Reunion at Mistletoe Lodge (Sweet Colorado Romance #3)

7. CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 7

Liam

Suddenly, the pieces started to fall into place. He turned to his sister. “Who is this?” He pointed to the man to Doctor Jerks’ left.

“I told you that Professor Luke Stanton and that woman to Doctor Jerk’s right is his wife, Professor Kealani Stanton,” Paige answered.

“When did they join Keck?” Liam eyed his sister.

“They didn’t join together,” Paige replied. “Kealanie was already working there when Professor Stanton arrived from Boston a year after I got there. So…” She did a quick calculation in her head. “He’s been there about ten years. ”

“How long has he been married?” Liam was pumping her for information.

“I don’t know. Six or seven years.” Paige shrugged, then looked at him curiously. “Why all the questions?”

“Who chose you for the project in Boulder?’ Liam asked. “You started this project about eleven months ago, right?”

“Yes.” Paige nodded. Her eyes narrowed some more. “Why is there a sudden interest in my projects and professors?”

“I think the pieces of the puzzle are finally falling into place,” Liam told Paige. “Can you send the picture to me?”

“Okay?” Paige said, taking her phone back and sending him the photo. “What is this about?”

“Do you have a phone number for Professor Stanton?” Liam ignored her question. “I’d really like to contact him about the project . ”

“He doesn’t have a phone,” Paige told Liam and saw the disbelief in his eyes. “I promise you the man doesn’t even have social media. He has this thing about the Man spying on us.”

“He is probably right about that,” Liam muttered. “How do you get hold of him?”

“I go to their house or find him at the university,” Paige told him. “I can call his wife for you. She has a phone.”

“When are you going home?” Liam asked her.

“Tomorrow night,” Paige told him. “Why do you ask?”

“I was just wondering if you’d get him in touch with me,” Liam asked her. “Tell him I want a word with him about our brother.”

“Do you want me to tell him the truth about which brother wants to talk to him,” Paige asked.

“No, tell him Liam urgently needs to talk to him about the telescope funding,” Liam told her.

“He’ll tell you to talk to Professor Jackson,” Paige warned him.

“Then tell him I’ll pull all funding if I don’t talk to Professor Stanton!” Liam gave her a tight smile. “That should motivate him.”

“I will try,” Paige promised.

Patrick walked over to them. “Courtney just called me,” he told Liam. “She’s been trying to contact you.”

“My phone’s been off,” Liam stated, pulling it out of his pocket and checking it. “Five missed calls from her.”

“She says it’s urgent, and it's about your brother,” Patrick told her.

Liam nodded and found Courtney’s number. “Can you get Herschel? Apparently, he’s waiting in the car for my sister. Get him something to eat. ”

“Will do,” Patrick said, frowning. “I thought Herschel was on leave?”

“No, he’s been Paige’s bodyguard,” Liam informed him. Patrick nodded, turned, and left as Liam dialed Courtney.

She answered after the third ring. “Thank goodness. I’ve been calling and calling,” she hissed into the receiver.

“Sorry, I’ve been busy following Priscilla’s lead,” Liam told her. “Is everything alright?”

“No, it’s not!” Courtney’s voice was laced with irritation. “You could’ve told me that Barb was at Mistletoe Lodge.” Her voice dropped. “I think your brother made contact with her.”

Zac’s brows shot up, and his eyes met Paige’s. “How and when?”

“About two hours ago!” Courtney told him. “And I’m not sure of the how. All I saw was Barb walking out of the barn, and two minutes later, your brother slipped out.”

“How’s his memory?” Liam asked.

“The same as far as I can tell,” Courtney told him. “He hasn’t said much since he got back. He had dinner and went to watch television, but he’s muttering something about asking Barb about bubbles.”

“Bubbles?” Liam shook his head. “What the heck?”

“I have no idea. He just keeps mumbling it,” Courtney said. “Do you want me to go have a word with Barb and find out what they spoke about?”

