“He’s hardly been waiting around. He had a girlfriend until very recently,” she corrected her mother who didn’t seem to agree.
“Georgie, that man has just been waiting for you to come to your senses and marking time while he did so. He’s been in love with you forever, and you’re too blind to see that or maybe you just choose not to. I’m not sure which is worse.”
“I don’t think so.” She didn’t remind her mother he’d been the one who’d pushed her toward Hollywood and out of his life to begin with. “But even if that’s true, we want different things.”
“What is it that you want that Liam can’t give you? You already have just about everything in the world, girl.” It wasn’t anything material of course.
“He doesn’t want a family, Mama.” Her voice was soft and sad. Her mother knew how much Georgie longed for a family of her own. As an only child, her dream had been to create a big crazy family of her own.
“What would make you think that, honey?” Her mother seemed surprised to hear this. Her mother and Liam were so close she assumed they would have discussed this.
“He told me so.”
She didn’t need to see her mother to know the woman was shaking her head down. “When? Back when he was young and angry? Back when he felt powerless about his own childhood?”
“Well, yes . . .”
“And you don’t think he might have had a change of heart at some point in the last few years? You don’t think that’s even possible?” Her mother’s voice was rising now. “Georgie, I’ve never met a man who longed for a family more than that one. Yes, the idea of it scares him, and who can blame him for that, but he craves that sense of belonging that only a family can give him.”
“I don’t think he’d agree with you.”
“Yeah well, I disagree. Georgie, you need to sit down and talk to him. You’re making each other miserable, and I don’t think you even have all the facts.”
“I can’t risk our friendship, Mama.”
“Well, what do you think you’re doing right now? Honey, I know you’ve been burned in the past and that you have trouble trusting people, but this is Liam. You owe it to him to be open and honest about what you feel and what you want.”
Her mother was right of course. Someone tapped on the door indicating she was needed in the studio. “I have to go, but I will think about what you said.”
“You do that, honey. If you take a chance, you might just get everything you ever wanted.” Or lose it, she thought, but she didn’t say that. She just took all that emotion she was feeling and poured it into the next song, which lucky for her was a mournful one. She couldn’t have sung a happy song to save herself.
Chapter 15
Liam sat white-knuckling it in the private jet that was taking him from New York to North Carolina. Connie had been right, his mother had been much sicker than he thought. Connie had found her on the floor of her trailer, half her body paralyzed. And now the woman who hadn’t left the trailer in over twenty years was in a local hospital. They’d had to sedate her, she’d been so distressed about being removed from her home, but what other choice did the paramedics have?
He’d always known it would be a crisis that would drag her out into the light again. He’d long given up hoping it would be for him, but that didn’t make it any easier. His relationship with his mother was complicated. He resented the way she’d lived her life and the impact it had created on his own, and yet he’d always taken care of her. Intellectually he knew she couldn’t help her mental illnesses, but sometimes that didn’t help him with the anger he felt toward her. It was a big part of why he was much happier helping from afar.
When he’d gotten the call, his first instinct had been to call Georgie, but he knew she had the King of Country music in the studio with her and that months of negotiations had taken place to get him there for these few hours. They were filming them for a video, and Liam was fairly certain this would be the breakout song and opportunity that would set her career off to stratospheric heights. She’d waited so long for that sort of acclaim and acceptance, and there was no way he was doing anything to jeopardize it. He’d pushed her out into the world all those years ago because he knew she was talented enough to have it all, and now it was finally happening on her terms.
The irony that he was going back to the drama he’d worked so hard to get away from wasn’t lost on him. This was the very stuff he wanted to keep Georgie from.
He should have listened to Connie about the stroke, but he wasn’t sure he could have changed the outcome anyway. He’d been his mother’s guardian for years, but he knew he couldn’t have talked her into leaving the trailer voluntarily and so this was always going to be the tragic outcome.
He’d left Mal midway through finalizing the pitch for the account, but he decided to call B-Dog himself to tell him it was a family emergency.
After being bounced around for a few minutes, he got the man himself.
“’Sup, Stone?”
“I just wanted to say our pitch might be a day or so late.”
“You don’t want my business, brother?” He practically barked the question down the phone.
“We do, but my mother’s had a stroke and so . . .”
“Family first. Don’t worry, I understand. You need anything?”
“No, I’m good.”
“Georgie with you?”
“She’s recording in Nashville. I don’t want to disturb her.”
“I don’t know much about women, but I do know they go all kinds of crazy when you don’t share stuff like this with them, especially if she knows your mama.”
“Thanks, I’ll take that under advisement.”
“Yeah, you do that. Take care and you let me know when you’re ready to pitch.”
He felt a little relieved after making the call. All he had was his business reputation at this point, and he needed to maintain it because his personal life didn’t look like it would be taking a front seat anytime soon.
The plane touched down, and he made it to the hospital in record time. Connie, sweet woman that she was, stood outside his mother’s door waiting for him and pulled him in for a big hug. She smelled like roses and love. He hadn’t realized how much he needed that hug until he was in the midst of it.
