Chasing Shadows (First Wives #3)(13)

Liam considered changing his nickname for her to Twenty Questions. Or Twenty-Q. “I’m a little too busy for that.”

“Mommy says you’re working extra hours and that makes dating hard.”

“Your mom is right.”

“What about when Mommy and I move out? Will you get a girlfriend then?”

He turned off the water and grabbed a towel. “I don’t know.” It would certainly be easier to get naked with a woman.

“Who will cook for you if you don’t get a girlfriend?”

Liam lifted her off the stool and placed her little butt on the counter. “You know, I did cook for myself before you and your mom moved in.”

“Mommy says frozen dinners don’t count.”

He lowered his voice. “One of these days you’re going to go to college, and you’ll realize they do count.”

“You guys coming or what?” Michelle yelled from the kitchen.

Liam made a face at his niece. “I think we’re late.”

Easily amused, Cassandra giggled, and Liam lifted her up and tossed her over his shoulder. She held on to his back, her head closer to the ground than her feet were, and laughed all the way to dinner.

Thirty minutes later, Liam was on his second beer, and the pot roast was a pleasant memory. Cassandra left to go play in the room she shared with her mom.

“Are you still okay to watch Cassie tomorrow night?”

“My social schedule hasn’t changed.”

“Would you tell me if it did?”

“Family first. Always. We’ve been over this.”

Looking into his sister’s eyes was a lot like looking into his own.

“You seem more restless than normal.”

“Busy, not restless.”

“Did you pick up another job?”

He sipped his beer and set it down. “Why do you ask?”

“You’ve been coming home late.”

He picked up his plate and hers and took them to the sink. “I worked late before you moved in.” She’d been there for a year. Slippery Scott, her slimy ex-husband, had left her and Cassandra a month before they moved in. Michelle had started taking classes after Cassandra started preschool so she could earn her degree. Scott couldn’t handle being a dad longer than a few hours at a time, so when Michelle needed to pull a few nights working the crisis hotline as a class requirement, Scott couldn’t deal.

According to Michelle, he picked a fight one night, packed a bag, and left. Come to find out he hadn’t paid their rent on the apartment for two months. If Scott had stayed in town, Liam would have happily pounded some sense into his brother-in-law. But the coward moved to Atlanta, denying him the chance.

Liam was there to pick up the pieces.

“You’re working extra for me.”

“I’m the boss. I’m working late because that’s what being the boss means.”

She brought the other dishes from the table to the sink while he filled it with hot water. “Sit down. You cooked.”

“I can help.”

“Chelle!”

“Okay, okay.” She sat down and took a drink of his beer.

“So what’s Cassandra’s obsession with me having a girlfriend?”

“I think it has to do with her new friends at school. She started talking about a baby brother or a sister, and somehow she’s concluded that I can’t give her that since Scott is gone.”

“But I can? That’s a stretch.”

“She’s five. What can I say?” Michelle sighed. “He sent a check.”

Liam looked over his shoulder. “Who?”

“Scott.”

He almost dropped the dish he was rinsing off in the sink. “You’re kidding.”

“Four hundred dollars.”

Considering the man had ignored his child support bill ordered by the divorce court for the past five months, the amount was laughable. “Big spender.” Liam went back to the dishes.

“He says he finally got a job.”

“Did you talk to him?”

“No. There was a check in the mail with a note. He said he would send more.” Michelle sounded hopeful.

“I wouldn’t count on it.”

“I won’t.”

He dried his hands on a dish towel and turned to his sister. “You don’t need him.”

She sighed and offered a weak smile. “I know. But she does.”

“Cassandra has me.”

“It’s not the same.”

“I know. It’s better. She can depend on me. Forever and always.”

Michelle walked over and wrapped her arms around him.

Liam kissed the top of her head.

“Love you.”

“Love you, too.”





Chapter Six



Thankfully, Brenda didn’t harp when Avery showed up for her lesson. The woman was painfully quiet, and thirty minutes in, Avery figured out why.

The door to the studio opened and he walked in.

Big shoulders. Thick biceps. Liam.

“What are you doing here?”

“Right on time,” Brenda announced.

Avery shifted her gaze between the two of them. “What is this? An intervention?”