Chapter Fifteen
Liam
Liam’s back on his sofa, flipping through channel after channel on his ridiculously large screen. He can’t concentrate on watching TV. He doesn’t want to go down to the bar. And the diner is definitely ruined for him now. Maybe it’s time he should think about moving on, hitting another town. This one is soured for him now and he’s got no reason to stay. He gets up and heads to kitchen for a beer. Yeah, time to go. He’ll start looking for another town soon. It’s better if he moves on.
Something sharp bites into his foot as he’s crossing the room, pain shooting across his instep. “Shit,” he mutters and bends down to see what it is. Crushed underneath his bare foot is one of Frank’s tiny plastic trucks, this one red and yellow. Liam picks it up and studies it, the plastic crushed, the little wheels askew. With a sigh, he tosses it into the trash and pulls a beer from the fridge. He’s been trying not to think about the look on Frank’s face when he walked away from them. It was a look that cried betrayal. Liam takes a long, gulping drink from his beer and drags himself back to his sofa.
He’s into his third beer when he hears the small knock on his door. He knows who it is. The only people who knock on his door are Willow and workmen and knows that isn’t a workman. He goes to the door and peers through the peephole. Yep, there’s the top of her head and her swinging bright gold ponytail tied up with a violet ribbon that matches her eyes. Shit. He sighs heavily and unbolts the door, pulling it open.
She’s standing there with Frank clinging to her hand. The little boy won’t look at Liam, he’s got his eyes focused on his little sneakers with trains choo-chooing across the toes. Liam bites back his sigh, pushing his regret down deep. “Can I help you?” he asks her.
When she trains those lovely purple eyes on him, he almost invites her in. Almost apologizes. She’s chewing on her bottom lip and her eyes are sparkling. He knows she’s trying not to cry. Almost.
“Um,” she swallows heavily and clears her throat, “I just wanted to thank you for babysitting Frank for me. It was very kind and I know you didn’t have to do it. So, here.” She reaches toward him and crams a wad of crumpled bills into his hand. “It’s not much but it’s what I can afford.”
Liam stares down at the crinkled bills. He doesn’t want her money. He wants her and Frank to come in and have pie with him. But he’s not going to ask her. He glances back at her and finally notices the wheeled suitcase behind her. She follows his gaze and drops her eyes, her face blushing a beguiling pink.
“We’re leaving. I lost my job.”
Liam doesn’t know what to say to her so he just watches her carefully, waiting to see if she’s going to tell him why she lost her job. When all she does is chew on her lip, he leaves it.
“Okay, then,” he says to her.
He drops down to one knee in front of Frank, who still hasn’t looked up at him. He wants to say so many things to this little boy. He’s had so much fun with the kid and he never thought he’d have fun with any kid. Frank had wiggled and laughed his way into Liam’s heart. Liam’s gut clenches at the thought of never seeing his little towhead again. He clears his throat and stands back up, tapping Frank lightly on the top of his head with his hand. “Bye, bug.”
Willow backs away from the door and wraps her fingers around the handle of her bag. Frank is wearing a tiny backpack. Liam can’t believe that’s all they have between them. Two bags. And on the move again. It’s no way for kid to live. But’s it’s also not his business. Willow and Frank are not his business. That had been made very clear. Just as he’s pushing his door closed, a small, screaming man bursts out of the stairwell and rounds on Willow.
Liam watches as the portly, sweating man grabs at Willow’s bag and snatches it away from her. That’s something he can’t let happen, no matter what Willow thinks of him. He steps forward and sweeps the bag easily from the man’s hands, pulling it out of his reach. “What’s going on here?”
The man has sweat beading his upper lip and scant hairline, the armpits of his shirt are stained dark. His face is the color of an eggplant. He’s visibly shaking with his anger.
“This girl,” he splutters, shaking a finger in Willow’s face, “she owes the rent.”
“Ah, the landlord. Nice to meet you.” Liam thrusts his hand into the man’s face.
The landlord stares at likes it’s some new species of bug before daintily shaking just the tips of Liam’s fingers with his.
“Now, let’s get this straightened out, shall we?” Liam smiles at the sweaty, little man.
“This girl, she owes three months and she never pay. Now she try to leave without paying. She won’t answer the door when I come, she hide. Now, give me.” The landlord tries to reach around Liam and grab Willow’s bag again. Liam uses his foot to slide it out the man’s reach.
“Willow?” Liam gives her a searching look. She seems to have sunk in on herself, her shoulders are hunched over and her head is hanging low between them. He’s never seen anyone look so defeated and ashamed. Frank is standing beside her, big fat tears rolling down his face. The boy looked so confused and scared. It stabbed Liam in the heart to see them both looking so helpless. Shit.
