More than Scars

by Brocious, Sarah

  “I thought we could watch together…over the phone…you…you like? I…I have my copy cued and ready…i…if you…” he sounded so unsure.

  “Ever After?” I sobbed. “I love you,” I laughed. “I just love you!”

  He sighed relief.

  “Was this your idea?”

  “All mine.”

  “Could you be any more adorable?”

  He chuckled. “Oh…if I tried, maybe,” he teased.”

  I fell back on my pillow in a swoon. Yes, yes, yes, I loved Liam Byrne! “You know…if you were actually here…you would most definitely be getting kissed…very thoroughly kissed Mr. Byrne!”

  He cleared his throat.

  “Are you straightening your tie?” I teased softly.

  His laugh warmed me. “If I were wearing a tie I would be straightening it Miss Meadows.”

  “Then are you straightening your shirt?”

  “If I were wearing a shirt I would be…”

  “Liam! No shirt? It’s snowing outside!” I pushed aside the very thought that my Liam was currently shirtless. What a tease! “You will freeze!”

  “It’s very warm in my room.”

  “Well, its freezing in mine! I may have to put my robe back on.” In truth I was too warm now and it was all his fault!

  “Well, you know if you were actually here you would most definitely be warm…very thoroughly warm Miss Meadows!” His voice was rough and lovely and it made me sigh.

  He had turned my words on me but somehow his sounded a lot more seductive. “I would?”

  “Yes,” he whispered.

  We were silent for a moment…only the sound of our breaths could be heard over the phone. It was hard to think of anything else but being with Liam right now in that big warm room…in those strong arms…currently hinderance free. I wondered if he was thinking the same. His silence seemed to say he was.

  “What say we watch a movie?” he growled suddenly…almost with irritation.

  “Yes,” I said hoarsely. “Movie, I like movies.”

  Liam’s laughter broke us both from our trance and we put in our movie. I tried not to talk through most, as he had not seen it. I wished I was there to see his face…read his reactions, but it wouldn’t be this time. Halfway through the movie I found it necessary to take my pain pill. My cut was throbbing in the worse way. I hadn’t had the courage to look at the stitches yet. Come the morning I was sure I would be able to.

  “Are you getting sleepy?” he asked toward the end.

  “How did you know?” I murmured into the phone.

  “You aren’t as chatty,” he said softly.

  I stretched and tucked my feet under my blankets. “Will you watch this again with me when I am not taking pain medication?” I burrowed into the blankets and rested my head on the pillow. I didn’t want to let him go. I wanted him here with me. I wished he was here so I could curl into him like I did that night. His chest made the best pillow!

  “I have a feeling I will be watching this movie many times in the years to come.”

  I smiled. “Is that a promise?”

  “It’s a promise my love.”

  “Did you like?” I mumbled.

  “When I get off the phone with you I’m even going to finish it myself. Just so when you quiz me on it later…I will have the answers,” he teased.

  I giggled. “Brownie points?”

  “I liked it,” he admitted. “It’s hopelessly romantic…just like my Nerissa.”

  “You are hopelessly romantic,” I whispered. The meds were kicking in.

  “You make me that way.”

  “I love you.”

  “I love you,” he breathed. “I will call you tomorrow…I miss you.”

  “Kiss the girls for me!” I was coherent enough to know it was close to their bed time.

  “Sweet dreams.”

  When I awoke I called Mary the next morning. After Stewart’s display I could only imagine what the sweet woman had gone through. She had settled down so I asked for her woman’s perspective of how Liam was doing and the children.

  “The children are asking after you but it has only been a full day you have been gone! Mr. Byrne sent back his coffee…so he is not a happy camper.”

  I laughed at this. It made me feel good.

  I refrained talking to the girls, not wanting to upset them further. Liam told them I was sick. They would accept him at his word.

  I then called my man, fairly buzzing to hear his voice. “How was Zosimo?”

  “Good morning to you too,” he chuckled.

