Page 18 of Heart to Heart

A knock on the door startled me out of my rage fest. Seething, I stomped through the foyer and threw it open. “What do you want now?” I growled.

It was Liam. Crap.

Startled, wide brown eyes met mine. “I, uh, saw two ladies drive off as I got here. I guess they’re not your friends.”

“Hey, sorry. Yeah, you could say that.”

“Owen called out sick. I’m here to meet the dumpster.” He laughed. “I mean, to sign for it and show them where to put it. Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Well, no, they ruined my happy planning-my-new-place mood and now I’m all tense and angry. The three of us have history. It’s long, stupid, immature, and something I’d like to forget about but apparently that’s not gonna happen. I have a past, Liam. My reputation around here is not the best...”

“Look, we all have pasts—”

I cringed. “Oh god, Luke probably told you all about me, huh? Probably warned you to steer clear of a mess like me.”

“No. Well, actually, yes, but he didn’t say anything specific. He told me anything bad I heard about you around town is bullshit and to pay it no mind.”

“Oh, okay. I should have known better.” Luke would never believe lies about me. I’d known him since I was born, for eff’s sake.

“Yeah, so turn that frown upside down, sunshine. You have nothing to worry about when it comes to me. Friends, right?” He held out his fist with a grin and I bumped it with a huge blush rising over my cheeks.

“I’ll try not to worry.”

“If anything, he probably warned you about me. I’m not great at the relationship thing. My track record at making things last is not the best.”

“Yeah, but you were in the Army. How could you build something when you were gone all the time?”

He huffed out a laugh. “That definitely complicated things.”

“You won’t have that problem anymore, right?”

“I guess that’s true.”

“Do you want a relationship? A girlfriend? Wife?”

What the hell was I saying? STOP!

“Sure, someday. Do you?”

“Someday, yeah.”

His voice turned velvety smooth as he said, “Interesting how we want the same things, isn’t it?”

My mouth went suddenly dry. I had no idea how to respond. “Um...”

His phone pinged with a notification. He winked, letting me off the hook as he checked his messages. “The dumpster is around the corner. Let’s meet them outside. We can get started on the clean-up together if you like.”

“That would be awesome.” I followed him to the porch. “I can’t wait to move in. Luke said I could start in a few weeks, but I’d rather not live here when Owen is still working here. Plus, I need to save up for, well, everything. All I have is a few boxes of clothes and an old hairdryer.”

“Good call. Don’t move in until I get the locks changed and possibly new doors for the ground floor. I want you to be safe, so I’ll put that at the top of my list.”

“Thank you, Liam.”

“Of course. So, I just came from dropping off the permit applications and plans. Your coffee shop friend Jared runs the office. Did you know that?”

I shook my head. “Ugh. I try to know as little about him as possible. No, I didn’t.”

Great, another likely dramatic complication that I didn’t need in my life.

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