The door to the bathroom opened. Liam lowered his razor to smile at Mia and Sophie. She slammed the door in his face.
“You stay right where you are,” she ordered him from the other side. “Mia baby, let’s go check out your bedroom.”
He heard the sound of their retreating footsteps and shrugged. He wasn’t sure what the problem was. He’d just lifted the razor to his chin when the door reopened and Sophie stepped inside, closing it behind her. Her eyes flitted over him; then she raised her gaze to meet his, a hint of pink coloring her cheeks. He grinned at her reaction. At least he wasn’t the only one feeling the attraction.
She glared at him. “If you wanted to give me a welcome-to-the-apartment present, flowers or a plant would have been a better idea than…than this.” Her hand fluttered between them.
“You think I’m your welcome-to-the-apartment present?” he said, unable to keep the amusement from his voice.
“It’s not funny, Liam. I have an impressionable daughter. You can’t just show up at my apartment half naked, expecting to—”
He put the razor down and turned to her, crossing his arms. “Expecting what?”
“Don’t do that. It won’t work,” she said, her eyes landing somewhere between his chest and the towel.
“Soph, you’ve lost me. I don’t have a clue—”
“Please, as if you don’t know how sexy you look right now standing there all naked and wet with your muscles on display.”
He looked down at himself then raised his gaze to hers while holding back a full-out grin as it hit him what was going on. He didn’t plan to enlighten her just yet. He was having too much fun. “You forgot my impressive abs.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Where are your clothes? You need to get dressed and…What are you doing?” she asked as he closed the distance between them.
Her palms landed on his chest when he crowded her against the door. “I just thought, since I went to all this trouble to surprise you, you could at least give me a kiss.”
“No, Mia is in the next room.” She stared at his mouth. “Even if I wanted to kiss you, you have shaving cream on your face.”
“Admit it. You like your present. And you really, really want to kiss me.”
The corner of her mouth lifted as her hands inched their way up his chest and around his neck. She leaned into him. “Yes, I like my present. But I’d like it a whole lot more if Mia wasn’t with me. I might want to kiss you a little.”
“A lot,” he said, and cupped her face in his hands, lowering his mouth to hers. He wanted to linger, to explore her sweet mouth with a deep, all-consuming kiss. Instead, because Mia was down the hall, he went with soft and tender and long enough that she’d feel how much he wanted her. He pulled back. Her face was tipped up, her eyes closed. He smiled at the shaving cream covering the lower half of her face and slowly trailed his finger through it to draw a foamy line of white down her neck. With her eyes still closed, she leaned back against the door, a small hum of pleasure escaping from between her parted lips. He ducked his head and whispered, “You like that, don’t you?”
She opened her heavy-lidded eyes and nodded, watching him as he dipped his fingers beneath the V of her caramel-colored sweater.
He felt her shiver beneath his fingers and moved her hair off her shoulders with his other hand before rubbing his cheek against hers. He’d never look at shaving cream the same way. He wanted to cover every inch of her…
A knock sounded on the door. She shoved him away. Her eyes wide and glazed, she wiped frantically at her face. “Be right there, baby.”
He’d gotten so carried away he’d forgotten about Mia. “Sorry, Soph. Give me a sec, and I’ll get some clothes on.” He turned to open the door leading into his apartment.
“You have got to be kidding me.”
Liam glanced over his shoulder. “Nope, your apartment shares a bathroom with mine. Welcome to the neighborhood,” he said with a wink.
By the time he’d pulled on jeans and a sweatshirt, Sophie had let Mia in the bathroom and was trying to explain to her daughter why she had shaving cream all over her face.
Since she wasn’t doing a very good job of it, Liam figured he’d help her out. “Hey, Mia, you want to play with my shaving cream like your mommy did?”
Sophie stared at him, and he cleared his throat. “Well, not exactly like your mommy did…” Maybe he should stop while he was ahead. He lifted Mia onto the counter and grabbed the can. “Hold out your hands.” He sprayed a dollop of cream into them. “Okay, go to town.”