“NO!” Liam snapped. “Leave her alone. I’ll handle it.”

“Fine!” Courtney’s voice turned frosty. “I just thought…”

“Well, don’t!” Liam’s vice was loaded with impatience. “I’m the only one who deals with Barb. Is that clear?”

“Yes, crystal!” Courtney sounded angry .

“Oh, and you may as well know that Barb had a baby now,” Liam told Courtney, and she went quiet for a few moments.

“Is it a Shields?” she asked.

“What do you think?” His voice dipped dangerously low. “Of course it is.”

“I’m sorry, Liam,” Courtney said. All frostiness had gone and been replaced with compassion. “I know this isn’t easy for you.”

“It’s hard for all of us.” Liam pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’ll be back as soon as I can in the morning,” he promised. “Just keep him inside until then.”

“I’ll do my best,” Courtney promised before ending the call.

He turned to see Paige gaping at him. “A baby? ”

Liam’s jaw clenched. Darn! He’d been so irritated when Courtney had said she wanted to talk to Barb that he’d blurted out about the baby.

“Yes, a three-month-old little girl named Charlotte,” Liam told her.

“Oh wow!” Paige’s smile turned whimsical. “Mom’s going to be so thrilled.” Her brows rose, and her eyes shone with excitement. “I’m an aunt—at last!”

“You’ve been an aunt for ten years already,” Liam told her and saw more shock register in her eyes.

“Please don’t tell me one of my brothers has a secret love child!” She looked at him accusingly.

“Not exactly,” Liam said. “And it’s a long story.”

“I have time,” Paige said. “I’m staying here tonight in your suite.” She shrugged.

“You are, are you?” Liam shook his head. “I hope you booked Herschel a room? ”

“I did, under your name,” Paige grinned. “Now tell me about this other child!”

“Eleven years ago, a friend asked me for help,” Liam told her, starting to feel uncomfortable.

Every time he thought about what he’d done, it hit him in the chest like a bullet to the heart.

“Huuu.” Paige sucked in a breath and stared at him wide-eyed. “You helped out a friend who wanted to have a baby without all the rest of the things that go with it.”

“No!” Liam’s face scrunched as he looked at his sister in horror before realizing it was almost the same, though. “Well, not exactly.”

“Am I going to need some wine for this?” Paige asked, hailing a server.

“I don’t know, maybe!” Liam shrugged, waiting for Paige to order their wine. “I was young, and it didn’t seem like a big deal. Plus, there was a chance my friend wouldn’ t need my help.”

“Now I’m really intrigued,” Paige said, pushing her empty plate away and pointing to Liam’s half-touched one. “Are you going to eat that?”

“No, go ahead.” Liam sighed, pushing his plate toward her. “Where the heck do you put all the food you eat?”

Paige shrugged and pushed the conversation to this ten-year-old niece or nephew she had. “You were telling me about helping your friend.” She tucked into Liam’s leftover food.

“My friend had mumps when he was twenty, and when he got engaged, he went to be tested to find out if he could have kids as they both wanted children.” Liam ran a hand through his hair. He’d never told anyone about this. “He found out he couldn’t, and he asked me if I’d help him out.”

“Liam!” Paige breathed. “That’s not something you take lightly. That’s a kid! Your kid.”

“I saw how in love they were.” Liam swallowed. “They’d both been through so much. He was an only child, and he’d always said he wanted a family of at least three kids.”

“So you and your big heart and savior complex decided to help him!” Paige guessed. “Good grief, big brother. So I’m guessing that your friend and his new wife used your donation to their family, and now there are other little Shields in the world.”

“Something like that,” Liam admitted, thanking the server for the wine that she placed in front of them and taking a big sip. “As fate would have it, my friend was killed before he could know his child…”

Paige’s eyes widened, and jaw slackened as she stared at him in disbelief. “No!” She breathed in realization. “No, no, no, no.” She shook her head. “If this is what I think you're trying to tell me—this is bad!” She took a sip of her wine, staring at her brother in horror. “It’s worse than bad, and you know things like that have a bad habit of coming out.”