“How’s she doing?” he asked, looking down at the woman who was more of a mother to him than his own.
“Sedated. It’s hard to watch.”
“I’m sorry you were the one . . .”
She shook her head. “It’s fine. It’s not like you could have sat in there waiting. She has chosen her own path.”
“Doesn’t make it any easier.” He raked a hand through his hair.
“It does not.” She squeezed his bicep. “I’m going to head home and let you two spend some time. You come to me for dinner, honey.”
“I don’t want to impose.”
She swatted the arm she’d just squeezed. “Don’t be silly. I’ll have Georgie’s bed made up. Stay with me, I’d appreciate the company.”
He was fairly sure she was saying that for his benefit, but he was in the mood for some southern cooking and some mothering, so he agreed. Then he pushed the door open and went to sit by his mother’s bed.
Her mouth was a little slack on one side, but other than that she looked peaceful. When he looked at her, he saw bits of himself, the long lashes and the olive skin. She was a beautiful woman back in the day before the demons got to her. He’d always worried he’d follow her, but he was well past the age she’d been when her ability to function had become tenuous. He’d used to worry he’d be more like his father, a man who’d leave his kid with a mentally ill woman and never look back. He didn’t feel that way anymore. He realized he had the capacity to love and be loyal. His years of friendship with Georgie had shown him that if he loved someone fiercely, as he surely would his own child, he would never abandon them. He’d fight for them, and after he sorted through the situation with his mother, he was going to fight
for Georgie. Nothing like watching your only living relative fighting for her life to give you some clarity, Liam thought.
There was no one in the world he’d ever loved the way he loved Georgie, and he was not going to spend his future without her. He wasn’t planning to find himself old and alone regretting his decisions, he was going to go after what he needed most to be happy.
“Thanks, Ma,” he said to the sleeping woman. “I know you didn’t mean to, but you’ve given me the push I need. Life is too short to be unhappy and alone.”
He settled into the chair beside the bed and watched her sleep, hoping she’d find some peace. He didn’t really know how this would all play out, but he hoped for an outcome that would give his mother some respite.
* * *
Hours later a taxi dropped him off outside Connie’s trailer that these days looked very much like a home. Both he and Georgie had offered her a house anywhere, and she’d refused saying this was her home. Standing here now, he could see that was true. His eyes scanned down the road to his mother’s dark and grimy-looking version. It was never a home.
The door flew open before he knocked.
“I thought you might not be coming,” Connie said sweetly. “I’d almost given up.”
“I wouldn’t just not show up,” he assured her as she stepped aside to let him in as the smell of chicken and dumplings wafted up to greet him. She knew it was his all-time favorite, at least the way she made it. “How could I say no to you or your cooking?”
“Good point.” Her voice held a smile. “Pop your bags in Georgie’s room and I’ll serve up. I know you know the way.”
He certainly did, not that it would be hard to find in the tiny trailer, but the pathway was seared in his memory and the room was unchanged. Pink floral walls, a pink comforter, boy band posters, and a large heart-shaped mirror on one wall. He’d always been allowed in if the door stayed open, but he’d never actually slept in here before. He wondered how it would be to sleep surrounded by all things Georgie. He dropped his bag and jacket and headed back to the kitchen. Plenty of time to think about that later, right now there was a delicious meal and some kindness waiting for him, and he could use both.
Connie had the table set and ready when he returned.
“Thank you.”
“Oh, honey, it’s my pleasure. What did the doctors have to say?” she asked as he took his seat opposite her and began serving up a steaming plate of food that smelled so good he was practically drooling at the scent.
“To be honest, they’re not that optimistic about her outcome in terms of returning to good health. We have to add in that she will be so unhappy in rehab that she’ll need to be sedated, which will make any therapies hard. It’s a mess. I should have paid more attention when you called me.”
“You cannot blame yourself, Liam.” Connie sat opposite him and paused long enough to say grace, which included a prayer for his mother and one for him, which he appreciated more than he usually would have.
“Thanks.”
“Look, your mama has made a lot of decisions that have led up to this point. I know she’s been sick for years, but you have tried repeatedly to help her, as have I. She hasn’t wanted to make any changes, and I like to think I’m an optimist, but I’m not sure she can change now.”
She was right of course. Liam considered that as he scooped a forkful of his favorite meal into his mouth. “I guess so. It’s still hard.”
“Of course, it is and it’s harder doing it alone.”
He sighed. “I’m not alone. I have you.”
“You do.” She ate some of her own meal, and Liam got the distinct feeling she was considering her words very carefully. “Why isn’t Georgie here with you, Liam?”
“I didn’t tell her yet . . .” The woman went to speak, but he held up his hand in protest. “I’ll call her tonight. You know today was a big day for her, and I didn’t want her to walk away from that session with Brian Springer for me.”
The older woman shook her head. “That’s what you do for the people you love. You show up. And you want to be there when they need you.”
