by T. C. Clark
“Gabby would understand. Trust me, you need to talk to them and let them know how you feel.”
“Good. I knew I could ask you about this, Uncle Liam. Now enough about me, how is Ms. Irene?”
Liam couldn’t hide his surprise. “What do you mean?”
“Please, you look at her the way Dad looks at Mom or how Uncle Cole looks at Aunt Mel. Do you like her, Uncle Liam?”
Liam sighed; he was the honest uncle. He wouldn’t start lying now. “I do.”
Ansley clapped her hands. “Finally, I can tell everyone you like someone. You know how many teachers and ladies ask me about you? It’s exhausting,” Ansley said dramatically.
Liam laughed; that wasn’t the first time Ansley had said something like that. “Well, I like her, but I’m not sure how she feels about me.”
“What do you mean? I saw her at the wedding. She couldn’t stop staring at you. She looks at you the same way Gabby looks at Daddy. Plus, you’re awesome. Everyone knows that.”
“Thanks, Ansley. You’re good for my self-esteem.”
“And Ms. Irene is really nice. She kept checking on me during the wedding to make sure I was comfortable. She is so different from Aunt Mel, but I like her just the same. Don’t give up, Uncle Liam. I need you to get a girlfriend, so I can tell everyone in town you’re taken. If you had any idea how many phone numbers I’ve thrown away for you, it would blow your mind.”
Liam chuckled, “You threw them away? I thought you were trying to get us all married off.”
It was a running joke in the family. Ansley was the definition of overprotected with three involved uncles and one dad who was straight out of the Stone Age.
“I am, but those ladies weren’t right for you. You need someone like Ms. Irene. She makes your eyes change like Daddy’s do with Gabby. I wouldn’t have thrown away her number. Now, can we talk about how delicious this soup is?”
Liam laughed, “I will admit, this place isn’t half bad. It’s not as good Mara’s Pub in town, but they are definitely heading in the right direction.”
Ansley’s eyes widened as they brought out four new dishes. “Uncle Liam, there is no way we can eat all this,” she said as the server placed several plates with a variety of Scottish dishes in front of them.
Liam was impressed; it smelled and looked delicious.
“Ansley, lass, we are Campbells. We can do anything we put our minds to; that is both our gift and our curse.”
Ansley rolled her eyes. “You sound just like Dad.”
“Who do you think I get it from?” Liam wiggled his eyebrows, and Ansley burst out laughing. Man, he was lucky to have a family like this. He loved spending time with them, and he knew Irene would fit in easily.
Liam had covertly quizzed Mel about her. He knew Irene had taken care of her nephew after he’d fought with his mother over being gay. She was the kind of woman that put the people she cared about first in her life. How in the world did she think he would just walk away?
They finished their meal and stopped by the convenience store on the way back. When he pulled into their driveway, he found the house quiet. Gabby was most likely asleep after a long day of work, but he knew Brodrick would be up waiting.
He smiled when the front porch light turned on. “You’re going to talk to your Dad, right?”
Ansley nodded. “I am. You are going to talk to Ms. Irene, right?”
There was no getting around Ansley. “Yep.”
“Same time, same place, next month then,” Ansley said with a smile.
He leaned forward and kissed her on the head. “What would I do without you, Ansley?”
“I don’t know, probably be super bored and have, like, ten girlfriends,” she said dryly.
She was never going to let him live down the number of times girls had given her their numbers for him.
Liam chuckled, got out of his truck, and pulled out her wheelchair. He wouldn’t stay long, and he wouldn’t bring up the conversation he had with Ansley. He wanted to give her time to talk to Brodrick first.
Brodrick ran down to the truck. For the first time in a long time, his brother looked frazzled.
“I’m glad you’re here! Gabby thinks she is going into labor. I need you to take care of Ansley for a little bit.”
“Yay!” Ansley yelled.
“Is she okay?” Liam asked.
