“Stop looking at me,” I murmur to Liam.
“What?” He stops walking, and turns to look at me, the way a normal person looks at you when they’re a normal amount concerned about your sanity.
It’s not the way he looked at me when I got out of my 4Runner in my pale-yellow summer dress and white slip-on sneakers. I’d taken time to refresh my hair and makeup, and I felt pretty and noticed and self-conscious all at once. After a few seconds, he looked self-conscious, and we kept staring at each other for way too long. Marisol was right, dang her. Liam is different around me now, and it’s only increasing in intensity day by day. I think he might have kissed me on Monday if Wyatt hadn’t walked in right then. I made it pretty obvious he was welcome to. And then I was mad that he didn’t and stuck a note to his forehead.
“When we’re inside,” I clarify. “Take no notice of me. I’m like the scruffy old giraffe inside Callie’s backpack. Make sure you don’t leave me behind, but don’t draw any attention to me either, because your mother would not like it.”
“Stop looking at you,” he repeats, and he stares straight ahead. “So, you’ve noticed me doing that.”
“I have.”
“I’m sorry. I never want to make you feel uncomfortable, and if I’ve crossed any lines as your friend or your employer you can—"
I put my hand over his mouth, which is very effective at making him stop talking. We are way past employer-employee talk, even if I now know he definitely would have apologized if hehadkissed me. Just what every woman wants. “We’re going to discuss this later, but it will not involve any lines you’ve crossed. You are frustratingly appropriate, Liam Campbell.”
I remove my hand and walk ahead of him, aware that we’re coming into view of the front windows, and I’ve possibly just made things worse. “Callie, come stand with me, baby.”
“Okay.” She skips over to me, using her backpack as a towel to dry off her hands before taking my hand and swinging it with hers. At least her hair is cute. Liam’s skills have gotten better. She has a straight, neat part down the middle with two pigtails andmatching bows. I straighten one of the bows right as Wyatt rings the doorbell. It sounds with a sophisticated chime that echoes through the foyer until the door pops open and Liam’s brother leans out, looking at all of us with a big grin.
“Uncle Jack!”
“Wyatt, my man. What do you have there?”
Wyatt looks down at his leftover handful of seed pods and tosses them to the side before going in. Probably a good call.
Jack is not as good-looking as Liam, but he makes up for it with an added measure of swagger that never ceases to make me laugh. I haven’t seen him in person since last Christmas. He pounds Liam on the back in a bro hug before giving me a side hug and whispering, “Don’t let my mother boss you around. We all know you’re the real boss at Liam’s house.”
“Well, I don’t know about that.” I sneak a glance at Liam but he’s ignoring me, per my instructions. Okay, maybe I am a little bit of a boss. “We didn’t know you’d be here already.” I knew he was flying in for his parents’ party, but I figured per usual, he’d arrive in the nick of time and be gone in a flash.
Jack shrugs and shuts the door behind us. “I’m actually moving back to Scottsdale. I’m looking at houses while I’m here.”
“You are?” Liam says, turning around to stare at him. “You didn’t say anything last time we talked. Why are you moving?”
Before Jack can answer, Mrs. Campbell is upon us in the foyer, and it’s hugs all around again. Well, not for me. I take an instinctive step back so she can dote on the kids and Liam, telling him how handsome he is and how she never sees him anymore. She sees him exactly as often as she likes, and I can tell Jack has the same thought because we exchange amused glances. Then Mr. Campbell comes in, and I’m even more outside the circle.
I’m not here to make waves, as fun as that would be for Jack.
Mr. Campbell is as reserved as his wife is forward, and he prefers to focus on his family and ignore me altogether at events. I’m fine with that. I think I understand it. He doesn’t know how to connect with Liam and Jack beyond a surface level and having an audience can’t be easy.
But standing here is making me realize all the reasons whyLiam and I need to stay in our lanes, especially if he’s going to apologize for even looking at me. Friendship is fine, but more? What kind of relationship could we have when his parents barely acknowledge my existence and actively want to set him up with other women?
I know they hurt him deeply when they cut off all contact after he married Esther, and things aren’t perfect now, but it’s something I know about, not something Liam and I have ever discussed beyond little irritations.
Mrs. Campbell leads us into a large family room with a big-screen TV and a beautiful but stiff-looking navy-blue couch set that matches the curtains. The cream-colored shag carpet rug in the middle of the floor is so luxurious that I wish I could just camp there with a book. Instead, I take a seat on the far end of one of the couches, aware of Liam moving to stand behind me. Mrs. Campbell doesn’t seem to notice, though, because she’s busy pulling gifts out from behind the opposite couch and dragging them out into the open for the kids. The largest box is almost as big as she is.
“Gayle,” Mr. Campbell murmurs. “Really?”
“Oh hush, you.” She kneels next to a wide-eyed Callie and urges her to go ahead and open the first gift. Callie rips off the paper like a pro. Inside is something called an Otamatone, made by a Japanese company. Once the box is open and it’s fired up, I can see why Mrs. Campbell picked this out. The joy she gets from irritating Liam is something I’ll never understand. The toy is shaped like a giant musical note with a cute little face on the bottom circle, and it has a slide bar for making obnoxious noises depending on where its touched. If you squeeze the face, it makes even more interesting sounds like an amped-up recorder.
Callie’s no musician, but she’s trying.
We have a cupboard at home for Mrs. Campbell’s gifts. On really hot, boring afternoons I let the kids loose on them until I reach headache territory, and then they go away again. It’s my gift to Liam, because I have a high tolerance for annoying toys, and he does not.
“I want one,” Wyatt announces. He’s sweet enough not toyank the thing out of Callie’s hands for a turn, but it’s obvious he wants to. Mrs. Campbell hands him a gift that’s identical in size and shape, and then we have two competing Otamatones going at full volume.
Jack groans, having surpassed his tolerance threshold. “Call me when dinner’s ready. I’m going to go find a TV somewhere else with football on it.” Jack is a big fan of annoying other people, not watching other people be annoying.
“Me too.” Mr. Campbell follows his son out after giving his wife a kiss and whispering something in her ear that makes her laugh. Liam’s parents really are cute together. I tuck the little gesture away along with all the other evidence I’ve seen that Liam grew up in a loving family, even if they continue to miscommunicate all over the place and drive each other nuts.