Chapter 44

forty-four

LIAM

On Friday, Amy looked at me as if the end of the world had arrived. "Why are you going away?"

I knelt beside her. "I have a meeting in Boulder and a few other things I need to do. I'll only be gone for four days."

Paul handed Amy a bowl of granola. "We won't be alone on the mountain. Liam has organized another person to look after us. After we've made some gingerbread men for Jonathon, we could take the new special agent sledding."

"But you don't like sledding." Amy's bottom lip dropped into a pout. "It's not fair. I want Liam to stay with us."

Paul sat beside Amy. "Liam's flying to Boulder this morning. We've been lucky that he's stayed with us for so long."

"Can't you stay a little bit longer?" Amy pleaded with me. "You could work from here. I wouldn't make any noise."

I shook my head. "There are some things I can't do from here. I know you're disappointed, but I should be back on Monday night. If anything changes, I'll let Paul know right away."

Paul cradled a cup of hot chocolate in his hands. "You could draw Liam some pictures of what we're doing."

With a grateful glance at Paul, I nodded. "And when I come back, you could tell me a story about each picture."

Amy picked up her spoon. "Don't you want to live with us?"

Her question caught me off guard. For a moment, I simply stared into Amy's disappointed face. My heart squeezed tight when I realized how much I'd miss them. "I can't stay, Amy."

"Are you sure?"

I nodded.

"Okay. But I'll miss you lots."

I took a deep breath and sighed. "I'll miss you, too. Apart from baking gingerbread men and sledding, what else will you do while I'm gone?"

While Amy talked about making beds for the barn mice and a toy for Timmy, the kitten from the animal shelter, I watched her face. I didn't know if she was more resilient because of what had happened to her mom, or if it was part of her bubbly personality. Either way, I needed to find a way to do the same thing.

Work wasn't the only thing taking me away from Sunrise Bay. On Saturday morning, I was flying to Chicago to visit my dad.

If I wanted to move forward with my life, I needed to find peace with my past.