The Owner's Secret Client

by Elana Johnson

  Chapter Seven

  Liam settled into his new routine fairly easily. He ran through the orchards a few days a week, never worried about leaving Kimmie with Serenity. He’d told her she didn’t need to come upstairs as long as her phone was on and the door leading into her apartment was unlocked, but she did anyway.

  She was gorgeous in the early morning light, her eyes still slightly clouded with sleep. He usually found coffee ready and Serenity curled into the couch, fast asleep, when he got back from his daily dose of exercise.

  Kimmie talked non-stop about the French words she was learning, and the painting that took place in the extra bedroom downstairs. Serenity was so funny, and Serenity knows how to paint with wet-on-wet techniques, and Serenity taught me how to cut my own cucumber boats.

  He smiled just thinking about how much his daughter adored Serenity.

  He loved summer, with the fresh air scented with sunshine, the sand, and the cherry trees. He left work early whenever Serenity took Kimmie to the beach, and while he really wanted to hold her hand and kiss her in the hot sand, he didn’t. That certainly wouldn’t be keeping their relationship a secret, something they had to do in front of his daughter too. They had precious few moments alone together, and Liam was still trying to find the best way to get some private time with Serenity.

  He’d taken Kimmie himself to a family picnic while Serenity had the day off, and his brother Phoenix had proposed to his girlfriend. Liam’s jealousy had pinched hard that day, and he’d been thinking non-stop about Serenity since then.

  He learned about her simply from interacting with her as Kimmie built trenches and moats around her sand castles, as Serenity stood at the stove and whipped up grilled cheese sandwiches with garlic powder in the butter, as she talked about her family, her other au pair jobs, and her mother.

  Selma wasn’t doing well, and he had hugged Serenity a few times after a hard update on her mom. But Kimmie had too, and Liam felt like his secret crush on Serenity was still safely theirs.

  July approached, and the nerves hit him. He felt like summer was almost over once July hit, which made no sense. But it was the month before August, and then he’d have to start prepping Kimmie to go back to school. She’d had a hard time since Heather had died, as she’d promised Kimmie she’d see her after school, but she hadn’t been able to keep that promise.

  So Kimmie had some anxiety about going to school, and she often texted Liam a couple of times during the day. Yes, he knew it was ridiculous that his seven-year-old had a cell phone, but her therapist had suggested it, and it did relieve some of her anxiety and reluctance surrounding school.

  He finished his run, noting that the cherry harvest looked like it might be coming on sooner than anticipated this season. Sunshine Shores Orchards participated in the huge, county-wide Cherry Festival every year, of course. The seven other orchards in the area did too, and there seemed to be plenty of tourists and people to go around.

  This year, he’d asked his marketing director to put together something the other orchards weren’t planning. He and Ethan had researched together, and they’d decided on a beach picnic-slash-cherry pick.

  The Picnic Pick, Ethan had called it. Since they owned so much beachfront, they could offer events the other orchards couldn’t, something Liam had been trying to capitalize on over the past few years as his father slowly gave him more control over the business.

  Even though some of the trees looked like they’d be ready early, he thought they’d still have plenty of cherries for those who’d signed up for the Picnic Pick. It was a flat cost for a ticket, and people got a beach-side picnic, access to the private beach for the entire afternoon, and an hour in the orchard to pick as many cherries as they could in sixty minutes.

  He thought it was a killer deal, and they’d had over fifty people sign up already. They had family pricing, and Ethan and Liam planned to hit the marketing hard once the Fourth of July festivities around town had ended.

  Liam really wanted to do a few things with Serenity around town, and he resolved to ask her when he returned to the house from his run. He’d learned that he could get twenty minutes or so alone with her if he woke her when he returned from running, and while he was usually sweaty and still a bit out of breath, she hadn’t seemed to mind the last couple of times.

  The scent of coffee filled his nose as he opened the door this morning, and sure enough, Serenity slumbered on the couch, curled into a ball as she lay on her side.

