Page 20 of Rejected Heart (The Westwoods #5)

LAYLA

Chaos and confusion.

Those were the only words I could use to describe how the last couple of days had been.

Technically, I guess there was more than just that.

The days had also been filled with sadness, frustration, and terror.

It had been two days since I saw Jules. And even though my mom’s health and well-being were my top priority, I couldn’t stop thinking about Liam’s sister.

Of course, thinking about Jules meant thinking about Liam. With that came a whole slew of other problems. It was no surprise I hadn’t slept well in days.

I leaned my elbows onto the counter and dropped my face into my hands, pressing the heels of my palms into my eye sockets as I sighed.

I had months of being here in Landing in front of me. How was I ever going to last that long when a handful of days felt like torture ?

Every second I had an ounce of downtime—there was a ton of that when I was at my mom’s store—my mind drifted back to the encounter I’d had with Jules.

Seeing her was like seeing him.

Jules looked like she’d seen a ghost when my eyes met hers, and we’d both stood there in utter silence for several long moments.

She was the first to speak, and I don’t know how I didn’t burst into tears at the sound. Obviously, Jules was curious and believed I’d been back in Landing for a long time, but I quickly filled her in on what had happened to my mom. Naturally, she was horrified.

But beyond the initial conversation, things got awkward.

I wanted to ask about Liam—about the rest of the family, too—but I couldn’t bring myself to do it.

I’d lost the right to that information a long time ago.

Whether Jules understood what I was feeling or not, I didn’t know.

But I wondered if she knew what it meant to me to have her share the news about her bakery with me.

It took me back, forcing me to recall the times I’d spent with her and the rest of the Westwood family.

My emotions were all over the place, and once Jules invited me to Westwood’s, so I could come and check out her bakery, I struggled to hold back the tears. It was at that point when she excused herself, urging me to send her well wishes to my mom, but I could see the silent pleas in her stare.

And ever since that day, I hadn’t been able to get that look out of my head .

Why would she look at me like that, like she would give anything for me to come back into their lives? How was it possible she—or any of the rest of them—would want anything to do with me after how I’d walked away?

Maybe that was what made them who they were. Maybe that was something I’d known all along and was a small part of the reason I couldn’t accept Liam’s proposal.

Dropping my hands from my face, I let out another sigh as those eyes flashed in my mind. So much damage had been done, and the guilt I felt was immeasurable.

Back then, eighteen years old and fresh out of high school, I never considered just how wide reaching the pain would be. Looking back now, I should have seen it.

Liam would be devastated by my rejection. I would be devastated. But I never took the time to think through how everyone else would be impacted.

I should have known. Especially when there hadn’t ever been a question of how much they adored Liam and how graciously they’d accepted me into their lives.

Worst of all, if it had been this many years and Jules looked the way she did about it, I couldn’t begin to imagine the effect it had on Liam. Then again, maybe that was wishful thinking.

No doubt Liam had already moved on. I’d urged him to do as much. My heart squeezed at the thought.

I couldn’t do this.

I couldn’t continue to spend all my time focusing on Liam, Jules, and the rest of their family. Not if I intended to survive the next couple of months and be the daughter my mom needed me to be for her right now .

Keeping busy was the only thing that was going to help.

So, I got to work on organizing clothing racks by color and size.

Between helping the customers who had come in, worrying about my mom, and fretting about my encounter with Jules, the most I’d managed to do since arriving in Landing is take time to familiarize myself with the basic operations of the store again.

Today, I was going to take on several more tasks that would occupy and distract me. After I’d gotten through organizing the racks, I moved on to do the same with the counters and displays. And finally, I integrated new merchandise onto the sales floor.

I was in the thick of it when the door to the shop opened. Standing up straight from where I’d been bent over a table display and folding clothing, I looked toward the front of the store to greet the customer.

But my voice vanished.

My lungs stopped functioning.

Years might have passed, but I’d recognize those eyes anywhere. Those eyes and lips and face that now had a smattering of neatly groomed facial hair.

Liam.

God, Liam.

I was frozen to the spot, unable to breathe, and waiting for that look in his eyes to warm. I waited for the familiarity to return.

It didn’t.