“I know.” The muscle at the side of Liam’s mouth ticked.

“Good grief, big brother.” Paige took another sip of her wine. “You do love living life skating around the edge of complete and utter emotional destruction.”

“Thanks for that wonderful description,” Liam said. “But you are completely right.” He drew in a breath.

“Wow!” Paige bit her lip. “I’m tempted to join you for Christmas at the lodge because you’re going to need a lot of help and support to get through this.”

“I would love for you to be there,” Liam told her. “At least I’d be able to keep an eye on you, too, now that I realize that our brother has inadvertently drawn you into this.”

“What do you mean?” Paige frowned.

“Your Professor Stanton is not who you think he is,” Liam told her. “Although I do know his degree is real, I have a feeling I know who your Professor Jackson is, too.”

“What are you talking about?” Paige's brows knitted together. “I think you’re being overly paranoid. You always had trust issues, and Professor Stanton probably just looks like someone you know.”

“I’m afraid I’m not being paranoid, little sister,” Liam assured her. “Our brother wanted to go with you to Hawaii to speak to Professor Stanton, but I’m sure it wasn’t about financing the telescope.”

“Who do you think Professor Stanton is?” Paige asked him.

Before he could answer, his phone rang. He looked at it and frowned when he saw a number he didn’t know. He answered it.

“Hello?” he barked into the receiver.

“Is that Liam?” a familiar female voice resonated through the receiver, making his heart jolt.

“Barb?” Liam asked. “Yes, it’s me. Is everything alright?”

“I don’t really know,” Barb told him. “Can you talk? ”

He glanced at Paige, who was looking at him curiously, having heard him say Barb’s name.

“Can I call you back in ten minutes?” Liam asked. “I’m just in a… dinner at the moment.”

“Oh!” Barb said. “Sorry, of course.” There was a pause. “I actually didn’t even realize how late it was.”

“It’s fine. I told you to call me if you need to,” Liam reminded her, looking at his sister. “Just give me ten minutes.”

“Sure,” Barb said. “Bye.” She hung up.

“So you gave Barb your new number!” Paige pointed out. “But you didn’t think you should call me and give me your number. Do the parents have your new numbers?”

“Yes,” Liam nodded. “Dad has it if he needs us. I did mention that we had to change my number for the campaign. ”

“And he believed that?” Paige looked at her brother in disbelief.

“Yeah,” Liam said, nodding, pulling some bills from his wallet and handing Paige his room’s card key. “Here, go up to the room so long. Do you have luggage?”

“Oh, I don’t need your card,” Paige told him. “I already got one from the front desk.”

“It’s so nice to know how much this five-star hotel values my privacy,” Liam stated.

“Oh, they do,” Paige assured him. “But I have ID and a very persuasive bodyguard.”

“You got Priscilla to set it up for you?” Liam guessed.

“Yes.” Paige rolled her eyes at him, figuring out. “Go make your call.” She finished off her wine. “I’ll go to the room.” She yawned.

“Okay.” Liam slipped from the booth and kissed her on the forehead. “I’ll be up soon. ”

Liam caught Patrick and Herschel’s attention. “Keep an eye on my sister. I have to go make a private call.”

“You know, big brother,” Paige said as she slid out of the booth behind him, “this new you actually suits you.”

“I think I’ve just got really good at pretending,” Liam told her before leaving the lounge and finding a quiet, secluded spot to call Barb back. She answered on the second ring. “Hi.”

“Thank you for calling back,” Barb’s voice was hushed. “Sorry, I can’t speak too loud. My… child has just gone back to sleep.”

Liam’s jaw clamped, and he felt a tightening in his chest, especially because he realized Barb hadn’t wanted to tell him about Charlotte. “I understand. What’s wrong?”