  He pressed his lips to her forehead, drawing in a deep breath of the sweet, fresh scent of her skin. “Hey,” he whispered, and her eyes fluttered open. A smile appeared on her face, and Liam felt it light up his whole soul.

  “Morning, sunshine,” he said, his eyes automatically dropping to her mouth and rebounding back. He hadn’t kissed her yet, choosing instead to go slow, learn more about her, see if this insane attraction within him dimmed. It hadn’t, and she seemed just as interested in him.

  “Good run?” she asked, shifting to sit up. Liam backed up and took a seat on the ottoman a few feet from her.

  “Yeah,” he said, sighing. “I love running.”

  “I don’t get that,” she said with a hoarse giggle.

  “I did track in high school,” he said. “Ran the mile and the two-mile.”

  Her eyes practically glowed. “Tell me more about high school. Lots of girlfriends, I’m assuming.”

  He scoffed with a smile. “Why would you think that?”

  “You’re Liam Addler,” she said simply.

  “I had a couple of girlfriends,” he admitted, not sure why he being him had anything to do with it. “What about you?” He hadn’t expected to talk about past relationships this morning, but it was a good topic.

  Her smile faded, but the life in her expression didn’t. “I haven’t dated much,” she admitted. “My job didn’t exactly allow that.”

  “You couldn’t have dated a nice French man? You were in France for three years.”

  “I could have,” she said. “Heartland doesn’t frown on dating, as long as it doesn’t interfere with the host family and the job.”

  He nodded, his brain seizing onto the words Heartland doesn’t frown on dating. “You just didn’t.”

  “Didn’t meet anyone who, I don’t know, sparked anything in me.”

  “Oh, I get that.” He glanced toward the kitchen and back to her. “I didn’t think I’d ever feel that fire inside me again after Heather died.” He’d spoken to Serenity a lot about Heather, and she never seemed to mind. He liked that, and he really wanted Serenity to know.

  “Thanks for letting me talk about her,” he said, ducking his head, wondering if he’d revealed too much.

  The couch squeaked as she moved, and her hands came into his. “Of course,” she said. “You let me talk about my mom, and I’m sure that’s hard.”

  Liam lifted his eyes to Serenity’s, the understanding and compassion between them very real, and very strong. “I’m sorry she’s not doing better.”

  “Me too.”

  “I wanted to talk to you about something,” he said.

  Her hands tightened and released, her gaze shooting toward the kitchen as tiny dog claws sounded against the hard floor.

  Liam cleared his throat and pushed the ottoman back a little. “The Fourth of July stuff is next week. I was thinking…me and you could go together.”

  Surprise lifted her eyebrows when she swung her attention back to him. “And Kimmie?”

  “Yeah, and Kimmie,” he said. “But I was thinking about asking my parents to take her for an evening. We could have dinner.”

  Serenity leaned back into the couch, putting more distance between them. “In public?”

  “No,” Liam said quickly, watching her for any sign, any emotion. “Unless you want to, I don’t know. Quit your job and let me hire you privately.”

  She blinked, the wheels obviously turning in her head. “That’s actually not a bad idea,” she said. “There’s just one p
roblem.”

  Besides him crossing a line and dating his nanny? “Yeah? What’s that?”

  “If I’m with Heartland for a decade, I get retirement.”

  “When would that happen?” he asked.

  “January.”

  Six more months. Liam wanted to date her openly, sure, but there was something exciting about keeping everything just between them too.

  “Dinner here,” he said. “I won’t make you cook it. I’ll order something. Go pick it up. We can watch a movie, or just talk, or hey, I saw you had cookie decorating on your list of activities for next week.” He grinned at her. “That sounds fun too.” So did feeding them to her and then licking the frosting from her lips.

  Liam pulled in a slow breath, surprised at his thoughts and the strength of his feelings. If he’d met Serenity in the orchard or the grocery store, he’d have asked her out. He’d have arranged for his au pair to work several nights a week so he could see her, get to know her, kiss her.

  So he’d been doing those same things—all but the kissing—right in his own house, with his daughter present. And now he really needed a night with her by himself.

