Can't Take My Eyes Off of You (Summer Lake #2)(7)

He didn’t say anything in response to this non sequitur. They both knew he couldn’t say anything, not if she wanted him to continue keeping her secrets, just as he had for the past twenty years.

Her shoulders rounded even further as she sighed. “Wesley said none of this was Christie’s fault and that if anyone should take the blame, it was him. But you and I both know he wouldn’t hurt a fly. He’s always been such a good boy.”

Another wave of exhaustion swept over Liam. “Don’t worry,” he finally told her. “I’ll find out what’s going on.”

Looking relieved, her gaze went back to the side of his face. “Your scar looks much better. You must be using that cream I sent you. I know how much it’s always bothered you.”

Actually, he’d never really cared about the scar, but what was the point in clarifying things twenty years after the accident that had sliced up his face?

Before he could respond, his father poked his head into the room, obviously looking for his wife. “Liam!” Henry Kane pulled him in for a bear hug. “Welcome home. I’m glad you were able to make it after all.”

His grandmother Jean was there a moment later, giving him a kiss on the cheek, then holding him still so that her wise eyes could take in far more than he’d planned to give away. Just like she always did.

“I found Liam talking with Christie a few minutes ago,” Susan explained.

“Christie is a lovely girl,” his grandmother said with a smile. Something about her expression shook him. The glint in her eyes looked far too much like matchmaking for his peace of mind.

“You’ve heard about Wesley and the wedding, I take it?” his father asked.

Liam nodded. “I was planning to head upstairs right now to start making some calls to see what I can find out.”

“You can’t stay at the reception a little longer?” his mother suggested, a hint of desperation pulling at her words. “Sarah and Calvin would love to have you here.”

Knowing she was right, he pulled out his phone to send a quick text to his secretary to see if there was a note from Wesley waiting for him at his house or in his email spam folder, then went to congratulate Calvin on his new marriage.

Liam hoped his friend and his cousin could pull off the impossible—and actually make love stick.

*

“Was it kind of tense down there, or was it just me?” Sarah asked as Christie carefully sewed the hole closed on her wedding dress.

“It wasn’t just you,” Christie agreed. “Especially since Liam didn’t know that Wesley and I split up. He came here expecting us to get married tomorrow.”

Sarah whistled softly. “And of course Susan had to get right in the middle of it all, didn’t she?”

Christie bit her tongue. She might not be marrying into the Kane family now, but she still didn’t feel right saying anything about how uncomfortable Susan made her feel. She had never been particularly warm and embracing. “Susan is just concerned about Wesley.”

“I know she is. We all are. But I still don’t get it,” Sarah said. “You’re every mother’s dream daughter-in-law. She should have been thrilled that you and Wesley were engaged, instead of always acting so weird and stilted around you.”

The thing was, Christie had noticed Susan acting strangely around Liam too. Completely different from the way she behaved around Wesley. Susan had always taken care of Wesley, almost to the point of being suffocatingly nurturing. With Liam, on the other hand, she’d seemed tense. Worried.

Not knowing how to fake either a smile or an easy response, Christie pretended to be busy tying off the thread on Sarah’s silk gown.

“Even though we’re related, I haven’t seen Liam in years,” Sarah mused as Christie finished up. “But Wesley and Liam were always close. I’m really surprised he didn’t know about the wedding being off.”

“Me too.”

That was all Christie was going to admit. Definitely not that her reaction to finding Liam standing there staring at her had been more powerful than any reaction she’d had to another man.

Ever.

Even realizing he was Wesley’s older brother hadn’t been enough for her to stop feeling like fireworks were shooting off inside her stomach just from being in the same room with him. One look at him and she’d dropped the entire handful of rose petals she’d been holding. And when he’d put his hands on her…

Thrill bumps moved across her skin again, just from remembering how electric his touch had been.

“He sure hasn’t gotten any worse looking,” Sarah said. “Back in high school, pretty much everyone had a crush on him. All the girls in town wanted to be my friend in the hopes that they’d get invited to a family gathering, even though he rarely came to any of them.” Sarah smoothed her hand over the fix-it job Christie had done to her dress. “I swear the scar from the car accident only made the girls want him more. Probably because of all the danger and mystery swirling around him.”

“I didn’t notice a scar. Where is it?”

Sarah shot her a surprised look. “It’s on his left cheek. Lower down. It’s hard to miss.”

Christie tried to think back to those moments when he’d been holding her close, questioning her about Wesley. But all she could see in her mind were his intense eyes staring into hers. And all she could feel were butterflies. In as light a voice as she could manage, Christie asked, “Was he a total heartbreaker in high school?”