“Funny where matching Snuggies can lead,” she said.
Chapter 41
Andrea
Liam had beenquiet most of the way, his fingers tapping lightly on the steering wheel like they always did.
“The trees have grown,” he said as we pulled into the driveway. “It looks different. Don’t know why I didn’t think it would.”
I put a hand on his knee. “Okay?”
“Yeah. I just… it’s overdue.”
I nodded and tightened my fingers around his as he knocked on the door. Eleanor’s house was large and expensive-looking—much bigger than Mum’s. There were pink and yellow flowers in tubs on the step, and a pair of wellies with an umbrella sticking out of them. He looked down at me and smiled, but it was a little weak around the edges.
“I can’t believe I’ve only seen her once in four years,” he said quietly.
Liam’s mum opened the door, and her gaze fell first on him, then me. She was tall, like he was, and very pretty, her graying hair pulled into a soft ponytail at the nape of her neck.
“Hi, Mum,” he said. “You look well.” She was slender, herwrists almost fragile. She hadn’t looked so slim in the pictures he’d shown me of her at Christmas a few years ago, carrying a turkey into the dining room and laughing.
She held him for a long time, and I saw a small, soft shake like she was trying to hold in a sob.
I’m so glad he decided to visit her. You never know how long you’ll have withsomeone.
“It’s good to see you, darling,” she said gently, pulling back to look at him. “And this must be Andrea.”
“Eleanor, lovely to meet you,” I said.
I held out a hand, but she reached over and hugged me too, and I heard a small sniff escape her.
Inside, it was warm, and there was the faint smell of baking. Books were piled up on the hall table next to a vase of slightly tired pink lilies—orange pollen had fallen onto the mirrored surface underneath.
“Wow, these are interesting,” I said softly, looking at the framed black-and-white photographs on the wall. They were mostly people caught mid-expression, as if they’d been interrupted.
“Mum took them,” Liam said. “She’s got a good eye, hasn’t she?”
“She has, yes.” I stopped, looking at a teenage girl, her features hovering between awkwardness and humor. “She’s captured them before they remembered how they’re meant to look.”
I paused at a small frame on the table and picked it up. It was a boy on the floor with a Batman comic spread open in front of him. His wavy brown hair was longer and lighter than it was now, and he looked completely lost in whatever world he was in. His shoulders were skinny, his teeth slightly too big for his face.
Oh my God. That’sLiam.
The little boy Wilhelm von Roth had never been proud of. Who knew his dad thought his interests were silly. The one who’d rather read than perform.
“You look happy,” I said.
“He was about twelve there,” Eleanor said. “Right before he went off to boarding school. Much more studious than Ben. You used to spend hours reading. Do you remember, Liam? All those comics and adventure stories, the books about King Arthur?”
Heroes and villains, imaginary men who always knew which side was the right one. Would we have been friends if I’d known him then? It was hard to think he had a whole life before we’d met in the lift that day.
Now I couldn’t imagine a life withouthim.
“Yeah, I remember.” He walked over and took the frame from me, looking at the photo for a few moments before he put it back on the table and took my hand, leading me into the living room.
“Please, sit down,” Eleanor said. I moved a blue woolen throw to one side and sat on the sofa next to Liam. Mum’s place just had a small patio with a couple of benches and a few flower beds, but Eleanor’s garden dropped away in soft green tiers, fading into the distance.
Had it made Liam feel better, buying her this place, even though he never visited herhere?
