CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Maggie
On Monday morning, I sent a brief text to Liam.
My folks are due back at noon. Can you spare an hour?
I was worried he wouldn’t respond after I’d blown him off the other night when he’d texted me. But after a few minutes, his response came.
Sure. I’ll be there by 11:50.
I briefly wondered how I was going to get through this lunch with my parents. I was grateful Justin would be joining us. He’d make a good buffer, and he wouldn’t be at all confused about the tension.
I put together a quick charcuterie plate. I kept it simple, not wanting to compete with Liam’s culinary skills. My father had already started talking about how nice it was to have someone around who actually knew how to cook a steak. I didn’t need to sit through an hour of “why didn’t you let Liam make lunch?”
At precisely ten to twelve, the door opened and I heard Liam call out.
“In here,” I said.
Seconds later, he was beside me in the kitchen, peering into bowls and dishes.
“Looks good,” he said.
“Thanks,” I answered, not sure what to say.
I knew he didn’t want to be there, and I felt bad about it, but he could’ve refused.
“Listen, thanks a lot for showing up today,” I said.
“Hey, no sweat. Part of the deal, right?”
I looked down.
“Right.” I wasn’t sure what else to say. “Apartment good?”
“Yeah, it’s great. Good to be home.”
Okay, he didn’t have to beat a dead horse. We were done. I got it. I put all the plates on a tray and walked them over to the dining room table. I moved the puzzle box of loose pieces to the side, laying out the food.
“Still working on this, huh?” he asked, fingering one of the pieces.
“I always have a puzzle going when I’m writing.”
He looked at me, curious.
“Why’s that?”
I thought about it for a moment. I’d never tried to articulate it to another human being before.
“It helps me think. There’s a process to doing a puzzle—it involves shapes and colour and I lose myself in it. If I’m stuck on a plot point, I can step away from the computer and escape into the puzzle. Just like the pieces in my hand, the parts come together in my mind.” I paused. “Does that sound weird?”
“No. When did you start?” he asked.
“When I was a teenager. It was my escape from home life.”
“You needed an escape? Even then?”
I nodded.
“Yeah. Justin was the golden child, and I was always being compared to him. It got to me. It affected my confidence in school, with friends…and with boys. I needed a way to transcend that whole experience. Putting those puzzles together gave me that. I know it’s weird.”
“Stop saying that. Everyone needs an out. I’m sorry you grew up like that. I just assumed you had the perfect childhood,” he said. “I guess we’ve all got our shit to transcend.”
“Is it true you don’t speak to your family?” I asked.
“I really don’t. I haven’t spoken to my parents in years. They tried once, but they let me down. I’m not fool enough to let them do that again.”
“You won’t give them another chance?” I asked. “They are your parents. Don’t you want a family?”
He shook his head.
“I’m fine on my own. I’ve got all I need.”
I studied him for a moment, realization dawning on me.
“That’s why you never have a girlfriend. Why you won’t commit. You don’t want to be let down.”
The doorbell rang and I jumped, startled. A look of relief passed across Liam’s face. I looked at him, then at the door, just as the bell rang again. I reluctantly walked over and opened it. My parents and Justin came in, chattering away about their weekend. I threw a glance at Liam, but he was busy rearranging the food. The moment was lost.
We sat down to eat, and my father kept nudging my mom not to dally, as he wanted to get back on the road before dark. Justin and Liam caught up, and I got to spend the entire meal in my little bubble, watching it all play out before me. I kept thinking about what Liam had told me, and his whole personality started making sense to me. He’d walled himself off on purpose.
As soon as we were done, my father stood, grabbed his car keys from the counter, and said, “Well, we’re off.”
“Where you headed now, Dad?” I asked, returning to the present.
“We’re going to keep going west, see where the wind takes us. We’ll call you from the road.”
My mother grudgingly got up and walked over to say goodbye. She kissed me on the cheek, then pulled Justin in for a hug. My father hugged me and clapped Justin on the shoulder. But both of them went over to Liam and shook his hand, telling him how nice it had been to meet him.
A strained smile played at his lips and I silently willed my parents to hurry up and leave. As if psychic, my dad slapped my mom on the back and said, “Let’s go.”
And they were gone.
Once we heard the car retreat down the road, Liam grabbed his bag and headed for the door.
“Thanks,” I called out as he turned the handle.
Without even looking back, he said, “No sweat.”
And then he was gone, too.
My brother and I stood in the kitchen, silent for a moment as we recovered from the visit. Finally, he turned to me.
“Well, that certainly went well. Mom and Dad LOVED Liam. I guess you get to stay.”
“Yeah? You think they bought it?” I asked.
“For sure they bought it. They were talking about him all weekend. Well done, Mags. I gotta admit, I was worried about how it would all work out, but you pulled it off.”
“I guess I did.”
“Listen, I’m really sorry I got you involved with a guy like that. I just didn’t know what else to do.”
“It’s fine, Justin. It worked, it’s over, we can all go on with our lives.”
Justin smiled and squeezed my shoulder. Then he leaned in and gave me a closer look.
“Did that motherfucker touch you?”
“Justin, shut up.”
Before I could say another word, my brother was pacing the floor of my kitchen, mumbling under his breath about all the murderous acts he was about to commit.
“Justin! Stop! Nothing that happened was his fault. Stop it!”
He came to a stop right in front of me, inches from my face.
“So something did happen?”
I opened my mouth to speak, then closed it again. I counted silently to ten while he stood there, glaring at me.
“I am a grown woman. I can make my own decisions. Whether something happened or not is none of your business. I think you just need to calm down.”
I could see the steam escaping his ears as he listened to me, but I held my ground, not breaking eye contact. Finally, he relented. He let out a long breath and walked over to the front door.
“This isn’t the end of this conversation. We will pick this up again.”