The Memory Keeper: A Heartwarming, Feel-Good Romance(43)

“Nope. I already checked. You wiped it clean, remember?”

Hannah tried to push through the haze of anxiety that was drowning her brain to remember wiping those photos from the device. “I did?” she asked weakly.

“Once we uploaded, you cleared all the photos because the tech department is always on our case about keeping images on the devices. You said yourself how annoying it was to sign out a camera, only to have it already full of some other project’s pictures.”

The misery of her attention to detail settled upon her. Amanda was right; Hannah had wiped it the day of the upload. “And the photographer? Does he have them, by chance?”

“Nope. We checked with him too. What do we do, Hannah?”

She squeezed her eyes shut and scratched her forehead. “Let me think for a second.”

She needed to save the day. She just had no idea how. She racked her brain for anything, but the truth was that this was entirely the job of the IT department, and if they couldn’t retrieve those photos, she had no idea what the feature of the magazine would be. They’d have to start from scratch, and they didn’t have time for that.

“I’ll think of something,” she said. “Hang in there and I’ll call you back when I’ve figured it out.” Hannah said her goodbyes and ended the call, feeling like her head might explode.

“You okay?” Liam asked when she’d returned to the counter.

“Just work stuff,” she replied, not wanting to get into it with him.

“I think you need something sweet and warm to clear your head—how about a coffee? We could go down the street to the coffee shop and grab one.”

“I don’t think so…” she said, not wanting to entertain any invitation from him at all.

“Can we just talk?” he asked.

She stood her ground. If he had anything he wanted to talk about, he could tell her right there.

“Hannah, I need you to hear me out,” he said. “Then I promise not to bother you anymore. Please. Get a cup of coffee with me.”

She deliberated. There was a terrible draft in the shop, and the warm coffee would be helpful. And delicious. Plus, it could take her mind off work for a while…

Hannah grabbed her coat as Liam opened the door, and the two of them stepped out into the sunshine. She locked up behind them, and they walked down the front path together, headed for Main Street. Hannah had no idea what she was doing, going for coffee with him, her future more uncertain than it had ever been.





Fifteen





“When does your mother arrive with Noah?” Hannah asked, unsure of how to have a conversation with Liam, given their new reality. She wrapped her hands around her warm porcelain cup of bergamot, espresso, and coconut milk as they settled in at a bistro table upstairs by the fireplace, away from the crowds of the coffee shop.

“About three o’clock,” he said, looking at her as if a thousand thoughts were crossing his mind at once. “My mom’s got a benefit she’d forgotten about in a few days, and she has to run out and find a dress for it as soon as she gets home, so it’ll be just Noah and me tonight.”

“Oh,” Hannah said. She wasn’t quite sure what to say. She leaned over her latte and took a sip, delighting in the warm, smoky sweetness of it. “Want to tell me why you really brought me here?”

He stared at her as if deciding where to begin.

Gently, she set down her mug, trying to stay calm. “You basically brush me off this morning, drop the bomb on me that you’re married, and leave, only to show up again at Gran’s shop and ask me to coffee. What’s going on?”

“I’m sorry I did that,” he said, shaking his head, remorse clouding his every feature.

“You’re sorry you said you were married, sorry you kissed me when you were married, or sorry you asked me to coffee?” She didn’t let him answer before she continued, “There’s a lot going on here, Liam, and I’m not going to sit around and wait for you to figure it all out. Tell me right now whatever it is you have to say.”

“You’re dealing with so much…” he said, not answering any of her questions. He gritted his teeth as if he were scolding himself, and then looked her in the eye. “I’m not used to this.”

She took in a steadying breath and waited patiently, giving him her full attention. It was clear that whatever he was trying to tell her was difficult for him.

“My wife…” Liam went silent and took a drink of his coffee. He swallowed and clearly attempted to regroup, clearing his throat. “Her name is Alison. Was Alison. She passed away of cancer two years ago.”

Suddenly, Hannah’s heart went from feeling icy anger to complete compassion for Liam. Liam was a single parent, trying to manage everything on his own. What must that have been like for the last two years? “Oh my God, Liam. I’m so sorry.” All those thoughts she’d seen on his face now made complete sense. She put her fingers to her lips, breathless, trying to imagine the sorrow he must have felt.

“I haven’t ever put myself in a situation where I could meet… someone else. I haven’t gone on dates; my friends would want to set me up—no one compared to Alison.” His fingers tapped nervously on the table and then stilled. “I travel a lot. I walk by hundreds of people every day, and their faces have no meaning to me. And then you just walked right out of my past and into my world. With a flower in your hair.” He smiled at the memory. “I couldn’t take my eyes off you.”