Only One (Ward Sisters Book 2) (40 page)

“I asked Meg to find her someone to help her get over you. Meg says that she refuses to date.”

“You don't think she still hopes we'll get back together?”

“I don't know. She doesn't say much about it to me, but I know she's having a hard time, which is why I think she lied. Otherwise, she'd be over it or moving forward by now.”

“I hope she can get some closure when we leave for L.A.”

“You're going, now?”

“Doctor said the kids and Jenna can travel in a couple weeks. We'll still miss the premiere, but we'll be there for awards season. I need you to do me a favor, Em.”

“Anything, Liam.”

“It's more a favor for Rob. He has anxiety attacks before premieres. I need you to be the one to talk him down since I can't be there this time. That's why I go to all his premieres. We have a little ritual where I help him talk through his anxiety. If I tell you what I do, can you be there for him when I can't? Sometimes, I'll be there, too. But it would be good to have another person to help him. I had to FaceTime him before every premiere while I was out here and there were a couple times he still barely made it through. Somehow, looking at the person makes the difference.”

“Of course. Are we going to be each other's secret keeper now? Since I'm not allowed to tell Meg everything anymore.”

“Yeah. We don't need to keep stuff from them on purpose, but we can talk to and lean on each other.”

“Good. Thank you. For protecting me and always doing your best to be honest with me.”

“You know I always have your back, Em.”

“I do, Liam. And now you know I have yours.”

“Thanks,” he said, hugging her. He pulled away and smiled at her. “You're a good egg.”

“Right back at you.”

Chapter 36

It was the morning before everyone left for the L.A. premiere of
Not Worthy
. Liam stood on the deck, taking advantage of the unusually warm day, the air slightly crisp and fragrant with the decay of fall and the pungent odor of low tide. He leaned on the railing and sighed. The atmosphere in the house had been tense since Rob and Jenna had confessed to their previous relationship.

From behind him, Liam heard Rob say, “Got a minute?”

He closed his eyes for a second, took a breath and turned, saying, “Sure, boss. What do you need me to do?”

“Don't do that.”

“Do what?”

“Act like we're not friends.”

“Are we friends? Last I knew, friendship meant honesty.”

“I'm sorry.”

“For which part, Rob? Lying? Having so little respect for me that you tried to use me as a placeholder?”

“How can I make it up to you? I don't want to lose you as a friend. We've been best friends for fifteen years. Are we going to throw it all away over this?”

Liam shook his head. “I don't want that, but it's pretty fucking hard to forget what you did. I don't blame you for loving her. I don't even blame you for wanting to hold on to her. I don't think you were trying to hurt her
or
me. That doesn't make your choices less shitty.”

“I know. It was hard to see the truth until after Em left me. I never realized how much I'd hurt you and Jenna with my actions until the two of you literally picked up the pieces and put me back together, no questions asked. That wasn't because you work for me. It was because you're my two best friends. And you love each other. You always have, from the moment you met. Until I had that with Emily, I didn't see how much my selfishness had hurt your relationship.”

“Is Jenna the reason you threw everything at Em all at once?”

“Yes, but maybe not in the way that you think. I wasn't trying to get over Jenna. That's not why I was so aggressive with Em.”

“I don't believe that you weren't trying to get over Jenna.”

“Okay, I wanted to get over Jenna, but that wasn't why I pursued Em. I really was drawn to her immediately. I knew I'd found the girl for me when Em made me feel the way I had when I met Jenna. So when I started falling for her, straight away, I didn't want to take the chance that I'd blow it the way I did with Jenna. I knew I had to lay it all on the line with Emily right from the beginning, or else I'd never have a real shot with her.”

“That's why you told her you were in love with her when you'd only known her for three days.”

“I
was
in love with her, Liam. I loved Jenna, but not like I love Emily. When Em left me, she tore a hole in my soul.”

“Then why didn't you run after her right away?”

“Because I'd screwed up. The stuff with Rachel, that wasn't in my hands. But the rest? Rushing my relationship with Em to make up for my mistakes with Jenna? That was about my insecurities. After Em dumped me, I thought I was being punished for my past, so I figured I had to let her go. When Jenna told me about Annie's engagement, I knew it was a sign that I should try one more time to win Emily's heart.”