“I’m fine,” Gabby said from the doorway. “You should be more worried about your brother.”
Liam looked from Gabby back to Brodrick and frowned. His brother was pale.
“Don’t listen to her. Can you stay for a little bit and help us out with Ansley?”
“Dad, I will be fine by myself.”
Liam laughed at the look on both Gabby and Brodrick’s faces. There would never be a day that any of them agreed Ansley would be fine by herself.
“Don’t worry about Ansley I’ll be here. I can’t wait to meet the newest addition to the family.”
“Can we go to the hospital, too?” Ansley asked. Her pretty pout ensured his answer would be yes.
“Yeah, we’ll head up there. I’ll call Cole and Tatum, too.”
“Thanks, Liam,” Brodrick said as he picked up Gabby up and carried her to his truck.
“Brodrick, I’m going into labor, I can still walk,” Gabby chuckled.
Brodrick ignored his grinning audience and packed up their truck quickly.
“This is so exciting, Uncle Liam.”
“I know, Ansley.”
Liam would stay here until they didn’t need him anymore, and then he would head back to the first woman who’d ever made him feel something real. Watching Brodrick with his small family had awakened something inside of him.
He now wondered what a family would look like to him, and for once, the idea didn’t horrify him, not if Irene was a part of the deal.
Four
Walking away isn’t an option...
* * *
Somewhere in a converted café in New Orleans, there sat a lonely man and a distracted woman…
She shouldn’t be here.
It was the only thought Irene had all night. On her quest for starting over, she’d foolishly allowed Deshaun to set her up a Tinder account. She’d spent the last few days turning down anyone she felt was only looking for a hookup. Sadly, that left her a small pool of men to pull from.
After nearly deleting her profile from the site, Deshaun had picked a guy for her to try out. He and Paulo, Deshaun’s new boyfriend, had continually checked in with her since she’d arrived. But she had nothing to report back.
Larry Bergen was particularly unspectacular. He was clearly not over his ex. He’d done nothing but talk about their failed relationship since he arrived. It was a wonder he’d created a profile at all.
“You know I think therapy would have done us some good,” Larry said with a sad smile.
“Yeah, but could you have really gotten over her cheating on you?” Irene asked. Everything Larry had told her so far made it clear, at least to her, that his ex-wife wasn’t going to change.
Irene pulled out her phone to send a quick “help me” text to Deshaun and Paulo. They would get her out of here in no time, and she wouldn’t have to upset the man sitting across from her.
“I know, but she was my high school sweetheart; I should have fought harder to save us.” Larry picked up his coffee and shook his head.
There was so much pain in his voice. Larry clearly wasn’t the man for her, but he really needed a friend right now. Irene put her phone down. There were worse ways to spend a Saturday night. “Okay, tell me everything that happened, and then we are going to figure out what you need to do to move on.”
Larry looked up from his coffee. “Are you sure?”
“Larry, this isn’t a date, not really. You aren’t ready for that. So right now, we are two friends trying to figure out how to handle your heartbreak. I’m going to order us some fresh coffee and a dozen donuts, and we are going to talk this out.”
; “Thanks, Irene. I’m sorry I’m such a mess. I shouldn’t have agreed to this date. I knew I wasn’t ready, but I wanted to try anyway.”
“Larry, it’s fine. To be fair, I have someone else on my mind, and I came out tonight to try to forget him. You need a friend, and I need one, too. So, let’s relax and try to figure this thing out together.”
As Larry started to talk Irene’s mind drifted back to Liam. Her cheeks warmed as she thought about their night together. That man sure knew how to leave an impression. It would be hard for anyone else to match him.
Surely, time would help her forget the sexy Scotsman who haunted her dreams. For now, she would focus on Larry and his issues. As she’d seen recently on Tinder, there were plenty of single men out there. She would try this dating thing again another day.
