He nodded again but didn’t say anything, then finished his beer, too.
“Another drink?” I said.
Liam looked at me and smiled. “Yeah, why not?”
THE CAR IS filled with the warm aroma of cardamom and ginger, and yet, I shivered. My phone rang just as I pulled into our driveway, and I recognized my mother’s number immediately. I sat quietly, holding my breath as if she’d know I was there if I moved, and waited for the beep that indicated a new voice mail.
“Hello, Abigail.” My mother’s tone was typically stern, almost businesslike, not what most people would expect from their own flesh and blood. “I need to speak to you. It’s important. Please call me at your earliest convenience. Thank you.”
I rolled my eyes. No way in hell would I call her. It had been a long time since we’d last spoken, a few years at least since we’d had a proper conversation that went beyond strained civilities. And I wasn’t about to change that now, not after the way she’d treated me. I stabbed at my phone to ensure her message was deleted, gone forever. I took a deep breath, grabbed the paper bags and headed toward our front door.
Once inside, I placed the food on the stairs, slipped off my boots and turned to hang up my jacket. That was when I spotted the long black coat casually draped over the banister. I reached out and touched the soft lapel, closed my eyes as I breathed in the familiar earthy scent of aftershave.
My heart pounded as I picked up the bags and walked toward the conservatory.
Nate’s voice floated toward me. “...of course at that point I’d met my exes at a university party, a bar and a launderette.”
“Well, the launderette sounds kind of original.” Liam’s voice, deep and gravelly. Manly, sexy. My stomach did a few flips, and I cursed under my breath, willing it to keep still.
“Ah,” Nate said. “That’s what my grandmother said, too, until she found out I’d been moderately wasted. Anyway, I’d better shut up or I’ll bore the crap out of you.” His laugh, a sound that had once made my stomach flutter gently, now left me lukewarm.
“He’s a good man,” I whispered to myself. “Nate’s a good man.”
“It sounds like you were really close to your family,” Liam said.
I swallowed. How long had Liam been there? Had he been watching us from his window, waiting for me to leave so he could get to Nate? And if so, why? He’d been a little jealous when we were dating, sure, although he’d never seemed the vengeful type. But so many years had passed since we’d seen each other, I couldn’t be sure I still knew him at all. And yet, everything about him, his voice, his laugh, the smell of his aftershave, was familiar. More than familiar. In so many ways it was as if we’d never been apart.
“Yeah, really close,” Nate said before clearing his throat. “Like I said, my grandfather was my hero. I was devastated when he died. Going to his funeral was one of the saddest days of my life.”
“I suppose after that you didn’t go north much?”
I put a hand on my stomach in an attempt to stop it from lurching. Why was Liam asking all these questions? What did he want? And what was Nate doing, talking about his family to someone he’d just met?
“I wasn’t planning on it at first,” Nate said, and I wanted him to stop talking so I quickened my step, almost running down the hallway as Nate continued. “But destiny, fate or whatever the hell you want to call it decided otherwise because on the night of the funeral—”
“I’m back,” I said as I charged into the room, my glance darting from Nate to Liam, whose beautiful gray eyes stared straight back into mine.
Nate, who was bent over at the waist, by the look of it about to pot the black, turned around. “Oh, hi.” He put his cue down, walked over and took the bags from me before softly kissing my cheek. “I didn’t hear you come in.”
“Huh?” I swallowed. Had Liam tensed at Nate’s romantic gesture or had I imagined it?
Nate frowned. “You okay? You were gone for ages.” He went to the kitchen and put the bags down on the table.
“Uh, it was busy.” I tore my gaze from Liam’s and focused on my husband. “And, uh, then a rabbit or something ran in front of the car.”
“Shit, did you hit it? You okay?” Nate put an arm around me, and I wanted to shake it off.
“No, and I’m fine,” I said instead. “Spooked me a bit, that’s all.”
Liam cleared his throat. “I’d better go.”
A few seconds ago I wished he wasn’t in my house. Now I almost told him to please sit back down and have another drink, but I managed to keep my mouth closed.
“Thanks for the beer and the games,” he said to Nate. “Appreciate it, even if I was a crap opponent.”
Liam, a crap opponent? He could have gone professional when we were going out. The local pool club had hailed him a prodigy, and ran under-the-table bets whenever he showed up. Why was he lying about that?
“No sweat,” I heard Nate say as they moved into the hallway. “And I’ll stop by on Friday.”
Friday?
“Sorry?” Liam turned, and I saw his blank expression that probably matched my own.
“Yeah.” Nate laughed. “You know, the heating?”
Liam smacked his forehead with his palm. “Brain overload. Yeah. Friday. Thanks.” He looked at me. “Bye, Abby. Nice to see you again.” He lingered for a moment, and I half expected him to say something else, but then he walked out, so I fled to the kitchen.
I’d barely started functioning again when I heard Nate’s footsteps coming toward me. I tried to make myself look busy and normal by grabbing plates, cutlery and glasses.
“Mmm... This smells delicious.” Nate ripped open the paper bags. Why did he have to tear into them like an animal? He could have easily lifted the containers out, then folded the bags and put them in the recycling bin.
I suppressed what would have been a churlish sigh and smiled instead. “Samosas, lamb korma and chicken vindaloo,” I said, plopping paper napkins on the table.
“Korma and vindaloo?” Nate raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t think you liked either.”
Another smile. “They’re your favorites. I wanted to do something nice for you.”
His grin was so genuine and full of love, I could feel a lump rising at the back of my throat. I turned and grabbed the jug of lemon water from the fridge, then sat down when I was sure my eyes weren’t glistening anymore.
Once we’d filled our plates, as casually as I could I said, “What’s this about Friday?”
Nate
