you, but I don’t feel the same. We want different things. It was the reason I broke up with you. You need to find someone who will love you like you deserve.”

“But you’re the only one I want,” she called down the hall after me.

When I came around the corner, everyone, including Mairi was looking in my direction. Rick and Darren both rolled their eyes at Miranda’s antics, while Mairi’s eyes were more questioning.

“I think we should get going,” I told her.

“You just got here,” Rick complained. “We’re just getting to know Mairi here.”

“You’ll have plenty of time to get to know her,” I told him. Miranda still hadn’t emerged from the bedroom, which was fine by me. With any luck, Mairi and I would be gone before she came out.

Rick got up out of his chair, “I’ll show you two out.”

“It was nice meeting you,” Mairi told Darren.

“Next time I hope you both stay longer. I haven’t seen this guy in over a week,” he replied.

She nodded her head in agreement.

“Thanks for the invite, guys. See you later.”

“Catch you later!” Darren called from the table.

Mairi was a bit withdrawn during our drive back to the house. It made me wonder just how much she might have heard from our conversation down the hall.

“Who is Miranda to you?” she asked when I pulled into the driveway.

“She’s a friend of mine from high school,” I told her.

“Did you guys date or something?”

“Yeah, but it’s over.”

“For how long?”

“A couple of years,” I replied, not wanting to admit that we hooked up a couple times after we ended things.

We had been friends throughout high school and when she followed me to uni, the familiarity of our shared past made it difficult to see the reason we weren’t dating.

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