So, I tell him.
“I flew to New Orleans to try to meet my birth mother for the first time.”
Liam’s eyes widen slightly like I’ve surprised him.
“She had agreed to have breakfast together at the airport. But she never showed up.”
“Fuck,” he murmurs. “That must have stung.”
“It did. Clearly. You saw the aftermath.” I laugh shakily. “That couldn’t have been pretty.”
“Nothing wrong with showing emotion,” he says in a manner that almost sounds protective. “I wish you hadn’t been alone though.”
“I wasn’t. I ran into you and Lulu.” The words pop out before I realize how they sound.
Liam runs a hand through his dark hair as he studies me. “That’s right. You did. I wish I’d known what you were going through.”
“How could you? Anyway, I don’t spend my days upset about my start in life. I’m happily adopted, and I was never super curious about the people who gave me life, but I always swore when I turned thirty, if I thought I needed it for closure, I’d seek them out.”
“Today’s your birthday?”
I nod, feeling mortified for some reason.
“Happy birthday sounds like a dumb thing to say after the shit day you’ve had,” he says.
“I appreciate the sentiment,” I tell him.
“Are you close with your family?”
I nod. “My parents are the best. They adore my sister and me, but their marriage crumbled when my dad had an affair. And that broke up our family. So…I don’t know.” I shrug. “I guess I was curious. I did one of those DNA kits and used the information to find Mindy. That’s her name.” I laugh awkwardly. “Obviously Mindy’s her name or I wouldn’t have called her that. My birth father is deceased.”
“I’m sorry.”
Two words but they mean so much because he’s the first person to express sympathy for the loss of a man I never met, but someone I wish I could have seen with my own eyes just once. Debbie had no reaction when I found out about my birth father being dead, and Emerson was too busy making sure I was okay about seeking out Mindy.
“I honestly don’t even know if he knew I existed.” I sigh. “Being adopted isn’t a big deal to me on a personal level. It’s the world at large that makes me feel weird about it. Like I don’t fit into the quote-unquote normal box. My birth story is unique. And that’s okay.”
“You’re unique, so that all tracks.”
I widen my eyes. “How do you know if I’m unique? You hardly know me.”
“From the moment I met you, I could tell you were one of a kind. From your glasses to your smile to the way you carry yourself, I’ve never met anyone like you.”
His cheeks flush like he said more than he planned.
And then, before I can think of how to respond, he keeps talking.
“You’re awesome, Haley. The woman who birthed you sucks that she didn’t have the courage to see that.”
Oh my God. I could kiss him right now. The way he cuts through all the bullshit and just gets right to the heart of the matter. It slays me.
I mumble a thank you, and we finish the rest of our lunch in silence.
Not an awkward silence but a companionable one.
It’s nice.
I’m lying.