* * *
Liam walked into Irene’s store with a grin on his face. It was good to be back. He’d already checked back into the same inn he’d used the first time he’d come to New Orleans. It was a horrendously gaudy bed and breakfast with more cats than guests, but the location was the best in town with regards to Irene.
A man had to do what he had to do when he was pursuing a woman like her. He didn’t expect it to be easy; her actions were clear enough. She’d disappeared in the morning. Irene had every intention of leaving him in the past.
“Oh, it’s you again,” Deshaun, Irene’s nephew, yelled from behind the counter. The young man ran forward, grabbed Liam’s arm, and pulled him to the back.
“Hey, Deshaun.”
“You know you need to come with a warning, right? You can’t just walk in here. Every time you do, you cause a mini riot,” Deshaun said as he peeked out the door at the crowd in the room.
Deshaun sighed with relief; no one had seemed to notice Liam this time.
“Sorry about that. I was stopping by to see Irene,” Liam said as he looked around the room. Surely, Irene was back here somewhere. The woman loved to work.
“She’s not here,” Deshaun said as he pulled out his cell phone.
“Where is she?”
Deshaun rolled his eyes as he checked his messages. “She’s on a date. What do you need?”
“She’s on a date!” Liam roared. He couldn’t control the rage in his voice. What in the hell was going on?
Deshaun’s mouth dropped open. “Okay, I am interested in your reaction. Why do you care so much if my aunt is on a date?”
“Because if your aunt wants to go on a date, then it damn well needs to be me taking her out.”
Deshaun frowned. “And why is that?”
“She knows why.”
Deshaun looked down at his phone again and shook his head. “That’s not good enough. You sound like you already know her, at least well enough to be jealous. I need to know what you intend to do about that. My aunt is a good woman. She’s kind and caring, and she deserves only the best,” Deshaun said.
Liam forced himself to calm down and address Deshaun’s concerns. Irene didn’t owe him anything, and he needed to remember that. Getting pissed right now wasn’t going to solve anything.
“I don’t know if I’m the best person for your aunt, but I do know I’m not here to hurt her. I like Irene, but she is difficult to pin down. I want her to give me a chance, but for some reason, she’s already made up her mind that we wouldn’t work.”
“If that’s true, then why are you here?”
“Because I know in my gut that we can work, and if she wants to go out on dates, then I will escort her. I’m not going to let her go just because it’s difficult. I’ve cleared my schedule, and I’m here because I have to be. I need to know if what we felt in Vegas is real, and I’m not going anywhere until I have the chance to test it.”
Deshaun looked him straight in the eyes and stepped a bit closer. “Don’t hurt my aunt; she’s been through enough.”
Liam sighed, “Trust me, I want a lot of things from your aunt, but pain isn’t one of them.”
“Okay, just know that you’ve been warned. I don’t play around when it comes to my family, especially not my aunt. You hurt her, and we are going to have some real problems.”
“I understand,” Liam said solemnly. He respected Deshaun’s warning.
“My aunt has been different since she came back from Vegas, and I assume that difference is because of you. So, I’m going to help you because I want her to be happy. She’s at the Recon Café down the street on a blind date, but she will be back soon. I’ll talk to her and see what she says.”
Liam’s eyes narrowed; it was time for him to crash a date. “That’s all I ask. I’ll stop by later then. Thanks for telling me all this, Deshaun.”
Deshaun watched Liam go. Damn, he hoped he’d made the right decision. His aunt had been different since she’d come home from Vegas. Twice he’d caught her daydreaming with a wistful smile on her face.
Irene didn’t do stuff like that. From the expression on Liam’s face, whatever happened in Vegas had fucked him up, too.
He’d purposely let the name of the café she was at slip. He wanted to see what Liam would do. How serious was the sexy chef?
Sure enough, the delicious-looking Scotsman pulled out his phone when he stepped outside, looked something up, and headed in the direction of the café.
“That’s my boy,” Deshaun muttered as Liam walked down the street.
