17. Arthur

17

ARTHUR

T he front door opened as I walked out of the study. Scott’s incessant drinking pissed me off and drove me to distraction. I understood the need for something to take away the sting of pain from Hannah leaving us, but alcohol was only a temporary reprieve.

I waited for Ryland, demands that he help me sober Scott up perched on my tongue.

Hannah swept into the foyer, Liddy by her side.

My entire body turned to ice, freezing me in mid-step. I almost shattered right then and there, prepared to collapse at her feet. Only disappointment and a bite of anger kept me upright. My heart, as desperate as it was, took flight in my chest. It peppered my ribs with thunderous beats.

A look of apology crossed Hannah’s face as she said, “Ryland invited us.” It almost sounded like she dared me to challenge her and force her to leave. She stymied me with the contradiction of words and looks. Ryland entered the house behind her. A joyous smile lit his face with an ethereal glow.

“Arthur!” Liddy yanked free from her mother’s grasp and bolted toward me. The sound of her steps echoing across the foyer sent a surge of love into my heart so powerful it dropped me to a knee to scoop her into a hug. She clung to my neck. “I missed you. Can we have a tea party?”

“Maybe in a bit.” I eyed Ryland in hopes of gaining some silent intel. He shifted his weight and made a tiny slashing motion with his hand. I understood perfectly. Don’t get attached. Hannah would not be staying. We’d been friends long enough to have developed and perfected this silent method of communication.

Heavy steps sounded from the study. Scott’s approach halted, his ragged inhale loud enough to wake the dead. “I’ll be right back.” He barely slurred the words, but his lack of coordination sent him stumbling into a table, where he knocked over a vase.

Deena shot out from the kitchen at the sound of the vase crashing to the floor. “Oh dear.” She clicked her tongue. “Give me a minute, Mr. Scott. I have just the thing.” Scott turned back around, the ruddiness in his cheeks deepening.

Liddy squeezed my neck one last time then ran across the room to leap into Scott’s arms. I swore I saw tears in the man’s eyes as he closed them and patted Liddy’s back.

“Hey, sugar plum. How’ve you been?” He leaned against the wall and listened as Liddy filled him in on her adventures at school.

I half-listened, the rest of my attention locked onto Hannah and staying there. She stood with her hands in front of her, palms pressed together and fingers locked. The look in her eyes mesmerized me. She watched Liddy with careful scrutiny. Or maybe it was Scott who’d earned the look.

My heart steadied and the gaping wound in my chest closed. The pain flushed away the longer I looked at Hannah. Warmth filled me. I pushed back to my feet, approaching her and Ryland. “It’s good to see you.” My world was complete once again.

Hannah fidgeted with a button on her jacket. “You too.” She tipped her head toward Scott. “How is he?”

“He’s a miserable boar of a man who despises everything except the alcohol in his glass.” I spat the words, not intending to use them as weapons, but after the pain I’d suffered, they demanded retribution. “But he’ll soon be put to rights.”

I had no doubt that Liddy’s embrace was as healing for Scott as it had been for me. As was seeing Hannah. I scoured her from head to toe, hoping once again for some visual representation of why she’d left. She looked much the same, though a little more withdrawn than I expected. Slight rings of purple shadows decorated her eyes, and her frown tugged her beautiful lips down into a pout I wished to kiss away.

Scott and Liddy finished their conversation and he lowered her to the ground. Deena returned with a steaming cup of her famous hangover remedy. It tasted like ass but was effective enough that Scott downed the whole thing in three gulps. This wasn’t his first time taking it. He smacked the empty cup into his palm and jerked his head to the side. “Son of a bologna sandwich rolled in dog scum. That’s the worst thing I’ve ever tasted.”

Deena beamed and snatched up the cup. “But it works.”

The blur of stupidity from too much drink faded from Scott’s eyes. He scrubbed both hands down his face and bit his lip with a grunt.

“So.” I motioned toward the study. “What brings you two by?”

“I ran into them at the park.” Ryland rushed into the conversation and hurried to a chair.

The park? Oh, right. Hannah loved taking Liddy to the park down the road. I’d never had a chance to go with them, but Ryland had taken enough pictures and talked about the place so often that I felt as though I’d been there.

Disquiet took over the room. We’d never struggled to carry on a conversation before, but suddenly every word felt weighted with additional meaning. I sank into the comfort of a leather chair and crossed an ankle over the opposite knee. “It’s almost dinner time. Would you and Liddy like to stay and eat with us?”

“Yes!” Liddy blurted the word out before Hannah had a chance to reply. She pranced around the room, spinning while holding her pink and purple striped skirt out like a ballerina. “I love the food here.” She caught her mother’s look and paused. “Can we stay? Please?”

Hannah nibbled her bottom lip, her gaze skipping over each of us. “Dinner. But then we go home.”

“Thought you said it was good to see us.” Scott dropped into a chair with all the grace of a limp noodle. He’d harbored more anger toward Hannah than Ryland and myself. “Why can’t you stay longer?”

“Because it’s a school day tomorrow.” Hannah snapped right back.

I grinned at the sight of them engrossed in a verbal sparring match. Scott needed the distraction and a chance to get out some of his anger. And from the way Hannah reacted, she had her own aggression to throw right back.

Deena stuck her head around the open door. “Five for dinner?”

“Yes,” I answered. “Deena, do you have a minute? I’d like to introduce you to Hannah and Liddy.”

“Oh, certainly.” She popped into the room, wiped her hands on her apron, and stuck one out to Hannah. “You did a wonderful job, my dear. The place was spotless. I can’t tell you how grateful I am.”

“I was happy to help.” Hannah stood and shook Deena’s hand. “How’s your daughter and grandbaby?”

