Liam struggled to sound neutral. It was disconcerting to hear Cora’s father speaking so plainly in his ear. Squire McLeod’s voice still held that quiet ring of authority. Liam fought for composure. “Hello...” My lord? Sir? Best just to skip it. “How are you?”
Cora’s father made a guttural sound of dismissal. “I’m fine, Liam. Fine as can be, but it’s your situation we need to figure out.”
“All right.” Liam stared around the room as if the floral curtains and dainty objects could give him answers.
“I think you should live with my daughter,” Hugh declared.
Liam choked a little, uncertain if he’d heard the man correctly. “Come again?”
“It just makes sense. You’re new to Providence Falls. You’re both police investigators. Heck, you’ll even be working at the same station together. And Cora’s been looking for a roommate for a while now, so I say, why not you?”
Liam struggled with the knowledge that he was now supposed to be an officer of the law. The irony there was laughable, but first things first. “You want me to move into Cora’s house,” he said, incredulous. “To live and eat and...sleep there under the same roof? With your daughter?”
“Of course, Liam, what else would I mean—”
“Sounds great.” Sounds bloody damn well fantastic. He grinned like a lunatic, never one to look a gift horse in the mouth. He was beginning to like this assignment more and more. “When can I move in?”
“Well, that’s the problem,” Hugh continued, “Cora’s not on board yet. I brought up the idea with her yesterday and she flat out refused. I asked her to take you in as a special favor to me since your father and I were partners, but she doesn’t think that’s enough justification for her to have to... How did she put it? Ah, yes, ‘bring a potential creep-a-zoid under her roof.’”
Liam flinched. He felt as if he’d been hit over the head with a river rock. Cora thought he was a creep. He’d almost forgotten. They were complete strangers in this life.
Hugh chuckled, then added, “I assured her you’re a fine upstanding man, just like your father, but she’s not convinced since she’s never met you.”
Liam gritted his teeth. “Fine and upstanding” may be a bit of a stretch, but he wasn’t a creep. Never mind the part where he’d crawled through her bedroom window in the dead of night the first time they’d ever met. And the fact that he’d intended to rob her blind. And the fact that he’d ruined her destiny. “I’ll just have to do my best to prove I’m trustworthy.”
“You shouldn’t have to, but Cora can be a bit stubborn,” Hugh said with a note of apology in his voice. “Still, you can’t stay in that crap motel forever. I told your father I’d look out for you, and I’m going to do my damnedest.”
It was odd to hear Cora’s father take such an interest in his well-being. Liam made a noncommittal sound, hoping it was enough. He had no idea what his background story was, so it was safer to say nothing. There was so much he didn’t know, and the angels certainly hadn’t been forthcoming with their information. As frustrating as it was to have to piece together his role in this life, it was even harder to have to accept that Cora didn’t know him, trust him, or even like the idea of him. His fingers clenched on a feather pillow, and he flung it across the room.
“Don’t worry about it. She’s one tough cookie, my daughter. I didn’t raise her to be reckless.” There was a note of pride in Hugh’s voice. “But she’s smart, and she’ll come around. As far as roommates go, I told her you’re the safest bet she’s got.”
Safe. Liam scoffed. Of course, he was safe. He loved her. But she wouldn’t know that now, would she? He sent another pillow hurtling across the room. The bed comforter followed, narrowly missing Margaret’s vase of flowers. He was so irritated, he could barely focus on what Hugh was saying. Surely, the love they’d shared still meant something. It didn’t matter that this wasn’t the same world anymore. She would remember him, wouldn’t she? Some part of her had to. He felt certain of it. The angels might have set everything up to their perfect specifications this time around, but they couldn’t just expect him to shut his feelings off. Maybe they were wrong about everything, and he’d be damned if he’d just follow along like some mindless—
A draft of frigid air suddenly blew across his skin, sending a chill down his spine. It radiated outward, sending crackles of freezing energy along his nerve endings until it was difficult to move. Liam tried to draw in a steadying breath. After several terrifying seconds, the cold dissipated and he could breathe normally again. It was clear the angels were sending him a message. He’d be well and truly damned if he didn’t let this scene play out the way the angels wanted, and he needed to remember that. “Point taken,” Liam murmured, running a shaking hand over his face.
Hugh paused, then said, “So, anyway, I’m driving in to town, and I’m taking you to meet Cora this morning.”
Liam jackknifed off the bed. “Now? Today?” Elation gripped him, followed quickly by anxiety. He ached to see her again, but he’d be a complete stranger to her. How would he bear it?
“Yes, she agreed to meet you, but only because she already had plans to make me breakfast today, and I told her I was bringing you along. She assured me she doesn’t plan on changing her mind about you.” Hugh chuckled again. “So, you’ll have to charm her into liking you enough to keep you around.”
Liam clenched his jaw as he paced the room. “I’ll see what I can do.” Charm was never a problem for him, especially when it came to the opposite sex. But Cora wasn’t just any woman, and he’d never been in a situation like this before. Not when his heart was involved. He suddenly felt like a newborn colt on unsteady footing.
“She’s got her sights set on some fancy cottage house that’s supposed to go on the market before the end of the year, and she’s trying to save money,” Hugh continued. “With her gunning to find a roommate, it’s perfect timing, you transferring there. Kind of funny, the way everything just fell into place.”
“Aye,” Liam said grimly. “Very funny.” He could just imagine the angels kicking back on their misty reclining couches with their gilded feet propped on poufy clouds, grinning as they watched this all play out. He scowled. Why couldn’t they have given him some kind of magical shield to dull his emotions, so he wouldn’t feel so raw? Did they want him to fail? Angels were supposed to be helpful and good. But maybe people like him only got the doom-and-gloom, fire-and-brimstone kind with the scary ultimatums.
“So, I’ll swing by the motel and pick you up in twenty minutes,” Hugh was saying.
Liam snapped back to the moment. “I’m not at the motel.”