CHAPTER 4
BROOKE
After I left Brew Magic, I ducked into the small candy store on Main Street, happy to see it was still open. There was only one other person in the shop, and I recognized her immediately.
“Hi, Tessa,” I greeted the other patron cordially. I didn’t know Liam’s sister well, but she’d been very nice to me every time we ran into each other or when she was covering in the restaurant.
The pretty blonde turned her head away from the cashier to greet me. “Brooke,” she said with a smile. “It’s great to see you. Are you coming in for a late-night snack, too?”
I grinned back at her. “More like feeding my obsession. I love the toffee almond bark. Please tell me you just bought the last of it so I don’t take a bag home with me.”
She laughed, her eyes sparkling with mischief. “Sorry. I did get some, but there’s still half of a tray left.”
So much for hoping I wouldn’t be able to get my fix. The confection went straight to my hips, but I couldn’t resist the chance to pick some up since the shop was still open. “There’s no hope for me, then. I’ll have to exercise more.”
The small store was filled with the tantalizing scent of chocolate, and my mouth was already watering.
“I think you can afford the extra calories,” Tessa answered. “I really can’t, but Micah and I can get back outside to do our runs now, so it won’t be that bad.”
“Where is Micah?” I questioned. Tessa’s handsome husband was almost always with her.
“Overnight event in North Carolina. His company is hosting the annual extreme-sports event there.”
Tessa finished up paying, and I gave the clerk my order. I expected Tessa to exit when she was done, but she waited until I finished talking to the cashier, and then said, “I saw Liam earlier at the restaurant. He said you wanted to leave.”
I sighed. News traveled fast in Amesport. “It isn’t that I really want to go, but I have a life back in California. It was always a temporary job for me.”
She nodded “Liam told me everything tonight. I wish you were staying. Liam has been a lot happier with you around.”
I smiled. “You mean what I’ve been seeing is Liam’s upbeat mood?”
“I know it sounds strange, but my brother has always been quiet. He never was much of a talker.”
“That I believe.”
“He’s never really opened up that much to me,” Tessa confided. “Maybe he always felt like he needed to take care of me because I was his little sister first, and then I was his deaf little sister.”
“I know what it’s like to have an older brother,” I told her. “I have three of them.”
She shook her head and gave me a sympathetic look. “I can’t imagine having three older brothers. Just Liam is more than enough.”
Noah, Seth, and Aiden weren’t quite as intense as Liam, but Jade and I got bossed around from every direction. “It’s not always bad,” I said. “At least I have a guy around to fix my car when I need it. They’re all pretty mechanical.”
“At least that’s something,” she said skeptically, like there was no way in hell she needed that many overbearing men in her life. “When are you leaving?”
“I just gave Liam my notice. I gave him two weeks to bring in somebody else.”
“I can help him cover, but I know he’s going to miss you. I don’t think he realizes how much he talks about you.”
“He does?” I answered in surprise. “He barely talks to me.”
She studied me carefully, which was a little uncomfortable, before she said, “I was kind of hoping you two might hook up.”
I shrugged. “That wasn’t something Liam was interested in pursuing.”
I saw no reason to bullshit Tessa anymore. I wouldn’t be around much longer.
“He was definitely interested,” she countered. “I’m not sure why he didn’t pursue you.”
I knew why, but I didn’t want to explain all of that to Tessa. Liam had obviously not told her about my so-called boyfriend. “It just never worked out,” I said vaguely. “I guess it’s better that way, since my whole life is on another coast.”
Tessa changed the subject as I paid for my evil snack. “I saw you in the coffee shop with Evan.”
“We’re friends,” I was quick to inform her. “He knows my eldest brother, Noah.”
The last thing anybody would assume was that Evan would ever step out with another love interest when he had a woman he worshipped like he did his wife, Miranda. But I wanted to clarify.
Tessa rolled her eyes. “I know that. Evan would die for Randi. You don’t need to defend having coffee with him. You two just seemed so comfortable. Evan isn’t much of a talker, just like Liam.”
“He talks when he wants to,” I shared, thinking about how he’d just finished grilling me about Liam.
“Most men do,” Tessa said with a smile. “Brooke, I know you won’t be around long, but if you ever need somebody to talk to, I’m a good listener. I wish we would have had more time to get to know each other, but we were always so busy at the restaurant.”
“Thanks,” I replied as I grabbed my bag from the clerk. “I think I’m doing okay. I just needed some time to myself. Being here gave me that.”
Part of me wanted to blurt out everything to Tessa. She was just one of those kind people who made me want to be her friend. But knowing she’d tell Liam kept my lips closed.
“The offer is always there,” she confirmed.
