Читать книгу The Bachelor's Twins - Kathryn Springer - Страница 15

Chapter Five

“Yay!”

Chloe and Cassie leaned toward each other and slapped their hands together in a high five that set both canoes rocking.

Before Anna could warn them to sit back down, Liam beat her to it. And he didn’t respond with a scold or a scowl, either.

“Rule four,” was all he said.

For a bachelor who’d grown up with brothers, the man’s patience and easygoing humor with two little girls who chattered more than they paddled was something Anna hadn’t expected.

But then again, Liam wasn’t quite what she’d expected.

Even apart from all the rumors swirling around the three brothers, Anna had always found Liam a little unsettling. There’d been times, during study hall or in the school cafeteria, she’d caught Liam looking at her. No, not just at her. Through her. Like he knew what she thinking. Or feeling.

That’s what had unsettled her.

But he’d never gone out of his way to talk to her—until the senior prom.

Memories came rushing back. Anna’s astonishment when Liam had led her into the center of the gymnasium and then guided her out to the courtyard. Her defensive reaction when Anna discovered the real reason he’d asked her to dance.

I saw what Ross did in the parking lot, Anna. My dad...he wasn’t a very nice guy. He would bully my mom like that, too.

Ross wasn’t bullying me.

He grabbed your arm.

Anna had denied it even though her arm had still burned where Ross’s fingers had bitten through the lacy sleeve of her dress.

Look...just be careful, okay? Liam had persisted. You don’t have to let him treat you like that.

She’d made excuses for Ross. Told Liam in no uncertain terms to mind his own business.

But she hadn’t believed him.

Anna rubbed her arm. The bruises had faded years ago but the wound Ross had inflicted on her heart still hurt.

The theme, A Night to Remember, had fit as perfectly as the tiara placed on Anna’s head when she was crowned queen. But, like so many other moments in her past, that night had become one more thing she wanted to forget.

At least in high school, her wishes and dreams had centered around the plans she and Ross had made for Friday night or on the dress she’d picked out for an upcoming dance. Anna had poured out her heart in a journal similar to the ones Rene Shapiro had handed out to the Sunflowers. Protected her secrets with the turn of a key that fit into a tiny gold lock.

She wasn’t willing to take the chance that Liam—or anyone else for that matter—would see the one she kept locked inside her heart.

“Oh, look at that bird over there! Isn’t it cute?”

The bottom of Anna’s canoe scraped against a rock, warning her that the canoe had drifted into the shallow water. Fortunately, no one seemed to notice she’d broken rule number six—Pay Attention to Your Surroundings—because their attention was focused on the shoreline.

“It’s a kingfisher,” Liam said. “You can tell by the crested head and the color of his feathers.”

“He’s making a funny noise.” Cassie stopped paddling and Anna could read her mind.

Time for another photo session.

“He’s talking to his friends farther down the river.” Liam was already reaching for the camera.

“What’s he saying?”

“He’s saying...” Liam tipped his head to one side and pretended to listen. “Look at those people over there! Aren’t they cute?”

Cassie and Chloe giggled, but it was the grin on Liam’s face that sent Anna’s heart rocking back and forth like a raft caught in a swell.

“It just went under the water!” Chloe exclaimed.

“He’s looking for his lunch,” Liam said as the bird disappeared underneath the water.

“Lunch.” Cassie sounded a little envious.

Her comment reminded Anna they’d been on the river for well over an hour and her daughters hadn’t complained a bit about boredom, achy muscles or empty stomachs.

Liam must have realized it had been a while since breakfast, too.

“Is anyone getting hungry?”

“I am!”

“Me, too!”

Liam looked at Anna, and whatever he saw in her eyes seemed to cast the deciding vote.

“Okay, then.” He dipped his paddle in the water. “Next stop—Eagle Rock.”

Anna had noticed the spot marked on Sunni’s map, but until they paddled around a small, tree-lined peninsula jutting out from the shoreline, she hadn’t realized Eagle Rock was a...rock.

More like a small cliff, from what Anna could see. It jutted over the river, shading a wide stretch of beach like a sandstone canopy.

As they neared the shoreline, Anna spotted a ring of stones and the blackened remains of a campfire, evidence that Eagle Rock was a frequent stop for paddlers.

Liam, a few lengths ahead of her and Chloe, reached the shoreline first. He hopped out of the canoe, reached for Cassie and deposited her on dry land.

“Are we going to have a campfire on the beach?” Cassie asked hopefully.

“We could...” A smile kindled in Liam’s eyes. “But the view is better at the top of the rock.”

He didn’t mean...

Anna squinted up at Eagle Rock. She couldn’t even see a way to get to the top.

Before she could suggest they stay on the beach, Cassie and Chloe bumped their fists together and broke into an exuberant little dance right there on the sand.

“Can you take our picture, Mom? When Ms. Shapiro sees how high we climbed, maybe we’ll get our Be Strong and Courageous pin, too!” Cassie said.

“We don’t know that verse yet,” Chloe reminded her sister.

“I do! It’s in Joshua. ‘Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be...’” Cassie paused, her brow furrowing as she searched her memory for the rest of the words.

“‘Do not be afraid,’” Liam quoted softly. “‘Do not be discouraged. For the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.’”

“You have to memorize verses, too?”

Cassie’s open astonishment brought a smile to Liam’s face again.