  I smiled. “Did you have a nice ride?”

  “It was okay,” he agreed. “Had a lot of things on my mind.”

  “Was one of them…”

  “All of them were you,” he growled.

  I smiled. “Grouchy this morning. Have you had any coffee?” I bit my lip, stifling a giggle. I sat up on my bed.

  “Just a sip,” he grumbled.

  “Are you coming over to see me?”

  He cleared his throat, and I’m sure he straightened his tie. He certainly wasn’t shirtless this morning! He would be dressed to the nines. It was a work day.

  “Are you coming home?”

  “No, another day with Mom…Doctor tomorrow…he said just a few days with the stitches.” I was frowning. I didn’t know why all of a sudden it was so important for him to come see me after all we had through…after all he had done for me! “I think he’s going to take them out. I looked today…the cut looks good…doesn’t even hurt anymore. I haven’t had a pain pill since before bed. Not a smidge of pain…that must be a good sign…” I rambled a little, not wanting him to argue about me not coming home. I got up and paced a bit, preparing for a bit of a fight.

  “When is your appointment?”

  “In the morning.”

  “I will send my driver to take you both.”

  I smiled. His way of taking care. “Thank you.”

  “Will you come home tomorrow?”

  “I don’t know,” I said softly.

  “Do you want to come home?” he asked gently.

  “Of course I do, but….”

  “But?”

  “It’s silyl,” I sighed.

  “It isn’t silly I’m sure. No hiding…right?”

  I pulled in a breath. “That’s just it Liam…and I don’t want to sound heartless…but you made two huge steps the other night. I thought it would be easy to…” I sat down on my bed and drew my knees to my chest. “To come see me.” I took his silence as either irritation or guilt so I pushed on. “I just feel like if I come back there…you will have everything…you won’t need to step outside ever again. You will have your children…your business…your…your love life…” I blushed. “Everything under one roof.”

  He cleared his throat. “So you stand outside the mansion like the proverbial carrot…trying to woo me out?” he growled.

  “No,” I cried. “Liam…you know I am not like that! I really am here healing…and I’m here for my Mom and Al…I just thought…” I shook my head. “Never mind. I will be home in a few days. Lets not argue, please.”

  He was quiet for a moment.

  “I love you, that’s all,” I whispered.

  “I know you do,” he sighed. “God I love hearing you say that,” he moaned.

  I heard his line beep. “I’m keeping you from work again.”

  I could hear the smile in his voice as he murmured, “You are my favorite distraction.”

  “I’m glad for that title.”

  He chuckled. “Love you Nerissa…I have to run.” And his line died.

  I sighed and heard Al return from our coffee run. I hurried out, glad I always requested mine black. He grinned when I grabbed mine up.

  “Gonna doctor it to your liking I see?”

  I shook my head and gave him a pleading look.

  “What Riss?”

  “Can you make a run to the mansion with some coffee?”

  His brow furrowed. �
�Pretty sure they have coffee there.”

  I stomped my foot.

  “Nerissa what is it?” My Mom laughed.

  “Liam is miserable and he won’t drink coffee anymore if I don’t make it. After what he’s done for me….”

  Al rolled his eyes. “Fine! But I ain’t giving him a good morning kiss!”

  My mom and I laughed and I set to making coffee the way Liam liked. When Al tried to take the to go cup, I grabbed it back and hurried to my room, wrote a quick note, dabbed my lips with a bit of lipstick and signed it with a kiss. It simply said…Coffee by Nerissa, hopefully you find this acceptable to drink. It was made with love. I smiled and returned the cup to my brother.

  “Now hurry before its cold!”

  That night my coffee gift was reciprocated with a full meal….servants and all showing up at my mother’s apartment. My note simply said…Stewart said you were eating pizza…this will not do…only the best for my lady. The coffee was delicious…it’s the idea that your hands make it that get me through the day.

  I was on romance overload with this man.

  Mom, Al and I enjoyed our fine dining in the little apartment…me still in my pajamas.

