“What?” She blinked and looked up at me.
“Yes. I’m in the middle of a very nasty divorce, and I was before you popped back into my life. You’re not a homewrecker. My home was wrecked long before you came waltzing back into my world.”
“A divorce?”
“Yes, Ellie. A divorce. We filed almost a year ago.”
“Why did you lie then? Why didn’t you tell me?” Confusion and anger collided in her eyes.
“I didn’t exactly lie—”
“Um. Yes. You did. Omissions are lies. You said you’d been married, and that would have been the perfect opportunity to tell me you were still married. Lie.”
“Okay, you’re right.” I held up my hands. “You’re right. I did lie, and I’m so sorry I wasn’t just honest with you from the beginning. I should have been, and I was planning on telling you.”
“Why, Liam? Why did you lie? I would have understood!”
“I know, Ellie. I know that now.” I reached out to touch her, but she jerked her arm away.
“Don’t. You may not be officially married and a cheater, but you’re still a liar. I’m done being lied to.”
“I’m so sorry, Ellie. I know. I know I should have told you. I just didn’t know how, and I was scared that if you found out I was in the middle of a nasty divorce that you’d leave, or think you were just a rebound or a fling.”
“Was I?” She arched a brow. “Your rebound girl? Just another one added to the long list of countless women?”
“God, no!” I went to reach for her, but her warning glare stopped my hand. “Ellie. I meant everything I said. I swear it. I didn’t tell you because I’m an idiot. Apparently, I have a habit of making bad decisions and I just wanted a little time with you before I told you about the shitshow that you were walking into. I thought if I told you that you might leave, and I couldn’t bear the thought of it. And yet... because I didn’t tell you, you left anyway.”
“Do you have any idea how I felt seeing you on the street with her? Hearing her say she was your wife? I took a cab to see the city, to see what I thought would be my new home. When I ended up in Old Naples, I saw you two fighting outside that building. It killed me, Liam.”
She saw us in the street. I wondered how she’d found out, and I closed my eyes thinking about how much pain she must have felt in that moment. It felt like my heart was constricting to the point of shutting down. “I’m so sorry. I can only imagine how awful that looked and how confused you were. It’s no wonder you jumped on the first plane home.”
“I felt like my soul was being sucked from my body.”
“I can’t imagine how you felt and I’m so sorry that happened. I never intended for you to find out that way.”
“But I did. I found out that way because you lied to me.” Seeing the anger seething in the eyes that had once looked at me with so much love and adoration tightened the unyielding squeeze around my heart.
“I know. And I’m so sorry. I was just so exhausted from all the drama. I just wanted to forget about Sophia and be with you, without all the complications of my life. Just a couple days of reprieve to enjoy the resurfacing of the love of my life.”
“Sophia? That’s her name?” She pursed her lips. “Your wife.”
“Yes. Sophia. We met shortly after I moved to Italy. I was still despondent over the end of my soccer career and could be found at the bottom of a bottle most nights. I had no friends in Naples, and my grandfather was trying his best to set me straight. She was his friend’s granddaughter, and knowing I needed something else to focus on, he introduced us. We started dating, and slowly, with the help of my grandfather, I crawled out of my dark hole. When he said I should marry her and start a family, I listened. I just wanted to find some happiness again, and I thought that maybe I could find it with her. So, I proposed, and we married. I knew the minute I said, ‘I do’ that I had made a terrible mistake, but it was too late.”
She stared at me, and the anger in her eyes dissipated a little. With that slight softening, a sliver of hope opened inside me.
“We had a couple of decent years. Nothing great, but nothing terrible. We had an apartment downtown, and my mother was living with my grandfather. When he died, I knew I couldn’t leave my mother alone out there.”
“So, you do have a sick mother? There wasn’t a homeless actress?”
“What?” I snorted. “A homeless actress? What are you talking about?”
Her gaze dropped to the concrete. “I thought that maybe there was no sick mother, and you’d hired a homeless actress to play the part so you could continue tricking me while you also lived with your wife in another house.”
