Back to Life (25 page)

Grayson
smiled. “Old man, huh?”

I
smiled back at him. “Original player, sorry,” I said, and he laughed deep from
his belly.

“Original
player, I like that. Maybe I’ll put it on my license plates,” he said. “I’m
going to go talk to the police. Liam, you take care of our girl,” he said,
winking at me.

“Don’t
worry Dad, I will,” he said, kissing the top of my head. Grayson walked back
inside the house and Liam lifted my chin with his finger. “Are you sure you’re
okay? I’m so sorry that I didn’t come rushing after you, but I had to give a
quick statement. Well that, and I was elbowed in the stomach by a bad ass
redhead, and it kind of knocked the wind out of me for a minute,” he said,
laughing.

“Oh,
gosh, Liam, I am so sorry about that. Did I hurt you?” I said, feeling
embarrassment creeping through me again.

“Nah,
I’m just fine. Never better,” he said, and he leaned in and kissed me before I
could speak. It never failed to amaze me how I could melt over and over again
every time he kissed me. “You’re really okay?”

I
nodded at him. “I’m fine, hubby, I promise,” I said, and he smiled widely.

“Hubby?”

“Yep.
Soon to be anyway,” I said.

“How
soon may I ask?”

“Whenever
you want to,” I said.

“Okay,
let’s do it now. Come on, we’ll drive to Atlantic City and find an all night
chapel,” he said, grinning.

“Liam,
come on, I didn’t mean
that
soon,” I laughed. “Look, we can talk about
this later, okay?”

“Okay,
angel. Do you want to head home?”

“Yes,
but I need to say goodbye and apologize to your mother first. Is that okay?”

He
kissed me quickly again. “Of course it is. Let’s go,” he said, taking my hand
in his. As we walked, he pulled my hand up and kissed the back of it, then
kissed my ring. “I can’t believe you said yes. I feel like the luckiest bastard
in the world right now,” he said, and I smiled. Just as we climbed the steps,
the front door opened and the two cops came through escorting Erica out. She
had a bit of dried blood on her lips and chin, and her nose was swollen twice
its size. There was also a pretty nasty bruise on her jaw line. She glared at
me as she and the two cops walked her down the steps.

“You
think this is over, little girl, but it’s not. Just remember that,” she said,
and the cops pulled her down the steps toward the squad car and placed her in
the back.

Liam
rubbed my arm. “Don’t pay any attention to her, baby. She’s just been
humiliated in front of her colleagues, so she’s just throwing out idle
threats.”

“I
know she is. I’m not afraid of her,” I said, feeling a weight lift off me.

“Come
on, let’s go back inside,” he said, and we walked in the house together.
Thankfully, most of the guests had left while Grayson and I were outside, and
the only ones still inside were Grayson, Vivian, Marissa, Brody, Nick, and
Samantha. Their eyes all snapped to me at once, and they all wore concerned
looks on their faces. Suddenly, as I looked at Vivian’s face, I burst out into
tears again.

“Darling,
what’s wrong?” she asked, rushing toward me. Liam let go of my hand and she
wrapped her arms around me.

“Vivian,
I am so sorry for that. Please forgive me,” I cried.

“Rory,
sweetheart, you have absolutely nothing to apologize for. Hell, I wish I could
have gotten a swing at her. I loathe that woman,” she said, rubbing my back
with her delicate hands. “I just wish I had known about all of your history
with her before we extended her an invitation.”

“I’m
sorry I didn’t tell you, but it was just too painful to talk about,” I said,
sniffing.

“I’ll
bet. You poor girl, losing your fiancé and your baby all at the same time. My
heart just breaks for you.”

“So,
you’re not mad at me or ashamed that I’ve been engaged and,” I swallowed hard,
“pregnant before?”

“Absolutely
not! I could never be ashamed for things that happened to you! Rory, your story
isn’t shameful, it’s tragic, but it’s made you a strong, confident, beautiful
woman. For you to have gone through all that and still be here standing and
moving forward makes you the strongest woman I have ever known.”