“I sat here, watching her for you, for six months. I missed Jenna's pregnancy so that you could get yourself together. I would have done anything for you. If you said 'shoot,' I'd have pulled out my gun and asked questions later. I trusted you that much. I don't know if I can trust you like that again. Definitely not now.”

“I understand. I hope you'll at least give me a chance to make it up to you. I don't know if I ever can, but I want to try.”

Liam nodded. “I believe you because I want to believe you. I don't want to lose my best friend, either. But it'll take some time for us to get back there.”

“I'll do what it takes.”

“Good to know.” They stood there for a minute, absorbing what had just transpired between them, the thawing of defenses, the start to a reconciliation.

Then, Rob said, “You have plans for while we're gone? Are you and Jenna going to spend some time as a family?”

“I hope so. No offense, but that's been impossible lately.”

“I didn't mean for that, Liam.”

“Hopefully, we can make it through this.”

“You think you might not? She loves you. Don't walk away.”

“I don't plan to walk away from her. I love her. I won't let you come between us.”

“I never intended to come between you. Please believe that. I know it might be hard to conceive, but once I saw you with her, I knew I'd lost her. The truth is, it was all for the best. Jenna was right. We were missing the spark. You can't force that. Either it's there or it isn't.”

Liam nodded. He knew. He'd started to feel things for Nina, but there hadn't been the persistent electrical connection there was with Jenna. He might have been happy, even content with Nina. But he'd never have felt whole the way Jenna filled him.

“Do you regret lying or the way you treated us?” Liam asked.

“In hindsight, I regret hurting all of you. I was selfish.”

“Well, you're an actor. You're bound to do something stupid, narcissistic and obnoxious at least once.”

Rob chuckled. “I guess it could have been worse.”

Liam laughed. “Too true.” He sobered. “Don't lie to me ever again.”

“Never. I swear, Liam, that's the only time I've ever kept anything from you.”

“Yeah, well, I kept Rachel's secret for years. I guess we're even now, huh?”

“Friends don't keep score.”

“No, they don't.” He hesitated, but he knew it had to be done. Leaning forward, he hugged Rob. “Take care of your wife while you're gone. And stop keeping her in the dark.”

Rob hugged him back and then stepped away, a look of confusion on his face. “Why would you say that?”

“You haven't told her how bad your anxiety can get, Rob. I know, because I've talked to her about it. You have to tell her. She's going to help you through the premiere. I asked her to do it. I told her what she needs to do. If it's not working, she'll call me. Let her in. She loves you. She isn't going to leave again.”

Rob sighed, gave him a small smile and said, “Okay. I need to finish packing. Are we good? Or at least better?”

“We're getting there. Give it time."

**********

Getting around became easier as the days passed, but she was still sore and couldn't do much that required exertion. Carrying more than one of the twins at a time was out, and she had no idea how things would work once Liam left for L.A. with Rob and Emily. As the bodyguard for Rob's wife, he was surely following them to L.A. for the
Not Worthy
wide-release premiere. Rob always needed Liam at premieres.

Not that Liam had said anything to her about it. Since their confession, Liam hadn't been distant so much as quiet. They'd never really been quiet together. It had always been a constant stream of conversation.

In some ways, the fact that he said very little was worse than if he'd argued with her.

She'd contemplated asking Emily, but that seemed like a bad idea if dwelt upon more than a few minutes at a time. And though she talked to Rob every day for work, he had indicated that Liam was giving him the silent treatment, too.

After Amy's initial statement, there had been limited fallout from her trip to the hospital. Part of that was related to the fact that the marriage announcement for Rob and Emily appeared in
People
almost immediately afterward, diverting all but the sleaziest outlets to the real story.

A few hangers-on wouldn't let the potential scandal go, so Jenna was putting out fires here and there. As such, she and Rob planned several calls each day while they were gone, a couple of which would be conference calls with Amy.

They were saying goodbye for the first time post-confession, and it was awkward, not knowing if they should hug or kiss the way they always had. They'd settled for a brief hug, and at that moment, Liam walked into the living room.