Scrunching my brow, I searched her face, and fought back a chuckle. “No. There was no homeless actress. Seriously? You thought I’d hire a homeless person?”
Her eyes narrowed. “Well, I had just found out you had a secret wife. I wasn’t sure how far you’d go to keep your lies hidden away. It happens, Liam. I’ve seen it on TV.”
“There is no homeless woman, and yes, there is a sick mother, which is part of why I’m in the middle of a divorce. Sophia wanted nothing to do with moving into my mother’s house or having her come live with us. She wanted me to put her in a home. We fought fiercely over it, and she told me that she wasn’t coming and if I wanted to take care of my mother then I needed to do it alone. I knew she was selfish, but knowing she wanted me to cast aside my own mother was low even for her. The next day I moved in with my mom, and Sophia stayed in the apartment.”
“Oh,” she whispered, and a little more of that anger in her eyes slipped away. “That’s awful.”
“Yes. It was. I didn’t really love her, so I wasn’t even that hurt when I asked for a divorce the following week and found out she had already started dating my friend. It just confirmed what I’d always known... that I never should have married her. I felt so stupid.”
“I know how that feels.” Her eyes narrowed again, and I felt the heat of her glare. Thunder rumbled nearby and for a moment I wondered if her anger was controlling the weather.
“She didn’t contest the divorce, and it was supposed to be simple. We didn’t have much of anything, so we were just going to split our meager savings account and go our separate ways. Then I got word that when my grandfather died, I inherited a fortune. And so did she.”
“I imagine that’s when things got messy?”
“Messy is an understatement. She demanded half of the company and my inheritance. We’ve been battling it out in court for months, and the meeting the day you saw us was the determination I’d been waiting for. She gets nothing and they can finalize our divorce.”
“Good,” Ellie chortled. “She wanted to put your mom in a home. She didn’t deserve a penny.”
As Ellie started to understand my dilemma, a jolt of happiness shot through me. “Exactly. The judge ruled in my favor shortly before you saw us, so she followed me outside and begged to have me back, acting like we’d had some kind of epic romance and she was desperately in love with me. I knew she was full of shit. Not to mention I wanted nothing to do with her. Sophia was trying one last time to convince me to take her back so she wouldn’t leave with nothing. Like I owed her anything.” I scoffed. “It was a desperate plea that fell on deaf ears. That is what you saw in the street.”
Contemplative eyes searched my own, and I reached forward to touch her. She pulled from my touch, but then softened and I pressed forward and slid my hand on top of hers.
“Ellie. I am so sorry. Everything is such a mess and it is all my fault. I should have told you. I know that now. I was just so close to having an answer to give you about whether I would be divorced quickly, or if you were walking into a relationship that would be started with me in courts for months fighting to keep my grandfather’s company out of her greedy hands. I was just so exhausted. For months my life has been consumed by Sophia and this divorce, and I just wanted to be with you, without bringing the drama into our lives. Having you, yo
ur light, felt so amazing. Like I’d been living in a dark room and the shutters opened. Don’t you understand? After so long, I couldn’t risk it. That was a mistake, and I know that now, but you have to know my intentions were not to hurt you or lie to you. I just wanted to know what was in store for me, for us, and I was planning on telling you that night. I swear it on my mother’s life.”
I squeezed her hand and waited for her to respond, my heart hammering in my chest as I awaited my fate. The wind picked up and blew across the lake and lifted up her hair, tossing a piece across her face. I reached forward and brushed it away, letting my fingers trail along her skin. Her eyes softened, and I leaned in, my desperate need to taste those lips again swallowing all of my nerves. I heard her breath hitch while I closed in on them and slid my hand behind her head, a gentle pull bringing her to me.
“Wait,” she whispered, and I felt her breath brush across my lips. “No. I can’t.”
She ripped herself away and leapt to her feet, turning and bolting down the dock.
