Fisting her hands on her hips, Tanya lifted her chin. “I was younger then. So were you. What did either of us know about the real world?”
Their gazes locked and Tanya fought the tears burning her eyes. Despite her insistence she could do what had to be done alone as far as Davidson was concerned, she couldn’t deny the hope that, one day, she’d have Liam to rely on. She took her hands from her hips and raised them. “Look, I’m back.” Her lips trembled with the effort it took to smile. “And this time, I’m happy to be here.” His gaze hardened and Tanya fought the need to step back. “What?”
“You’re lying.”
“No, I’m not.”
He huffed out a laugh. “You never could quite manage to lie to me, which is probably half the reason you pushed a note under my door eight years ago, wishing me well with my life before you disappeared with no forwarding address, phone number or email.”
Resentment dripped from his words and Tanya’s hackles rose. “How can you still be so angry?” She stared at him. “After all this time?”
His cheeks darkened and he closed his eyes, tipping his face toward the ceiling. “Unbelievable.”
Tanya stared at his neck, relishing the way his Adam’s apple moved in such an entirely masculine way beneath his skin. He was built strong, intelligent and caring. All virtues that had scared her young self into running far away from him. “Please try to understand, Liam. I was starting to need you far too much, so I threw myself into my career. As my ambition grew, so did the barrier around my heart. I had to leave or risk hurting you more deeply than me leaving ever could.”
“You should’ve talked to me.”
It had been so very long since she noticed a man, she’d begun to think that part of her had been flushed down the toilet along with everything else in her life. Now, looking at Liam, it seemed her libido was still alive and well.
She cleared her throat. “A lot has happened for me in these past eight years. I assumed things had for you, too.”
“They have. I’m a lawyer now. I’m successful, well-known and respected. People don’t just barge into my life expecting me to drop everything, because everyone knows how damn busy I am.”
Tanya frowned. “I’m not expecting you to drop everything.”
“Yes, you are. Just as you always did.”
She trembled as anxiety over his coldness swept through her. “I’m not that person anymore.”
“No?” His gaze burned with resentment. “We’ll have to see about that.”
“Eight years is a long time. You don’t know me now any more than I know you.”
“I know you’re back for something. Something important.”
She forced her shoulders back, faced his accusations. “Fine. I want to start over.”
“Start over? With what? With the people you ignored or wouldn’t help? With me? With yourself?” He glared. “You might look different, but your eyes haven’t changed. Something’s eating you from the inside out, and if the only way for you to deal with it was to come back to the Cove, that something must be here. Am I right?”
Tanya’s heart beat fast. He always could read her like a damn book. “Maybe, but I’m not talking about that now. I didn’t come back expecting...” She shook her head and clasped her hands together to halt their trembling. “I just need a chance to start over. That’s all I’m asking for.”
A muscle flexed and relaxed in his jaw. “Fine. You don’t need me to help you start over. You can do that all by yourself.”
A pain jolted her heart, but Tanya gave a curt nod. “Absolutely.”
He ran his gaze over her face, pausing at her lips. “Good, because you can’t just waltz back into town and expect us to be...friends again.”
His assumption irked her. She huffed out a laugh. “We can’t even be friends? Well, fine, then I made a mistake assuming you’d talk to me, but I never expected you to drop everything. How was I supposed to know you’d be at the Seascape? When did I say anything about you being there for me during our three-minute conversation? You’ve clearly been having a two-sided conversation with yourself. Just like you always did when you were mad.”
Tanya gave a dismissive wave before marching across the open-plan space into the kitchen area. She grabbed the kettle from the counter. It trembled as she held it under the faucet.
“You’re in trouble, Tanya. It’s written all over your face. You need my help, and you expected me to fling my arms open in welcome, didn’t you?”
Her cheeks burned as his accusation struck like a knife blade across her heart. She slammed the kettle on the counter and flicked it on to boil. Inhaling a shaky breath, she faced him. “Fine. You’ve moved on, I have, too. I’m not back expecting anything from you or anyone else. There are things I want to do, have to do, and Templeton is the right place for them to happen. That’s it. I’m here because this is where I need to be.”
He studied her a moment longer before his eyes narrowed with distrust. “So nothing’s changed. Same Tanya. Same agenda.”
“Goddamn it, Liam.” She stepped forward and slapped her hands on the breakfast counter separating them, her temper snapping. “I am not the same Tanya, and believe me, my agenda is far from what it was when I was here before.”
“Then tell me about it.”
“No.”
He glared. “Then what choice do I have but to assume you’re going to barrel through everyone here, looking for money, ambition and every other damn thing regardless of who you knock over along the way?”
Anger rushed through her, making her want to slap him, damn well kick him straight between the legs. She pushed away from the counter and, rounding it, she charged him. “Don’t talk to me that way.”
Surprise flashed through his eyes. “What the hell are you doing?” He braced himself and raised his hands. When she was less than a foot away, he lunged forward and lifted her off her feet before tossing her like a bag of potatoes onto the sofa.
The air left her lungs and she dug her nails into the cushions. “You bastard.”
