Page 46 of Miss Understanding

“You don’t need to clean.”

I rolled my eyes. “Sure, I do. Your mom is coming over, and there was some dirt on the carpet from us getting wood.” I flipped the on switch on the ancient upright only to be shocked when he took it from me.

“Then, let me do it. You’re off the clock.”

The vacuuming really seemed to bother him. I went to get the pizzas he’d put on the table only to have him frown again. “Leave them. I can heat a pizza.”

“Okay, then.” I decided to go back to my bedroom and change into jeans. The knock came just as I’d buttoned them up.

“Come in,” I called out.

Liam opened the door but stood in the frame. “I didn’t mean you needed to leave. But it bothered me to see you cleaning.”

“Why?”

“Because you do enough for me. You don’t need to go and clean for my mother coming over.”

My lips parted in surprise.

“Anyhow, you’re welcome to join us for dinner. I bought more wine.”

My lips curved up into a smile. “Red?”

“One Pinot Noir and another Malbec.”

“My hero.” We exchanged grins which made my stomach flutter. With us getting along, that sort of thing was happening more often.

An hour later once his mother arrived, we sat down to a pizza dinner. “You took care of the catering for the funeral reception?” she asked him.

“Yes. Kendall found a place out of Blacksburg to cater it.”

“Good. But I hope the snow doesn’t interfere.”

“Snow?” we both said at the same time.

“Yes. But it’ll probably only be a couple of inches like the last one.”

Thank goodness.

“Liam, I’d like you to go down to the mortuary tomorrow morning to at least see your father one last time before the body is released.”

His entire body stiffened with her words. His voice was flat and monotone when he spoke. “I thought he was being cremated.”

“He is. But I think you should at least make peace with him before that happens.”

“I’ve made my peace, Mother.”

“Please. For me.”

“I’ll think about it.”

She clasped her son’s hand. “It would make me happy. So very happy.”

After his mother left, Liam cleaned up the kitchen without a word.

I decided to leave him to his thoughts despite the urge to comfort him. I’d already made the mistake of asking him if he was okay and been snapped at in return. It wouldn’t be worth risking our truce to ask a second time.

I heard the sound of his footsteps climbing the stairs around ten while I lay in my bed. Deciding to grab some water then, I puttered out to the living room in my LA Ram’s jersey. Considering it hung to my knees, it was more than modest. Still, I wasn’t prepared to face Liam. But when I opened the refrigerator, its light showed him sitting at the table. He had a tumbler of whiskey in his hand.