“Ellie!” I called after her, jumping up and racing down the dock behind her. “Ellie, please wait!”
When I caught up to her, I grabbed her by the elbow and a gentle tug pulled her to a stop.
“Please, Liam. Don’t. I can’t. You lied to me. I can’t go through this again,” she begged, and teary eyes met mine.
“Ellie. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” Grabbing her face, I held her in my hands. “I never meant to hurt you. I swear it.”
“But you did, Liam! You did hurt me! You broke my heart and you killed the butterflies! I don’t know how I can ever trust you again!”
“You can trust me, Ellie. I promise. I will never lie to you again. Never. I made a mistake. You have to forgive me. You have to. Please don’t throw this away. Don’t throw us away.”
Tears streamed down her face and it killed me to see her in so much pain. All I wanted was to make her happy, and it was me who caused those tears to fall. “We met right there, Ellie.” I pointed to Wilson’s across the street. “I know you felt what I felt. I know it. You were everything to me then, and you’re everything to me now. It all started right here, and now we’re here again. Together. We just found each other, and I am not letting you go. It’s you and me, Ellie, and it’s always going to be you and me. I love you.”
I descended on her with such a force she folded backward in my arms. The resistance she clung to shattered as my lips crushed down on hers. Her body softened into my embrace and her arms encircled my neck, pulling me in tighter. A soft sigh slipped past her lips and I pulled her body in closer. I savored every swirl of her tongue and the feeling of her fingers on my neck. Thinking I might never see her again, never taste these lips again, had almost killed me. I kissed her deeper, trying to erase the distance between us and erase the pain I’d caused and fill her once again with the love that she deserved, the love that I’d held for her all these years, and would hold for her until the day I died.
A drop of rain splattered my arm, and then another and another, but I still couldn’t bring myself to break away from those lips. The wind picked up and howled, blowing into us and seeping between our bodies. I pulled her closer, and it wrapped around us, unable to move through the space that no longer existed between our bodies. Her fingers dug into my neck and I slid my hand into her hair, pulling her lips deeper into my own.
A flash of lightning cracked across the sky and our eyes shot open, catching the last of the light before it disappeared back into the darkness. I held her in my arms, our eyes locked while we struggled to catch our breath. Another bolt of lightning raced across the sky and finished with a deafening crack.
“As much as I don’t want to go, I also don’t want you to get hit by lightning,” I said, panting for breath.
“Probably a good idea.”
As I pulled her back to standing, I saw her familiar smile return. The sky opened up, and the rain fell in sheets, the sound of fat raindrops echoing on the boats and splashing into the water surrounding us. Thunder rolled behind us and I reached down, grabbing her hand.
“Come on!” I shouted over the howling wind and pulled her down the docks. Squeals peppered her laughter while we ran through the storm and bolted back to the car. When I pulled the door open, she leapt inside and I hurried around the front of the car and dove in, slamming the door and closing out the sounds of the storm.
“I’m soaked!” she said, laughing.
I looked over to see her glowing in the dome light, makeup streaked down her face and wet hair flattened to her head. She looked adorable while she wiped the mascara out from under her eyes and left a black streak that only accentuated her disheveled look.
“That came out of nowhere!” I shook my head and droplets of water flew across the car.
“Hey!” She laughed and whipped her own hair at me, sending a spray of water into my face. “Right back at you!”
My laughter joined hers and soon we were gasping for breath. The dome light dimmed, and I saw her shiver just before the light went out.
“Are you cold?”
“Freezing,” she said as her teeth chattered.
“Where is Louie’s house? You need some warm clothes.”
She pointed a water-logged finger. “Just a mile up that way. Past the beach and down the road on the right.”
It was amazing how I still remembered every twist and turn of this peninsula. I’d only spent a short time here, and it had been ten years, but somehow it felt like yesterday I was traveling these roads with her at my side. I clicked on the ignition and put the car in gear. Lightning flooded the sky again while I pulled back out onto the dark street and headed through the little town to Louie’s house. When we reached his road, she directed me and then told me to turn right when we reached the narrow driveway.