She grinned and turned to look in the mirror over the sink, patting the foam onto her cheeks. Liam shook the can, spraying some onto the tip of her nose. He caught Sophie’s eyes in the mirror. She smiled at him. Mia did too. And just like the night in the tunnels, that smile wrapped around his heart and squeezed. Only this time it wasn’t just Mia’s; it was her mother’s too. A powerful desire to make them smile like that all the time overcame him. It was as though they’d taken a pair of rib shears and opened up his chest and walked right inside past the walls he’d built around his heart. It made him uncomfortable. Maybe even a little panicked, he acknowledged when his exposed heart raced. He met a pair of blue eyes and golden eyes in the mirror, saw the flicker of concern in both, and forced his lips to curve.
“Okay, are you ready for a shave?”
Sophie gasped. “She’s a girl. You can’t shave her face. She’ll have a beard before she hits puberty.”
“Hey, I’m an old pro at this. I have a little sis…” He’d had a little sister. And it hit him like it sometimes did out of the blue. That deep, suffocating ache that made it difficult to breathe.
Sophie laid her hand on his arm and gave it a gentle squeeze. “Liam?”
He shook off the memories and managed a smile while reaching for his razor. He slid off the blade and handed it to Mia. “Have at it, short stuff.”
Looked like today was going to be one of those days where he couldn’t escape the memories. He used to call Riley “short stuff.” Maybe he’d fallen back on the nickname because there was something about Mia that reminded him of his baby sister. Riley had been around Mia’s age with the same wavy hair and blue eyes.
Sophie nudged him and mouthed, You okay?
He nodded and smiled at Mia in the mirror. “You missed a spot,” he said, and touched his nose. “So, what are you ladies doing to celebrate moving in and having me as a neighbor?”
“You’re not joking? You really are living there?” Sophie asked, looking past him into the apartment. Definitely not as happy about the prospect as her daughter, Liam thought, taking in Mia’s sunny smile and Sophie’s worried frown. “Don’t worry. I won’t be around for long. I’m starting a four-day stretch at the station later today, and then I’ll be heading home to Boston.”
“You’ll be gone Friday morning by nine?”
Her initial lack of enthusiasm didn’t bother him…Okay, after that kiss, it kind of did. But this was more than just a lack of enthusiasm; she almost seemed panicked at the prospect of him being around. “Is there a problem I’m not aware of?”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to sound rude. It’s just…Mia, how about we tidy up the apartment a bit, and then maybe Liam will come for lunch with us at the manor?” She glanced at him. “Unless you’re busy.”
“Nope. Lunch sounds good. Shift doesn’t start till five.” He grabbed a towel and wiped the rest of the shaving cream from Mia’s face then lifted her off the counter. He tossed the towel to Sophie. “You might want to…” He gestured to her face. Probably better that she took care of it than him. He didn’t seem able to stop himself from kissing and touching her when he got too close.
“Thanks,” she said, and wiped her face. “Mia, you can start unpacking the suitcase. Mommy will be there in a minute.”
Her daughter looked from Sophie to Liam then nodded. He caught Mia’s grin when she skipped off. The mischievous smile looked familiar. It was one he’d seen on his matchmaking great-grandmother’s and grandmother’s faces every time they thought they’d found his one. Which inevitably turned out not to be the one. Probably because he didn’t want a one. Given that he didn’t, Mia’s mischievous grin should have made him nervous. It didn’t.
“So, are you going to tell me why you want me out of here Friday morning or is it personal?”
She leaned back and pulled the door closed, leaving it open an inch. “The caseworker called this morning to set up the in-home visit. They moved it to Friday morning.”
“That was fast. But maybe it’s for the best, Soph. You’ll get it over with, and you can stop worrying about it.”
“It’s fast because of an article in the Gazette about Halloween at the manor. They red-flagged me. That’s not the end of it either. The caseworker is scheduling more visits.” She rubbed her wrist. “I should have let them know what happened at Greystone. Now, because I didn’t...”
The one visit, other than he knew it upset Sophie, didn’t seem like that big a deal given the circumstances. But this…He pulled out his cell phone.
“What are you doing?”
His cousin’s voice mail kicked in, and he held up his finger. “Hey, Mike, it’s Liam. Give me a call as soon as you get this.”
“You didn’t have to call Michael for me. I was going to do it myself.”
