Before Sunrise (26 page)

“
Shit. I’m sorry. I didn’t
mean to upset her.” Liam’s voice was choked with
emotion.

“
It’s okay, she’s confused.
She saw us kiss last night, and argue. We need to explain to her
what’s going on.”

“
Explain what, Kay? That we
were married first? That Phil is not related to her? That you’re my
wife? How do you explain that to a four-year-old?”

“
I don’t know.” Kennedy put
her hands to the sides of her head. “But I will talk to
her.”

“
No. Let me be a father. At
least let me try. I’m the one confusing her. So I should
try.”

Kennedy grabbed Liam’s hand. “I…we can do it
together, okay? I’m her mother and she needs me. She needs us both.
Right?”

He hesitated. His gaze lowered to her touch.
She needed him to agree to be a team. The moment passed, but she
noticed his guard lowered a bit. Liam would have to learn that she
might be weak for him, for their love, but Mackenzie would always
be her baby and she’d protect her from all of them if she had
to.

Liam gave her a single nod. Together they
walked out into the living room. Mackenzie sat on the sofa with her
knees drawn up to her chest and her arms wrapped around her legs to
keep them in place. Her face was pressed into her knees.

Liam went to her left and Kennedy to her
right. They sat on either side of her. Slowly, Mackenzie lifted her
head and looked at Liam. She reached for her mother instead. This,
Kennedy knew, must pain him. But he sat there with patience and
understanding in his eyes.

“
Mackenzie. Can you look at
me?”

She did.

“
I want to apologize to
you.”

“
Pologize?” she
repeated.

“
Yes.” He smiled. “I kissed
mommy without your permission. I’m sorry for that.”

“
Only my daddy kisses her,”
Mackenzie said with a forced warning in her voice.

Kennedy bristled and braced for Liam’s
reaction. But he only smiled softly. He extended his hand to
Mackenzie to ask her to come to him. She looked up at her mother.
Kennedy nodded that it was okay.

Mackenzie crawled across the separating sofa
cushion and Liam placed her on his lap, wincing as if pain shot
from his knee to his hip. “I’m your daddy too.”

“
Daddy-from-heaven, not my
real daddy.”

“
No. I’m your real daddy. I
was never in heaven, sweetie. I was just waiting for my chance to
meet you.”

“’
Cause you a hero, and
heroes can’t be killed. That’s what the twins say.”

“
Not sure if I’m a hero. But
I am your daddy, the daddy who helped mommy create you.”

Mackenzie’s eyes were round as saucers. She
looked back at her mother. “He made me?”

“
He had some help.” Kennedy
laughed softly. “We made you together.”

“
How?”

“
Ah, well…that’s a long
story.” Liam stumbled.

“
Then who is my other daddy?
He made me, too?”

“
He’s the daddy that came
when I had to go away. He wanted to be there to take care of you,
too.”

“
I don’t get it.” Mackenzie
frowned.

“
I’m not sure I do, either.”
Liam smiled. “I’m just daddy, okay. I’m your real daddy and I love
you. I also love your mommy. I know that’s confusing. Having two
daddies all to yourself. But sometimes the things adults do don’t
make sense.”

Mackenzie nodded as if she were wise enough
to get his meaning.

“
Good, because I have no
plans to go away again. I’m here to stay.”

“
I want you to stay. I’m
glad you came.”

Liam snorted against Mackenzie’s neck and
she squealed. Kennedy stifled a smile. She thought about Eric’s
warning that Liam needed professional help to deal with his anger,
that they only had weeks before the military would want to put him
in some think tank to help catch the people who had stolen him. Did
Liam even know of these plans? Kennedy had hoped all he truly
needed was their love. She listened as Liam charmed their daughter,
watched him as he fell head-over-heels in love with her. Within
five minutes he had her hugging his neck and agreeing with every
word he said. She even said he could kiss mommy if he wanted
to.

“
Do it now, daddy from
heaven. Give her a kiss.”

Liam locked eyes with Kennedy.

