Liam's Invented I-Do

by Liz Isaacson

  Jeremiah surveyed the group, and Liam remembered what he’d said at one of their family meetings. It was more of an intervention for Tripp, a few weeks ago when he’d been so miserable about Ivory breaking up with him.

  I feel nothing. Absolutely nothing.

  Liam was starting to understand how his brother felt, and he wished he’d honored the no-women rule the brothers had established for themselves when they’d first arrived in Three Rivers.

  “We’re so glad to be here,” Jeremiah said. “Merry Christmas, everyone. Wyatt, Skyler, Liam, and I put together a gift for all of our guests.”

  Liam jumped into motion as Jeremiah nodded at him. He took a handful of tickets from Wyatt and started passing them out while Jeremiah continued.

  “These are for the New Year’s light celebration downtown. We’d love to go together as a family.”

  Liam handed his last ticket to Ivory, glad someone else had to pass one to Callie and her sisters. Yes, he thought of the Foster women as family, but not in the sisterly way. Well, Simone and Evelyn. But Callie had always accelerated his heartbeat, from the very moment he’d met her.

  He retreated back to Tripp’s side, because his twin was a safe zone for him. “I love the fireworks on New Year’s Eve,” Tripp said, grinning at his ticket.

  “Yeah,” Liam said. “And this year, Jeremiah donated a bunch of money to the celebration, and we have a reserved spot.”

  “Wow,” Tripp said. “Jeremiah’s a smart one. Fighting the crowd is half of the problem.”

  “You just don’t like crowds,” Liam teased.

  “And you do?” Tripp nudged him and laughed, and Liam was glad his brother was here. He sure was going to miss him in the office with him, though he’d had a few months alone and done okay. But Tripp and Ivory had just bought a new home out in the eastern estates of Three Rivers, and Liam knew his brother wouldn’t be coming back to Seven Sons permanently.

  “And now, announcements,” Skyler said. “I’ll go first.” He adjusted his cowboy hat, and Liam could feel his nerves from several feet away.

  “What’s goin’ on with him?”

  “He’ll say,” Tripp said.

  “I’m not going to be the mechanic here on the ranch,” Skyler said. “I’m going back to school in business and accounting, so I can run the ranch’s affairs.” He looked so happy, and while surprise moved through Liam, he clapped along with everyone else.

  “Wow, college,” he said. “I’d rather die that go back to that life.”

  “Right?” Tripp laughed again. “But it’ll be good for him. He never really went.”

  “All right, all right,” Skyler finally said, raising both hands in the air to get everyone to be quiet. “Anyone else with any announcements?”

  Liam hated with the fire of a thousand suns that Skyler’s gaze landed on him. He pressed his lips together in a tight line and practically willed his brother to look somewhere else.

  How humiliating. Of course, everyone at the homestead knew he’d asked Callie to marry him. Jeremiah hadn’t even been upset. Well, he’d been a little bit upset, but he’d stayed in the room, so Liam thought he was making real progress.

  “We have one,” Rhett said, stepping out from behind Liam. “Evelyn is expecting a baby this summer.”

  A shriek went up from Evelyn’s sisters, and Liam sure did like watching the joy as it crossed Callie’s face. Liam loved kids, and he grabbed Rhett and hugged him, saying, “Wow, congrats, brother.”

  He wanted to congratulate Evelyn too, but she stood too close to Callie, and Liam actually stepped out of the way so everyone could hug Rhett. The din died down, though Mama was actually weeping, and Skyler retook his role as announcement-giver.

  “Anyone else?” he asked.

  No one said anything, and Jeremiah said, “All right. Let’s pray and eat. This ham isn’t getting any more candied.” That caused more noise as everyone moved over to the table, where Daddy stood at the head of it and grinned around at everyone.

  “I know I don’t live here,” he said. “But we have a tradition in the Walker family to go around the table and say one thing we’re looking forward to in the New Year. Sort of a reflection time. Anyone who wants to participate, can. Anyone who doesn’t, can simply say they don’t want to.” He looked at Mama. “Are you in, Penny?”

