Unplugged (Blue Phoenix, #3)(54)

He sets me down, arms still around my waist, and crouches down to greet Ella. “Are we going to Disneyland now?” she asks.

“Er... Not today, Ella. Aren’t you tired?” replies Liam.

“No. When are we going?”

“Ella, don’t be rude. Liam has paid for us to come on holiday, but he works too. We’ll go when he has time.”

“You can come for a swim in my pool instead,” Liam says, and ruffles her hair.

This appeases Ella and as we continue out of the airport, the three of us holding hands, I nudge Liam in the ribs. “You are going to regret telling her about Disneyland every minute, of every day until you take her there.”

****

Liam’s place is less than an hour’s drive from the airport, out of the city and along winding roads overlooking the brightness of the painted blue sky and azure ocean. Already Wales is a lifetime away. Ella’s excited chattering slows and half-way I look over my shoulder at the sleeping princess. Finally.

“You have no idea how happy I am you’re here,” says Liam, taking my hand and kissing it as he drives.

I don’t want to let go of the warm hand encompassing mine and place our hands on my lap. “Thank you.”

“What for? This is pure selfishness on my part. I want you here, simple.”

I laugh softly and he squeezes my knee.

My knowledge of mansions comes from reality TV shows and American soaps. Behind electric gates and a barrier of pink frangipani and palm trees, a gravelled driveway heads away. A white building emerges as Liam drives through. The place has a Mediterranean feel to the architecture with a white fa?ade and ornate pillars. I get out of the air-conditioned BMW, hit by the humid heat, and stare at the dream in front of me. On the journey over, Liam informed me his house is small by local standards, but five of the house I live in would fit inside this one sprawling half the length of my street back in Cardiff.

Liam appears next to me holding a sleeping Ella. “You look as tired as her, come on.”

In a speechless daze, I follow him through glazed double entrance doors into the marble-floored hallway.

Liam strides through the high ceilinged rooms toward the back of the house. “Come and look at my view.”

Windows reach from the wood paneled ceiling to the tiled floor and spread the length of the room, leading to a balcony. Expansive lawns perfectly tended, to the point they look like carpet, stretch to the edge of the cliffs, and a pathway cuts through toward the white sandy shore below.

“Private beach,” he grins.

“Wow,” is all I can manage.

The low whirr of ceiling fans circle cool air and the scent of nearby jasmine through the room; I sink onto the sumptuous grey cushions of the day bed and gaze out of the window.

Liam sets Ella next to me. “She’s heavier than she was at Christmas.”

“Christmas. That feels like five years ago, not seven months.”

“I wish you’d come back with me then.” He sits and pulls my legs onto his lap, rubbing my calves. “So much crap could’ve been avoided.”

“Everything happens for a reason,” I say. “Even the bad stuff.”

“I want to keep you protected from anymore bad stuff, Cerys. Starting with lots of good while you’re here.”

“Including Disneyland.”

He rolls his eyes. “Including Disneyland.”

“I suggest you buy a season ticket,” I say with a smile.

“I think I have a lot to learn about parenting, huh?” Liam rubs his cheek and looks at the snoozing Ella.

Then I see it. Liam’s fantasy is here too, his fantasy of me, him and Ella all together and living an easy life. His clear love for Ella comes naturally from his huge heart and his easy empathy with people around him, and his childish nature. At the back of my mind, a worry niggles. If this doesn’t work out, I won’t be the only girl left with a broken heart.

****

LIAM



Oh, crap, did I do the right thing?

I have trouble reading women sometimes but Cerys’s pink face and tight mouth are unmistakable as she studies the young woman in front of her. Emily sits on a white chair on the patio, long, tanned legs crossed, brown hair pulled back into a ponytail.

“Can I talk to you, please, Liam?” Cerys says tersely and smiles sweetly at Emily.

“Sure thing,” Emily says and disappears toward the home theatre room where Ella watches TV.

“What were you thinking?” Cerys hisses at me.

Shit, I knew it. “Umm.”

“Umm?”

This is Cerys’s holiday too and I want her to have time to do the things for herself, not just with Ella, so I brought in a babysitter. Well, nanny I guess. Talk about going down like a lead balloon. Maybe I should’ve waited until tomorrow but I’m f-ucking desperate to spend time alone with Cerys. Doesn’t she want time out, too?

“Emily helps out Pete and Leeann, friends of mine. She’s really lovely, and she’s qualified. Ella will be fine.”

Cerys rubs her eyes and glares at me. “Why didn’t you ask me? I wake up after a jet lagged rest and find a strange woman with my daughter!”

“She’s not strange, I know her! Ella likes her too.”

“And that makes it okay?”

“Shit, Cerys, I didn’t think it would be a big deal. I’m not going to put Ella in any danger, am I?”