“Good. Now it’s done. Just in case my cousin can’t charm or browbeat the CPS into dropping your case, let’s take a walk through the apartment and see if anything needs to be done before Friday.”
“You’re a good guy, Liam Gallagher. I wish…” She gave her head a slight shake, and before Liam could ask what she wished, Mia was back with a piece of paper.
“Let me guess—Mistletoe Cottage,” he said with a laugh.
Mia smiled and nodded.
Liam crouched in front of her. “You do a lot of nodding and head shaking. Gotta be hard on your neck. Why don’t you try mouthing the words? No pressure. Just a thought.”
She started to nod then stopped and mouthed, Okay.
“Excellent.” He put up his fist, and they fist bumped. Then he stood up. “How about I go to Jolly Rogers and pick us up some lunch, and then we’ll walk over to Mistletoe Cottage and eat there?”
Mia jumped up and down, mouthing, Yes, yes.
“Mom?” Liam raised an eyebrow at Sophie.
She looked torn. “Sure, but I’ll have to pay you back once I get—”
He knew how much it cost her to admit that she was broke. Like her brother, Sophie had always been proud. “My treat. You can have me for dinner when I’m back in town.”
Sophie tilted her head to look at Mia, who was mouthing, Bad idea.
Liam laughed. “I don’t believe you. I’ve never met a DiRossi who couldn’t cook.”
Mia pointed at her mother.
“I think she inherited her uncle’s sense of humor,” Liam said. “Let’s do that walk-through. That way if I need anything, I can pick it up at the hardware store before I grab our lunch.”
It took all of fifteen minutes to check out the place. Liam imagined he could take care of everything that afternoon. Once Mia mouthed what she wanted for lunch, Sophie turned the television on for her.
Liam tightened the knob on a kitchen cabinet. “You need anything else while I’m downtown, Soph?”
“No, you’ve done too much for us already, Liam. I really appreciate it. And I’m paying for whatever you’re picking up at the hardware store, so—”
“I’m happy to help out any way I can. That’s what friends do, Soph. You’re not paying the bill from the hardware store. I’ll put it on the manor’s tab.” After walking through the apartment and seeing how little they had, he wished she’d let him do more.
“The manor has an account at the hardware store?”
“Old Man O’Malley’s been running a tab for Greystone for as long as I can remember. Don’t imagine it’s changed.”
She sighed. “If you don’t mind, can you get the outstanding balance?”
“No problem. Have you had a chance to go over the books?” He caught her grimace. “That bad, huh?”
Her chin went up. “Actually, the books are in great shape.”
He tapped the tip of her nose. “Careful, it’s going to grow. I may not be on Team Greystone, but I am on Team Sophie, so whatever you need…” He frowned. “Hey, what’s up with the tears?”
She moved into him and did a face-plant into his chest, wrapping her arms around his waist. “You have to stop doing stuff for us, taking care of us like you do. You make me want things I can’t have.”
“Like what?” he asked quietly, stroking her hair.
“A man to share my life with. A man like you. I don’t have time for a serious relationship.”
“Well, you’re in luck. I don’t do serious,” he said, and kissed the corner of her mouth. He felt someone’s eyes on him and looked over to see Mia watching them. She gave him a thumbs-up.
Liam lifted his phone and took a picture of Sophie and Mia twirling under a shower of red and yellow leaves that were substituting for snow. Sophie sang “Let It Go” with Mia mouthing the words.
He held up the bag from Jolly Rogers when they took their bows. “Okay, Elsa and Anna, it’s time to go. I’m starved.”
If he didn’t have to take care of the repairs at the apartment before his shift, he’d be happy to watch them play make-believe for however long they wanted. He loved seeing this side of Sophie. Loved hearing her laugh, watching her face light up when she looked at her daughter. But what was supposed to be a ten-minute walk through the woods to the cottage had already taken an hour.
“Kristoff sounds grumpy, Anna. Should we take him to the cottage and feed him, or make him sing for us first?”
Mia spread her arms wide and tipped her head back.
“Sorry, Kristoff. Looks like you’re singing for your lunch.”
He shook his head with a laugh then belted out a couple choruses of the song. By now, he knew the words. He should since Sophie had been singing the song for the better part of twenty minutes. Mia clapped and ran to hug his legs.