  “I wouldn’t mind telling my mother,” he said next. “She knows how to keep a secret.”

  “Are you kidding?” Serenity looked like she might throw up. “Is this the same woman who Karly just got upset with because she’d blabbed about the gender of her baby?”

  “Well….” Liam shrugged, having forgotten about that. Forgotten that Serenity had come to the Sunday dinner at his parents’ house. When they were in public, he tried really hard to think of her as he had Ella. Just there. A part of things, sure, but he didn’t go out of his way to include her.

  “No,” Serenity said. “If you want a night alone with me, Kimmie can’t go to your parents.”

  “Who would you suggest?” he asked. She’d met all of his siblings, as well as his grandparents.

  “Phoenix,” they said together, and Liam nodded as he stood up. “I’ll talk to him this morning.”

  Serenity stood too, lacing her fingers through his. “Great. I can’t wait for our first real date.” She tipped up on her toes, her hand tightening in his, and swept her lips across his cheek, getting dangerously close to his mouth.

  A growl started low in his gut, and she giggled. “Time for breakfast, Liam. I promised Kimmie pancakes this morning.”

  And with that, she switched right back into his au pair—as well as the star in his fantasies.

  Phoenix’s cabin sat in the most beautiful place on earth, with cherry trees on one side, and the State Park bordering two others. His big dog, Dozer, sat on the front porch and barked a warning as Liam got out of his SUV.

  “Oh, quiet down, Dozey,” he said, and the dog jumped off the porch and trotted toward him, a big smile on his face. Liam scrubbed him down, wishing Kimmie had chosen a slightly larger breed for her therapy pet.

  But she could carry Curly easily, and he supposed that was what mattered. Still, he’d love a dog he could take with him through the orchards on his morning runs.

  “Liam,” Phoenix said, coming out the front door wearing his State Park uniform. “What’s up, bro?” He clasped Liam’s hand in his and drew him in for a brotherly hug, complete with a hard slap on the back.

  “Listen, I have a huge favor,” Liam started, hardly able to look at his younger brother. Being sandwiched between Jon and Phoenix hadn’t been easy for Liam, as they’d always seemed to get along with each other better than him. As adults, though, the Addler family was close, and Liam enjoyed his siblings most of the time.

  “And it’s a secret,” he added, finally looking right into Phoenix’s dark eyes. His were more gray than blue, and Liam wouldn’t flinch away despite the concern and curiosity he saw in his brother.

  “Well, uh, I’m pretty good at keeping secrets,” he said, rubbing his hand up the back of his neck. He grinned at Liam. “I mean, I had a woman living with me for weeks and no one knew.”

  “Your cabin is good for that,” Liam said, chuckling. “And this is…sort of like that.”

  Phoenix sobered. “What? You have someone living with you?”

  “No,” Liam said quickly, though technically, Serenity did live in the basement. He hadn’t been down there once since she’d moved in, though Kimmie wanted to show him her painting. He’d put her off by saying he didn’t want to see it until it was finished, and that had seemed to satisfy her.

  He drew in a breath and blew it back out. “I need a babysitter one night next week. You pick the night. I have…uh….” Why couldn’t he say it?

  “Liam,” Phoenix said, his voice shocked and playful at the same time. “Do you have a date?”

  Liam swallowed and nodded. “Yeah, a date.”

  Phoenix’s face cracked into a smile, and he said, “Good for you, bro. I think it’s probably time.”

  He wouldn’t think that if he knew who Liam would be dining with. “You think so?” he asked.

  “I mean, I know you loved Heather. We all loved Heather.” Phoenix stopped talking, and Liam realized in that moment that he wasn’t the only one who’d lost his wife. She’d been part of the Addler family for five years, and they all missed her.

  “So I’m taking Kimmie. Let me talk to Allegra, and I’ll let you know when, okay?”

  “Sure,” Liam said.

  “Who are you going out with?” he asked.

  “That’s the secret,” Liam said.

