Page 16 of Rejected Heart (The Westwoods #5)

LIAM

THREE MONTHS LATER

Time did not heal all wounds.

Or, if it did, I hadn’t reached the appropriate length of time following such a devastating incident to consider myself healed.

Six months.

Six whole months without her.

Six months of going through the motions just to get to the next day in hopes that one might be better than the one that preceded it.

God, I was tired. Exhausted, really.

Part of that might have been the result of working myself into the ground day in and day out. It was the only thing that worked, the only thing that allowed me to forget, even for a short time, about the ache and hollowness I felt in my chest.

My family had tried .

They’d bent over backwards to find ways to make me feel better about the situation.

In the beginning, I think it was more about survival from one day to the next, while everyone hoped Layla would return.

But at this point, their efforts were mostly about finding ways to distract me and improve my mood.

I didn’t want to be a burden to them, so I tried my best to be as upbeat as I could whenever they were around or there was some special occasion that required celebrating.

In many ways, I believed that just because my world had been torn apart, I didn’t need to let it leak into their lives. I could still celebrate birthdays, holidays, and any other special occasions with them.

But no matter how hard I tried to be positive, I was miserable on the inside. I was merely going along with whatever family functions got planned and keeping to myself when nothing else was going on.

This week, that meant doing my best to enjoy some time away with my family. As it turned out, my Aunt Mina—my dad’s sister—and her husband had invited us to spend a week with them at my uncle’s family’s ski resort at Keystone Mountain in Scarlet Valley, Pennsylvania.

This was one situation where I didn’t want to take part in the festivities.

I would have much rather stayed home and worked.

Because being back at this mountain, spending the days skiing and snowboarding with everyone, reminded me of the fun I’d had with Layla when she joined us on a trip here last winter break .

We’d just ended our second day out on the mountain, and we’d all had dinner together.

But my siblings and my cousins were up for more fun, so we made our way over from the chalet, where we were staying, out to enjoy some nightlife at the resort.

It wasn’t exactly a bar that restricted guests to those over the age of twenty-one, so Jules and I were both able to attend.

And since everyone else was going, I didn’t want to be the one to bring the mood down by staying back and sulking.

For the last hour or so, I’d been sitting back and observing everyone around me. Some of my family members were dancing, others were eating, and a few were enjoying the company of members of the opposite sex. I joined in on a conversation or two, but I mostly stayed quiet.

I didn’t know what it was that made it happen, but ever since Layla left, I didn’t have the same desire to socialize.

I could only chalk it up to me believing that perhaps I’d done far too much talking when I was with her that I’d missed the signs of her unhappiness.

From now on, I thought I was better to sit back and observe.

“Is this seat taken?”

At the unexpected question, I looked up to see a woman had approached. I didn’t know if she was friends with one of my cousins, so I shook my head. “Uh, no, I don’t think so.”

She sat down beside me, a bright smile on her face. She was pretty. On the younger side, too. Around my age, if I had to guess. “I’ll be honest, I kind of already knew that was the case,” she shared. “I’ve been watching you for the last thirty minutes. Are you here by yourself?”

I shook my head, belatedly flicking my gaze to Tate, who was seated on the opposite side of the table from me. “No. I’m here with family.”

“Oh, I see. Well, there’s only one other guy at this table with you. I wouldn’t be intruding, would I?”

Tate didn’t hesitate to allow the grin to spread across his face. I ignored him, turned to face the woman again, and answered, “No. Everyone is off dancing or socializing. Except for my brother, Tate, and me.”

“Hmm. It’s nice to meet you, Tate.”

One half of his mouth quirked. “Likewise.”

As quickly as he’d responded, the woman returned her attention to me and leaned close. “And what’s your name?”

My brother pushed his chair back and stood, leaving me alone with this woman. I understood he wanted to give me privacy, but it was entirely unnecessary. Shaking my head as he walked away, I looked at her again. “It’s Liam.”

“Lovely to meet you, Liam. I’m Carly. I find it so surprising that you’re sitting here alone.”

“Well, technically, I wasn’t alone,” I reasoned, jerking my head to the side where Tate had just been.