“Be still, my heart,” Sophie said, patting her chest. Then she hugged him too. “Thank you.”
“For what?” he asked her when Mia let him go to skip along the path.
“For being you.”
He took her hand, reminding himself he didn’t do serious. But like the last six times he’d told himself that in the past hour, it wasn’t really working.
Especially when Sophie smiled at him like she was now. “In case you can’t tell, we’re having fun.”
He lifted their joined hands to her face and traced her lips with his thumb. “I got that. I’m glad. It’s nice to see you happy. Both of you.”
She glanced at Mia, who’d crouched on the path to collect rocks. “You’re great with her, you know. I should have thought to tell her to mouth words.”
“Forest for the trees, Soph. Sometimes it’s hard to see what’s right in front of you. Cut yourself some slack. You’ve had a lot to deal with.”
“What about you? All we ever do is talk about me.” She gave his hand a gentle squeeze. “How are you doing, Liam?”
“I’m good. Why?”
“Um…shot in the line of duty ring a bell? I heard what happened.”
“Of course you did. It’s Harmony Harbor.” He glanced at her, smiled. “I’m getting there. You don’t have to worry about me.”
“You don’t have to worry about me either, yet you do. So humor me. Tell me what it is you’re dealing with. It might help to talk about it, you know.”
“What are my chances of you letting it go?”
She laughed. “About as good as you think…” She frowned. “Mia, what’s wrong?”
Mia stood frozen on the path then slowly turned around, her eyes wide and overly bright. Liam scanned the path up ahead, the woods on either side. “I think we’re in trouble,” he murmured, but at least he’d gotten a reprieve. “Look.” He pointed to the red-tail deer to the right of them.
“If she thinks it’s one of Santa’s reindeer, we are. But as long as its brother and sister aren’t hanging out at the cottage, we should be good,” she whispered.
Handing the bag to Sophie, he walked quietly to Mia and picked her up. “Let’s see if we can get a little closer.” Her eyes glued to the deer, she nodded. They got within ten feet of the deer when something spooked her.
“Wasn’t she beautiful, baby?”
Mia mouthed, Santa?
“I’m pretty sure the big guy and his reindeer are too busy at the North Pole to be paying us a visit, sweetheart,” Liam said as they walked out of the woods and onto the private dirt road. Across the road behind a low stone fence his grandfather had built, sat the two-story cottage nestled in a stand of trees. Wreaths hung in the two windows and on the white door between them.
Mia stared at the cottage, hands over her heart.
“Looks like Jasper got a fire going for us,” Liam said, nodding at the smoke spiraling from the chimney on the left. There was another chimney on the right.
“Should we go inside, baby? Or do you need a minute to take it all in?” Sophie asked, a smile in her voice.
“I think she needs a minute, Mom.”
Mia wriggled in his arms, and he put her down. She ran to the white picket gate, pushing it open. “I’ll go in and heat up our lunch,” Liam said when Mia headed around the side of the cottage.
“Okay, we won’t be long.” Sophie handed him the bag, hugging herself as she started after her daughter.
“You cold?” She wore a denim jacket over her sweater.
“I’m good.”
“Sure you are. Wear this.” He shrugged out of his leather jacket and handed it to her.
“You can’t help yourself, can you?” she said with a smile. Once she put on the jacket, she reached up on her toes to kiss his cheek. “Don’t think I’ve forgotten our conversation before the deer interrupted us. I’ll be expecting a story when I come in.”
“I can do that. How about Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer?”
“Ha-ha. I’ll see you in a bit.” She tromped off after her daughter.
But Liam got another reprieve. Enchanted with the cottage, mother and daughter explored every inch of every room. He understood the attraction. Over the years, the cottage had been featured in several magazines. The living room and kitchen both had fireplaces and whitewashed stone walls, and honey-colored wood framed the windows and doors, and decorated the ceilings. The furniture wasn’t fancy; it was oversized and comfortable. Just like the feather beds in each of the three bedrooms upstairs.
Not surprisingly, Mia had been awed by the Christmas decorations. Especially the decorated tree in the corner of the living room. Once Liam turned on the multicolored Christmas lights, she’d parked herself in front of it and hadn’t moved. She’d eaten her lunch there while he and Sophie ate on the floor in front of the fireplace.
