She drank in the knowledge like a parched woman in the desert. Oh, it was all so good. His favorite movies weren’t her favorite movies, but they were close enough that she’d want to see them too. A nice selection of quotes. It all wrapped up with live life at full throttle.
Mina’s heart stopped.
The phone trembled in her hands.
Live life at full throttle.
She’d heard that before. And not a long time ago, either. At the diner. On Thursday. Liam Wells. That was his catchphrase. Someone had shouted it at him. Pieces of information clicked into place in her mind, one after the other, until they formed a full, terrible picture.
Oh, no.
No, no, no.
It couldn’t be.
She read the profile again. What did she know about Liam’s favorite movies? All she knew was that the saying was his catchphrase. It had been beneath his senior picture in the yearbook. No. It couldn’t be. She pressed a hand to her forehead. It wasn’t that uncommon a saying, was it? But something deep down inside her knew that this was Liam. It couldn’t be Liam, but it was. She scrolled frantically back up to the top of the profile. ANONYMOUS. There had never been a name.
Mina dialed the clinic without thinking. Jennifer would solve this for her. Even if she had to speak in code to get the information she wanted, she’d do it. But what code was there for is my sperm donor Liam Wells? Could she ask Jennifer to clear her throat twice in a row to confirm?
Jennifer’s voice came over the line and Mina started in. “Hi, this is Mina and—oh.”
Voicemail.
She’d gotten the clinic’s voicemail. Mina double-checked the clock. It was too early for the clinic to be closed. She hung up and dialed again. There came Jennifer’s voice. Due to the increasing traffic hazard, our office has closed early. Please leave a message and we’ll get back to you as soon as we’re back in.
Mina waited for the beep, but instead another voice came over the line. This mailbox is full. Please try again later.
No.
Now she couldn’t ask them to put a hold on her donor choice. Now she couldn’t beg Jennifer to tell her who the sperm donor was.
Mina dug wildly through her purse until she came up with the business card. She’d just call Liam, then. She picked up the crushed card and laughed at the paper in her hand. What was she going to say if he answered? Hey, Liam, are you by any chance a sperm donor? She had to get a grip.
And she had to get home.
But when she looked up from her purse, the snow was falling even thicker and faster. The highway had been more or less clear when she’d pulled off the road. Now it had a white film across the top. Her pulse quickened. Getting home had to be her first priority, not freaking out over accidentally choosing Liam Wells as a sperm donor. Everything with the clinic could be figured out when she was safely tucked up on her couch with a clear head.
Mina pulled back out onto the road, checking every mirror three times over. She passed one road, then two, and then came upon the side road that led to the Wells Farm.
Don’t do this, she thought.
Do what, exactly? She could drive by the farm without doing anything she’d regret later. It would be a simple trip down the road, just to…see. To see how she felt. She definitely wasn’t going to stop and ask him about being a sperm donor. There was no way she would go up on the porch of their classic farmhouse and see if Liam was home. If he was staying with Cade and his new wife, she was under no circumstances going to ask him about what he did with his own sperm. Nope. She was not.
Mina was about halfway down the road when she realized it wasn’t the one she’d pictured. This one didn’t lead to the main Wells homestead. It was a totally different spot. She’d been here maybe once before, driving around to relax after a visit with Grandma Aileen. It looked different in the dark. Mina rolled by a little cabin with smoke puffing merrily out of a chimney on one end. It was cute. A cute little cabin, out here in the middle of nowhere. Light from a picture window in the front spilled out onto a flashy Chevy. Even from here, she could tell the paint job was nice. Liam’s truck? He always liked to keep his trucks in perfect condition. If it was, and this was where he was staying—
The wheel moved under her hand before she could process what was happening. She snapped her eyes back onto the road. The only problem was that her car had gone in the wrong direction. Mina cursed. Not here not here not here. She jerked the wheel in the other direction, but the snow had fallen fast and slick beneath her tires and now the car was spinning out. She reached the edge of the road. Bump. Mina hit a small embankment, her tires rolling up and catching on the hill.
She put a hand to her chest and felt the wild beat of her own heart. Oh, god. Oh god. That could have been a terrible accident. So far as she could tell from the front seat, nothing was damaged. She was still okay. Oh, god. Thinking of Liam had almost gotten her killed.
Mina closed her eyes and leaned back in her seat. “It’s okay,” she said aloud to herself. “You’re okay. Now, drive off this embankment and go home.”
But the wheels only spun in the snow.
Mina let herself try for ten seconds before she gave up. Good. Great. At least she was in walking distance of an inhabited cottage. The cold had already begun to seep into the cabin of the car, and she’d only been off the road a few minutes. Well, the decision was made. She snapped off the ignition, threw her keys into her shoulder bag along with her files and laptop, and got out.
It was cold. The sharp wind made her eyes water, and Mina pulled her puffy coat tighter around her. Had it been this cold when she left Sunnyside? Her teeth chattered as she made her way over the embankment and toward the cottage. She’d never been so torn. On the one hand, she at least knew Liam Wells. On the other hand, it would be a miracle if some other nice person lived in the cottage.
With every step, she grew more certain that it was Liam’s house. The truck was parked just so in the drive, an even line in front of the house, like the two things were stacked pieces in a board game. And the license plate on the truck spelled THRTTL. Her face heated. How far was it to walk back to town? Too far, in this weather. And way too dangerous.
It took everything she had to knock on the front door of the cottage.
Mina held her breath.
The door opened to reveal a devastatingly handsome Liam, looking down at her with all the heat and light from his cottage caught in his hair and eyes.
“Mina Heath.” Liam’s eyes roamed over hers. Mina felt for all the world like she was standing there in a nightgown, not a big puffy coat. “I didn’t expect to see you tonight.”
“M—my car went off the road.” She jerked her head in the direction of the fateful accident. “Can you tow me?”
A smile played over Liam’s lips. “I can, sure.” One single heartbeat passed, during which Mina thought this might not end up so awkward after all. “But I can’t do it now. It’s dark. Snow’s coming down. It’s not safe to be out on the road, even in my truck.” He stepped aside, and the shock hit her a moment later. He was making room so she could walk in. Then Liam spoke again. “You’ll have to spend the night.”
3
Liam never planned on telling Mina that she’d been on his mind since that day at the diner, but she had. She floated into his memories whenever he let his mind wander…which was often. He couldn’t help himself. Being injured made riding impossible and other exercise unwise, and he couldn’t hurt himself any further if he wanted to get back on the circuit. That meant he had a lot of spare time to think. And what he thought about was Mina.