“What the hell’s the matter with you?” He glared. “You’re like a damn cat who’s caught his tail in an electric socket.”
Angry and humiliated, Tanya snatched up a cushion. “Just get out.”
She put the cushion to her face and waited. But there were no footsteps across the carpet.
Silence filled the room and split the space between them like a guillotine.
Tanya slumped in defeat. Liam Browne never walked away from any situation, no matter how difficult. He was stoic, strong, calm and precise. The complete opposite of her. Now he’d seen her, she would have to answer every question he asked, or risk losing the chance for at least renewed friendship with one of the best men she had ever known—ever had the pleasure of making love with.
But God knew, she would not let him into her heart again. Never, ever again, because Templeton was barely big enough for them apart...together, it was like housing two tigers in a cage. One of them would eat the other alive or die trying to escape.
* * *
LIAM CONTINUED TO look at Tanya’s covered face, visualizing every dip, line, curve and furrow he knew so well. He pictured her wide brown eyes, full, pink lips and slender nose. He imagined the minuscule mole at her temple and the tiny scar on her chin from a childhood fight with Sasha.
He stepped toward her and she stiffened. He sat beside her. “Let me see you.”
She shook her head.
He ran his gaze over her hair, lower to the revealed side of her neck and shoulder. “I’m sorry, okay?”
She snatched the cushion into her lap, her eyes stormed with hurt. “Fine, I am, too. Now you’ve seen me, get out. Clearly, we’ve nothing else to say to one another.”
Her eyes gleamed with unshed tears, her lips quivered and her ski
n was more ashen than it was while they had been arguing, when it had shone with angry color. He exhaled as the remainder of any animosity he might have felt disappeared. “Why did you run at me like that?”
Her shoulders slumped. “I don’t know.”
Liam ran his gaze over her face. “When you just walked straight into the restaurant as though it was the most natural thing in the world, I didn’t know how to handle it. I should’ve got my crap together before I came here. I’m sorry.”
She shook her head. “My God, if you thought I was calm when I walked in there, I must be one hell of an actress. Do you have any idea what it took for me to do that?” She swiped her fingers under her eyes. “And that was without even thinking whether or not I might see you.”
Liam smiled. His gaze fell to her mouth. “Well, you looked completely sure of yourself to me.”
“I wasn’t. I’m not sure of anything.”
The intensity in her eyes tugged at his chest. He looked away before the hook could take hold and make him bleed. “Look, I came here because I needed to see you alone. You don’t have to tell me anything, but there’s something...” He faced her. “You look unhappy.”
“I am.”
Her simple and easy admission caught him by surprise, and Liam struggled not to flee the apartment. He’d expected denial, anger, accusation and insult. He hadn’t expected those two simple words. He couldn’t do this. He couldn’t open up to her pain and expect to walk away from their reunion unscathed when she walked out of his life again.
This sudden softness and vulnerability was the only aspect missing that would have made her perfect for him all those years ago. Where was her hardness? Her strength and independence? He swallowed and blew out a breath. “You’re right. You have changed.”
“I’m sorry I hurt you. I’m sorry I mistreated people by brushing their needs and concerns aside. I have a lot of making up to do, but I will do it, Liam.”
Determination shone in her eyes and he nodded. “Okay.”
She smiled softly. “I have an office in town that I will be turning into a showroom. I plan to have the grand opening next week. I’m a...” She rolled her eyes. “Don’t laugh.”
His gut knotted as the sadness in her eyes changed to sparkling excitement. “I won’t.”
“You promise?”
He raised his hand. “As God is my witness.”
“Okay.” She inhaled a shaky breath and released it on a rush of words. “I’m a party planner.”
He froze, laughter clenching his gut. “A party planner? You?”
She grabbed the cushion and swatted him. “Yes, me.”
“But how—”
“Stop grinning. I get to do all my usual bossing around without people objecting to it. It sure beats the hell out of telling people what they can and can’t do with investments, pensions and everything else. This is way more fun.”
“Fun?” He stared at her, shock reverberating through his diaphragm. “You have fun without being held under duress, too?”
She went for a head shot this time, and laughing, Liam ducked out of the cushion’s reach, raising his hands in mock surrender. “Okay, okay. Then I guess I’ve nothing to worry about.”
Her smile dissolved and she stood. “Of course you don’t. I’ll be fine. Just like I always was. I’m trying something different, that’s all.”
Liam stared, his smile vanishing. She’d lied. It was clear she’d lied. They knew each other too well. Just as she knew things about him, he did about her, too. Something was wrong, but she had plans. Plans were good. She didn’t need him...and he didn’t need her.
Everything was as it should be. Her life hers. His life his.
Hearts intact. Trust still absent.
He could leave. Go one way. Tanya the other.
Nothing to worry about; nothing to upset his game plan of finding someone new to share his life.
He gave a curt nod and stood. “Great. Then I’ll go.”
She smiled softly. “Great.”
“I’ll see you around.” He turned and walked to the front door, pulling it open.
“Liam?”
Damn it. He turned. “Yeah?”
