“Are you sure?”
Layla smiles. “Positive. Naomi’s dad is actually in her life. They have a good relationship. You have nothing to worry about. No need to start writing me checks.”
“It wasn’t the checks I was worried about.”
“What was it then?”
I pull out my phone and bring up a picture of Josie and Noah. “It’s them. That’s my wife, Josie, and our son, Noah. I left her, eighteen and pregnant. I found out about him when I went home for my buddy’s funeral.”
“She’s gorgeous. How come she never called you?”
“She did.” I lock my screen and put my phone away. “Sam hid the messages from me. Anyway, we’re about to adopt and once again, I’ve up and left before the baby is due to arrive. I’ve been sitting here thinking about how she’s going to kill me. So don’t take this the wrong way, but I’m really happy your daughter isn’t mine.”
“But Liam you’d make such a great baby daddy.”
Before I can respond, she’s off the stool and behind the bar, making more of her juice. “I’ll take mine with some rum!” I yell out to her, earning a loud chuckle. One crisis averted for the day... and right now, I think that’s about all I can handle.
I’m in Beaumont - Liam’s hometown. I can see why he left. There’s absolutely nothing here. I’d be so bored and am thankful that he’d never invited me back before. I saw her today, the one he mumbles about. I know the baby she carries is his, but Liam doesn’t need to know. He’s a rising star and this would derail everything I’ve worked so hard for. Daddy was right. We’re his family now.
Nothing... and I mean absolutely nothing... could’ve prepared me for this. Each page is getting harder and harder to read. The questions I once had have been answered, and not in a good way, and I find myself questioning everything that is written in black and white before my eyes. I know Liam. I know him better than the person writing this book, and for the life of me I can’t see him like this.
I am not na?ve. I know he changed when he went to college. Noah having to grow up without him is evident by that, albeit not by Liam’s choice. But to read that my son was purposely hidden from his life is heartbreaking. These people didn’t do anything for my husband except create a puppet that they wanted to control. I hate… hate to think about where we’d be today if it hadn’t been for Mason.
I loathe typing B-E-A-U-M-O-N-T into my computer, but Liam is insistent. Why he’s going to the funeral for a guy that he hasn’t seen in ten years is baffling. These people mean nothing to him, and yet he’s leaving me again. I wonder if I should tell him that his friend came looking for him all those years ago. That he pounded his fists on the desk in reception demanding that he see him. He even waited in the lobby for two days for Liam to come in, but I made sure to keep him away. NOTHING was going to take my Liam from me, and yet here is the same man, taking him back to that wretched place.
Tears rush from my eyes, wetting the pages of this garbage. I remember when Mason disappeared for a few days, never telling me where he went. I’m not sure if he ever told Katelyn. When he came back though, you could tell he wasn’t the same person. Katelyn thought he had cheated on her, but he didn’t. She knew that in her heart, but couldn’t help and second-guess why he was being so secretive. Now we know.
I throw the book to the ground and let the tears fall freely, hoping to expel the negative energy from my mind and body. Reading this was a mistake and when they say curiosity killed the cat, they weren’t joking. I feel dead inside. My heart feels as if it weighs a hundred pounds or more and is barely beating. I need Liam to hold me, reassure me that Sam is dead and will never come back to interfere in our lives. And if she isn’t dead, she’ll wish she were after I’m finished with her.
Glancing around, I realize I’m still in the bathroom, having never moved once I turned the first page. My stomach growls, but the thought of food is nauseating. I’m not sure I could eat anything and if I did I’m not sure it’d stay down.