I
felt fresh tears stinging at my eyes. “Really?”

“Of
course, sweetheart! How can you not see what a dazzling girl you are? We all
see it,” she said, motioning to Brody, Marissa, Nick, and Samantha. “Trust me,
Rory, we all love you very much and we’re proud of you for fighting back after
what happened to you.”

I
hugged her again. “I promise I won’t do anything like this again,” I said, and
she laughed.

“Like
I said, I wish I could have slapped her too,” she said, releasing me.

“Well,
Mom,” said Liam, “I think we are going to head out, if that’s okay. We have a
two hour drive ahead of us and I don’t want to get tired while I’m driving.”

“Well,
if you are getting tired, you are more than welcome to stay the night here and
head back to the city in the morning. All of you are welcome to stay, we have
plenty of room,” she said.

I
looked at Liam, waiting for him to answer. “Do you want to stay, angel? It’s up
to you.”

Actually,
the idea sounded great. I was physically and emotionally exhausted after what
happened with Erica, and curling up in a beautiful king size bed next to my
handsome fiancé while the ocean waves rolled onto the sandy beach sounded like
heaven. “I think staying here sounds amazing,” I said, and he smiled.

“Okay
then, I guess we’re staying,” he said to Vivian, who lit up.

“Oh
wonderful! I’m sure I have some spare pajamas you can use since you didn’t
bring any extra clothes.”

“That’s
okay Mom, I have an extra tee shirt in my car, she can use that,” he said,
winking at me. He leaned in and whispered in my ear, “I can’t make love to you
when you are wearing my mother’s pajamas,” he said, and I giggled.

“Okay,
then,” she said, thankfully not hearing us. “How about you all? Would you like
to stay?”

Everyone
nodded in agreement, and Vivian looked absolutely elated. “Wonderful! I will
have the maid get you all some fresh clothes and get your rooms set up,” she
said, and she quickly left the room with Grayson in tow.

Nick
walked over to me and picked me up into a hug and swung me around. “Damn girl,
this is the second time I have seen you kick someone’s ass, and it was just as
awesome as the first time,” he said, and I laughed.

“Gee,
thanks, Nick,” I said when he set me down.

“Seriously
though, I’m really sorry about your fiancé and your baby. God, that’s so
awful,” he said, genuine sadness on his face.

“Thanks,
Nick,” I said, patting him on the back.

“Did
they ever catch who did it?” he asked me.

I
shook my head. “No, they didn’t.”

“Well,
it’s your call Rory, but if you want us to, Liam and I can do some digging. Maybe
we can find out did this,” Nick offered. If it were possible, I felt my love
for him grow even more in that moment.

“That’s
sweet that you want to do this for me, but I really don’t think you’re going to
find anything. Mason was shot on a busy New York street with probably three
hundred witnesses, and apparently no one saw the man who shot him,” I answered.
“I guess the guy was wearing a mask or something, so no one could identify
him.”

Nick
shook his head. “I don’t know, though. I think there is something there that
the initial investigators missed. It just seems a little too convenient to me,
a little too clean. I mean, think about it. There are muggings all the time in
New York City. People don’t wear masks and commit a crime right out on the
street, but this guy wore a mask to make sure that no one saw his face. It just
all sounds a little too… ‘staged’ if you ask me,” Nick said, and I could see
the wheels in his head turning.

“Well,
if you want to look into it you can, but I don’t know what you will be able to
find that the cops didn’t already find.”

“Your
lack of faith in me is insulting, Rory,” he said, smiling. Hugging me again, he
said, “I just want to help.”

“And
I love you for that, Nick. Thank you,” I said, and he laughed when he released
me.

“You
hear that, Tanner? She said she loves me. I better back off before she decides
to trade up,” he joked, and I slapped him on the stomach.

