Dalton, Tymber - Stoneface (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (31 page)

Tim stared at the webpage. He didn’t hear Celia when she walked up behind him. “Still moping, I see?” she said.

He closed the lid of the laptop without turning. “Still spying on me, I see.”

She poked him in the shoulder. “Dude, do I have to smack you with a clue-by-four? You need to either take a leap of faith, or move on. This is just pathetic. Both of you are.” She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him. Tim had let her drag the whole story out of him a few days after he returned from Laguna Beach after Gwen had left.

“Dumbass,” she’d said then. “Write her.”

“She said not to.”

“Yeah, because she’s hurting and in a lot of pain. What the fuck is wrong with that boyfriend of yours? I thought you said he loves her, too? Why’d he run her off?”

“Because he was scared.”

“Dumbass.”

Now, Celia stared at him. Glared at him was more like it. “Write her.”

He shook his head. “I can’t.”

“Dumbass. Then let her go.”

He shook his head again. “I can’t, Celia. I love her and I miss her.” It’d been seven months, and he still missed Gwen. Thought about her every day. Stared at her picture on his phone every day.

Jack missed her, too. He caught his lover looking at the pictures of them at dinner on more than one occasion.

“You’re a fucking dumbass. Both of you.” She shouldered him aside and opened the laptop, pulling up the webpage. Gwen’s website. She scrolled down to the bottom, clicked the “designed by” link that led to another website, then whipped out her cell phone and dialed.

“Who are you calling?” Tim asked.

“The person I should have called months ago when I first found out about all this stupid-ass bullshit, you damn dumbass.” She waited, then when someone answered, she said, “Hi, this is Celia. We met last year at Tim’s store…Right. Look, Tweedledipshit and Tweedledumbass here are pining away for Gwen…” She listened, then laughed brightly. “Cool. Here he is.” She shoved the phone at his face. “Talk to him.”

She gave Tim no choice. He fumbled the phone and stared at her as she stormed across the store to take care of a customer who’d walked in. “Hello?” he tentatively asked.

“Tim?” The man’s voice sounded familiar, but cautious.

“Liam?”

“Yeah. What’s up?”

Tim swallowed hard. “Um…” He took a deep breath.
Nothing ventured, and all that crap.
“Can we talk?”

* * * *

Liam remembered Celia. She was funky and friendly and by the way he witnessed her interacting with people, feisty. He tried not to laugh when Tim told him about how she’d finally stepped in.

At least he could talk freely. Gwen was at the grocery store, and he had the RV all to himself. “Yeah, I think that’s a good idea. I’d love to give your other half a piece of my mind. Gwen’s been miserable.”

“I’m so sorry, Liam. I didn’t know Jack was going to go off like that…” he said, and then he explained a few things Liam didn’t know. Gwen didn’t even know, either, or she might have chosen to stay and fight for the men. She had a hair-trigger temper, but she also fought tenaciously for those she loved. Ruthie was a prime example of that.

And Gwen sure as hell loved those two men.

Liam pondered the possibilities. Because of a whole lot of irrational fear, three people who should be happily living together were miserable.

He felt a smile crease his face. At least, in this case, he could make everything all better for his little sister. “I have a plan.” He saw the Element pull into their designated parking space next to their RV. “Shit. Gwen just got back. Let me e-mail you, okay?”

“Okay. Thanks.”

He hung up and was working on his laptop when she stepped into the RV. “Want help unloading?” he asked.

“Nope. I’ve got it.”

He leaned back. “You feel like packing up at the end of the week, or you want to stay for another week?”

She shrugged. “Whatever you feel like doing. Why?”

They’d spent the winter circling the Southeastern US and staying away from nasty weather, most of it inside Florida, ambling between the Keys, east coast, west coast, and Panhandle. They were currently parked in a small RV park east of Jacksonville, beautiful and surrounded by old oak trees, only minutes from the beaches.

With March in full swing, it was safe to start heading toward California. The weather in the Midwest was currently mild.

And now he had a definite destination in mind. Gwen had a bunch of edits due in the next few weeks, so it would take them the better part of a month to reach their destination.

“I want to head west.”

* * * *

“This would be a lot easier if you’d tell me where we’re going,” Gwen snarked.

Liam laughed. “Nope.” He stopped for a red light and looked at her. “I told you, it’s a surprise.” He enjoyed driving the Element. The past several months had been nothing but really good days, his health better than it’d been in years. Neither of them felt comfortable with him driving the RV, but for short drives, he did well with the smaller SUV.

Gwen had an idea the reduced stress of not being around their parents had a positive benefit on his health. She knew it had benefitted hers.

She also had an idea what his surprise was, but didn’t want to hope at the same time she dreaded it.

They wound from Ocean Beach down to Laguna Beach. When they pulled into a small shopping center she spotted the sign and felt her heart doing backflips all the while it dropped through the basement. “Please tell me this isn’t what I think it is.”
Please tell me it is.

He grinned. “For the past eight months, all I’ve heard from you is how I should take chances and put myself out there. Well, time for you to nut up or shut up, sis.” He leaned across the seat and hugged her, his forehead resting against hers. “Maybe you’ll be pleasantly surprised.”