His expression remained distant, cold, and there was something else in his gaze I couldn’t quite put my finger on.

I couldn’t stop blinking my eyes, and I didn’t know whether that was the result of being so stunned to see him or if it was because I was confident that he was scrutinizing me in a way he never had before.

Unable to keep that eye contact with him, my eyes drifted down from his face. Physically speaking, time had been kind to Liam. He had always been painfully attractive to me, but the years had turned him impossibly handsome.

He was a grown man now.

He’d put on a few extra pounds of muscle—his arms, shoulders, and chest a bit more solid than before.

Wearing nothing more than a plain white T-shirt and a pair of jeans, it was almost unfair how good he looked.

My eyes journeyed up his body, and I noted his hair was just a touch longer now than it had been the last time I saw him. And where it had been that signature dark Westwood hair before, the way the light hit it now revealed champagne-colored highlights.

If only things were different, if only I hadn’t screwed it all up, I wouldn’t have hesitated to run to him, drive my fingers into that slightly unruly hair, and urge his mouth to mine.

Sadly, Liam’s stance and expression kept me rooted to the spot, still barely breathing.

“So, it’s true.”

His voice had changed, too.

I didn’t think that was possible, but it seemed deeper now. Deeper and…quieter? And if I thought the sound of Ju les’s voice had rattled me, hearing Liam’s had shaken me to my very core.

I’d missed him so much.

Those three words he’d spoken might have normally indicated someone was looking for a response, but when Liam said them, there was such a finality and understanding in his tone. Like he’d already gotten the answer he was seeking simply by stepping foot into this store.

Despite that, I foolishly replied. “Liam.”

He winced.

Hearing me say his name had caused such a tremendous physical reaction. A negative one.

Liam quickly recovered and pinned his stare on me. “I knew she’d never lie to me about something like this, but I still had to check for myself.”

Jules.

He had to be talking about his sister. She must have told him about seeing me here two days ago, and he had taken it upon himself to seek me out to confirm Jules had been telling the truth.

I was lost, scared, and unsure of how to proceed. “Liam.”

My voice was strained, my heart pounding. How awful was it that I couldn’t bring myself to say anything more than just his name?

He shook his head with disappointment. “That’s it? Eight years, and that’s all you can say?”

I diverted my eyes to the clothing on the table, noting the rogue thread poking out from the collar of the shirt I’d just folded. When I returned my attention to Liam, I murmured, “I don’t know what to say.”

“Are you kidding me? You don’t think I deserve anything? An explanation, maybe? Why? Why, Layla? Why did you leave?”

There was nobody like Liam.

In my whole life, there wasn’t a single person who could have ever measured up to the man he was.

Even when we were just teenagers, I’d always been drawn to him.

He’d been so fun and outgoing. He had such an upbeat personality.

He was the sweetest, kindest soul I’d ever known, and he’d never gotten angry with me.

What I was witnessing now wasn’t anything I’d ever witnessed before from him. Liam had always been so sweet and gentle with me.

And while I never expected if I had the opportunity to see him again that he’d just be like he’d always been with me, I certainly hadn’t anticipated this. His tone was harsh and cutting, and the look on his face was stony and unkind.

It was then I realized just how much damage I’d done.

This wasn’t Liam.

This wasn’t the man I’d fallen in love with.

I wondered if that man even still existed.

Tears filled my eyes as my head moved from side to side. “I’m sorry.”

He scoffed. “Yeah. Well, that apology is eight years too late.”

It was like taking a knife to the gut .

“I know you probably don’t believe me, but I never meant to hurt you like this, Liam.”

His eyes narrowed. “You left me. And you did it without any explanation. You never came back, and you didn’t return any of my calls.

You sent me three letters over the course of a year and a half.

And that last one…” He closed his eyes and shook his head.

“You don’t have a clue what you did to me, do you? ”

“I thought… I thought it’d be easier for you to get over me, to move on, if I just let you go. I can see now that it was the wrong choice, but I was young and stupid, and I didn’t have any clue about the damage I was doing.”

Liam jerked back in disbelief. “So, I was right, then. You didn’t know?”

My brows knit together. “Didn’t know what?”