Liam's Perfect Woman (Home to Harbor Town 2) - Page 67

His voice broke at the last.

“Liam, pull over. Please,” Natalie said in a strangled voice.

He glanced over at her. When he saw the tears on her cheeks, he did what she asked, pulling into a gas station parking lot about a half a mile down the road. When he turned off the engine, he just sat there, his hands remaining on the steering wheel, staring out the window.

“She knew,” he said quietly.

“Who knew?”

“My sister. Deidre. That’s why she left Harbor Town. That’s why she never came back. That’s why her and Mom’s relationship was severed after the crash. It wasn’t because she blamed Mom for hiding Dad’s drinking—or at least it wasn’t just that. Deidre found out she wasn’t Dad’s biological daughter.”

“Oh, Liam…” Natalie murmured miserably.

“Deidre was in the house with Mom when Dad came back to Harbor Town unexpectedly on that Tuesday,” Liam continued in a hoarse whisper, his eyes vacant. “I was at the beach. Marc was out with Mari. Colleen was at cheerleader camp. But Deidre was there. She was supposed to stay in bed, but my mom couldn’t keep her down. I’ll bet she got up with her crutches when she heard Dad’s voice. She must have overheard something…my dad confronting my mom…God…poor Deidre…how that must have hit her,” he said brokenly, as if the truth had finally penetrated and he’d seen the horror of it.

Natalie put her hand on his forearm. He looked at her. A spasm of emotion went through his face. A shaky moan escaped her throat and she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, wild to comfort him…desperate in the knowledge that she’d inflicted the wound.

Chapter Fourteen

When they returned to Harbor Town, everything seemed different to Natalie. The woman who had dared less than a month ago to hire Liam Kavanaugh to investigate the crash seemed like a stranger to her now. How could she have been so bold?

How could she have been so stupid?

Liam dropped her off at her town house. They’d talked a great deal on their return journey, and both of them had agreed that Liam would talk to his mother about what they’d learned. There were still some pieces missing to the puzzle that only Brigit Kavanaugh could provide.

Natalie didn’t envy Liam his decision to confront Brigit.

He did so on the same day they returned to Harbor Town. It was a gray September afternoon with a hint of autumn in the air. Her heart ached for Liam as she watched him drive away. He looked exhausted from their journey and the stress of what they’d learned in Tahoe.

She unpacked mechanically, telling herself not to think of the sad events of the past twenty-four hours. Every time she thought of Liam wincing in pain as they sat together in that gas station parking lot, something clenched tight in her chest. By the time she’d unpacked, coldness had settled into her bones. She went to her kitchen and filled the tea kettle. As she stared blankly out the window over her sink, it all seemed to crash into her like an emotional tidal wave.

She lowered her head and sobbed.

It hurt like hell, knowing full well what she’d done. Others had been able to quiet their curiosity about the crash. Mari had never seen fit to hire an investigator. Eric had never obsessed the way Natalie did.

Why couldn’t she have just let it rest? Now it was done, and she had to live with the knowledge that her obsession had wounded the man she care for—loved—more than anything in the world.

She hadn’t just hurt Liam with her actions, either. She’d started events that w

ould lead to all the Kavanaugh children questioning their parents, their pasts, the very foundations of their lives. They would think her malicious in her interference.

She’d gained what she thought she’d wanted, and in doing so, she’d sacrificed the real treasure. Liam.

After she’d cried herself dry, she felt hollowed out…empty. The knowledge of what she had to do left her numb.

A knock sounded after ten o’clock that evening. Outwardly, she was composed as she answered the door. Inwardly, it was as if an icy hand clutched her heart.

“How did it go?” Natalie asked a minute later, once Liam had settled tiredly in an easy chair in her living room, and she’d brought him a cup of coffee, at his request.

He exhaled heavily and took a large sip of the hot drink. “Well…my mom didn’t deny any of it. We’ve been talking nonstop the entire time. Once she understood that I knew the truth about DuBois, she sort of just…broke.”

“Is she all right?” Natalie asked, concerned.

Liam nodded. “Yeah. I’m not saying it was easy on her, but I think she’s okay. I called Colleen, and she and the kids came to stay with her tonight. I had no idea…”

“What?” Natalie whispered.

“I had no idea how guilty she always felt. Mom feels it was all her fault—the crash, the deaths, Deidre’s fury at her.” He gave her an entreating look. “It was always there, eating away at her. That’s why she was so defensive, why she was so…hard. I didn’t mention this to her, but I think it could be why she wasn’t taking her medications last year, why she was letting her health go. I think part of her didn’t care anymore….”

Tags: Beth Kery Home to Harbor Town Billionaire Romance
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