The Owner's Secret Client

by Elana Johnson

  Serenity stepped away from Liam and hugged her brother. “I want to go through some of her personal stuff after we read the will.”

  Kyler nodded, sniffed, and stepped back. “Let’s meet in the morning, okay? Will you text Audrey and find out what time works for her and the baby?”

  Serenity nodded and watched her brother get behind the wheel of his luxury car. They’d meet in his office, where he had their mother’s will, her trust, all of it. The amount of work ahead of Serenity felt crushing, and she returned to Liam’s side, her eyes on the now-closed front door of her childhood home.

  They’d probably sell it, as it was in an older part of town and needed a lot of work for anyone to really live there. Sadness punched through her, and fresh tears came to her eyes.

  “We should go,” Liam whispered, his lips in her hair. His fingers along her shoulder tightened, bringing her closer to him. “Come on, sweetheart. You can’t stand here all night.”

  She nodded and let him lead her to his SUV. She’d driven over, but she was in no shape to drive back out to the orchards tonight. Serenity managed to buckle herself, but she stared out the passenger window as Liam drove, iciness moving through her with a strong grip.

  Before she knew it, they’d arrived back at his house. “Come on,” he said. “Kimmie’s staying at Karly’s tonight. Come talk to me.”

  She didn’t want to talk. She wanted to barricade herself behind her locked bedroom door and cry. But surprisingly, there were few tears left.

  She sat on the couch in the living room while Liam went into the kitchen. He banged around in there, and a few minutes later returned with two steaming mugs of hot chocolate. He handed one to her and kept one for himself as he sat down beside her.

  Automatically, like she couldn’t sit up on her own, she curled into him, stealing his strength, his comfort, his bravery in the face of death.

  “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I know that means nothing. I heard it so many times after Heather died. I finally yelled at my father to stop saying it. That sorry wasn’t going to bring her back.”

  He held his mug with one hand and played with the end of her hair with the other.

  “But people don’t know what to say,” he said. “I finally realized that, and when someone said ‘I’m sorry’ to me, I’d just say, ‘Thank you so much.’”

  Serenity took a sip of her hot chocolate, the milk not too hot and the chocolate at least double what she usually put in.

  “What can I do?” he asked. “Help clean things out? Make funeral arrangements? Anything?”

  Serenity shook her head slightly. “My mother has everything specified in her will,” she said, a blast of realizations hitting her. “I’m all alone.” She wept, her soul crumbling within her.

  “No,” he said softly, taking her mug and setting it on the end table with his. “Shh, sweetheart. You’re not alone. You’re not.” He folded her inside his embrace, and in that moment, she felt loved.

  Her tears seeped into his white shirt, as he hadn’t changed after work before she’d called. He must be so tired.

  She was. So, so tired.

  And yet…. “Am I a bad person if I say I’m relieved?” She inched away from him so she could see his eyes. Desperation pulled through her. She didn’t want to be a bad person. She’d loved her mother.

  “Of course not,” he said. “Watching someone suffer is extremely difficult.” He stroked both hands down the sides of her face. “You’ll feel everything, and it’s totally normal.” He smiled at her, a weak little smile she imagined he put on after the death of his wife too.

  “Thank you.” She closed her eyes and touched her forehead to his, grateful for this place to be. To belong. To come home to, where she wasn’t alone and could rely on someone else.

  She’d enjoyed the six weeks she’d had in the Addler home, mostly because she got to soak up Liam’s personality. She’d seen the fatherly side of him when he wouldn’t let Kimmie have cupcakes for breakfast, while they argued over whether a muffin was just a cupcake in disguise. She’d seen the businessman in him as he pored over paperwork in the evenings. She’d seen the man in him when he slid a look full of desire in her direction. When he’d asked her out. When he texted little things like Everything’s set. I’m so excited.

  “Thank you,” she whispered again, leaning into him further. She felt the whisper of his breath against her lips, and every sense went on red alert. Still, he didn’t kiss her. Would she have to ask him?