  “Yes, of course,” she said, and Grand Cayman hadn’t beat the Southern accent out of her, that was for sure. “I’m looking forward to a new grandbaby.”

  Liam almost rolled his eyes. When it was just the nine Walkers, this tradition was great. But with the additions to the guest list, Liam felt his attention wandering. He perked up when it was Callie’s turn, but he refused to lean forward to see her. He’d deliberately sat on the same side of the table as her, so he wouldn’t have to look at her or talk to her.

  He was interested in what she’d like this upcoming year to be for her, but she just waved her hand and said, “Merry Christmas, everyone.”

  Liam’s heart filled his throat as Simone said she was looking forward to new opportunities, and Micah said, “I’m looking forward to coming to the ranch…permanently.”

  That only made everyone roar with questions, Liam included. “What?” he demanded. “When? You’re coming?”

  Micah smiled around at everyone and said, “Jeremiah said he needs me, and I’ve…met a wall in Temple.”

  Met a wall.

  Liam had run into a few of those himself, right here in Three Rivers.

  “I’ll be moving here as soon as I can get things tied up in Temple,” Micah said, turning to look at Liam. His eyes begged Liam to move the conversation to something else.

  He’d never passed in this tradition before, but today, Liam didn’t want to speak.

  “Liam?” Daddy asked.

  “I’m looking forward to seeing my CGI in theaters this year,” he said. His family cheered for him too, and Liam ducked his head. He hadn’t meant to brag, but he had worked hard to get the four-year contract, and he worked almost full-time at the computer now, despite the constant wearing of his cowboy hat.

  The tradition finally finished, and Jeremiah got up to get the ham out of the oven. “Let’s eat.”

  Relief filled Liam, because maybe he could just stuff himself and go take a nap. Even as he thought that, he knew he wouldn’t. They’d done their Christmas Eve gift-exchange last night, but that was one gift per person. Liam had opened a pocketknife from Rhett, and he expected other gifts from his brothers.

  From Callie?

  He banished the idea from his mind, though she’d given every Walker brother a gift last Christmas. And the one before that. But Liam knew she had no money, and honestly, if she gave him anything of any worth, he’d give it right back.

  He talked to Micah on his left and Wyatt on his right, and Liam managed to make it through dinner without wanting to take too big of a bite of ham just to choke himself. He honestly wasn’t sure how much longer he could continue in the manner he’d been these past few months.

  As he sat there at the dinner table, the holiday merriment around him, he made a decision. If Callie turned him down and gave back the diamond he’d bought her, he’d pack up his bedroom and his huge computer station, and he’d leave town.

  He could work from anywhere, and it might actually be easier to be in LA as he worked on the Marvel project. He’d be lost without his cowboy hat, but he could wear it in the privacy of his apartment.

  “Let’s do presents in a little bit,” Rhett said, blowing out his breath. “I’m stuffed and need a few minutes to recover.”

  “You didn’t have to have seconds of literally everything,” Evelyn teased him, and Liam thought they were a perfect match for each other. Of course, he thought that about him and Callie too, and she just couldn’t see it.

  He got up and picked up his plate, along with Wyatt, who said, “Thanks, Liam.” He took them over to the kitchen sink, where he leaned into his palms and wondered if he could make a hasty escape down the
hall and out the front door. The air was so scented and so noisy that Liam was having a hard time breathing in here.

  “Hey.” Callie appeared at his side. She looked up at him, and Liam lost himself in the depth of her brown eyes. “I was, um, wondering if you’d like to go for a walk with me.” She put her dishes in the sink too and brought her gaze back to his.

  “Right now?” he asked.

  “Yes,” she said. “Right now.”

  Chapter Three

  Every cell in Callie’s body vibrated, and she felt like everyone in the room was staring at her and Liam as they stood at the sink.

