“So he wakes up, sees the goats and loses it. Shooing them away, poking at them with his gun. The goats couldn’t care less. They found food and they’re not about to stop until they’ve gotten what they want. Things escalate and pretty soon Jefferson is standing on the hood of the Humvee, trying to literally push the goats off.”
“The rest of you weren’t trying to help him, I don’t suppose,” she said.
Around the table, the guys paused between shoveling cake in their mouths to laugh like she’d said something hilarious.
“No,” said Liam, shaking his head, his smile making the corners of his eyes crease. “We weren’t predisposed to help.”
“Delegating is fundamental to successful missions,” said Travis, making a lame attempt to stifle a laugh.
“So the goats are eating the vehicle and Jefferson is trying—by himself—to get them to stop,” she said.
“And failing,” said Liam. “In all honesty, we probably would have helped him except this old woman—much older than you, Millie darling—came flying out of the tree line, brandishing some kind of shepherd’s crook and swearing up a blue streak in Pashto.”
She glanced over in time to see Millie soaking up thedarlinglike a lovesick teenage girl.Good grief.
“It actually took a bit to figure out what she was saying. The woman started chasing Jefferson for messing with her goats and the translator was too busy laughing to clarify what she was screaming at him. It was pretty clear from the context, though.”
Andy felt the laughter bubble up inside her. It was too easy to see the picture Liam painted with his words and she knew goats well enough to understand how hard it was to deter them when they found something they wanted. Despite the reputation for eating trash, goats were actually pretty picky about what they ate, but when they picked a favorite, they were willing to use their heads and sharp horns to get to it. And they were tenacious as hell.Almost as tenacious as old women, she thought, glancing over to see Millie watching them over her cake.
“You got it sorted?” she asked, trying not to notice the way Liam’s face softened in pleasure as he polished off the last of his cake. Or the way his lips curved when he caught her looking.
“We did, with no harm to the natives—goats or people. Jefferson was a bit worse for wear,” he said and then shifted his attention so quickly she thought she’d missed something.
She looked around the table, but no one else seemed to have noticed. With the exception of Jake. His expression had shifted again, back to the one he wore when it seemed like he was somewhere else instead of in the present with the rest of them. She couldn’t tell why without asking and there was no way she’d do that. Maybe the memories caught up with him.
“Millie, the cake was exceptional,” said Travis. “So was the company, but I’ve got to be up to milk in the morning.” He stood, stopping long enough to press a kiss to the older woman’s cheek. “Liam, you’re staying, right?”
The question hung in the air and for every fraction of a second that passed, Andy felt her chest tighten to the point she’d soon have trouble breathing. She wanted him to leave. The man was a pain in the ass. She’d wanted him gone two minutes after he arrived. Didn’t she? She did, but what would that mean for Jake? Did it even matter? Liam hadn’t acted like he expected to stay past dinner. He also hadn’t acted like he was in a hurry to leave.Oh hell.
“I was hoping to talk to Andy about that after dinner, actually.”
Double hell.
“He can stay, can’t he?” asked Mike.
“I didn’t mean to put you on the spot.” Liam looked at her as if that were exactly what he meant to do.
The faces staring at her from around the table looked up at her as if she had the power to either crush Christmas or bring it early. All of them except Jake. And it was his lack of expression that held the most sway with her.
“You’re welcome to stay for as long as you’d like,” said Millie, daring Andy to contradict her.
She wouldn’t. There were precious few things in the world worth going against Millie, but it was more than that. She wouldn’t contradict the older woman because whatever Andy felt about the situation, Liam was important to Jake. And she wouldn’t stand in the way of anything or anyone who could help the younger man find his way home.
“Of course you can,” she said, plastering a smile on her face she didn’t feel. Whatever else he might be, she was pretty sure Liam Rogers was trouble—at least for her.
