I laughed at the sudden random fire. “I’m not married, and there are no psychos on the loose. That I know of.”
“Then what is it, Liam? What aren’t you telling me?” She searched my eyes like she was desperately trying to find something wrong with the situation.
The more she questioned it, the more I did too. I didn’t want to risk something good ending, all because of the show and the media’s twisted truths.
“Why are you staying at the Hogues’ when they aren’t even here?”
I tried my hardest to let her questions roll off my back, to keep things light and playful, but the truth was each question was just another brick in the wall being built between us. Her concerns were fair, but the fact that she was having any was the exact reason I needed to end whatever infatuation existed between us before things got too heavy. Chelsea had a life in Providence. My life, while messy and complicated and very public, was back in London. She deserved better than to get dragged into the mud of my life, especially when she was just getting started figuring out her own.
When I didn’t answer her after a few moments, she took a step back and sighed. “Tonight was a mistake.”
Her words stung more than anything a bunch of reality-television fans could ever say, but I also knew my place in this mess. I couldn’t answer her questions. Therefore, I knew I deserved whatever punches she threw at me. “Yeah.” I ran a hand through my hair. “Maybe you’re right.”
I thought I saw her bottom lip quiver, but it was over so fast I might have imagined it. She gestured to the door at my back and raised her brows. “You should probably go.”
I swallowed, taking a moment to sort through my thoughts. I had to find a better way to handle the situation, but I didn’t have time to think it through. Instead, I stood upright, turned, and left through the same door I’d entered from with Chelsea. This time, she slammed the door behind me.
14
Chelsea
Yesterday was the most productive writing day of my entire week. I locked myself in my house, turned on some ambient noise, and typed like I was trying to save my life. Not a single distraction came between me and my writing. Every so often, Liam would sneak into my mind, and I would shove him right back out, replacing him with the character version of him in my book.
I finally left my house the next day to get some fresh air and exercise, entering Spill the Tea a little past nine in the morning. My dad wiped down a table near the entrance while my mom stood near the front counter switching on the televisions.
“Hey, Dad.” I greeted him with a hug.
He was a stout man, a former pro wrestler, who made up for his height with his build, and he gave the best hugs ever. My entire body warmed from his embrace, and I let out a smile when we parted.
“Hey, Bug.” My dad had nicknamed me Bug when I was a curious little girl who was always digging around in our backyard, collecting insects, chasing fireflies, and searching for worms. “How’s your week off?”
I shrugged, taking a seat at the table he was cleaning. “Not as relaxing as I thought it would be. It’s funny, but I was almost more productive when I was trying to juggle my time between nannying and school.” I left out the writing part and immediately felt a pit in my stomach for what I’d been keeping from my parents. “Dad—” I started, but we were interrupted by my mom, who came up to join us.
“Hey, sweetie. What brings you by so early?”
I looked between them, knowing I had a reason for my impromptu visit that my subconscious was clearly responsible for. “I need to talk to you two about something.”
My mom registered my serious tone and sat beside my dad, a worried look on her face. “Is everything okay?”
I nodded. “Better than okay, actually. I just—well, this is hard because I know how much you two have supported my education and have encouraged me to get my doctorate, and I’m so grateful for all of it. But business school just isn’t for me.” I darted a glance between them. “I quit my internship two months ago, and I dropped out of college.”
“You what?” my mom shrieked.
My dad rested a hand on her leg and leaned toward me. “Chelsea, that’s quite the news. What on earth were you thinking?”
I sucked in a deep breath and released it slowly. “I was thinking that I was spending all this time putting hours into a career that I knew I wouldn’t enjoy. I want to write books. I want to spend my days exploring all the stories that have been building inside me.”
“Honey,” my mom admonished. “You’re almost thirty years old. You know we’ve been patient with your pacing in school, but to just quit and throw away years and years of college? I’m sorry, but I don’t understand why you couldn’t have completed your master’s program. You were so close.”
I’d anticipated this reaction, but that didn’t make the conversation easier. “I will finish school one day. I promise those credits won’t go to waste. But a master’s in business is the wrong direction for me. While I figure out the right direction, I want to nanny, and I want to write.”
“I think that’s fair.”
My head snapped in my dad’s direction. “What?”
He shrugged, focusing on me and ignoring the panicked glare from my mom. “I think it’s your life, Chelsea, and we will always support you in whatever you choose. Perhaps we pressured you into choosing a field that didn’t suit you, and for that I’m sorry. I think you should give this writing thing a shot.”
My mom did a double take between us. “Jeffrey, you cannot be serious right now.”
He sighed and leaned over to take my hand in his. “Can we make a deal?”
I nodded, slightly hesitant since I didn’t know what terms he was about to propose, but his reaction was more than I’d hoped for already. I would try to meet him somewhere in the middle.
“At some point in the next five years, you’ll go back to school for whatever it is you want to pursue, and you’ll finish your doctorate. It would be such a waste if you let all that time go.”
I nodded, unable to hold back my giant grin. “You have my word that I’ll go back. Perhaps for creative writing or a literature degree. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you two sooner.” This time I focused on my mom, who still seemed to be managing her shock. “I want you to be proud of me, but I also need to be happy and proud of myself. I needed to take this leap.”
Just then, the sound of a familiar voice caught my attention. My pulse spiked, and my heart crashed like cymbals in my chest as I turned to search for Liam. His voice sounded like it was coming from somewhere in the tearoom. I hadn’t seen him enter, but I knew without a doubt that it was him I was hearing. It was the same voice that had haunted my sleep, the voice that had crushed me when he’d agreed with me that our kiss had been a mistake.
After a full sweep of the room, I confirmed that no one had entered. Then my eyes caught on the image playing on one of the small televisions in the corner of the room, and every bone in my body chilled.
A man who very clearly looked like the Hogues’ houseguest escorted a woman into a fancy restaurant. At least that was how it appeared. She was drop-dead gorgeous, blond, and wearing a stunning yellow evening gown. It was as if their outfits were planned. He wore a dark-blue suit with a yellow tie that matched her dress, and his natural curls were perfectly styled instead of the devilish mess I was so used to seeing.