Destined to Be a Dad

“I didn’t say anything about bubbles,” she cut him off, her gaze on her phone, positive she hadn’t spoken that desire aloud. “And we can’t stay here.”

“Of course you can.” Elise Murphy’s voice carried from the doorway as she came back out to the porch. “You’re more than welcome.”

Stay here in the Murphy family home? Not bloody likely!

Now it was Missy’s turn to shake her head. “Oh, we wouldn’t want to impose—”

“It’s no imposition, dear.” Elise hurried to join them. “We’d love to have you. Now, we do have an empty guest room in the main house, but it only has a queen-size bed. Much too small for the two of you. Nolan’s place is out—what with the four of them, it’s already crowded and why he turned his guest room into an office I’ll never understand.”

“He likes to work late,” Liam said. “Really late.”

“And he can’t walk across the yard to his office here in the main house?” Elise harrumphed. “Bryant and Laurie’s cabin is too small. And you—” she paused to swat at her son’s chest “—if you’d bother to furnish any of the rooms in your new place beside the master suite—”

“My place has furniture,” Liam interrupted his mother. “Just not in the bedrooms.”

“And aren’t you sorry about that now?”

The flash of awareness in his gaze caused Missy’s already hastened heartbeat to race out of control. Pressing a hand to her chest, as if that would ease the wild thumping, she tried to put a stop to this. “I appreciate your offer, but we’ll be fine in a hotel.”

“Wait, I have the perfect place!” The older woman’s eyes lit up as she clasped her hands together. “You can stay in the boathouse.”

“The boathouse?” Casey asked. “What’s that?”

“It’s down back, on the lake. Above where we store the boats and canoes and stuff. It used to be a storage area, but a few years ago I came up with the idea of...”

Missy’s gaze locked with Liam’s, his mother’s chatter fading to a dull buzzing. The boathouse. A private sanctuary in the middle of the Murphy family madness she and Liam had often sneaked off to whenever they wanted to be alone.

They’d discovered the secluded setting by accident one cool and stormy spring afternoon after hurrying back from a canoe ride, soaked to the skin and looking for shelter.

Filled with cast-off furniture, old toys and boxes and trunks filled with everything from books to clothes to holiday decorations, the place had had a faint musty smell, but it’d been warm and dry. After realizing no one had found out where they’d gone off to, they’d returned often. Just being together, away from everyone, had been wonderful.

Of course, the intimacy of the space had lent itself to kisses...and so much more. It’d been the first place they’d made love. On a warm night with moonlight streaming through the windows, both unsure of what they were doing, but secure in their feelings and what they wanted.

A wanting that deepened and grew—

“Missy?”

Liam’s husky voice broke into her memories, but it was his heated touch on her arm that jolted her out of the past.

She jerked away, refusing to look at him or accept the wild beating of her heart. Thankfully Elise was still going on about the design of the apartment, and her daughter was so enthralled with the description neither one of them had noticed how she had zoned out.

Liam had. Of course he had. He knew exactly why she was about to refuse his mother’s generous offer.

“Us dropping in unannounced like this isn’t fair to Liam...or to your family.” Missy prayed her words didn’t sound as distressed as she felt. “We really don’t want to put you to any trouble.”

“Oh, it’s no trouble, dear. We were expecting a visit from friends of Alistair’s for the rodeo, but they had to cancel at the last minute. The place is ready with fresh linens and a fully stocked kitchen.”

“It sounds perfect.” Casey offered a pleading look. “Please, Mum?”

It was late and the constant memories were draining, both emotionally and physically. Besides, after all this time, what did it really matter?

Hating the lump of desperation in her stomach at that thought, she forced a smile. “Thank you. We appreciate your hospitality.”

Elise smiled and handed a key ring to her son. “Here, perhaps you should take them around through the backyard. There’s still a group of people in the living room. We’ll see you both in the morning.”

His mother gave Casey a quick hug, which her daughter easily returned, surprising Missy again. She’d be hard-pressed to remember the last time she saw her mother exchange affections that way with Casey.

After the woman went back inside, the teen hurried to the stairs, grabbing Missy’s two small suitcases along with a duffel bag she recognized as belonging to her daughter.

“Blimey, Mum...only two cases? I thought you took a whole store full when you departed for California.”

“Most of which is still in LA,” she quipped, joining her daughter after getting her purse. “I only brought enough clothes for a weekend trip.”

“But we aren’t—”

She lightly tugged at her earlobe—a familiar gesture between them that had the desired effect of stopping Casey from arguing. For the moment, at least. Her daughter’s expression said she was clearly gearing up for round two.

Oh, a tub full of bubbles was sounding better all the time.

“Here, you take the key and let me carry those.” Liam relieved Casey of the luggage and gestured for them to head down the stairs first. “Let’s get you two settled. Casey, you know the way.”

As she followed her daughter, Missy wondered what Liam meant by that last statement.

“We came home earlier for dinner,” Liam said, falling into step beside her as they strolled down the lighted stone path that led around the side of the house. “Dad barbecued and then everyone headed back to the rodeo.”

Missy nodded, a bit mystified that he’d known what she’d been thinking. “Everyone but you.”

“I had a business emergency to deal with.” His voice turned low. “And I was waiting for you.”

A pang of...something she didn’t wish to label hit her right in the chest. She wrapped her arms across her middle against the chill that danced over her skin, raising goose bumps. The silky blazer and tank top she wore underneath were perfect for southern California in August, but the nights were cool here in Wyoming.

Yes, that had to be the reason for her body’s reaction to Liam’s words.

“Don’t worry, it doesn’t look anywhere near the same.”

Again, meant for her ears only, and she knew exactly what he was talking about. “It’s fine.”

“A lot has changed since you were here—”

“Yes, of course, it has.” She secretly hoped the attic space had been redone as extensively as Elise Murphy described. “As I said, it’s fine. Wait—what is—” She stopped short and pointed at the dark object just outside the reach of the outdoor lighting. “Is that a helicopter on the other side of the lot?”

“It’s for the family business,” Liam said. “A couple of my brothers and I are the pilots.”

She now remembered seeing something about it on the company’s website, but she’d had no idea... “You fly, too?”

Liam grinned, gesturing with her suitcase, and Missy started walking again, her heels clicking against the stones. The sturdy pathway continued through the large grassy yard and forest of trees at the back of the house.

She wondered how far it went. Years ago there’d been only a dirt trail that led from the oversize backyard down to the river. When they rounded the corner of the house, Missy stumbled to a stop. “Oh, my.”