Jenna inwardly cringed. When would it no longer be so uncomfortable?

“Car is here and the bags are loaded. Time to head for the airport,” Liam said.

Rob nodded and looked at Jenna, then at Liam. “Take good care of them while we're gone,” he said. And then he left.

Liam started to walk out of the room, but not behind Rob. He headed toward the kitchen instead.

“You're...staying?” she asked.

Liam looked at her, surprised. “Of course I'm staying. You didn't think I'd leave you here alone to take care of the babies by yourself, did you?”

Jenna shrugged. “I had no idea,” she whispered, as she sank into the couch, head on her hands.

She was shocked when Liam sat next to her, further stunned when he put his arms around her. The tears came on their own, without her permission, and she found herself sobbing into his polo shirt.

Liam whispered endearments into her hair and rubbed her back as he held her. Finally, her tears slowed and her breathing stuttered as she recovered from the big cry she'd held inside for most of the past two weeks.

She finally pulled away, saying, “I'm sorry.” Whether for the tears on his shirt or the fact that she'd hurt him by omitting the truth about her relationship with Rob, she couldn't say. Probably, it was a little of the one and a lot of the other.

“You know I love you, right?”

“Still?” she asked, truly unsure whether he meant it.

He shook his head in disbelief. “Jenna, you can't honestly think that I would stop loving you over your confession.”

“You've hardly spoken to me since then, Liam. It was difficult to know what to think.”

He cupped her face in his hands. “I almost lost you. More than once. And the last time, it could have been forever. You think I don't know how lucky I am that I didn't? I won't lie. I was hurt. I'm still hurt. But I don't exactly have a lot of wiggle room, do I? It's taking me some time to get over my pride being wounded.”

“You don't hate me?”

“No, baby. I love you so much.”

“You do?” He nodded. “Good. Because I love you, Liam. It kills me to think about being without you.”

“You don't need to worry about that. I'm not going anywhere. Let's forget about all the stuff with Rob as best we can while they're gone. Take some time to be a family. I miss having time alone with you.”

“We won't be alone. The babies will be with us.” And as if on cue, Cam's crying came over the monitor, followed seconds later by Ellie's. Suddenly, there were two babies wailing loud enough to be heard
without
amplification.

Liam smiled. “I'll go get them.”

“I'll come with you. They probably both need to be changed and I'm sure they're hungry. You don't have their food.”

He helped her to her feet. “Then let's go be a team.”

“I like the sound of that,” she said.

Liam held her hand all the way upstairs to the nursery, where they switched focus to their children. They weren't broken. Bent a little, yes, but not damaged beyond repair. Hopefully, this time with Rob and Emily away would allow them to heal the wounds and work toward rebuilding something stronger and better.

**********

Liam walked into their bedroom to find Jenna standing at the door of the closet with the Beehive print and he froze.

“This photo is stunning. I don't remember seeing it at your condo. Did you buy it since you've been out here? It reminds me of Adams. I bet that's why you liked it, right? Liam?”

“Uh. Yeah. Right.”

“We should put this on the wall. It would look better over the dresser than that little picture of Lila. If we hang this there, we can put Lila's photo somewhere else. I'm sure I've got some photos...”

“No!” Liam said automatically. His heart was suddenly racing.

“No? Why? If you didn't want to display it, why did you buy it? Or do you just not want to put it in that spot?”

“Do
not
put that on the wall,” Liam practically begged her.

“Liam, what's going on?” She set the photo down on the floor and walked toward him. She rubbed his shoulders and looked at him expectantly. “Is there something I should know about the photo? Is this the picture you displayed in the art show? The one that got your dad and Peggy together?”

“What? No. I didn't take this photo.”

“Then what's wrong, baby?”

Before he could lie about it, he spit out the truth. They couldn't live with more lies. “Nina gave it to me, the week of the wedding. It was a moving-in present. We saw the original at the Sidewalk Art Festival and she knew I liked it, so she asked the artist to frame a copy for me.”

“Oh,” she said. Her shoulders drooped and she plopped down in the chair by the bed.

Liam shoved his hands in his pockets. He didn't know what to say. Would anything be the
right
thing? Probably not. Only the truth had room here.