Page 10 of Rejected Heart (The Westwoods #5)

LIAM

SIX MONTHS LATER

One look at her beautiful face was all it took.

One look into those amber eyes, and every small hiccup I’d encountered throughout the day or week vanished.

Today was no different.

Layla and I were officially on summer break from school—although the official start of summer wasn’t for another few days—and I’d been working every day since school let out. Today, I’d taken a half day, because I wanted to celebrate with Layla.

It was her birthday.

My mom had just dropped me off at Layla’s house. Her mom had taken the day off today, so she could celebrate with her daughter, and they’d invited me over for dinner.

Of course, I’d asked if it’d be okay if I showed up a little earlier to spend some extra time with her, and they were more than happy to have me over.

The moment the door flew open, I looked at my gorgeous girl and said, “Happy Birthday, Layla.”

She threw her arms over my shoulders and hugged me. “Thank you, Liam.”

I hugged her back as best I could with everything I had in my hands and thought about how much things had changed between us since that day we’d taken the school field trip.

Layla was much less reserved than she’d been those first two months. We both were. It seemed that after we made things official at the Christmas party, we both had stopped holding back.

She seemed surer of herself around me, and she didn’t hesitate to be the one to reach for my hand occasionally, even if we were walking through the halls at school. I liked it.

And whenever she had a bad day, she’d come to me to vent. I loved that. There was something about knowing that when things seemed tough, it was me she wanted to go to for support.

Everything about what was happening between Layla and me had been good for me, too. There’d been a profound change in me. So much so that even my family had recognized it.

I didn’t care if my brothers often teased me about it. They hadn’t met anyone who made them happy the way Layla made me happy, so they just couldn’t understand.

I found myself wanting to be the best version of myself in all aspects of my life, and I wanted to do that for her. Layla hadn’t ever complained or expressed any dissatisfaction with me as I was, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t strive to be better anyway.

After pressing a kiss to her cheek, I asked, “Have you had a good day today?”

She beamed at me. “I have. Mom took me out for lunch this afternoon, which was a nice treat. And she took me out shopping for some new clothes for summer.”

“I’m glad you had fun.”

Nothing made me happier than to see her so happy. It didn’t seem to take much to lift Layla’s spirits in any scenario. She wasn’t materialistic, and she seemed to come alive whenever she had the chance to just spend time with those who mattered to her.

“What did you bring with you?”

I held up one of my mom’s tote bags between us. “This is a special treat I brought for your birthday. You know how much Jules loves to bake, so?—”

“Did she make me a cake?” Layla asked, her eyes rounding as the excitement littered her face.

“Close. She made cupcakes.”

“Oh, that was so sweet of her. Do you know what kind she made?”

I nodded. “You should take them out and look. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.”

Layla reached inside the bag, pulled out the container with the cupcakes, and opened the lid to look inside. “Are they… They look like chocolate cupcakes wi th strawberry frosting topped with a chocolate-covered strawberry.”

“That’s exactly what they are. When I told Jules about how much you enjoyed those chocolate-covered strawberries I gave you on Valentine’s Day, this is what she came up with.”

She shook her head in disbelief as she peeked in at the cupcakes again. “They smell divine. If your sister doesn’t become a baker when she’s older, she’ll be wasting her talent.”

I laughed. “I think that’s her plan.”

Layla’s eyes dropped to the small gift bag in my other hand. “What’s in there?”

She was trying to pretend she wasn’t too excited about what I got for her, but I could see how hard she was struggling to contain that excitement.

I held the bag out to her. “This is your present from me.”

“Can I open it?”

“Yes. I can hold the cupcakes for you.”

Layla handed me the container with the cupcakes and all but dove into the gift bag. She pulled out the card, teared up as she read it, and pressed a soft kiss to my lips. “That was the perfect card for us.”

“I thought so, too.”

After tucking the card back inside the bag, she reached in for the gift. She pulled out the small, wrapped box, tore off the paper, and pulled the lid off the plain white box. Flipping it over, she dumped the velvet jewelry box into her hand, her lips twitching with excitement.

Then, it happened.

Her face lit up in a way I hadn’t ever seen before when she took in the sight of the necklace that I’d gotten for her. “Aw, Liam. This is beautiful.”

It was a delicate silver chain with a heart pendant on it. At least, that’s how it appeared in the box. “There’s a hidden message there.”

“What?”

“Place your thumb on top of the heart and slide it to the side.”

Layla did as I urged her to, revealing the second heart with our names engraved. Whenever she was wearing it, all someone would see is the simple heart there, but Layla would know what was underneath. “Oh, I love this even more.”

Tears filled her eyes.

“You have my heart, Layla. You have for a long time now, and I thought this might be the perfect way to tell you. I love you.”

She covered her mouth with her hand as she tried to blink back the tears. Layla didn’t get them under control before she lowered her hand from her mouth, reached behind my head, and pressed her lips to mine in another sweet kiss. “I love you, too.”

My heart felt like it had exploded in my chest with all the warmth I felt hearing her say those words to me. “You’ll always have my heart now.”

“I’m keeping it forever. Thank you for this. ”

“Do you want to put it on?”

She nodded. “Yes. And I want to show my mom. She’s out in the kitchen.”

“Lead the way.”

With that, Layla and I made our way to the kitchen, where she gushed over the necklace with her mom.