Irene was the kind of woman who took lessons to heart. Whoever hurt her years ago had done a fantastic job at making her doubt her instincts. But it looked like Liam had enough instincts for both of them. The look on his face when he’d said she was on a date was very telling. Whatever Liam Campbell felt for Irene, it wasn’t casual.
Deshaun hoped that she was ready for the Scottish storm he was sending her way. His aunt was going to need someone with a will of steel to pull her out of her shell, and it looked like Liam Campbell had just that.
* * *
“So now you’re set. You have a therapy session on the ninth, and we both agree that you need to start thinking more about the future and less about the past. Your ex-wife has moved on and so should you,” Irene said firmly.
Larry nodded. “Thank you for talking with me. I had no idea how much I needed to get that out, and I hope things work out with you and your chef.”
“Oh, me and the chef are firmly in the past. He’s too much for my blood, but thank you, though. I think it’s time for us to call it a night,” Irene said when she looked down at her watch. She’d talked with Larry for a couple of hours, and she was pretty sure they were both in a better place.
Larry was an excellent listener, and he’d helped her figure out a few things tonight. First, she was ready to start dating again; obviously, Larry wasn’t the one for her, but she missed nights like this.
Second, mostly everyone had baggage they needed to work through; that didn’t mean she needed to give up. Irene was tired of being alone, and she knew now she wanted more.
“This was a pretty awful date, wasn’t it?” he said apologetically.
“You know, this was my first time on a date in years. Even if we discovered we are better as friends, it wasn’t half bad.”
“I have to agree,” Larry said with a smile.
Irene raised her hand for the check and stopped when she saw who walked through the door. At over six feet tall with striking tattoos that he kept on display, it was hard to miss her sexy chef.
Irene’s heartbeat accelerated with each step he took in their direction. There was something in Liam’s eyes she hadn’t seen before. When he got closer, she recognized the emotion immediately… anger.
“Liam, what in the world are you doing here?”
“I’m looking for you,” he said confidently. He reached over, grabbed a chair from an empty table, and pulled it up to theirs. Liam scooted close to Irene.
Her nose twitched as she caught a whiff of his cologne. Her toes curled as the smell evoked memories from their last night together. She exhaled deeply and ignored the knowing look he cas
t her way. The man seemed to know exactly what she was thinking.
“We are kind of busy here,” Irene said.
“Well, it looks like you two are just finishing up. My name is Liam Campbell, and who exactly are you?” The frost in Liam’s voice was instant, and Irene resisted the urge to roll her eyes.
“You are Irene’s chef?!” Larry exclaimed. The admiration in his voice seemed to cool Liam’s temper. She had a feeling that Liam didn’t see the other man as a threat in the least.
“She talks about me with other men. Now, I have to say that is a good sign.”
“Liam…” Irene warned.
“I’m just saying, it’s good to know. I never really know what’s going on behind your gorgeous brown eyes.” Liam turned back to face Larry. “And you didn’t answer my question. Who exactly are you?” Liam said softly. His dark eyes examined Larry thoroughly.
“Name’s Larry Bergen and I am a big fan of yours. I saw you on Iron Chef.”
“You’re a fan of mine? Well, it’s nice to meet you then,” Liam said easily. He reached over and picked up a donut from her plate and scarfed it down.
Okay, it was time to end this. “Can we please pay the bill so that we can go?”
“Oh, I got it,” Liam pulled his wallet out and laid it on the table. Before she could stop him, he handed his card to their server, and he scurried away.
“We don’t need you to pay for our meal; this was a date, Liam.”
“Yes, it was….but was is past tense. I’m here now, so you can go, Larry. I appreciate you looking out for Irene in my absence.”
“It was no problem. Irene is lovely,” Larry said with a smile, and Irene let out a pent-up breath.
“I know she is,” Liam said. He reached forward and ran a hand through her hair. The quick touch was over before she could react.
“You are really feeling yourself right now,” Irene said through gritted teeth.