“I’ve kept her from this, Liam.”
“No, baby. You haven’t kept anything from her. You’ve been too busy guarding yourself that you’ve missed it. She already has it. Do you really think Nate would have fought his own sister off and volunteered to bring her home from school if he didn’t want to? He told me he locked Dani in her own house and brought Molly home, just so he could spend some time with her. Half the time when Izzy is watching her, Molly is watching Nate. Did it seem odd to you that she didn’t even bat an eye when I was here the other night? Darlin’, those times Dani has had her while you were working? You know Dani and I are close?”
I nod and his smile deepens.
“I look real good in Dani’s makeup baby.”
My jaw drops and the image of Liam—all very male Liam—the subject of one of Molly’s makeovers.
“I’m there, often, and I’ll be the first to admit that she has me wrapped around her finger as tight as I can get.”
He finishes and gives me a second while my mouth flounders.
“She never told me.” My voice comes out harsher than I meant and I can tell he doesn’t like it.
“You’ve been scared of your own shadow for a while now, Megan. She might not have told you outright, but she wasn’t keeping it from you.”
“Molly never told me,” I continue.
“She didn’t tell you? Or you didn’t want to hear it?”
My brow wrinkles and I think about what he’s saying. Had I been purposely been ignoring things I don’t want to see? All those times that Dani had watched her for a few hours, she had come home on cloud nine. Her chatter had been nonstop and most of the time so rapid that I couldn’t keep up. But—my God! What kind of mother am I?
“Tea parties,” I say hoarsely. “I always thought that Leelee was . . . well, not you. That night you came with pizza—” My voice trails off as I remember how my daughter so oddly spoke to Liam like she had been waiting for him. Like she had anticipated his arrival at her home.
“It’s not hard to love her, Megan. I would never hurt either of you, but you have to know had I refused the innocent love she so freely throws to everyone around her, that it would have left a mark.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
I try to shift, but he doesn’t allow me to move from his lap.
“I’ve been trying to.”
“You’re so confusing. You haven’t been trying to do anything but get back in my pants.”
His eyes go hard and he moves so that I can’t do anything but look right at him. His eyes burning, but this time without giving me any kind of warm feelings.
“Make no doubt that I would love to be back in those pants, Megan. I guarantee you that the next time I’m right back in those fucking pants it’s going to be because you want me there. But don’t ever accuse me of using your daughter to get there. The only thing confused here is you. You’re too busy trying to keep yourself from seeing what’s right in front of you. You’ve got yourself so twisted in knots to keep everyone out, that you can’t see a damn thing.”
He stops talking and moves to stand, leaving me with no choice but to follow him up. He straightens, helps me finish my climb from the floor, and drops his hand instantly.
“If I didn’t know with all that I fucking am that you’re worth the trouble, I would leave and never look back.”
I step back a foot at his words.
“So fucking stubborn, Megan. So stubborn. What happened out there,” he says, pointing in the direction that Molly and Nate can be heard laughing. “What happened is you finally seeing past the goddamn guilt and fear that has been eating you for years. The fear I can understand, baby, I get it. But the guilt, I don’t see it. I’ve tried to wrap my head around it for months now, and I still can’t get it. You aren’t living and until you get your head out of your ass you’re going to continue living this lonely life. What happened out there was you seeing that, even with you trying to keep her from experiencing anything that may one day cause her a second of pain, she’s breaking free of those tangled webs and living. Take a page from her book Megan and maybe we can finally be on the same chapter. I was wrong before, we aren’t just on different ones, you’re still ten books behind me.”
He turns, looks to where my mirror used to be and even without knowing, I’m sure he’s smart enough to put the pieces together. Especially since bits of the shattered mirror are still stuck to the wall.
“Open your eyes, Megan. It’s time to grab the rope,” he so strangely says before turning and walking through the door.