“That was so good. Jolly Rodgers makes the best clam chowder.”
“Really? I couldn’t tell if you liked it or not,” he said then mimicked the humming sound she’d made through the entire lunch.
She laughed and pushed her plate toward him. “Eat the rest of my fries. I can’t eat another bite.” She glanced to where Mia played with a stuffed reindeer and an elf then smiled at him. “Thanks for bringing us here and for lunch. It was perfect. I hope Kitty didn’t mind us coming.”
“Of course she didn’t. And you don’t have to thank me. I enjoyed the day as much as you. Feel free to come here anytime you want. I’ll give you the key.”
“Don’t let Mia hear you say that. She’s been obsessed with this place since she saw it in the flyer for the raffle. Dana did a beautiful job decorating. It looks like it belongs on a Hallmark card.”
“Grams tells me it’s cottage chic, whatever that’s supposed to mean. Place has great bones, though. They don’t build homes like this anymore.”
“Whoever wins the raffle will have a very merry Christmas. Can you imagine waking up in that feather bed in the master bedroom on Christmas morning? It’s huge.”
He’d done quite a bit of fantasizing when they’d been checking out the bedrooms and it had nothing to do with Christmas morning. “Soph, Mia knows family and staff can’t enter the raffle, doesn’t she?”
She nodded. “She’s been saying a novena over Rosa’s ticket ever since…” She briefly closed her eyes. “My grandmother can’t win either, can she?”
“’Fraid not.”
“It’s nice to have a dream. I think I’ll let Mia hang on to hers a little longer.”
“What about you? What about your dreams?”
“I used to have them. Believed they had a chance of coming true, and then they all went up in smoke.”
He opened his mouth to tell her she needed a new dream, but his ringing cell stopped him from sharing the thought. Maybe it was a good thing he’d been interrupted. There was something about Mistletoe Cottage that had him thinking about happily-ever-after. “Hey, Mike, thanks for calling me back. Hang on a sec.” He motioned for Sophie to follow him to the kitchen. Once they were out of Mia’s earshot, he said, “I’ve got Sophie with me. Looks like she might be needing your help with CPS after all. Okay. I’ll put her on. Thanks, bro.”
Sophie turned her back on him while she talked to his cousin on the phone. Liam probably should have given her some privacy, but it wasn’t like she’d kept anything from him. He wet a cloth in the white farmer’s sink and mopped the crumbs off the counter. Outside the window, gray clouds hung low in the sky and the trees swayed. Snow was on its way. It would be the first snowfall of the season, which usually meant a busy night at the station. He ignored the telling clench in his stomach.
Sophie disconnected and handed him his phone. There was something about the way she was looking at him that made him uneasy. “Everything okay?”
“He’s going to see what he can do, but he recognized my caseworker’s name. He didn’t sound as hopeful as he did the other day. At least about Friday’s visit.”
“If anyone can help you out with this, it’s Mike. He has connections. A lot of them.”
“That’s what he said. He was very nice. Not so—”
“Arrogant? Full of himself?” His cousin had been an entitled ass in his twenties. “He’s not the same guy you remember, Soph. He’s a good man. I’d trust him with my life. You can depend on him.”
“I…” She gave her head a slight shake then wrapped one arm around her waist while pressing a hand to her mouth, angling her body away from him.
He put a hand on her shoulder. “Hey, what’s going on?”
She slowly turned her head and lifted her eyes to his. “He’s Mia’s father.”
At first he wasn’t sure he heard her right. Or maybe he was hoping he hadn’t. “Come again?”
“Michael, he’s Mia’s father,” she whispered. “Don’t look at me like that. I did what I thought was best. You don’t know what—”
“All this time…So everything was a lie. The fiancé who died… I thought I knew you. Guess I don’t, because the Sophie DiRossi I knew wouldn’t keep a secret like this. Not in a million years.”
“You have no idea what you’re talking about. Try being eighteen and pregnant and alone.”
“You didn’t have to be. That was your choice. You didn’t give your daughter or Mike one. Mia deserved better. So did my cousin. If you don’t tell him, I will.”