  Phoenix’s eyebrows went right back up. “You’re not going to tell me.”

  “We’re not telling anyone,” he said. “Not even Kimmie. So you need to call her and invite her to come out. I’ll simply let her go. We’ll be eating at my place, not going out, and yeah. I’m not ready to share any of this with my daughter—or anyone else.” He tried to sound stern and boss-like, the way he did with his employees if he had to.

  “No wonder you came to me, bro,” Phoenix said. “And all right. I won’t say anything to Kimmie or anyone else. But when you’re ready to share, I want to be the first to know who she is.” He grinned and pulled his phone out of his pocket. “I’m late. Talk to you later.”

  Phoenix walked away as Liam lifted his hand in a good-bye wave. Phoenix went through the gate several yards down the fence from his house, striding with purpose as he literally walked to work.

  Hope and happiness lifted Liam’s spirits, and he couldn’t wait until next week, when he could finally be alone with Serenity.

  Chapter Eight

  Serenity knew something had happened the moment she stepped foot in her mother’s house. The air held the scent of death, rot, and spilled milk. Warm spilled milk.

  “Mom?” she called, searching the living room for her mother. She wasn’t in the recliner, as usual, and Serenity left the door open behind her though it was almost evening and the July sun had heated the day considerably.

  The house needed to air out, and as Serenity moved through the cluttered living room, she once again saw all the work this place needed.

  She froze on the threshold of the kitchen, her mother’s limp form on the floor in front of her. Tears spilled from her eyes, and a horrible sobbing sound filled the air. It took her several seconds to realize it was coming from her, and she spun away from her mother’s body.

  Phone calls. She needed to make phone calls.

  She took a deep breath, her mind spinning. Call Liam, whispered through her mind. Liam will know what to do.

  She did, and when he said, “Hey, sunshine. How’s your mom?” she knew he was alone and in a great mood. Just how she’d left him, as Kimmie had gone down the road to her aunt Karly’s house for a birthday party.

  Serenity couldn’t speak, and Liam said, “Serenity? What’s wrong?”

  She could only sniffle, another sob working its way through her core.

  “I’m on my way, sweetheart,” he said, panic and darkness in his voice now. “Call 9-1-1, okay? And your brother and sister. I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”
The line went dead, and Serenity walked toward the rectangle of sunlight coming through the front door.

  Her limbs felt numb. Cold, though it was hot outside. She’d just arrived in the doorway when a big, black truck eased by the house. The same one she’d seen a month ago when she’d brought Kimmie to visit her mother.

  Had they been watching the house this whole time?

  Serenity had no way of knowing. She came to see her mother almost every day, but at all different times, depending on her schedule.

  She needed to be doing something, but she couldn’t remember what. The truck drove slowly, finally turning into a driveway across the street and several houses down. Having grown up right here on this street, Serenity knew Gail Henderson lived in that house. Her husband had died a decade ago.

  Two men approached the house, knocking before being let in. Serenity knew instantly what was going on.

  Those men were scamming Gail the same way they’d scammed her mother.

  Her mother.

  She spun back toward the kitchen, remembering what she was supposed to be doing. She dialed three quick numbers and stepped out of the house, determined to be strong. Get things done. Take charge.

  After telling the dispatcher that her mother had died and she needed help, she called her sister and her brother, relating to them the same thing.

  Then she faced the house again and prepared herself to go say one final good-bye to her mother before everyone else arrived.

  Sometime later, she wasn’t sure when, she stood beneath Liam’s arm, leaning into the strength and comfort of his chest. He’d arrived a few minutes before the ambulance, and he hadn’t left her side for even a moment.

  Her mom had been taken away, and Audrey had gone along with the ambulance to the hospital. Kyler had cleaned up after the scene was turned back over to them, and now Serenity had no idea what to do.

  Her brother came out of the house. “I’ll hire someone to come clean it,” he said, looking spent and exhausted. Serenity felt the same way, with hot, crusty eyes from all the crying and a new, painful hollowness inside her chest she didn’t know how to fill.