  True to his word, Liam had his driver waiting for my Mom and I when we left for my appointment the next morning. I was being spoiled. But all I really wanted was Liam. He could keep all the little gifts and gestures. I wanted him with me.

  The doctor did take out my stitches…only three days of the itchy things. He was very pleased with how well healed the skin was and assured me there would only be the faintest of a pink mark…maybe for a few months. I had been lucky he said. I thought of Liam’s beautiful face. I wouldn’t have minded a small mark. It was nothing compared to the reminder he would always have.

  We left the office and it was snowing again. I shivered. I wished good memories could follow snow. I had once loved snow! It had been a long time ago…but I had loved it. We got into Liam’s car and the driver drove us confidently on the slick streets to my mother’s apartment.

  As we pulled up, I noted a car parked where Al’s car usually sat…Ian’s car! Had he come to visit? We got out carefully, my mother before me. The snow had already covered our tracks made from this morning.

  “Nerissa!” a chorus of girly voices sang out. I was bombarded with hugs.

  Brianne! Amelia! How had Ian worked this? My girls! Oh! I had missed them! I hugged them to my body now and the tears…always the tears were there.

  “Oh I have missed you,” I cried, kneeling down in the snow to hug them to me. I didn’t care that my jeans were wet with snow now.

  “We missed you,” Brianne sobbed. “Daddy said you were sick! He said we had to wait to see you! I begged him to let us come here!” She hugged me about my neck.

  “I wanted to check for feber but you were not in your bed….not in Daddy’s bed,” Amelia cut in. “I couldn’t find you! And Daddy said you were at your Mommy’s and had to wait for you to come home! I didn’t want to wait!”

  Brianne nodded, stepping back. “And then he said we didn’t have to wait anymore!”

  I gave both a smile. “So he let your Uncle Ian bring you?”

  Brianne giggled, turning her face up into the falling snow. “No, silly, Daddy brought us.”

  “Daddy said, Damn, he was getting it from both sides!” Amelia crowed.

  I didn’t have it in me to chastise her. My heart was like a jackhammer in my chest. I looked past the girls and there he was…sitting on the stoop as if he belonged there.

  “Hey girls, let’s go get some hot chocolate,” My Mom called to Brianne and Amelia. “It’s cold out here. We’ll warm up inside and let your Daddy and Nerissa talk…okay?” She popped her head in for the driver. “You too…let’s give these young people privacy.” He didn’t argue with her.

  I watched them march inside, right past Liam.

  His eyes were only for me. My pulse was at full gallop as I started toward him. Just like his own, my eyes were taking him in. His dark hair was covered in snow now, as he sat still. His broad shoulders, also covered. I stepped up to him and my heart leapt. My fingers reached for his hair and I brushed the snow gently from it.

  “I can’t believe you’re here,” I whispered.

  “You wanted me here.” His warm brown eyes with their shades of sienna and gold lifted to mine and my heart faltered.

  “I did.”

  “I’m not hiding,” he whispered.

  “No you’re not,” I said in a halting voice. Oh Lord, the tears.

  “I’m not going to let my girls hide either. They wanted to see you too…they were done waiting too.” He smiled and reached for my hands.

  The warmth shot through my veins the instant he touched me. It was not imagined. “This is big for you,” I whispered.

  “I will do anything for you.” He rose to his full height and I suddenly felt so small. His hands cupped my face tenderly and his thumb brushed over where the stitches has just been removed. He gently moved me to the step above him to bring me more level to him so he could study the work done. He dipped his chin to brush his lips along the line.

  I held my breath and closed my eyes letting him minister gently to my skin. His touch was something that I had missed.

  “I am so happy you are here,” I sighed. I smiled up at him as he drew back.

  “Will you come home with me then?” He smiled back.

  I reached up and touched his face reverently. “Maybe,” I teased.

  He frowned. “I will give you anything…anything that is mine is yours, just ask me for it! Just come home with me today…please Nerissa!”