Throat dry, she emerged from the car on shaky legs and stared at the storefront. Liam pulled his cane out from behind the seat and walked around to her. “You gonna stand there and gawk, or you gonna take a chance?”

“I’m going to kill you,” she whispered.

“No you won’t. You wubs me.” He grinned. “Besides, the RV’s in my name. You still need me.” He grabbed her hand. “Let’s go.”

She’d been so proud of herself for not dwelling over them. For not obsessively looking at the pictures Liam took of the three of them at dinner that night. Especially not of the one where Tim and Jack were looking at her with blatant longing in their expressions.

In her mind she’d let them go, even though her heart tenaciously hung on to them.

He led her to the door. A sign announcing her book signing hung prominently by the entry, in the front windows, where it couldn’t be missed. The store reminded her of the one in Rapid City, the same feel. Relaxed, calm.

A woman behind the counter smiled as she greeted them. “Can I help you find anything?”

Liam held up Gwen’s hand. “This is your star attraction today, Gwen Oxford, AKA Gwenna Olmsford.”

The clerk’s eyes widened. “Oh, wow! Nice to meet you in person. Mr. Ellis has raved about you for years.”

Gwen beat back the emotional pang. “That’s very kind of you.” Liam squeezed her hand. When she glanced at him, he winked.

“He hasn’t arrived yet,” the clerk said. “I don’t think he was expecting you quite this early, but I can call him—”

“No,” Gwen said. “That’s okay. Don’t rush him. We’ll wait.”

She realized ten minutes later she had a death grip on poor Liam. When she released his hand, he smiled as he flexed his fingers. “Damn, girl, you got a grip on you.”

“Sorry.”

She left Liam sitting on one of the comfortable lounges and was browsing the stacks, a large section of shelves blocking her view of the front door, when she heard the door bell jingle. Immediately, Tim’s voice came to her, apparently talking on the phone with someone.

She froze, her eyes squeezed shut. Could she do this? Really? Seriously?

He ended his call. “Kelly, have you heard—Liam!”

“Hiya.”

“How are you, where’s…” Her body tensed as their voices dropped and she heard male whispers.

She couldn’t do this. She couldn’t see him and not be able to be with him. It hurt too much.

A moment later she felt more than heard a presence round the end of the shelf and stand in the alcove where she hid. Then she jumped at the gentle touch on her shoulder.

With a deep breath to steady herself, she turned and looked.

Tim stood there, nervously smiling, his blue eyes full of concern.

They silently stared at each other for a long moment. She was about to say something when he pulled her into his arms and kissed her. She didn’t try to break away. One of his hands slid down to her ass, the other tightly fisted her hair, holding her in place in case she tried to run, apparently.

He tasted so good, his body felt good, and she suppressed her moan as he took total control of her.

After a moment he didn’t release her, but his lips traveled down her neck. “I’m sorry I didn’t e-mail or call you, even though you told me not to. I should have. I should have pushed you to talk to me. I was so stupid to not stand up to him and make him see reason sooner. I love you so much. Jesus, I’ve missed you. He’s missed you, too, believe it or not.”

Gwen clung to him. “I missed you, too. Both of you.”

He kissed her again, slowly, thoroughly making up for lost time. “He loves you, babe. We need to talk. There’s things he has to tell you face-to-face, but he’s sorry for the fight. He really is. He’s not good at talking about himself or things in his past, but when you hear the full story, you’ll understand. I know you will.”

Her gut tightened. “Is he here?” She didn’t know if she could deal with facing him just yet.

“No, he’s home. He wanted to be here, planned on coming with me, but his mom’s in the hospital. Pneumonia.”

Her fear took over again, blasting hope out of her brain. “Why didn’t he call or e-mail me if he wanted to talk?”

“Because it took him a while to quit being mad at himself. He’s a stubborn man. You know that.”

“Stoneface.”

“Yeah. Believe me when I say it’s complicated, but it’s his story to tell you, not mine.” He held her tightly, not letting go. She didn’t want him to, either. She felt perfectly happy standing there with his arms encircling her. “Come with me.” He wouldn’t let go of her hand as he led her into a back office. There, he locked the door behind them and pulled her into his arms again as he backed her toward the desk. “We’ve got two hours until the book signing, and I don’t know about you, but I’m making up for lost time.”

The thought she should stop him crossed her mind, briefly, before she punted the idea out of her brain. By the time he got her to the desk, their shirts lay on the floor in a tangled heap. “Wait, what about Liam?” she asked.

He snorted. “Babe, I love your brother, but not like that, and I’m not doing him. I’m in love with you. That would just be creepy.”

She swatted him as he grinned. “I meant I feel bad leaving him out there alone.”

He nuzzled her neck. “Whose idea do you think this was, anyway? I was given orders to take you somewhere and love some sense into you.” He lifted her onto the desk and kissed her again. “I was told not to bring you back unless you had a smile on your face. I think he’d hurt me in the bad way with that cane of his if I didn’t do it, too.”