Liam snorted loud enough to be heard above the shower.
“Nice gossip travels slow, I suppose. It’s much more fun to speculate about my divorce and lack of friends.”
She nodded to that, though he couldn’t see it.
“Lola said it’s like hearing tires screech in the distance and waiting for the crash. Only to be kind of disappointed when it doesn’t happen. Humans like a little chaos.”
The sound of the water shifting let Blake know Liam was doing something different. She kicked her feet a little in the air and tried to keep her mind out of his space. A feat made easier by his next question.
“Speaking of Lola, you said she was your stepmom, right?”
Blake knew where this was going. It was touching in itself that Liam had held off bringing it up as long as he had.
“Yeah, she married my dad about ten years ago. They dated for a year or so before that. I didn’t really know her all that well until I came back to Seven Roads.” There was a silence. Blake addressed it with a chuckle. “Let me guess, you’re trying to find a nice way to ask why she lives with us but my dad doesn’t.”
The sound of water shifted again.
“You got me,” he admitted. He was quick to add on, “But you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to. It’s not my business.”
“As someone who is talking to you while you shower, I think we’re past you not being a part of my business.” It was meant to come off as a joke, but Blake faltered after saying it.
Would it really bother her for Liam to know this truth? One she hadn’t told anyone ever before? One she hadn’twantedto tell anyone ever?
It wouldn’t, she realized.
“When I was younger, my mom left,” she started. “But even before that, I can’t ever remember her and my dad getting along all that well. I think that’s why he seemed to prefer Beth over me. I was, or am, my mom’s twin. A carbon copy of her lookswise and, apparently, in the ways that we’re stubborn.” Blake sat up straighter. The wall was uncomfortable behind her but she made do.
“Dad and I butted heads a lot after that, but I thought that was pretty normal for single dads and their teenage daughters. But then the Mater thing happened, it was like it broke whatever was keeping the peace between us.” Blake didn’t say so, but she could never forget the way her father looked at her when he accused her of not knowing what loyalty meant. Still, at thirty-five, it made her heart upset a little. “I didn’t stick around long after that. I wasn’t even sure what I wanted to do in life when I left but eventually realized that the entire ordeal with Mater actually inspired me too. Out of everything that had happened, Sheriff Dean left an impression. Before I knew it, that was my goal. Fighting for justice with a badge on my chest.”
She continued. “Dad, though, saw it as me rubbing salt in our old wound. I only saw him on holidays when I came home, and we both knew that was just to see Beth. As the years went by that became okay for me. I saw Beth, and after Dad married Lola, she’d reach out for him. That was enough for me. But then Beth passed away.”
Blake looked down at her hands.
She felt wholly uncomfortable at the next part. Like getting pricked by several cactus needles but not knowing which one to take out first.
“When I first came back to deal with the funeral, Dad told me that life wasn’t fair in taking her away. That she was the sweet one. The kind one. But me? I was the one in law enforcement, risking my life every day, dealing with violence. I was the one who didn’t have a husband or kids. But Beth? It wasn’t fair that the wrong daughter had died.” Blake rubbed at her finger, eyes unfocused at the memory. “It wasn’t fun to hear, but I agreed. I’d pick Beth to live too. Plus, this man had just lost his favorite kid. He could yell at me all he wanted, and I couldn’t be mad, right? And then when he said it again after the funeral, I still believed that grief was powerful, and I only had to endure it for a while until he could get out of the shock of it all. I even held on to that belief when he said it again after I moved into Beth’s house to take care of the kids.”
Blake stopped rubbing her hand.
Her vision blurred a little.
She was embarrassed at the tears that threatened to come, but for some reason, she felt like she had to finish the story for him. So she did.
“But then one day, Lola showed up. She had two suitcases, and my dad was nowhere to be seen. I knew it then, without her saying a word, what that meant. Dad wasn’t just talking because he was hurt. He meant what he said. He wished it was me who had died, not Beth, and no matter how he looked at it, he couldn’t get past it.” Blake watched as a tear hit her leg. She was seeing Lola though. Standing at the end of the driveway, looking a world of sorry for her. “Lola never said it. Not out loud. She’s kind like that. Instead, she asked if she could stay with us to help for a while, and when I tried to turn her away, she just walked past me and went inside. She hasn’t left my side since, and my dad hasn’t shown up either.”
Blake laughed.
“For a family who’s good at leaving each other, it sure hits different when outsiders just decide to stay. That’s why—”
She hadn’t heard the water stop or the shower curtain move to the side.
She hadn’t seen him get out or wrap the towel around his waist.
She hadn’t seen or heard him move to the spot right in front of her.
Blake, however, felt Liam’s hand cup the side of her face and gently move her gaze up to his.
And for the kiss he pressed against her lips right after? Everything else in the world disappeared in an instant.