  “Anything?”

  He wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me gently into his warmth. “You belong with me and the girls.”

  I smiled. “Anything?” I lifted an eyebrow.

  He grinned and nodded.

  I kissed him tenderly then. “These I already claimed.” I kissed him again for good measure and didn’t know if I wanted to pull away or stop. He tasted quite lovely. “I already have your love…which is too much.” I grasped the collar of his coat and tugged. His eyes softened on me. “Maybe I could ask for Zosimo?”

  He chuckled. “He’s yours already.”

  I mocked shock. “Your most prized possession?”

  His eyes grew serious. “Other than my daughters…you are my most prized possession Nerissa,” he whispered. His eyes held mine.

  “Me?”

  “You are mine?”

  I nodded dumbly.

  “Than yes.”

  I wanted to take him down in the snow right there and kiss him senseless. “And you are mine?” Yes, I heard my own voice tremble damn it!

  He groaned. “No one else’s…ever.”

  I smiled. “Then I know what I want to ask for.”

  His eyes darkened.

  “Anything that is yours?”

  “Anything that is mine you may have Nerissa! Tell me…it’s yours my love!”

  I smiled and let the tears I had been holding back fall. That boldness that I got only when I was with Liam came over me. I wrapped my arms around his neck. His arms wrapped around me and our lips were so close I could take in his breath as he breathed out. I let out a sigh and laughed.

  “Nerissa, just tell me,” he growled. He nipped gently at my lower lip and his strong arms flexed about me.

  I found my fingers in his hair and it gave me courage. “Fine,” I murmured. “I…I want your last name,” I whispered tenderly.

  His chest expanded on a deep breath, nearly crushing the breath from me. “Wh…what did you say?”

  “Your last name,” I whispered again. “I want it.”

  He faltered, stumbling back with me in his arms, but he kept his footing. He steadied me, letting me go and running his hands through his hair. I wasn’t sure if he was having a heart attack or what!

  “Liam?”

  Suddenly he was laughing and falling to his knees, hugging me about the waist. He bur
ied his face into my stomach and continued laughing.

  “Liam?”

  “Oh God! I thought I was crazy,” he cried out. “I thought…for sure I was just nuts to think you would feel the same way I would feel. You would laugh in my face and question my motives and, well, turn me away! Say it was too soon!” He looked up at me.

  I shook my head. “What are you talking about?”

  He smiled that devastating smile. “You love my cologne?”

  I laughed. “Absolutely!”

  “The day I met you…” he ducked his head. “I had Stewart helping me shop for more than cologne…because I knew…I just knew…and I approved of this purchase.” And from his pocket he pulled a little black box.

  I fell to my knees before him. “Liam?”

  He laughed softly. “Since you beat me to the punch.” He opened the box and there sat the prettiest diamond I had ever seen. “You can have my last name, but you have to say yes to one little question first.” He smiled. “Are you sure Stewart didn’t tell you I was going to….”

  I shook my head, unable to speak through the tears.

  He reached for me then, pulling me into his arms and claiming me with a kiss. It wasn’t a little peck or a brushing of lips…it was a claiming. And once he had me good and breathless he helped me to my feet gently, and then lowered to one knee. His eyes danced up at me.

  Out of my peripheral I saw the girls run out on the stoop, but I couldn’t turn my eyes from Liam. I smiled down on him now and started to laugh softly, willing him to please just ask.

  “Nerissa Meadows, will you please put me out of my misery and be my wife? Marry me…take my name…take my money…my time…distract me…wear me out…I am begging you!”

  I laughed and grabbed his collar, dragging him up to me now. “Yes, yes, and yes to all Mr. Byrne.” I jumped him then and he easily took my weight as my arms went around his neck and my legs around his waist.

  I kissed him with all of my might and he kept up, despite our audience…my Mom, the girls, the driver. It didn’t matter. In fact, it wasn’t long before the girls were wrapped around Liam’s legs and my Mom around the both of us as we rejoiced.