“Yeah, you do.” He laughed.
“Okay, I’m not arguing. How do I look?” I asked, running my fingers through my dark, curly hair, to try and bring some order to it.
“You look great, Thalia. Stop fussing.”
Liam climbed out of the car and ran around to open the door for me still looking neat as a pin, whereas I probably looked like the cat the dog dragged home.
He held his hand out to me so I placed mine in his and let him pull me from the car. While I stretched my legs, I took my first look at his childhood home. It was a large colonial style house with a wraparound porch, or at least I thought it was from what I could see of it. Colorful flowers lined and filled the porch and a well-maintained garden surrounded the house with a barn off in the distance. The house was painted white with pale blue trim. It was gorgeous.
“You like?” Liam stood beside me and looked...nervous?
“It’s beautiful.”
“Yeah, I guess it is,” he took a deep breath, “let’s do this.”
Why was he nervous about being home?
I followed a reluctant Liam up the front steps to the porch, and noticed the two-person-swing and chairs to the right with a low coffee table between them. It looked welcoming.
Liam opened one side of the huge double doors on the front of the house so we could enter. Walking inside the large entrance, which was decorated in pale lemon with white accessories, I spotted an elegant looking woman over to the left, standing watching us.
“Liam, you’re here?” The rich voice was filled with affection.
“It would appear so,” Liam answered as he walked towards the woman and wrapped her up in a hug. She was about the same height as I was, with short blonde hair styled into a sleek bob. She wore minimum make up and looked elegant in a white pantsuit. Liam pulled away, but kept his arm around her. “Mom, I’d like you to meet my girlfriend,” he winked, “Thalia.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Thalia.” She took hold of my shoulders and kissed the air next to each side of my face. “That’s an unusual name, pretty, but unusual. Please call me Stephanie.”
I stepped away from her. “It’s nice to meet you, Stephanie.” I continued to look around. “You have a beautiful home.”
This woman made me feel uneasy for some reason. She’d been welcoming, but kept looking me up and down as though I fell short, or at least that’s how she made me feel.
“Where are Dad and Jack?”
“Your father is playing golf and Jack took off on that bike,” Stephanie replied in disgust. “Why he uses that dirty thing, I have no idea. I just pray Mia doesn’t find out about it.”
About to laugh, I caught Liam watching me. He gave a slight shake of his head. “Mom, everyone needs to let off steam now and again.”
“Yes, well, he’ll be married in just short of two months, so he’ll have to get it out of his system before then.” She glanced at me, shaking herself like she just remembered I was standing there. “Sorry Thalia, you’ll meet my husband, Graham, and Liam’s brother, Jack, at dinner... You do have a dress with you?” She looked me up and down again.
It was clear from the thin line of her lips and the jut of her jaw that she didn’t think I was good enough for her son. “Yes,” I replied while I tried to hold my tongue. If she saw my family home she wouldn’t be acting as though Liam had dragged me in from the street. She’d be throwing her son at me!
“Good. I’ll let Liam show you around. I’ve put Thalia in the yellow guest room. I’m meeting friends in town so I’ll see you both at dinner.” She breezed out the front door leaving me stunned. For someone married to a lawyer, she wasn’t diplomatic.
“Oh boy. Jack’s pissed about something.”
“Why do you say that?”
“He only takes the bike out when he’s pissed and because Dad isn’t here, I’d say Mom is the reason.” He ran his hands through his hair and let out a breath, as though he’d been holding it in. “Give me a minute to grab our things from the car. After that, I’ll show you to your room.”
“Okay.”
While Liam went to retrieve the luggage, I wandered into the hall where the stairs were located. On the side table to my right were a handful of photographs, letting my purse drop to the floor I moved in for a closer look. I noticed Liam straightaway; in fact there were a few of him and a couple of his parents. There was only one of another guy, who I presumed must be Jack. It was obviously high school graduation. So that cute guy was Liam’s brother.
“Jack,” Liam commented, glancing over my shoulder. I’d been so engrossed in the photographs I hadn’t heard him come back inside. “He looks a bit different now. That was high school graduation.”