  Finally, his lips touched hers, igniting an inferno in her belly that raged outward in a spiral, shooting flames up her spine and down her legs simultaneously. She trailed her fingers up and into his hair while he kissed her again, holding on properly this time.

  She was hungry for him, and she kissed him like she’d never kissed anyone else. She couldn’t get enough of him, and she didn’t like it when he pulled back and said, “Serenity,” in a ragged, breathless voice.

  Calming, she opened her eyes to find his face only inches from hers. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

  “You wanted me to kiss you, right?” he asked, his eyes huge pools of so many things. Hope. Desire. A touch of fear around the edges.

  “Yes.” And she wanted to do it again. She kept her eyes open as she leaned forward again, this time kissing him in a more controlled, careful way.

  Her eyes drifted closed again, and Liam kissed her with the tenderness and gentleness she’d seen him exhibit before. She felt herself falling, falling, falling, and she could only hope she’d have somewhere soft to land.

  The next morning, Serenity woke on the couch upstairs. She hadn’t wanted to go into the basement alone, and Liam had said he’d stay with her until she fell asleep.

  He wasn’t there now, and she sat up, feeling like she’d been dropped out of an airplane without a parachute. “What time is it?” She groaned as she reached for her phone, which had been plugged in and was resting on the ottoman a few feet away.

  She needed to meet her siblings that morning, and the clock on her phone screen said she had time to shower. Time to wash off yesterday. Time to put herself together enough to get through another day.

  Standing up, she heard the garage door opening. Sure enough, a few seconds later, Liam came in, already dressed for work and carrying a brown paper bakery bag. “Hey.” He stopped when he saw her standing in his living room in yesterday’s clothes. Her hair was probably an ideal place for birds to nest, and her mouth felt like she’d eaten seaweed before falling asleep.

  “I ran out and bought bagels,” he said, still not moving toward the kitchen. “How are you feeling?”

  “Not great,” she admitted.

  “Kimmie wants to see you today,” he said. “Are you up to it?”

  “Why wouldn’t I be up to it?”

  “She has a way of…asking hard questions,” he said, lifting one shoulder as he offered her a timid smile.

  “I’m up for it.”

  “Perhaps over dinner then. You have a meeting with Kyler and Audrey this morning, right?”

  Serenity nodded, her emotions spiraling up again. Her eyes burned, but she didn’t let the tears fall. Liam stepped around the couch and swept his free hand around her waist. He kissed her forehead, and then her cheek, finally hitting the target as he matched his mouth to hers.

  His touch held heat, desire, but also compassion and concern. “You go shower,” he said. “I’ll toast you up this asiago bagel just how you like it.” He smiled at her, pressed his cheek to hers, and headed for the kitchen.

  Serenity followed him, the steps down to her apartment just inside the back door and around from the pantry. “I can’t talk to Kimmie over dinner,” she said. “Isn’t tonight our date?”

  “I’ve already spoken to Phoenix,” he said without looking at her. “He’s willing to take her whenever.”

  “No.” Serenity stepped over to Liam and put her hand over his, getting him to still. “Tonight, Liam. I don’t want to reschedule.”
/>   “Are you sure?” he asked, searching her face for something. She had no idea if he found it or not. “I understand what you’re going through. I can re-order the food for any other night, Serenity.”

  “Tonight,” she said again, backing up. She turned and went down the steps to her private apartment. She couldn’t sort through a lot of her feelings at the moment, but she knew that one thing—she wanted Liam all to herself that night.

  Chapter Nine

  Liam thought Serenity needed time to process everything. He knew he’d needed it, even when he’d thought he was okay. Moments and memories with Heather in them would sneak up on him at random times, and he’d have to excuse himself from a meeting, a conversation, a relaxing afternoon on the beach.

  He’d seen a counselor for almost a year, and Kimmie still went once a month. They’d relied on each other, and his family, for support. Heather’s family lived in California, and as Serenity’s footsteps faded as she went downstairs, he had the distinct thought that he should call them. Offer to send Kimmie out for a few weeks that summer. There was still time for a great vacation to California, and she loved the beach there.