“Behave
or I’ll kick your ass, you know I will,” I said, and he laughed as he walked
back over to Samantha. He leaned down and kissed her and said, “Sorry baby, I
was just teasing.”

“I
know you were, but you still have to make it up to me,” she said, winking.

“Oh,
I think I can find a way,” he said, and she slammed her mouth on his again.

I
turned back to Liam. “Okay, on that note, I think I’m ready to call it a night,”
I said, and he smiled at me.

“I
will go and see if Mom needs any help,” he said, nodding at Brody and Marissa
before walking out of the room. After what just happened, they are the only
ones I hadn’t talked to yet.

Brody
came and wrapped his arm around my shoulders. “Rory, are you okay after all of
that?”

“Yeah,
that had to have been hard, seeing her here,” Marissa added.

“You
guys, I’m fine. I was only really upset because I felt like I embarrassed Liam’s
parents. Believe me, I’ve wanted to do that for a long, long time. I feel like
a weight has been lifted off me. I bet Mason would have been proud,” I said,
smiling.

“I
bet you’re right. He was probably looking down and cheering you on,” Marissa
said. I smiled and a tear escaped my eyes. “Rory, what’s wrong?”

I
shook my head and wiped my cheek. “Oh, it’s nothing. It just still makes me sad
to think about him,” I admitted.

“I
know, sweetie. So, are you really going to let Liam and Nick reopen his case?”
Brody asked.

“If
they want to they can, but like I told Nick, I don’t think they will find
anything.”

“I
don’t know, Rory, I think Nick has a point. It does seem a little too clean now
that I think about it. I hope they find something so we can really get some
closure on all of this,” he said, and I hugged him back.

“I
hope they can too,” I said. Just then, Liam came back into the room with Vivian
and said that our rooms were ready. I took Liam’s hand in mine as we bid
everyone good night, and we climbed the stairs and walked down the last bedroom
at the end of the hall...the one that Liam and I had been in just hours before.
He turned on the light and shut the door, locking it behind him. Before I could
think, his arms were around me and he moved my ponytail to the side and began
kissing my neck. I was really beginning to love this room.

Liam

“You
are an animal, you know that?” I heard Rory whisper in amusement as I kissed my
way down the nape of her long neck. “We’ve barely been in the room for thirty
seconds and you are trying to get me naked again.”

“Of
course I am. This is our engagement night, and that means we need to be rolling
around naked together in that bed all night long celebrating,” I said.

She
turned around to me. “Oh you think so, huh?” she smiled, and right before she
kissed me, there was a knock on my bedroom door.

“Liam,
its Mom, sorry to interrupt,” Mom said from the other side of the door. I
groaned, and Rory smiled at me and motioned for me to answer her.

I
unlocked the door and opened it to find her there holding a folded pile of
towels. “You didn’t interrupt anything, Mom. What’s up?”

“I
just came to give you some fresh towels and a couple of robes for you both so
you can shower,” she said, smiling.

“Thanks
a lot,” I said, taking everything from her.

“You’re
welcome. Well, I’ll leave you two alone now. I’m so glad that you are staying
with us,” she said, beaming at Rory.

“Thank
you for having us, this place is so beautiful,” Rory said, smiling at my
mother.

“It’s
my pleasure, darling. You two sleep well, and um,
enjoy
your night,” she
said, winking at me, and I smiled at her. “Congratulations again, you two.”

I
hugged her quickly and said, “Thanks Mom. Good night.”

“Good
night,” Mom said, and Rory waved at her. I placed the towels and the robes on
the dresser and immediately wrapped Rory in my arms.

“Now,
where were we?” I said, and leaned into kiss her but she stopped me. “Why are
you stopping?” I asked.

“Actually,
if you don’t mind, I kind of want to take a shower. This is our engagement
night, like you said, and I don’t want us to have sex again in that bed before
I wash out all of the sand I got in my hair,” she smiled, and I laughed.