And since there were plenty of them for now and later and Layla didn’t want to wait until after dinner, all three of us each had a cupcake. Suffice it to say, Layla thoroughly enjoyed her birthday. I was grateful to be a part of it.

LAYLA - TEN MONTHS LATER

“This is the best.”

I sighed with a smile on my face as I reached for Liam’s hand. It was a Saturday on the last weekend in April. Liam and I were at the park, laying on a picnic blanket, our attention focused on the tree branches above us.

As my pinky touched his, my guy quickly linked his fingers with mine. “Having a picnic is the best?”

“Well, yes, I guess that’s the best, too. But I was referring to you driving us here. You’re officially a licensed driver, and now we can do things like this without needing to ask our parents or your siblings to drop us off.”

Liam rolled his head in my direction, so I did the same. “I refused to drive home from the testing center today, because I told my dad that you were the first person I was going to take for a drive as a licensed driver.”

I beamed at him. “I’m honored, Captain.”

His brows shot up. “Captain?”

Still smiling, I explained, “You’re a natural born leader. You take charge, and you do it with confidence. When it comes to us, this has all been new to me. But I trust you to lead me through these uncharted waters. You’re my captain.”

He chuckled.

“And now that you can drive, too, I figure the name is even more fitting,” I added. “So, thank you for allowing me to be the first person you took out on the road.”

“It was all my pleasure.”

“I can’t believe how much things have changed since we first got together. You’re driving now.”

Liam nodded. “Yep. And in a few months, you’ll be able to get your permit.”

“Time is flying, don’t you think?”

His thumb stroked along mine. “In all fairness, they do say that time flies when you’re having fun. And I’ve been having a blast ever since you came into my life. But you’re right. The days are passing us by. Before you know it, we’re going to be graduating.”

Although I knew it was the case—I’d been thinking about it for as long as I could remember—something about hearing him say it now hit me differently. “We only have two years of school left. That’s crazy.”

“I can’t wait.”

“Really?”

Liam lifted our clasped hands to his mouth and kissed my knuckles.

I loved the sweet gestures he did, always doing them without even seeming to think about them first. “Yes. If it wasn’t for being able to see you there every day, school would just feel like it’s in the way right now. I’m ready to start my life.”

He was ready to move on.

Sure, he hadn’t given any indication that he didn’t want me around for that, but I wished I had as much clarity about my life as he had about his.

“You’re lucky.”

“Lucky? Why?”

I sighed. “You have it all figured out. I don’t have the slightest clue what I want to do with myself after we graduate.”

It had been bothering me for years, even before Liam came into the picture.

The reality was that it had been a long time since I’d been aware of the severity of my mom’s financial situation.

Things hadn’t been easy for her, and she’d struggled to raise me.

The least I could do was make her proud and become successful.

I’d had that mindset for a very long time. When Liam came into my life, it only amplified the feelings I had about my family’s financial situation.

Liam hadn’t ever indicated that he looked down on me or was even truly aware of how rough things were for my mom and me. I couldn’t say that it would change things for him if he ever knew the truth about it, and it honestly bugged me that I made the comparison between us as much as I did.

If only my dad hadn’t left. If only he hadn’t walked out when his family needed him. If only…

“You shouldn’t be worried about it, though,” Liam insisted, breaking into my thoughts. “You still have time to figure it out. Plus, I might be lucky to know what I want to do now, but you’re just as lucky.”

“How so?”

“Because if there’s one thing I know, it’s that you are capable of doing anything you put your mind to.”

I loved Liam and the confidence he had in my capabilities. But I don’t think he could begin to understand how terrifying it felt to be in my position.

“I don’t want to just put my mind to anything, Liam. I want to love what I do. I want to feel the same spark about my career that you feel about the work you do.”

“You will.”

I let out a groan of frustration. “If only I lived somewhere else.”

“What?” His shock was undeniable.

I giggled. “I'm just saying, imagine if we lived in a bigger city. Like Boston or Manhattan. Or even Dallas or Denver. There’d be so much more opportunity.”

“I’d never want to live in a city like that. I love it here. Landing is home, and those spots just feel too far away.”

I got it .

Truly, I understood how he could say that, especially when he already had things figured out.

But a small town was a small town. Sure, people worked here and were successful, but the biggest thing in this town was Westwood’s.

Of course, I didn’t hold a grudge about it.

I loved it. I loved that Westwood’s was the reason anybody knew this town even existed.

But outside of what Liam’s family brought here, I wasn’t sure what was here for me.

“Those big cities have options.”

“Options?”

“Career options,” I clarified. “College seems like a waste of money when I don’t have a clue what I want to do.

It’d be foolish to spend thousands of dollars with no direction.

But if I lived somewhere that had more industries, I might find something that, again, makes me feel the same excitement about my work and future that you do about yours. ”

“I think you have to try things out. There’re plenty of things here in Landing to do. But I’ll be honest with you, Layla.”

“What?”

Liam let go of my hand, rolled to his side, and propped his head on his hand.

He used the opposite one to stroke his fingers along my cheek.

“It wouldn’t matter what I was doing with myself.

There is nothing that’ll make me happier than being able to live my life by your side.

No matter where I end up in my future when it comes to work, it’ll mean little without you. ”

“You’re so romantic. ”

“I’m being honest with you. That’s how important you are to me.”

I smiled at him, feeling a sense of longing move through me. Liam was just as important to me, and I wanted to be a woman of worth for him. I could only hope I’d figure out how to make that happen sometime in the next two years.