  He took Serenity’s bagel out of the bag and sliced it before setting it in the toaster. He didn’t put it down yet, though, and he reached for his phone sitting on the counter. After dialing his mother-in-law, he pressed his eyes closed in a long blink.

  “Liam?” Georgia asked. “How are you, dear?”

  He exhaled as a smile flitted across his face. “Just fine,” he said. “How are you? How’s Wayne?”

  “We’re doing great,” she said, something scraping across the speaker. Probably the wind. The Francis’s lived on the coast, and Georgia liked her coffee on the deck.

  “Oh, my goodness,” he said. “It’s so early there. I’m so sorry. I always forget about that.”

  “It’s fine, Liam,” she said easily. “I just finished my sand yoga.”

  Relief flowed through him. “That’s great. Hey, I know this is probably last-minute, and I should’ve asked earlier, but would you guys like Kimmie for a week or two or something this summer?”

  A beat of silence came through the line, and he distinctly heard a sniffle come through the line. Liam hated the sorrow he could feel from across the many miles separating him from Heather’s mother. They’d both loved the same woman so much.

  “I’ll have to talk to Wayne before we finalize dates, but yes, I think I can safely say we’d love to have Kimmie for however long you’re willing to part with her.”

  Liam smiled. “Name the dates, Georgia, and I’ll bring her to you.”

  “Oh, we’ll come get her like we always do,” she said. “You still have that extra rooms upstairs?”

  “Yes,” he said.

  “Kimmie told me you have a new nanny,” she said next, and Liam’s heart skipped a beat. He knew Kimmie texted her grandparents from time to time, and of course she’d talk about Serenity.

  “Yes,” he said. “She’s an au pair, actually. She’s teaching Kimmie some French.”

  The conversation continued, but it never went too far away from Kimmie. She was their only common ground now that Heather was gone, and Liam hung up after several more minutes of talking, a sigh of sadness moving through him.

  It was a happy kind of sadness, strange as that felt to him. But he could make the call without shaking hands now, and that was something.

  He put the bagel down into the toaster, thinking Serenity should be back upstairs soon enough. Before the toaster finished, the front door opened, and Kimmie called, “Daddy!” before running through the house to meet him.

  Scooping her into his arms, he laughed. “Hey, bug. Were you good for Aunt Karly?”

  “She’s the best,” Karly said. “I can only hope my daughter is as wonderful.” She swept into Liam’s personal space and looked right into his eyes. “She was right, though. You look tired, little brother.”

  He looked from Karly to Kimmie. “You’re tattling on me?” He tickled his daughter, making her squirm and giggle. He set her down and pulled a couple more bagels out of the bag. “Who’s hungry?”

  The bagel he’d put down for Serenity popped up, and he turned to slather it with cream cheese.

  “I want a plain one, Daddy.”

  “Right here, bug.” He reached for the knife to cut it, and then withdrew his hand. “Do you want to cut it?”

  She paused for only a moment, and then she picked up the serrated knife. Karly settled at the bar, apparently staying for a while. Liam looked at her. “Bagel?”

  “Did you get cinnamon sugar? This baby has a sweet tooth.”

  Liam almost rolled his eyes—more like Karly had a sweet tooth. Now she just had a reason to eat as many treats as she wanted.

  “Sorry,” he said. “No cinnamon sugar. I got blueberry, another asiago, and a poppy seed.”

  “Blueberry,” she said, and Liam started getting everything ready for all the females in his life. He wanted to text Serenity that they had company, but he didn’t need to be too obvious in front of his sister.

  “How’s Serenity?” she asked as if reading his mind.

  “She’s…about how you would expect her to be.” Liam flicked a glance in Karly’s direction.

  “Kimmie told me about her mother. She hasn’t been doing well for a while.”

  “No,” Liam said. “She hasn’t.” He turned to put Karly’s bagel in the toaster and took Kimmie’s halves and put them in the other two slots, setting all four slices. “It’s still not easy.”