Willow doesn’t say anything to him. The landlord is still huffing and puffing about what a horrible girl she is.
“I’m going to call cops on you, horrible girl!” he huffs at her.
“Okay, that’s enough. No one’s calling the cops.” Liam pushes Willow’s bag through his open door and spins to face the landlord. “How much does she owe?”
The landlord names a number well into the four figures. Liam sees Willow’s face blanch at the number. He knows she’d never be able to afford it. No wonder she was trying to take off. Liam can’t believe what he’s about to do. He takes a deep breath and blows it out loudly.
“Stay here. All of you,” he barks.
He moves quickly to his bedroom and pulls out a drawer in his dresser. Reaching into the hole, he slides out a stack of money. He counts out the required amount, amazed at how much the stack has shrunk. He’ll definitely have to look into getting a job now. He’s spent almost all of what was left of his savings on Willow’s apartment. He guessed it was worth it to keep her and the kid from being homeless.
He walks back to the hallway, they’re all still there, an abject little group. “Here.” Liam smacks the pile of bills into the landlords waiting hand. “Now, her rents paid.”
The little, overweight man counts out the bills and smiles at them all. “Thanks to you, my man.” Then, he moves to Willow’s door and slips an exterior lock on the knob, twisting it shut and dropping the key in his pocket.
“What the hell, man? I just paid you.” Liam can’t believe the balls on this little man.
“Yes, you pay me rent she owe. Not pay for now. She no go in. She no live here anymore. Okay, thank you.” Then, the little round landlord turns and bounces down the stairs like the beach ball he resembles.
Liam looks over at Willow. The stunned look on her face couldn’t be more plain. Her mouth opens and closes several times but she never says anything.
Liam is floored. This chick was winding up to be more trouble than she was worth. He can’t believe he just handed over thousands of dollars for her and she still wound up homeless. So much for being a shining knight and all that.
Willow finally wakes up and crosses the hall to where he’s standing inside his door. “I’m so sorry, Liam,” she says. Tears fill her eyes, “It’s just that. With my mom and his dad, I just don’t know what to do with myself?”
Liam’s a bit confused about her mentioning the two people that she tries to avoid talking about most of the time. He mumbles a few choice words before rubbing his fists roughly over his forehead. “It’s okay, we’ll figure it out.”
Willow lays a soft hand on his arm and squeezes lightly. “It’s okay. We’re not your problem. Thank you for…everything really. Everything thing you’ve done. No one’s ever been as nice to me as you. I’ll never forget you.” She reaches around him for her bag.
“Wait.” He puts his hand on hers to stop her. “Where are you going?”
“Uh.” She seems stumped by this question for a minute. She looks over her shoulder at Frank still standing by the door. “I guess, to the shelter.”
“Shelter?”
She leans forward and whispers to him, “Homeless shelter. I’ll tell Frank it’s a hotel.”
“What? Willow, no. I can’t let you do that.”
“I don’t have much of a choice right now, Liam. I’m broke and homeless. That’s where broke and homeless people go.” She grabs the handle of her bag and starts to wheel it out of the apartment.
He can’t let her go. “Stay here,” he blurts out.
What did I just say?
Liam has a feeling that there was something more than rent that made Willow want to leave. If she’d tried to get a job at another place, then he could understand, but she hadn’t and just seemed bent on leaving.
He must have because Willow stops dead and turns to face him. “What?”
Liam clears his throat. “Stay here. You and Frank. Just for a little while. I can’t let you take him to a shelter, Willow. Those places…can be…not so nice, sometimes. You guys can have the bedroom, I’ll bunk on the sofa.”
“Uh.” Willow is fidgeting, glancing back and forth between Liam and Frank. He can see her wavering. She doesn’t want to go to a shelter with her son in tow. Who would?
“Mommy, are we staying?” Frank pipes up in a small voice.
Frank’s tiny voice is all it takes to break her resolve. Her shoulders slump and her hand drops from her bag. She sweeps Frank up and hugs him to her. “Yeah, baby. We’re staying, just for a few days.”
When Liam looks at Frank, he sees the boy studying him with a serious expression on his preschooler face. “Okay,” he lisps “but no being mean.”
Liam presses his lips together to hold back a chuckle. Schooled by a three-year old. “Okay, no being mean.”
“Yeah.” Frank grins at Liam. “Cause we’re bugs and bugs don’t be mean to each other.”
“That’s right,” Liam says. He puts his hand onto the small of Willow’s back and steers her into the apartment, shutting the door behind them. Now, she was stuck in a hard place. She had no money and the reality of putting Frank through more hardship seems to have hit her finally. This part he’s relieved about, he couldn’t stand it if she left and was living on the streets.