“Hey,” I said, opening the door. “This is a nice surprise.”
“Hey.” He scrunched his face up in a mix of confusion and disgust. “Is that . . . I mean, is he . . . ?”
“Suckling on my boob? Yes, he is, and it’s perfectly natural, so get in here and stop looking at me like that.”
“I just feel kinda creepy being here while that’s going on.”
“My child eating?”
“Eww.” He looked away. “Don’t put it that way.”
I rolled my eyes and laughed. “I forgot that to you I don’t have boobs or a vagina.”
“Stop,” he said, giving me a dirty look.
“Do you want a drink?” I closed the door as he stepped in.
“Nah, I’m good.”
“So how’s life? Come in and sit down.”
He sat down on the other end of the couch from me. “Did Mom tell you she’s leaving Michael?”
“Hmm. I’ll believe that when I see it.”
“Yeah, me too,” he said.
He glanced around the room, looking at everything but me, and I sensed it wasn’t just because I was breastfeeding.
“You okay?” I asked.
“Yeah, just . . . thinking.” He sighed deeply. “I’m an imperfect person, you know?”
“Nonsense. You are flawless.” I smiled and he followed.
“I lost my shit over you and Bennett, and I think a lot of it was just feeling left out. You guys are two out of my three top people in life. Well, I guess there’s four now, with Charlie.”
“You guys are at least talking again,” I said. “That’s progress.”
“Yeah, but I was a dick to him. And then he understood, which made it even worse.”
I peeked down my shirt to check on Charlie, who was still nursing.
“If you want to apologize, maybe you should talk to Bennett,” I said to Liam.
He ran a hand through his hair. “Yeah . . . I’m kind of here to offer an unconventional apology.”
“How so?”
“I overheard a conversation between him and Orion earlier. I eavesdropped because I thought he was coming to quit the team, and I planned to talk him out of it if he did.”
“He didn’t quit, did he? I hope he didn’t.”
“I think he did, but he also did something worse.”
I arched my brows expectantly. “What?”
“Orion told him Chicago wants him next season, and he turned it down.”
I just stared at my brother for a couple seconds. “He turned down . . . the NHL? Are you sure?”
“Positive. He said you won’t marry him, you won’t move there with him, and he’s not leaving you and Charlie behind.”
My heart melted out of my chest and onto the floor. Liam was telling me the truth. Bennett would sacrifice his dream for us. He was selfless enough to do it and not feel bitter or remorseful about it.
“Oh my God,” I said softly. “I’ve ruined his career.”
“No, you haven’t. I went into Orion’s office after Bennett left and asked him to give me some time to change his mind. But it’s really your mind that needs changing.”
I felt Charlie squirming as he finished eating, so I pulled him out from beneath the poncho and put him on my chest, patting his back gently.
“You think I should go to Chicago with him,” I said.
“Don’t you think you should? The guy’s willing to give up the motherfucking NHL for you, and you won’t give up the county prosecutor’s office?”
I had to smile at my brother’s sudden and complete change of heart.
“Well, when you put it that way . . .”
“Look, I was a prick,” he continued. “I kind of knew it then, and I completely know it now. I feel like it’s my job to be protective of you.”
“I know.”
“But the truth is, Bennett’s one of the best men I’ve ever known. He used to chase women, but hell, we all did. He was single and never promised any of them anything more than he was willing to give. And with you . . . he changed. He loves you and Charlie more than anything.”
“I love him, too.”
Liam looked at me hopefully. “So, will you go?”
I swallowed hard, trying to create a quick mental pro/con list. But I came up short on cons.
“You don’t think I’m like Mom, chasing him because I’d feel incomplete without a man?”
Liam cracked a big smile. “You’re nothing like Mom. And it’s not just any man we’re talking about here; it’s the one who’d take a bullet for you. He deserves all of you.”
Slowly, I nodded. “You’re right. Liam, you’re so right. Can you come to the lumberyard with me?”
“Right now?”
“Right now.”
My heart raced as soon as I saw Bennett. He was in the lumberyard parking lot lifting long boards onto a flatbed cart, his gray T-shirt soaked with sweat.
“There he is,” I said to Liam. “Wish me luck.”
“Whoa, wait a minute. What do I do with him?” He gestured at Charlie’s car seat.
“If he cries, get him out of his seat and rock him.”
Liam’s eyes doubled in size. “The fuck? I can barely hold him when I’m sitting still and you put him in my arms. I don’t want to drop him or something.”
“Okay, so just push those two green things to unlatch the carrier from the car and walk him around the parking lot if he cries. I won’t be long.”