She came closer, only to draw to an abrupt halt. “I never should’ve left. I just wanted you to know that.”
He nodded. “Thanks.” Thanks? Thanks? “See you.”
He walked out and pulled the door closed behind him. He forced his feet forward until he rounded the corridor and was sure he was out of sight. Then, and only then, did he slap himself hard in the head.
Why the hell had he thanked her? Thanking her was about a million aeons away from what he should’ve done. He should’ve kissed her and walked out the door, showing her just how in control Liam Browne was today. Of everything. Including her.
Yeah, right. Of course you are. That’s why your heart’s in your mouth and Tanya’s right inside your head again...just as she’s always been.
CHAPTER FOUR
BALANCING A HEAVY cardboard box atop her lifted thigh, Tanya stretched her arm around it and just about managed to fit the key into the lock of her brand-new office. It was seven-thirty and already the sun’s heat warmed her back through the thin cotton of her T-shirt. Today would undoubtedly be another scorcher. Dropping her leg, she hefted the box more steadily into her arms, turned and walked backward through the door.
She lowered the box to the floor.
Excitement mixed with a hefty dose of fear as she stared around the space. She had a lot to do in the next five days. Empty shelves lined the cream-colored walls, and in the far corner, three tall glass display cabinets waited to be filled with party paraphernalia. The supplier had promised her the cabinets would be easy enough for two people to move.
All she had to do was find someone willing to work with her. It was the only way she could possibly make the current haphazard mess of her new office into an ordered and attractive space for potential clients to browse around.
The grand opening would be Saturday night. She had a single working week to make a miracle.
She sighed. “Heaven help me.”
Extracting her keys from the door, Tanya purposefully pushed it closed, slammed home the bolt and lowered the blind.
A lonely weekend had made her doubt her abilities and weakened her fragile confidence. Her levels of strength and self-belief ebbed and flowed as unpredictably as the ocean that lapped Templeton’s shoreline. She couldn’t do everything she wanted to do, felt she needed to do, without other people’s help. It was wrong of her to hope that Liam might drop by, or that he would at least meet her for dinner sometime. She had to let him go and wish him well.
The new Tanya Todd didn’t use people or gauge what they could do for her. Not anymore. Now she wanted friends, she wanted colleagues to laugh with as well as work with. Who knew, maybe one day she’d find someone to love and share her life with. Someone who didn’t know her before...who didn’t have anything to forgive her for.
Like Liam did.
Fisting her hands on her hips, Tanya scanned the office a second time. In the meantime, she needed to scour the Cove’s couple of thousand residents in the hope of finding someone willing to work with her. Changing the opinion of certain Templeton residents who thought nothing of hanging, drawing and quartering a person before, during or after their treasonous behavior had been proved, would be difficult, but she would succeed.
She couldn’t spend every waking moment atoning for her past, so she would look for someone willing to know her from that moment forward.
Tanya walked to the huge picture window at the front of the office, pulled down the blind and turned. Without the sunlight streaming through the door and window, the large, open-plan space fell into shadowed semidarkness. Nerves rippled through her as fear of the mammoth task
ahead—both emotional and physical—amplified in the sudden gloom.
The last thing she needed was people to look inside and have their negativity dent her already shaky belief she could make a success of her new business. A disdainful look, a sharp gibe or word of cynicism could be the first pull that unraveled her carefully woven plans. Everything would be perfect before anyone saw the interior of the Party Place.
Her gaze fell on the antique rosewood desk she’d found at an auction and had shipped to Templeton. The moment she’d laid eyes on it, Tanya was confident she’d found the perfect piece of nostalgia to sit behind as she spoke, cajoled and, hopefully, laughed with clients as they made plans for their engagement, wedding or birthday celebrations.
She strolled toward it and lifted the sheet covering its surface. She ran her fingers over the smooth wood. Sturdy and strong, just as she would be. In time.
Determination rose, fueling her passion for change. She’d made some dire mistakes and, sooner or later, the punishment would arrive in a formal envelope at her sister’s apartment, confirming her date in court on shoplifting charges. But for now, she had the opportunity to prove to herself—and the courts—that she was a smart and savvy businesswoman who had just weakened under stress, as a million and one others had before her.
Pulling back her shoulders, Tanya shook off the darker aspect of her return and smiled.
Tomorrow, she’d put an ad in the local newspaper for an assistant, but today she had work to do. Having this venture fail was not an option. Liam might not have shown an inkling of wanting to rekindle their friendship, but Templeton didn’t begin and end with one man. It began and ended with what happened next and what she did about it.
She dropped the sheet over the desk. Time to get to work.
The next couple of hours passed in a frenzy of stock checking and unpacking the first of what felt like a hundred boxes. Collapsing onto the chair behind her desk, Tanya sat cocooned in a sweaty, thirsty cloud of satisfaction. She ran her gaze over the blotter on her desk, the knickknacks, pens and single vase of lilies in the far corner. The desk took pride of place in front of the center back wall, and her face would be the first thing customers saw when they stepped inside. As time went on, the more the thought pleased rather than intimidated her.
Her Hometown Redemption Page 4
