Page 13 of Rejected Heart (The Westwoods #5)

LIAM

When the light filtered through the small space between the curtains in the hotel room the next morning, I decided to act.

This was Layla.

This was my life. Our life.

I couldn’t just give up. How I even stayed in this hotel room all night long was a mystery to me.

I could fix this. I had to.

No effort was required to get me out of bed and into the shower. I felt a renewed sense of determination. It couldn’t be over between us, just like that.

I loved her. She loved me. No way would she be unwilling to talk to me if I showed up and asked her to talk.

And whatever it was, I’d figure out a way to work through it with her. We’d be okay.

We had to be.

As quickly as I could, while doing my best not to focus on the ache in my chest, I got myself showered and ready. Before I knew it, I was at her front door.

Heart pounding, I knocked.

And for the first time ever, I felt unsettled as I waited for the door to open. I cleared my throat several times, suddenly wishing I’d grabbed some water before I’d walked out of the hotel.

I lifted my hand to the back of my neck and squeezed just as I heard the door being unlocked.

I expected to see Layla on the other side, even if she had red-rimmed and puffy eyes. Instead, I was met by the utterly devastated and tired expression of Meredith Snow. She looked as bad as I felt, like she hadn’t slept in days.

“Liam.” I couldn’t miss the shock in her tone or what that look on her face indicated. Things weren’t good.

“Meredith. I… I apologize for showing up unannounced like this, but I was hoping I could come in and talk to Layla.”

Her shoulders fell. “Oh, Liam. I wish you’d been here a few hours ago.”

My brows drew together. “What happened?”

Meredith swallowed roughly. “She’s gone.”

“What?”

“Layla left. She left, and it kills me to say this, but she’s not coming back any time soon.”

Something twisted in my gut, the sense of loss creeping in all over again. “Where did she go?”

A beat of silence before a contemptuous laugh escaped. “I can see now why she refused to tell me. ”

“What?”

Meredith’s eyes roamed over my face before she stepped back and opened the door wider. “Why don’t you come inside, Liam?”

I stepped in, wanting to latch on to any bit of hope I could. But I could feel the emptiness in the air the moment I was in the house. Even though Meredith had already confirmed as much, it was obvious Layla wasn’t here.

Meredith closed the door and urged me to follow her toward the living room.

Though I didn’t feel much like sitting, I lowered myself onto the cushion I’d sat on more times than I could count over the last couple of years.

Layla had always curled up beside me. Not having her there now just didn’t feel right.

“I begged her not to go.”

Agony dripped from every word. “You said she left, that she’s not coming back. I don’t understand. Where did she go?”

She shrugged, tears filling her eyes. “I wish I knew. She wouldn’t tell me. She said she’d reach out to let me know that she was okay, that she’s safe, but she didn’t want to tell me where she was heading.”

“I don’t understand.”

“She probably knew I’d take one look at you and tell you immediately, so that you could find her and bring her back.”

This was awful. What if something happened to her? What if she got hurt, and nobody knew where she was to even be able to check on her ?

“I can only assume… Did she tell you what happened yesterday?”

Meredith nodded. “She told me that you proposed.”

“She rejected my proposal,” I shared. “I never saw it coming. I thought she loved me. I thought she was happy. And now you’re telling me, she’s just… gone?”

“My heart aches for you, Liam. For the both of you.”

“Did she say anything? Did she tell you why?”

A heavy silence stretched between us. “I wish I could say I have answers for you. I tried so hard to get her to open up to me, to get her to just stay and talk about it when she had some time to settle down. But she refused. She just told me she couldn’t stay here, that she needed to get away.”

It was like I was living in a nightmare. None of this seemed real. And it was entirely out of character for Layla.

My eyes dropped to my lap, the disbelief settling heavy on my shoulders. “Where would she go? Why would she leave?”

“Layla was so out of sorts last night,” Meredith revealed.

“There was no talking to her, despite my repeated attempts to get her to tell me anything. I felt nothing but helpless as I watched her rush around her room, packing up her things. She wouldn’t listen to me, even though it was abundantly clear that she was hurting and making an irrational decision.

I’ve never seen her cry like that. Never.

Both of us were a mess. And yet, she still managed to bring herself to walk out that door. I haven’t slept all night. ”

What had I done?

What had I missed?