Kennedy felt her throat grow dry. She looked
at him, then her daughter, not sure how to respond. For a brief,
uncomfortable moment she considered making the first move. After
all, their kiss had been so fleeting, and it had been five long
years. Nervous energy spread a tingling sensation through her palms
and her breath came out in uneven puffs. Liam smirked. Could he
tell what she wanted? Of course he could. He always could.

“
I’ll kiss mommy, don’t you
worry about that.”.

Crisis averted, they decided to have
breakfast. And Liam’s face, the way he grabbed at the biscuits over
and over again, made Kennedy so happy. They both talked to
Mackenzie, not to each other, but she caught Liam staring after
her. If she rose to go to the kitchen to get jelly or butter, his
gaze followed her every step. If she helped Mackenzie by cutting
her breakfast meat, he watched her. All of this she pretended to
ignore. Mackenzie grew tired of the visit first. Having eaten two
breakfasts and talked herself out, she began to yawn and complain
of being sleepy.

Kennedy excused herself and took Mackenzie
upstairs. She convinced her daughter to take a nap. She promised
they’d make lunch together when she got up. Mackenzie protested,
but the night had truly exhausted her. Once Kennedy got her on the
bed, she was yawning, willing to watch a little TV while her lids
sagged with fatigue.

“
Will he be my daddy even
after Christmas, mommy?”

“
Yes, he will.”

“
Will he come here and stay
with us and my other daddy too?”

Even in her exhaustion, Mac’s mind grappled
with how the two daddies she loved could exist in the same place in
her tiny heart. Maybe they did need a family counselor to help them
all through this. “Don’t worry about that. Just know that both
daddies love you and I do too.”

Mackenzie seemed satisfied with that answer,
for now.

Kennedy was not.

She returned downstairs. Liam wasn’t in the
living room or dining room. She continued through her house until
she found him in the family room. He stood before the bookshelf.
Family pictures were everywhere. She walked in and saw him linger
over the ones of her and Phil, as if studying every detail. Kennedy
didn’t know if she should speak or just let him take it all in.
Eventually his eyes moved on. He picked up a glamour shot of
Harper.

“
She’s not your little
squirrel anymore, huh?” Kennedy asked.

“
I can’t believe how quickly
she grew up. She’s beautiful. Is she back in Connecticut with your
folks?”

“
No, after you went missing
she moved in with me, finished school early, then um, she moved
out.” Kennedy mumbled the last.

Liam set the picture down. He looked at her
for the rest of the story. “Why?”

“
Well, I’m sure Harper will
tell you when she gets here. She, um, she doesn’t like Phil. Never
did. So when we started—”

“
I get it.”

He walked away from the bookshelf with his
cane. Kennedy stood there, not sure what to do with her hands. He
eased down into the sofa. She watched how he’d have to extend his
left leg out and balance on his cane as he took a seat.

“
How did it happen? Your
knee?”

“
Shrapnel blew off part of
the bone. Took some tendon with it, too.”

Kennedy felt her heartbeat quicken. Her
throat went dry again and her palms got sweaty. “Is it going to be
okay, I mean will it—”

“
Get better? No. This is it.
But I’m used to it now.”

“
Oh. Well. Well, I guess I
should clean up the kitchen.”

“
Are you going to leave
Phil?”

Kennedy sighed. She walked over to the sofa
and sat on the other end. “Yes, I am, Liam.”

Liam didn’t look at her. “When?”

“
Soon.”

“
Why not now?”

“
Because…because I want to
make sure we’re all ready. I think we should go into
counseling.”

He did look over at her. His brow was
creased deeply, his eyes dark and angry. “I don’t need a
psychiatrist. I’m not crazy.”

“
You saw your daughter. She
and I need it. And we need you to be part of our healing process. I
want us just as much as you do, but we keep hurting each other.
Just being together hurts now. It was never like that before. We
have to—”

“
I want to take her to get a
Christmas tree. I noticed you don’t have one. We can put it up
together in my place.”

“
Your place? The
Marriott?”