Deena beamed. “Beautiful. I’m smitten. Why, if it wasn't for these three, I would have been tempted to stay forever.” I’d almost expected as much, but it still hit me as a bit of a shock.

“And you must be Liddy.” Deena directed her attention to Liddy who danced past Hannah.

Hannah beamed at Liddy with a smile. “I know what you mean.” One hand fluttered over her stomach.

“Well, if you’re staying for dinner, you should go ahead and get out of those coats. It’s ready.” Deena clapped her hands together.

“Do you need any help?” Hannah offered with the same casual helpfulness that made her such a success in Deena’s absence. She genuinely cared about people and always tried to make life easier for those around her.

“You can make sure this one makes it to his chair and not the floor.” Deena nodded toward Scott.

Snorting, Scott smirked at her. “Thought your cure-all didn’t have any side effects.”

“It doesn’t,” Deena shot right back. “But you have enough alcohol in your blood to sink a pirate ship.”

“True enough.” Scott stood and headed toward the kitchen. Hannah hesitated, then took Liddy’s hand and followed. Ryland and I took up the rear.

Hannah and Deena hit it off, the two of them discussing meal planning and cleaning schedules like it was the most natural thing in the world. When Deena pulled out her phone to show Hannah pictures of her daughter and grandbaby, I knew she’d won Deena over. It made pride bubble up when I saw the smile on Hannah’s face and heard her compliment Deena’s family and the amazing food.

We all managed to carry on a semi-decent conversation. Hannah insisted on helping Deena serve dinner and I suspected she meant to remind us of what she considered her place in the house, but she’d become so much more to all of us. And she’d walked away from it without any explanation.

Months without seeing her face had filled me with an aching sadness. Seeing her now took it all away. Not even a sliver remained.

Deena said something about the baby, and Hannah laughed that full, throaty laugh of hers. Liddy chatted with Scott and he listened to her with a devout expression and intensity that would frighten most children. Not Liddy. She took it as a challenge.

Hours passed. Conversation flowed at a steady rate, though I contributed little except when necessary. I preferred to sit back and watch, memorizing the lines of Hannah’s face. She had so many expressions that I would need forever to understand them all. We finished the meal, and Deena stood to begin cleaning up around us.

Hannah jumped up to help, but Deena urged her to sit back down. When Hannah insisted, Deena let her serve the chocolate mousse. Deena, the woman who never let anyone touch her desserts, smiled at me when I arched a brow. She leaned past me to pick up my plate. “I like her. She’s a keeper.”

“I know.” It was all I managed before Deena darted away again.

Liddy begin nodding off in her chair. Scott caught her before she toppled over and settled her in his lap, tucking her tiny body into his. Her rosebud lips parted with a happy sigh and she snuggled against him.

Hannah stopped at Scott’s side, the mousse hovering over his plate. “Do you?—”

“Don’t even think about it.” He whispered, the low growl leaving no room for argument. “She’s fine. You can have her back when you go home.”

Hannah’s nose crimped with the force of her frown. If Liddy was somewhere out of earshot, I suspected she’d have a lot more to say to Scott. “It was the right call, Scott.”

“Really?” He pinched her chin between his thumb and forefinger and brought her face around. “Then why do you always look away when you say it?” He released her, nodding when she refused to answer. “That’s what I thought. You left with no explanation. No reason. Do not take me for the kind of man who will overlook that. We’re not useless debris you can simply throw aside.”

“I don’t.” She stopped and closed her eyes. When she opened them, hurt lingered in the depths. “I don’t belong in this world.” Her voice dipped almost too low to hear. “I was good enough for your bed but we all know you would have tired of me and sent me away. I simply did what was best.”

“Best for whom?” The question landed with the force of a bomb.

Hannah’s breath wheezed out. “Best for me. And I still think it’s the best course of action overall.” She motioned toward Liddy. “It’s time for us to go home.”

“This is your home.” Scott ducked his head, forcing her to look at him. “This is where you belong. With us. When you’re ready to accept that, you know where to find us.”

“Don’t be so sure.” Hannah said as she took Liddy into her arms.

“Can I drive you home?” I asked her, trying to interrupt the tense silence before they resorted to a full-scale war.

“I drove my own car.”

“I’ll find a way home.” I set a hand in the small of her back, and when she let it stay, I breathed easier. “It’s late, and I’d like to make sure you arrive safely.”

“Worried I’m not capable of driving in the dark?”

“Do not put words in my mouth or attempt to pick a fight with me because you are mad at Scott.” The warning notes rang out clear and strong.

Hannah relaxed beneath my palm and after she said her goodbyes and thank-you’s, we headed out to her car. She buckled Liddy into her seat before handing me the keys and sliding into the passenger seat.

I drove and let the silence take over. I was comfortable in the quiet spaces where truth lingered just out of reach.

“Do you think I’m a good mother?” Hannah asked as she stared straight ahead. “Tell me the truth.”

“Yes.” I tapped the blinker for a right turn and eased onto the street.

“But why? I feel like I’m always failing Liddy.”

“I think every parent worries that they’re not good enough. That’s what makes them try so hard and ultimately what makes them a good parent.” I squeezed her knee slightly but took my hand away quickly, concentrating on the road. “Worrying is part of parenting. I’d be more concerned if you thought you were perfect.” I smiled. “Though you are. Perfect, that is. You’re one of the best mothers I’ve ever seen. It’s been my privilege to spend time with you and Liddy.”

We pulled into her driveway and I turned off the ignition. Her fingertips trailed over my palm as she took the keys back. “Thank you.”

“My pleasure.”

Her face was hidden in shadow but I heard her breath catch with a tiny gasp. The distance between us closed, one of us leaning forward, though I had no idea who.

“Goodnight.” She ducked out of the car and gathered Liddy into her arms. I stayed until the front door closed and a light appeared in the back room.