How could I not have had a single clue that Layla was so unhappy with me, to the point she’d essentially run away from home because I proposed to her?

I proposed.

I was ready to spend the rest of my life with her, and she clearly wasn’t anywhere close to wanting the same.

“I’m so sorry,” I croaked. "If I knew that asking her to be my wife would have led to this, I never would have done it.”

It might have killed me to not ask her, but what I was facing now was easily worse than that.

“You love her, Liam. I don’t blame you for asking her.”

“But how do I get her back?”

Meredith shot me a sympathetic look. “I wish I knew.”

For a long time, the two of us sat there without saying a single word. I was so caught up in the questions swirling in my head, trying to focus on uncovering explanations for those instead of allowing the pain in my body to take over.

Everything ached.

The loss felt tremendous.

Meredith was just as devastated. The hurt was consuming her, too.

I couldn’t sit here any longer and watch. I couldn’t face the agony I had caused. So I stood and said, “If you hear from her, will you let me know? ”

“I get the feeling she’s not going to tell me where she is, even when she does call.”

“I know. But I still want to know that she’s okay. I’d really appreciate it if you could at least let me know that she’s safe.”

She sent a small smile my way. “I can do that for you, Liam.”

“I’m going to go.” She moved to get up, but I held out my hand. “Stay here. I’ll see myself out.”

Meredith ignored me and stood anyway. Then she wrapped her arms around me and hugged tightly. “If you hear from her, please let me know.”

I hugged her back. “I will.”

“I’m sorry, Liam. I’m sorry I couldn’t get her to stay.”

Loosening my hold on Meredith, I stepped back and stared at her for a few beats. “I couldn’t either.” She closed her eyes and sighed. “Goodbye, Meredith.”

With that, I turned and walked away, not an ounce of hope anywhere to be found.

TWO WEEKS LATER

When the knock came at the door, it didn’t take me long to narrow down my options of who might be on the other side. It was either my mom or Jules .

Ever since Layla left me, the two of them had been coming around frequently. Jules offered a listening ear and freshly baked goods. I hadn’t had much of an appetite lately, but Jules wouldn’t ever leave unless I indulged in some of the treats that she made.

It was nice. And though I felt no spark of hope, I did feel appreciation for Jules and her efforts to cheer me up.

I could talk to my younger sister about what I was feeling—what I still didn’t know about Layla’s decision to leave—and Jules never did anything but offer her support. She’d actually been there when I’d gotten the call from Layla’s mom later that afternoon following my visit to her place.

I couldn’t remember a time when I’d answered the phone so quickly.

Despite wishing I’d gotten more than I did, Meredith had only shared that Layla had called to check in and that she was safe.

Beyond that, Layla hadn’t given her mom any details, claiming she just wanted more time to sort herself out.

While it was possible that Meredith was hiding the truth from me, I didn’t think that was the case.

I believed if she knew where Layla was, she wouldn’t have hesitated to tell me.

The call had been short that day, but I was glad Jules was there with me. Surprisingly, I’d needed someone to talk to, to vent to, and she’d been more than willing to be that person for me.

Next to her, it was my mom that reached out most frequently. She did it under the guise of doing all the things she saw as her motherly duties by bringing me meals and snacks and asking about laundry .

Even if there was a washing machine in the suite that I was fully capable of operating, she still felt compelled to take charge and help.

And I knew it was mostly because she wanted to make sure I wasn’t spending so much time alone.

I didn’t necessarily mind it. In fact, I felt a wave of gratitude wash over me whenever anyone in my family stopped by or reached out to check in on me.

I only wished they’d been doing it for some other reason.

Since it was Saturday, and I wasn’t technically scheduled to work this weekend—although it was likely I’d find myself there anyway—I’d slept in.

Though, to be fair, sleep had been difficult to come by these days.

I tossed and turned throughout the night, never feeling like I got a full night of rest since before the failed proposal.

I rolled out of bed and made my way to the door. I opened it to find I’d been right. My mom had decided to drop by.

“Good morning, Liam. Late start today?”

I stepped back to allow her the space to come inside. She kissed my cheek as she passed by me with grocery bags in her arms.

“Good morning, Mom.” I followed her to the kitchen. “You know you don’t have to buy me groceries.”

She set the bags down and shot me a look that told me she wasn’t interested in debating me on what she could and couldn’t do for her son who was going through it.