“Excuse me, what did you say?” My voice catches in my throat. I can barely breathe.
“I’m taking a sabbatical and we’re going to Africa for a year for Doctors Without Borders.” I can tell by the look on his face that he’s serious and he thinks we're going with him. He made this monumental decision without even consulting me. My choice in telling Noah about Liam is peanuts compared to this.
“No,” I whisper. I shake my head. I’m not going anywhere.
“It will be good for us. Noah will learn a lot.”
I rip my hand out of his and stand. “Noah and I aren’t going, Nick. You don’t get to make a decision like this for us without talking to me first. Liam—”
“I don’t give a shit about Liam, Josie. Get that through your head. I’m taking my family and we’re going.”
“No, we’re not. You can go, but we're staying here.”
Nick stands, moving in front of me. “What are you saying?”
I look at the man I’ve loved for the past six years. “If you want to go, Nick, then go, but Noah and I are staying here. Noah has school and his activities and I’m not going to take him away from Liam while they're building a relationship. And I have my shop. I can’t just leave, I won’t. This… it’s not open for discussion.”
“So that’s it. You’re picking Westbury over me?”
I shake my head. “No, Nick, I’m picking Noah.”
CHAPTER 29
LIAM
Noah and I unpack the last box of clothes that I brought from L.A. I've decided to make Beaumont my hometown and will travel back and forth between here and Los Angeles. Harrison and Quinn will join us for Christmas. Harrison doesn’t have much family and when I told him about Beaumont, he asked if they could come.
The one thing I haven’t done is tell Sam that I’ve left. I have my penthouse until the end of March at which time I’ll have to find temporary digs. I hope Jimmy and Harrison won’t mind recording music here.
When I told Harrison about Noah, he was excited and completely on board with my new plan. He said he understood why I needed to make the change and said he’d probably do the same thing if he had just found out about Quinn.
Things with Josie are better but nonexistent and I’m okay with that. She needs time to heal from her break-up and I need time to be a dad. I have a lot of years to make up for.
We're getting a Christmas tree tomorrow. With everything unpacked and put away, the delivery couldn’t come at a better time. Katelyn and the girls are coming over to decorate – apparently this is Elle’s specialty. Who am I to deny three beautiful women the opportunity to do all the hard work?
The doorbell rings and Noah yells, “I'll get it!” from the top of the stairs. I cringe when I hear him stomping down the stairs. Both Josie and I are afraid he’s going to slip and break something, but he isn’t listening to either of us. Maybe he’ll listen when he’s in the emergency room.
I hear a crash and something shattering. I run from the kitchen through the dining room, panic setting in because I can’t hear Noah; he’s too quiet.
“Noah, are you—”
I stop dead in my tracks. She stands there with casserole spread all over her feet, her hand covering her gaping mouth, eyes watering. I set my hand on Noah’s shoulder and look at her. She’s aged, but obviously had some work done. I can’t tell if she still wears the same red lipstick she did when I was growing up, but I somehow think she hasn’t changed much.
“Noah, why don’t you go grab some gloves, a towel and a plastic bag and we’ll get that cleaned up.”
“Okay, Dad.”
Noah runs off toward the kitchen. I wait a few beats before looking her in the eyes. She’s watching Noah.
“What are you doing here?”
She looks at me, the same cold stare I grew up with. If I didn’t know better I’d think she hated me. That maybe I ruined her life.
“I was… he’s… casserole and… you’re...”
“Are you really speechless or has the vodka finally impaired your ability to function like a normal human?”
“I haven’t had a drink in five years,” she says.
“Congratulations. You should go before my son comes back. I don’t want to explain why we're talking as if we know each other.”
“Liam—”
“Don’t,” I say as I step over the mess she’s created on my porch. I shut the door quietly behind me so I can be frank with her. “You don’t get to ‘Liam’ me. You stood by and watched as he threw me out of the house. You’re supposed to protect me and you should’ve been protecting Noah. You live in the same god damn town and he looks just like me, so don’t tell me you haven’t seen him or Josie around. You should’ve told me. You were the only one who knew how to get a hold of me and you didn’t.”
“I’m sorry, I tried, but you know your father. He was adamant.”
“I don’t want excuses. I missed ten years with him. Ten!”