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How long had she been watching, and what had gone through her mind as she did? I would have paid a pretty penny to know what she was thinking. And if that wasn’t bad enough, I’d have given anything for her visit here to be the one I’d been dreaming of having ever since she’d walked away from me eight years ago.

If ever there was a time not to get my hopes up, this was it. But how could I not? Layla had just arrived at a family event. She wasn’t the kind of woman who’d show up to something like this and do anything to ruin a happy occasion.

Knowing that was the case, understanding it deep down in my bones, I still felt so unsure. Conflicted.

Could I be hopeful?

Should I remain cautious?

I could have stayed like this all day long and never getthe answers I was seeking. I might have done it, if only to be able to continue looking at her forever.

But that Layla was even here at all had allowed that promise of something positive to seep in.

So, I did my best to rein in all the emotions coursing through me before I took that first step in her direction.

24

LIAM

Heartbeatsof heavy silence passed between us.

It was like being caught in some kind of dream, and for a brief moment, I considered the very real possibility of that being the case.

Was that why it felt like everything else had faded away, even the laughter and conversation from the rest of my family? Or were they just as stunned as I was to see her here? Even if I wasn’t paying direct attention to anyone besides the woman standing in front of me, I could feel the tension emanating from everyone else almost as much as I could feel it radiating from the both of us.

I was terrified to blink because it hit me that this actually was a dream. I hadn’t spoken to Layla in nearly a month, so there was no way she’d know to show up here unless I’d conjured the fantasy in my own head.

Holding my niece tight to my chest, I pinched myopposite arm. I could feel the sensation, and I didn’t sit up, gasping for air in my bed.

Was she really here?

One month.

One month since I’d learned the truth about why she left me, and I was no further along now than I had been then in healing or moving on.

I was stuck, and I hated it.

No less than a dozen questions swam through my mind, but standing with just a few feet separating us, I wasn’t quite sure where to start.

Fortunately, it seemed Layla did, because she broke the silence. Her voice was hushed, just a hair over a whisper, with a nervous, trembling edge to it. “Cooper invited me to the party, but if you want me to leave, I’ll go.”

Cooper?

I had even more questions, questions I still couldn’t seem to bring myself to ask.

Curious, Layla pressed, “Do you want me to leave?”

There wasn’t a time when I’d ever wanted that, yet it seemed it always happened. Layla always walked away, always left me. I’d wished she’d been here this whole time, all these lonely, miserable years.

Now, I felt nothing but confused. Not only about why she was here, but what had taken her so long. I was glad to see her. No matter how upset I’d been about the things she did, it seemed that would never change—but I wanted to know why it had taken a whole month for her to do something so extravagant.

I’d spent the last few weeks preparing—albeithorribly—to never see her again. This moment felt like such a gift, and I could only hope it meant good things.

Sadly, I couldn’t seem to bring myself to tell her any of this. And Layla, growing impatient, took my silence as an answer to her question and got the wrong impression. She averted her gaze to the ground and murmured, “This was a mistake. I’m so sorry for interrupting. I’ll go.”

Not again.

She couldn’t keep doing this to me.