The smile on Carly’s face broadened. “Maybe not. But I would think a guy as handsome as you would have at least one or two women here with him, if not a whole table of them.”

Truthfully, I didn’t want anyone sitting here with me. I tolerated this experience for my family, but we were only two days into this trip, and I couldn’t stop seeing Layla everywhere I looked.

“I’m not sure I’d do well with having so many people here with me.”

Carly tipped her chin down and batted her eyelashes. “So, you’re a shy one.” She placed her hand on my arm, leaned close, and whispered, “I’d be happy to go someplace more private.”

Just like that.

If all I was interested in was fulfilling my physical needs, I could do it that easily. This woman didn’t know me, didn’t seem interested in getting to know me. She just wanted a hookup.

I’d have been lying if I said I hadn’t missed that aspect of my relationship with Layla. To touch and hold her. To kiss and taste her. To sink between her legs and take us both there. She was my first and only.

And right now, the thought of getting over a breakup with anyone else might have been tempting to most other men. Especially when a woman as pretty as Carly was offering herself up to me.

I pulled my arm away. “It’s nothing against you, Carly. What you’re offering, most men would be happy to take you up on. I’m sorry, but I’m not that guy.”

Disappointment washed over her expression. “It’d be fun. We’d have a great time.”

“I’m sure. But I’m not interested.”

Though I refused to take it out on her, I could feel the anger building inside me. Layla had done this. She’d made it so that women could randomly walk up to me and offer up a night of fun.

I blamed Layla for this.

Because if she’d been here, I’d have been so caught up in her, this woman never would have approached me, never would have believed I was available.

Carly accepted my refusal, standing and walking away.

But I sat there seething.

I missed Layla so much that it hurt to be without her. It killed me to know she didn’t feel the same. Worst of all, I wondered if what happened tonight would be what the rest of my life was like.

Was it possible I’d ever get over Layla? Or would I spend the rest of my life turning down anyone who might have been capable of loving me the way I’d wished she had?

ONE YEAR LATER

“Okay, so I know this seems insane. I should have considered what I was doing before I volunteered.”

I glanced over at Jules and cocked a brow. The two of us were standing at the trunk of her car. She’d begged me to come with her to run an errand, claiming she needed my help.

Without even asking where we were going, I hopped in the car.

But now we were here, outside the post office, staring at several heaping piles of Christmas cards. “Why are you doing this? We have a mail service at Westwood’s that could have picked these up.”

She nodded. “I know. I know. But Mom got so far behind this year, and when I was helping her finish up last night, I offered to send them out. Unfortunately, I don’t think I realized until I saw them all in my car just how many we had.”

My family didn’t skimp on celebrating every special occasion to the fullest. That meant a lot of things happened at Christmas, and Christmas cards were no exception.

Not only did my mom insist on sending out cards to all our family and friends, but she sent them out to all the staff and many of our guests at Westwood’s, too.

I honestly didn’t know where she found the time to do everything she did.

“Let’s just get these inside so we can get out of here.” I reached into the back of the car and hoisted one of the boxes of cards into my arms. I held it out to Jules. “Can you manage this one?”

“Yep. I’ve got it.”

Stacking the two remaining boxes on top of one another, I lifted them out. Thankfully, Jules managed to close the trunk once I’d removed them .

We’d made our way inside, slid the boxes of cards across the counter, and turned to leave. But no sooner had we stepped outside, it happened.

“Liam?”

I froze at the sound of the familiar voice.

If it hadn’t been for my sister halting in her tracks, too, I might have thought I’d imagined it. Twisting my neck, I looked to my left and saw that I hadn’t made anything up.

She was there, a single letter in her hand.

“Meredith.”

I hadn’t seen Layla’s mom since the day after I’d proposed, and I hadn’t spoken to her since she called me later that afternoon.

Once I’d gotten that first letter from Layla, asking me not to contact her mom regarding her whereabouts, I didn’t reach out to Meredith.

It was clear Layla didn’t want me to know.

And if there was one thing I agreed with, it wasn’t fair for Meredith to be dragged into the middle of it.

I didn’t expect her to betray her daughter’s confidence.

It wasn’t like it had been difficult not to run into her.

I worked all the time.