I took a piece of the almond bark from the bag and popped it into my mouth. I swallowed before I answered, “Thanks. I appreciate that nobody pushed me very hard. I wasn’t ready to talk about what happened in California.”
We left the shop together, both us now feeding from our bags of chocolate.
“Can I give you a lift?” she offered.
“No. I’m good. I only live a few blocks from here.” I had a tiny one-bedroom apartment close to downtown. It was furnished, and my view was the back of the stores on Main Street, but I’d been grateful that Evan had been able to find it for me. I’d never needed a car since I was close to everything in town.
“I’ll see you soon, I hope,” Tessa said.
I waved as she scurried to her vehicle, wishing I could have gotten to know her better. Tessa had been through so many of her own challenges in life. She probably would have been a great person to have as a friend.
I started walking toward my apartment. It might be spring, but it was still cold in Maine. I was wearing a light jacket with my jeans and long-sleeved shirt, but it wasn’t really warm enough for spring in Maine. I’d gotten used to the frigidly cold weather during the winter, but I was more than ready for things to warm up.
My apartment was already in sight when an arm shot out of the darkness. I startled as I was forced to halt by the hold of a strong hand on my upper arm.
“What in the hell are you doing out here so late?”
I recognized the voice before I saw his body step into the dim illumination of the streetlights.
“Liam?”
“It’s almost eleven,” he grumbled.
I wanted to tell him that teenagers get a later curfew, but I took one look at his face and closed my mouth.
His expression was grim, but I could see that he was worried.
Even as I thought about how irrational he was being, my heart melted just a little.
“It’s not exactly the dead of night,” I said calmly.
“It’s dark,” he rumbled. “Too late to be roaming around in the cold.”
“I’m on my way home,” I explained. “I was just having coffee with Evan at Brew Magic.”
“Why?”
I was perplexed. Liam was acting so strange that I wasn’t sure how to reply. It took me a moment to answer, “I wanted to thank him for helping me.”
“Because you’re leaving,” he said unhappily.
“Yes. Because I’m leaving.”
Silence stretched out for what seemed like a very long time before Liam replied, “You’re cold. I’ll walk you back to your apartment.”
I was nearly there. I could already see the entrance to my building. “No worries. I’ll be okay. I can see my apartment.”
He nodded toward the entrance. “I’ll go with you.”
I started walking, and Liam fell into step beside me. It was senseless to argue with him. We were standing out in the cold when we could both be warm in a few minutes. “Did you just leave the restaurant?”
The eatery closed at nine o’clock this time of year, so I assumed he’d just closed up and saw me walking in the dark.
“Just a few minutes ago,” he confirmed.
Even though his words explained why he was in the area, I still didn’t get why he’d come after me when I was only steps from my apartment.
It wasn’t unusual for Liam to see that I got to my place safely. In the warmer months, he’d walked me home. In the winter, he’d driven me the short distance from the restaurant to my building. He’d always watched out for me that way. But there had been no reason for him to walk me to a door I could actually see from my position on the sidewalk.
“Thanks,” I muttered as I arrived at the entrance of my building.
“Call me next time,” he demanded. “Amesport is relatively safe, but I’ve seen some strange people here in the summer.”
“It’s not summer,” I said.
Compared to California, the small Maine coastal town looked like the safest place in the world.
“Just call me,” he repeated. “I’ll take you anywhere you want to go.”
I nodded. “Do you want to come up?” Inviting him to come in seemed like the right thing to do. I’d asked him before, and he’d always refused. But I went through the motions anyway.
“Yeah. I think I do,” he said awkwardly, like he was used to giving a different answer—which he was.
“I can make some coffee,” I offered, fumbling to find the key to the main door.
“I think I need a drink,” he answered.
I found the right key and put it into the lock before I turned to look at him. Liam didn’t drink. He’d told me that he had partied so much in California that he rarely touched alcohol anymore. In the months that I’d known him, I’d never seen him drink a single alcoholic beverage.
“I have beer and wine.” The beer had been left at my place by my brother. And the wine was mine. God knew I needed a drink every once in a while, especially after spending the entire evening with Liam at the restaurant.
“That will work.”
I unlocked the door and stepped into the lobby of my building. It was quiet. The building wasn’t monitored by live security. Not that it needed to be.
This is going to be awkward.
We spent time together alone at work, but letting him into my private life was something else entirely.
We rode the elevator up to the second floor in silence. When the doors finally whooshed open, I asked, “Why did you finally decide to come up?”
I’d offered at least a hundred times, and he’d never agreed to come with me.
“I think we need to talk.” He walked out of the elevator without any further explanation.
I followed, eventually taking the lead to show him which apartment was mine.
I didn’t want to talk about leaving again, but it seemed I had very little choice.