  “Yeah, all right,” he drawled, lifting his cowboy hat and running his hand through his hair. Callie still wasn’t sure what she was going to say to him, but she couldn’t keep avoiding him. She could feel his misery, and she didn’t like the choices he made about where he went and where he sat and what he said.

  When I learned to accept help from who God put into my life, everything got better.

  Ivory’s words would not leave Callie’s mind. And God had absolutely led the Walker’s to this panhandle of Texas, to this ranch right next door.

  He turned away from the sink and looked at the people still sitting at the table. Callie did too, noting that Rhett and Evelyn had moved with Liam’s mother and father into the family room. She met Simone’s eyes, who nodded resolutely at her.

  Be brave, she told herself. She’d had to do hard things before, like learn to make dinner for herself and her family when she was only nine years old. She’d learned how to do hard ranch chores not long after that. And she’d been working her fingers to the bone for decades now.

  Maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad thing to let Liam take care of her. Anyone taking care of her would be a welcome change, though she knew she didn’t want just anyone.

  Liam walked out of the kitchen, and instead of going toward the back door, which would lead them right past everyone still at the table, he turned left and headed for the front door.

  Smart man, Callie though, slipping away from the crowd with him. He held the door open for her and then joined her on the porch. They stood at the top of the steps, and Callie smiled at the oak tree decorated so beautifully.

  She reached over and threaded her fingers through Liam’s, who flinched at her touch. The weight of his eyes landed on the side of her face, and Callie almost burst into tears.

  “I’ve been thinking a lot,” she said, her voice hoarse. “And I’d like to talk more about what a marriage between us might look like.”

  A beat of silence passed. “Are you kidding me right now?” Liam whispered. “Because if you are, this is a very cruel joke.”

  “Not even a little bit.” She turned and met his eyes. “Not a joke.”

  “You’re serious.”

  “You’re the one who showed up at my front door a week ago with a diamond ring,” she said. “Remember how I thought that was a joke too?” She managed a shaky smile, and Liam returned it. But his was strong and steady, with a hint of mischief in those gorgeous eyes.

  “Let’s walk,” he said, and he started down the steps. Callie went with him, because she didn’t need anyone overhearing this discussion. In her mind, it was more of a negotiation. A time they could set some ground rules. “What are you thinking?” he asked.

  “I’m thinking….” Callie paused. “Why don’t you tell me what you’re thinking?”

  “Well,” he said, also pausing. So this discussion wasn’t easy for him either, despite how calmly he’d done everything else over the past several months. “I want to help you, Callie, because that’s what friends do. But, I think it’s pretty dang obvious that I want to be more than friends.”

  “You don’t love me,” she whispered. “Do you?”

  “No,” he said slowly. “Which sounds so ridiculous, I know. But I think, if you’d let me into your life, we could fall in love.”

  “So…until that time, I’m imagining us living together at my ranch. Our ranch.” She shook her head, confused already. “And I feel like such an idiot, but I need more help. I just have no way to pay cowboys.” The Shining Star used to employ half a dozen ranch hands, and they hadn’t truly fallen behind until Callie had started shouldering the workload herself.

  “I can pay them,” Liam said. “And catch up anything that needs catching up. And I can live at your place. I just need space for my office.”

  “We have space,” Callie said, turning with Liam when he reached the road that passed in front of the ranch. To the left sat the highway that went back to Three Rivers, and to the right waited her ranch. Her run-down homestead. Her desolate fields. Her empty cowboy cabins. Her hollow life.

  She pulled back the tears threatening to stain her face. Everything inside her felt so tight. “Once the ranch is up and running again, I’ll pay you back,” she said.

  “Nope,” Liam said. He stopped in the middle of the road and stepped in front of her. “Let’s be clear about that, Callie. I just saw Tripp and Ivory go through this very thing. She wanted to pay him back for what he’d done to help her too, and it wasn’t healthy. So if you say yes to this, and I say yes to this, no one is paying anything back to anyone.”

  She watched the fire in his eyes burn, and she really wanted it to singe her. Surprisingly.