“I know, and I care about her too, so I don’t want to mess up this opportunity for her. I think she’s finally getting the message that her musical career can really soar, if that’s what she wants, and I don’t want my issues to stand in the way.”
Connie shook her head. “Liam, your mother isn’t an issue as you put it, and I know Georgie wants to sing and you want that for her, but nothing is more important than taking care of the people you love.”
The word love hung in the air again. Of course, Liam loved Georgie and he knew she loved him but maybe not in the way Connie thought, not yet anyway.
“Let me ask you this, Liam, if it were me in that hospital, would you want to be beside Georgie?”
“Of course.” He didn’t even hesitate; wild horses could not keep him away.
“Well then . . .” That was all she said as she got busy eating her dinner and leaving him to think.
“I’ll call when we’ve finished eating.”
“And one more thing. You two need to talk. Properly talk about what you want from your lives because I can see you missing so many chances, and it breaks my heart. I think you two could make each other very happy if you only both realized you were allowed to be happy.”
“I don’t know about that.”
“Exactly, you don’t know because you never talk.” It was her turn to hold up her hand. “You don’t talk about what matters. Business, making money, building your careers, that doesn’t matter. Being loved, finding happiness, that’s all that matters in the end. Look, I know life wasn’t easy here. Georgie’s dad was sick for a long time, and you two looked at that as a burden, but for me every minute I got to spend with him was a blessing. I wouldn’t change a thing. I have no regrets. Your parents and your childhood were a hot mess, but you have to know by now that you’re not them. Don’t miss out on happiness because of that.”
She was right of course, he wasn’t his parents and he’d let them destroy enough of his past, he wasn’t going to let them take his future from him. She was also right that he and Georgie needed to talk, and they would once he got his mother stabilized and he had a clear head on his shoulders.
Chapter 16
To say Georgie was hopping mad as she made her way to the airport to hop a private jet to Liam was an understatement. Their earlier phone call was playing on a loop in her head.
“You waited all day to call me.” Her voice had been high-pitched. She’d struggled to process how that could even be, and why hadn’t her mother looped her in?
“You had this important session . . .”
“Liam Stone, if you think anything is more important to me than you, you’re crazy.”
“I know, that’s why I didn’t tell you. I didn’t want you to miss this opportunity for me.”
It was hard to be angry with him when he thought he was doing the right thing, and even in the midst of this chaos he had put her needs first, but seriously, it was bone-headed behavior plain and simple.
“Well, thanks for that, but next time let me make my own decisions like a grown woman. You’ll be happy to know I’ve been finished for hours, it went so smoothly, so I will be getting there tonight.”
“Okay. I’ll be heading back to the hospital, but you should come home and get some rest.” He was exasperating.
“What did I say about making my decisions for me? I’ll see you soon.”
It wasn’t that soon by the time she got herself to the airport and on the road from Charlotte to home, but it was faster than if she’d flown domestic and she was thankful she’d been able to call in a favor and borrow a friend’s jet. She didn’t go home, instead she took her rental car straight to the hospital and up to the ICU where they were keeping Liam’s mother, Jean. Jean had always terrified Georgie. Most of the time she was actually just sad and rather sweet, but every so often when she managed to get her hands on alcohol she
would be a wild card, and those memories and that feeling of uncertainty plagued Georgie around the older woman.
Still, now the ward was silent but for the whirring and beeping of the hospital machines, and as Georgie peered through the glass, she could see Liam leaning in, holding his mother’s hand. As much as he had rallied against his past and fought so hard to make a new life away from here, she knew he hadn’t just been able to walk away. He’d supported his mother from the very beginning, sending her money, supplies, and even help in the form of cleaners and doctors. Much of the time she’d rejected him, only accepting the bits of him she wanted and turning the rest away. The woman’s love had been entirely conditional.
Georgie paused, and a small gasp escaped her. She wasn’t much better she realized. She wanted Liam only on her terms, only if he gave her everything she wanted, as if he, himself, was not enough. A shiver ran up her spine, and it was a shiver of shame.
Didn’t Liam, of all people, deserve to be enough as he was? He’d spent years working to prove that to the world, and yet, here she was silently telling him the opposite. Well, that was going to change. He loved her unconditionally, whether she sang or didn’t, whether she worked too hard or dated other men. He’d always put her needs first. When had anyone ever done that for him?
He seemed to feel her watching because he turned his head, and a sad smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. She closed the distance between them, wrapping herself around his seated frame from behind.
“I’m here now, and I’m not going anywhere no matter how much you argue.” She kissed the side of his cheek.
He wrapped his big hands around her forearms, pulling her even closer, craving the contact as much as she did, it seemed. “Okay, you’re the boss, but only because I’m too tired to argue and because I’m ridiculously happy you’re here with me.”
After a while, he pulled her around so she was sitting in his lap. She watched his mother from her vantage point. She looked peaceful, but the effects of the stroke were showing in her face and her limp arm.
No Time for Temptation: No Brides Club, Book 4 Page 14