  “I’m sure it’s not.” Karly glanced toward the pantry as steps came closer. Liam put Serenity’s bagel on a plate in anticipation of her arrival, so he wouldn’t be looking in her direction when she showed up.

  A few seconds later, Serenity rounded the corner, her wet hair all piled up and concealed in a towel on top of her head. “Oh, good morning, Kimmie,” she said, opening her arms for the little girl to give her a hug. Her eyes closed and she smiled, and Liam saw the love she had for his daughter right there on her face.

  “You remember my sister, Karly,” Liam said, nodding toward the oldest Addler sibling.

  “Yes.” Serenity smiled at her. “Is that for me?” He looked at the already toasted bagel.

  “Yep.” Liam pushed the plate toward the other side of the island just as the toaster popped up. “Kimmers, come get yours. Karly, butter or cream cheese?”

  “I can do it.” She got off the barstool and came around to his side. She put butter on one ring of bagel and cream cheese on the other, throwing a smile at Liam as she went back around to her seat.

  Kimmie took the spot between Serenity and Karly, biting into her plain bagel with plain cream cheese. After she chewed and swallowed, she asked, “Was it scary seeing your mom?”

  Serenity looked at Liam, who smothered his smile, and back to Kimmie. “Yes,” she said.

  “Yeah.” Kimmie nodded. “I had to see my mom too, and it was scary.”

  Liam froze, his breath catching in his throat and making him feel like he was about to choke.

  Silence filled the kitchen, and then Serenity said, “Well, it’s a good thing we can both do hard things, right?” She put her arm around Kimmie’s shoulders and gave her a squeeze. Just like that, everything was okay, and Liam could breathe again.

  Now, it was his heart pounding away, beating out a measure of love for the woman simply doing the best she could.

  “What do you mean it flooded?” Liam stood up from his desk, where he’d been working. Serenity and Kimmie were somewhere in the house, doing something quietly as he hadn’t heard them in a while. He normally didn’t work from home, but he’d wanted to be close to Serenity that day.

  “It’s been too wet for weeks,” McKenna said. “Ethan found the source about an hour ago.”

  “Where?” Liam asked, wishing it wasn’t already past four. Kimmie would be going out to Phoenix’s in about an hour, and Liam needed to pick up the steak and seafood dinners he’d orde
red from Rotovella’s, the nicest steakhouse in town.

  “Sector seventeen,” she said. “I’ll send the pin to your phone.”

  “All right.” He hung up and reached for his keys. “Kimmie,” he called, vowing to be back in an hour.

  “She’s still painting,” Serenity said, surprising him.

  He stilled and looked at her. “I didn’t hear you come up.” She looked tired, and her eyes still exhibited some puffiness. “I have to run over to the orchards for a few minutes.” He strode over to where she stood just outside his office.

  He kissed her quickly and looked into her eyes. “Okay? I won’t be gone long. Phoenix is coming to get Kimmie, so you can just stay here and relax. Her bag is right there.” He pointed to Kimmie’s purple backpack beside the front door.

  She nodded, tucking her head against his chest in an adoring gesture that made Liam’s pulse increase. He wanted to stand there and hold her, comfort her, wipe her tears. But the sooner he got to the orchards, the sooner he could get back.

  “I’ll call you when I’m on my way to get the food, okay?”

  “Yeah,” she said, and Liam slipped out the front door.

  It took ten minutes to drive along the curve of the lake to sector seventeen, and the pin was a good ten-minute walk into the orchard. Liam tried not to do the math in his head, but he couldn’t help himself. He had to solve this problem in twenty minutes just to get back to his place on time. New plans started swirling through his mind, but he couldn’t make any of them right now.

  Solve the problem.

  The ground got wetter and wetter, and he heard Ethan and McKenna talking up ahead of him. It was a regular swamp by the time he got there, and the cherry trees didn’t need nearly this much water.

  “What in the world?” he asked, looking around at the saturated ground. “Sprinkler pipes?” He looked at Ethan, who oversaw everything about the orchard, from planting to harvesting to spraying. McKenna, who was responsible for the health of their trees specifically, stepped forward.