  “When a man and woman get married, they share their lives,” he continued. “And their resources, and that’s what I want for us.”

  For us.

  “What if we don’t fall in love?” she asked, needing to know what he’d do then. Would there be a debt to pay then?

  Liam’s features hardened. “I think it’s impossible to address every ‘what if.’”

  “Is it, though?” Callie asked. “What if—?”

  “Yes,” Liam said over her. “I’d rather just talk about what’s troubling you, so we can move past it than worry about what might happen.”

  “The ranch stays in my family,” she said.

  “I know that.”

  “Simone gets to live there.”

  “Of course.”

  “You have to know that I….” Her mouth felt so sticky and her throat so tight. “I’m not sleeping with you unless we’re in love.” She drew in a deep breath, and added, “And you should know that I can’t have kids. I know you love kids, and you shouldn’t have to feel obligated to marry me and try to, I don’t even know what.” She exhaled heavily. “Fall in love with me? Because you feel bad I can’t pay my bills and I might lose the ranch.”

  There was no might about it. If Callie didn’t come up with a sizable amount of money by January second, the ranch would go into foreclosure. She hadn’t told anyone that yet, and those blasted tears burned in her eyes.

  Liam reached up and wiped her face, the gesture so loving and so kind that Callie didn’t even care that more tears spilled down her cheeks.

  “Are those all of your stipulations?” he asked.

  “Repeat them to me,” she said swiping at her face as they started walking again.

  “You own the ranch, even if I’m paying the bills. Simone gets to live in the homestead. I get an office space and a bedroom, and we’re not sleeping together until we’re in love.”

  “And I can’t have children,” she said, the fact making her heart quiver again. She’d known for years that she wouldn’t be able to carry a child, but sometimes the sadness hit her at odd times.

  “Why’s that?” he asked quietly. “If you don’t mind me asking.”

  “I had a lot of issues,” she said. “Tons of scarring in my uterus. It was causing a ton of pain during my, you know. That time of the month. They found cysts on my ovaries too, so they just took everything out.”

  “I’m so sorry,” Liam said. “Because you sound like you would’ve liked to have children.”

  “I would have, yes. It’s…hard sometimes,” she said. “I went through some deep mourning when it first happened, but.” She shrugged, though there was nothing to cast aside here. “You should also know
that I haven’t dated anyone in eleven years. So at the time, the possibility of children was remote. Now I know it’s impossible.” She gathered her strength and squeezed his hand. “You should too.”

  “Yes, well, that’s not a huge concern for me.”

  “You love children.”

  “I do,” he said. “And I want kids. And you do too, so we’ll have them.”

  “You want to adopt?”

  “Or foster, or whatever,” he said. “There are ways to have children if we want them.”

  They continued down the road, her house getting closer and closer. “What’s a huge concern for you?” she finally asked. “You must have some stipulations and rules too.”

  “I do,” he said.

  “Let’s hear them.”

  He took a few steps before breathing in deeply. “I don’t want you to fight with me about what I spend money on and what I don’t.”

  Callie didn’t know how to respond. “What are you planning to pay for?”

  “Whatever I need to,” he said. “From the ranch buildings, to equipment, to appliances in the homestead. Whatever will make your—our lives easier. I have to live there too, you know.”

  “Whatever you need to,” she repeated, thinking of the threadbare carpet in the family room. She’d seen the complete renovation that had happened once the Walker brothers had bought and renamed Seven Sons Ranch. She could not let Liam finance a similar transformation at the Shining Star.

  “We can’t talk about what you buy or replace?” she asked.

  “We can,” he said. “But you won’t be paying me back, and ultimately, it’s my money.”

  “Your money?” She laughed, the sound not entirely happy. “You just said that when a man and a woman get married, they share their lives and resources.”

  He chuckled and shook his head.

  “Works both ways, Liam,” Callie said.

  “You’re right.” He gave her a look out of the corner of his eye. “We can talk about it, but you have to promise to try to see reason.”