Tori shared some funny stories from work, then changed the subject again. Told her about how Landon Edenhoff was giving his brother a run for his money in the casual sex department. But that just lead them back to talking about Liam, a subject Tori was clearly uncomfortable with, so she came up with a reason to get off the phone and they both said goodbye.
Katya stood up and went inside. She shut the door behind her, then she leaned against it. Liam was in the kitchen, barely visible with his back to her. He was talking to her mother, moving his hands a lot and laughing. She smiled as she watched him.
There'd been a long, late night conversation with him, too. A lot of truths spoken. He admitted to being jealous of Wulf, to always feeling second best to men like him. Liam insisted he really had feelings for Katya, that he honestly cared for her. She had said that was nice but she was swearing off men for a while.
Which was technically true, but she also just didn't believe him. Oh, she believed he cared for her. They really were friends. But he wasn't in love with her, and since she'd had a long time to think about it and go over everything that had happened between them, she was sure he never had been. He'd just convinced himself that he was – because if he was in love with her and he got her to love him, then he would beat Wulf. Prove something to himself and to Wulf and to his family and his brother and anyone else who'd ever doubted him.
It was ridiculous, but it seemed to be his approach to life in general. Everything was just a chance to prove himself. Sleep with a lot of women – proves he's a real man. Beat someone at a game – proves he's a better man. It was kind of sad really, and Katya wished she could help him. But she had her own issues, ones that had nothing to do with Liam Edenhoff.
She stopped being lost in thought and she went into the kitchen. Helped her mother make dinner. Her father rolled around the kitchen, attempting to help as much as he could. He had no depth perception, which resulted in a lot of spilled items and rolled over toes. They all laughed a lot.
By seven o'clock, Mr. Tocci was done. After he took an alarming amount of pills, Katya and her mother helped him into bed. Her mom stayed with him, pulling the blankets up around him and settling in, turning on their television. She wished them goodnight and shut the door behind her.
“You're a good daughter, angel cake,” Liam sighed, stretching his arms above his head as he walked into the living room.
“I try,” she laughed, following him and flopping down on the couch. He sat down next to her and looked at her for a moment.
“I'm really sorry, you know,” he told her. She nodded.
“I know. I believe you.”
“You deserve someone a lot better than me,” he said, and she nodded.
“I know that, too. Wanna watch a movie?”
Instead of answering, he reached out and grabbed her hand. Linked their fingers together.
“I hope I never do anything to hurt you ever again.”
“That's not possible, Liam,” she laughed. “I'm going to hurt you, you're going to hurt me. It happens. Just don't do it on purpose again, and we're all good.”
“I won't. Are you sure I can't talk you into coming home? You can have Wulf's old apartment,” he told her, reaching out with his free hand and brushing a lock of hair from her face.
“He's not there anymore?” she asked.
“No, he went back to his ivory tower. He wants to move Vieve in there, but I told him I wanted to wait till I'd talked to you about it.”
She shook her head.
“Give it to Vieve, she and Brie can live there. It'll be good for them,” Katya offered. He frowned.
“We'll see. At least move back in with Tori – she's going stir crazy without you. She tried to bake snickerdoodles all on her own and she brought them to work. I thought she was trying to poison all of us.”
She started laughing again.
“God, I love that woman,” she chuckled. “But no. I'm going to stay here for a while, then maybe next summer, I'll figure out my next move.”
“Next summer? Long time to be away from your home and your passion,” he told her.
“This is my home,” she corrected him. “And I can bake anywhere. Don't worry about me, Liam. I'll be fine.”
“But … I miss you. I miss our lunches and margaritas and all the tacos,” he said softly, smiling down at her.
“I know. I miss them, too, but we'll be okay, Liam.”
They stayed downstairs for a while, holding hands all through the movie. She fell asleep leaning against him and when she woke back up, she was in her own bed. She glanced around and didn't see him anywhere, which surprised her a little. Maybe he really was learning. She smiled to herself and snuggled down into her blanket.
This is good. Things will get better. Smiling will start to feel real, eventually. Just focus on you and your family, and you'll get through this.
29
Another two weeks went by without too much notice. Liam had gone home the day after he'd carried her to bed, making her promise to call him all the time and visit at least once in the near future. She cried when she said goodbye, hugging him for so long that her mother eventually started pulling her loose.
Her father was adapting well to his new situation. There were bad moments, and downright awful ones – he fell out of bed in the middle of the night once, scaring about ten years off Katya's life with the way he screamed. They'd gotten him back to bed, but she and her mother had been up for the rest of the night, sitting on the couch and staring at the wall.
But mostly, he was healing. He was going to his physical therapy and he was learning how to adjust. He'd always had a positive attitude, so he applied it double time to his healing. Mr. Tocci was going to be just fine.
Her mother was also improving a lot. Nagging Katya about her love life, nagging her husband about leaving messes. She even agreed to help a friend plan a charity event, leaving the house all on her own – something she hadn't done since the accident.
Another thing that helped immensely, they now had a nurse. After her father had fallen, her mother went to have lunch with Ms. Stone during the day and apparently told her all about the incident. Within hours, a full time, live in RN had shown up. She'd been hired by a Mr. Stone, she explained, and she was given permission to do any and everything within her abilities to make life better for Mr. Tocci. Katya didn't even want to think about how much something like that cost, so she'd just smiled and shown the woman to a guest room. She knew it wasn't right, accepting that kind of help from a man she had essentially broken up with, but it still felt good. Some stress that she wouldn't have to deal with anymore.
Everything is going to be A-okay.
“Kiddo!” her dad hollered from the garage. She traipsed out there and found him at his workbench. He was frowning as he worked hard at twisting a wrench.
“What's up, Dad?” she asked, propping her hip against their rental van – a fancy one that had a lift for his wheelchair. A brand new Lexus was in the driveway, and Mr. Tocci was determined to get a prosthetic leg as soon as possible so he could get back to driving.