“I don’t have to,” he said. “But if you know what the Bible says, the verses are... They’re kind of like the signposts on the map we gave you. They keep you going in the right direction. And if you do get lost...well, they can help you find your way back, too.”

Now it was Anna’s turn to stare.

Because she hadn’t really expected Liam to know the verse? Or because the undercurrent of quiet confidence flowing through the words told Anna they were stored in his head and his heart?

“I’d be scared if I got lost,” Chloe confessed in a whisper. “’Cause the bears might find me.”

“I’m not a fan of bears, either.” Liam shot Anna a sideways glance. “Unlike your mom, who chased one off the high school football field once.”

“A real bear?” Chloe clutched Cassie’s arm for support.

Anna had forgotten all about that. And she wasn’t sure how she felt about Liam bringing it up now.

“It was a very small one,” she muttered. “Not much bigger than a cub.”

“But still...you chased it.” Cassie looked impressed.

“Chased it away.” Anna shot a look at Liam. “When I screamed.”

“She shook her pom-poms at it, too.” Liam obviously remembered more about the event than she did. “The other cheerleaders ran inside the school, but your mom stood her ground. Pretty ‘strong and courageous,’ if you ask me.”

Strong? Courageous?

For a moment, Anna wanted to cling to the words even though the girl Liam had just described was long gone.

And the admiration Anna was startled to see in Liam’s eyes would be gone, too, if he knew the truth.

When it really mattered, she hadn’t been either one of those things.

* * *

“Mom was a cheerleader?”

The twins appeared more shocked by that information than they were about the bear.

“Your mom made captain our freshman year.” Liam couldn’t believe Anna had never mentioned it to her daughters. “Her squad won an award for their halftime performance. It was pretty impressive.”

“How would you know that?” Anna’s eyes narrowed. “You never went to any of the football games.”

Liam realized he should have quit while he was behind.

“I...” How to admit this without sounding like a total stalker? “I saw you practice once in a while.”

Once in a while meaning every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon, when Liam took a shortcut underneath the bleachers on his way home.

For weeks after he and his brothers moved to Castle Falls, Liam had lived in constant fear that Sunni and Rich would realize they’d made a huge mistake and ship all three of the Kane brothers back to Detroit. Liam would be separated from Brendan and Aiden forever and become a file in some social worker’s drawer.

Watching Anna preside over cheerleading practice had been the one bright spot in a day clouded with uncertainty. Outgoing and confident, Anna had had an unquenchable spark of life in her eyes and a smile bright enough to light up an entire room. The kind that declared I’m ready for whatever was to come.

Only she wasn’t smiling now.

When he’d told the humorous story about Anna’s encounter with the bear cub, Liam hadn’t considered it might resurrect painful memories, as well. The cheerleading award Liam had referred to was displayed in the trophy case, right beside the one Ross received when he’d taken the football team to the state championship.

Way to go, Liam.

Just when he had started to feel like the wall between them was beginning to break down, Liam had reminded Anna what had caused it in the first place.

He pushed out a smile and looked at the twins.

“Ready to climb Eagle Rock?”

A loud whoop answered the question.

Liam led the small procession up the winding, overgrown footpath. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d climbed Eagle Rock...which told him it had been too long.

It would have been a lot easier to use the fire pit on the beach, but if Rene Shapiro wanted the Sunflowers to celebrate God’s creation, Liam couldn’t think of a better place than at the top of Eagle Rock.

“How is everyone doing?” He glanced over his shoulder.

Chloe and Cassie gave him the thumbs-up sign, but Anna didn’t respond to the question at all. Liam couldn’t decide if the climb itself was the problem or if Anna was upset that he’d added at least another hour to the four she had signed up for.

Rocks skittered over Liam’s feet as he reached the top of the platform overlooking the river.

His breath caught in his throat, the past momentarily forgotten.

Eagle Rock was more enchanting than he remembered, like an illustration straight from the pages of a fairy tale. A thick carpet of emerald moss covered the ground, and wild grapevine draped the birch trees that circled the sun-drenched clearing.

Cassie scrambled up beside him. And for the first time since they’d launched the canoes, the little girl seemed to be at a loss for words.

It was Chloe who came up with one—a soft, breathless “Wow.”

Liam laughed as he set the cooler on the ground. “My brother Aiden discovered this place when we were kids. He stuck a canoe paddle in the ground and made us write our names on it with a rock.”

And then they’d rowed back home, minus one paddle, terrified Sunni would ground them—or worse—for leaving the other one behind. She had insisted on accompanying them on the return trip the next day. But, instead of retrieving the paddle, Sunni had picked up the rock and scratched her name next to theirs.

Things had been difficult for all of them after Rich died, but it wasn’t until that moment Liam finally began to accept he wasn’t alone.

When they got back, Liam had unlocked Rich’s workshop and spent the next few weeks paging through his foster dad’s notes, studying his designs and slowly figuring out what to do with the strange tools scattered around the room.

Liam had never felt like an outsider in the workshop. For the first time in his life, he’d felt like he was exactly where he belonged.

“Can we write our names on the paddle, too?” Cassie asked.

“I’m not sure I could find it anymore.” Liam scanned the thick hedge of trees. “Everything changes from year to year.”

Anna, who’d been a few seconds behind them, appeared at the top of the path. And, once again, she carefully avoided his eyes.

Okay.

Maybe not everything.