Liam didn’t answer. Kennedy decided to steer
the conversation back to her concerns. She could pace it based on
his willingness to cooperate. But she had Mackenzie to think of.
She had to do what was best for her little girl. “I’m serious about
counseling. After the media circus dies down, we need to transition
our lives and I think that will best be done with the help of a
counselor.” She purposely didn’t use the word ‘psychiatrist.’ “If
you don’t agree to it, then I have to believe you don’t want us to
heal together.”

He sat perfectly still.

She waited for him to react.

He wouldn’t even look at her.

“
When did you start sleeping
with him?” he asked.

“
Liam, don’t ask me
questions like that.”

His jaw clenched. “Was it a day, a week, a
month after I was gone?”

“
You know me better than
that. We were making progress. Don’t reduce it to your
ego.”

“
My
what
?” He shot her a
glare.

“
You heard me. I waited
four-and-a-half damn years for you to walk through that door. I
would have waited four more if it weren’t for Mackenzie. She needed
me whole. I had to find a way to become a mother and— I had to
become another person. I had to grow up.”

“
Because with me you
couldn’t grow?”

“
You’re twisting my words.”
She sighed, exasperated. He switched his gaze away, the anger
settling into the dark scowl on his face. Kennedy rubbed the
tension from her temples. “I can’t change what happened, Liam.
Neither can you. Do you think I’m going to throw away this chance
for a life with you? That I’m going to give up on the life I’ve
dreamt of since I was seventeen? If you think that, then you never
knew me.”

He turned and she couldn’t help but read the
anger in his penetrating stare.

“
That’s right, look at me.
Am I lying? I love you. Only you. No one, not even Phil, has ever
touched my heart.”

“
Really?”

She ignored his sarcasm and steadfastly met
his eyes. “Really.”

“
I’m pissed. And jealous.
Shit, I want to break his fucking jaw. I still might,” he
confessed.

She relaxed. “No, Liam, you won’t. I
understand your anger. We need to talk through it. But let’s go at
a pace we both can handle. First, help me get our lives on track. A
day at a time.”

Liam wiped his hand down his face. He
groaned and dropped back against the cushion. “Damn, I’ve waited so
long for this. To just be in the same room with you.”

“
Me, too,” she said
softly.

He dropped his gaze over her way. “You know
you look beautiful, Kay, in that dress. You wore it to torture
me.”

Kennedy smirked.

He shook his head. “It worked.”

She extended her hand to him. He was slow to
respond, but he reached for her. They held hands from the opposite
sides of the sofa. Together they sat there, lost in their own
thoughts. When the doorbell rang, she was both relieved and
disappointed.

“
I’ll get it. If they
reached the door, its either Harper or Angelina.”

She relaxed her hand but for a long moment,
he didn’t let go. Eventually he did. As she crossed the room she
felt his gaze on her, so she put a little more of a sway to her
hips, a bit more torture for him being such a bullheaded jerk. She
glanced over her shoulder and saw it had worked. He would be hers
soon. She didn’t care what the world threw at them. She wasn’t
about to give up.

Harper drove down her sister’s street,
immediately noting the phalanx of reporters who held the
neighborhood hostage. Forced to park several houses up, she gawked
from her window. Reporters were at the neighbors’ houses, knocking
on their doors.

“
Wow. This is crazy.” She
pulled her keys out of the ignition and grabbed her purse. Getting
out of the car, she headed straight for Kennedy’s door. A guy in
uniform, actually two of them, cut her off before her foot hit the
sidewalk.

“
Ma’am, I have ask that you
step back.”

“
Huh? That’s my sister’s
place. I’m Harper Washington.”

The taller one, a redheaded cutie, looked
back at the light brown-skinned brother behind him. Harper had a
thing for a man in uniform. Moving to Spring Lake had put them in
her path constantly. And then there was Eric, who would make any
girl within ten feet faint. He’d been the standard all other men
had to beat. Muscular, black, sexy, she had masturbated many a
night to the thought of Eric touching her.