“Jesus Christ. Is this his house?” I drove down the steep gravel hill to the mansion on the water.
“Yeah. His ‘cabin’ he calls it,” she said, using her fingers like quotation marks.
“A cabin is like a little brown building with an outhouse. This is not a cabin.”
“That’s what I said!” She laughed and slapped me in the arm while I put the car in park.
“See. We’re the same.” I smiled.
Her shoulders lifted with a deep breath and she leaned her head back on the rest and looked at me. “I don’t think you should come in. I mean, I want you to come in. But I’m a little drunk, and definitely not thinking clearly. And I’m still hurt. And I just think I should sleep on you. This! I mean sleep on this.”
Laughing, I pulled her hand into mine. “I totally understand. I’m not here for sex, Ellie. I’m here to prove to you that I love you and that I will do anything to make this up you.”
She nodded and slid her fingers into mine.
“You go in and get some sleep. Why don’t you unblock my number and I’ll call you in the morning. If sober Ellie thinks it’s a good idea, perhaps we can spend a day in Door County together again. I don’t leave until the day after tomorrow. My cousin is staying with my mom until then.”
“Is your mother okay with you being gone?”
A smile tugged at my lips. “Oh, yes. I had told her all about you, and then I told her she would finally be meeting you that night. When you left, I had to tell her what happened, and she told me if I didn’t go find you and make things right, she would die from a broken heart.” He clutched his chest with a dramatic look and a chuckle. “So, I’m here to make sure my mother lives for years to come. Well, that and I will likely die of a broken heart if I can’t fix this.”
“I’m still mad at you.” She scowled.
“I know. And I deserve it. But let me take you out tomorrow and see if I can’t convince you to give me another chance.”
“Okay. I’ll unblock your number. And in the morning when I wake up with a Jägermeister hangover, I’ll think about spending the day with you, if I can get out of bed. But you’re not forgiven.” She narrowed her eyes.
/> “I’ll take what I can get.” I smiled and lifted her hand to my lips. “Let me walk you in.”
I stepped out into the rain and jogged over to open her door, pulling her by the hand to my side. Tossing an arm over her shoulder, I did my best to shield her from the downpour until we reached the covered porch wrapping around the sizeable house.
“I guess this is good night.” I hated to part with her, but the fact she was even speaking to me was a small miracle. It was better not to push my luck.
“Good night, Liam.” She shifted in front of me, her eyes dropping to the ground for a moment before moving back up to mine. It felt odd not to kiss her, painful actually, but I didn’t want to move too fast.
“Good night, Ellie. I’ll call you tomorrow,” I whispered and then turned away. I could feel her watching me while I ran back to the car. When I closed myself inside, I pressed my head back into the rest and blew out a deep sigh. My entire life’s happiness was riding on showing her how much I loved her and that we were meant to be together. I glanced back at the porch to see her disappear inside, but not before she cast one last longing look over her shoulder.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Ellie
“I hate Eddie. I hate him so hard,” Louie said when he stumbled into my room and flopped on the bed. “Jägermeister is the devil. Eddie... Eddie is the devil.”
“Why do we do this to ourselves?” I moaned as I rubbed my eyes and strained against the morning light. “Where’s Nita?”
“Probably still passed out on the bathroom floor.”
“Did you two lock lips with any Door County hotties last night?”
He crawled up next to me and laid back on my pillow. A devilish smile curled his lips. “Oh yeah. There was some drunken bar making-out going on for both of us.”
We giggled, and I tossed him an elbow.
“What about you, Ellie? We went hunting for you, but Eddie told us you got a ride home from Liam.” He sucked air through his teeth. “You looked him in the eyes, didn’t you? He froze you with his Love Medusa powers, didn’t he?”
The Big One (Second Chance Romantic Comedy) Page 22