“I fell asleep trying to work through a dilemma,” Barb admitted. “I was woken thirty minutes ago because my child needed some milk. Then, I couldn’t get back to sleep because guilt was gnawing at me. I know I promised I wouldn’t go near Zac… ”

Liam’s jaw clamped tighter as a mix of emotions flooded him. “Okay…” He toyed with the idea of letting her know he’d probably already knew what she was going to say, but Liam didn’t want her to think he had someone spying on her.

“But when I was walking back from the lodge earlier this evening, he… uh…” Barb hesitated. “He kind of pulled me into the barn to talk to me.”

“What?” Liam said, genuinely alarmed. “I hope he didn’t hurt you?”

“No!” Barb was quick to say. “He was very polite.”

“Well, that's a relief,” Liam told her. “Zac’s not in his right state of mind, so I did worry about what seeing you would do to him.”

“He uh…” Barb seemed hesitant again. “I don’t know if he didn’t realize it or not, but he… uh… kept saying something about someone he used to work with.”

More alarm bells went off in his head. “Who?”

“My late fiancé, Trevor Gardener!” Barb’s words sent little jolts of shock through him. “He apologized for having to take Trevor away from me. I know this sounds strange, but he made it sound like he thinks Trevor is still alive and that he had a message for me.”

A loud whooshing resounded in his ears at her words. “Did he tell you what it was?”

“He sent me a message as he couldn’t remember it at first,” Barb admitted. “I’m sorry, but I gave him my number. He asked for it.”

“Oh!” Liam found he was saying that word a lot in this conversation, but this whole conversation felt like an ‘oh heck’ one. “What did it say?”

“ I remember what Trevor said: Ask Barb for bubbles, ” Barb repeated the message to Liam.

Courtney had said that was what his brother had kept repeating after his impromptu meeting with Barb.

“Do you know what it means?” Liam asked .

Barb went quiet for a few seconds, and for a moment, he thought the line had gone dead. Liam found himself holding his breath, waiting to hear her voice again. He hadn’t realized just how much he’d missed hearing her voice. He gave himself a mental shake—Liam had to get Barb out of his mind for her sake and his brothers.

“I…” Barb hesitated. “I’m not sure.”

“But you have an idea?” Liam’s brows furrowed, and he glanced at his wristwatch. It was past midnight.

“I… Do you know if what Zac was saying about Trevor is true?” Barb evaded his question, throwing him a curve ball he didn’t quite know how to answer. “Or is it just his state of mind playing tricks on him?”

“I don’t know,” Liam answered, which was partly the truth. “I think we need to be mindful that Zac is confused at the moment.”

“Right!” Barb said. “I just wanted to let you know what happened.” Liam heard a soft wail in the background, and his heart jolted once again. “I have to go. Thank you for calling back, and I’m sorry about Zac.”

Before Liam could say more, she hung up. Liam stared at the blank screen, feeling the walls of his resolve begin to crumble. He allowed himself a few moments to truly feel the weight of everything—Barb’s voice, the uncertainty in her words, the mention of Trevor, and the growing awareness that he was sinking deeper into a web of lies and half-truths.

Pain and anguish rushed through him like a tidal wave, and for a brief second, he let it consume him. The tightening in his chest became almost unbearable as he realized how much he wanted to be the one comforting Barb, the one she turned to in moments like this. But he wasn’t. He was here pretending to be someone he wasn’t to protect his brother, while the one person he cared for most was slipping further and further away from him.

His breath came out in a shudder as the reality of his situation washed over him. The lines between his duty and his desires blurred, and the mask he had been wearing felt suffocating. But even if he was able to drop the mask, Liam had no idea if he’d ever be able to mend the pieces of the lives he’d destroyed—before Barb had come to the lodge, he’d been able to ignore what the future might hold by only concentrating on today.

But now… the stakes were a lot higher than before, but the rift he’d created was growing wider each day. With a deep breath, Liam forced himself to pull the mask back on. The mission wasn’t over, and he couldn’t afford to falter. It wasn’t just his brother who needed him. It was Barb and the kids. He had to keep going and ignore the hole burning through his heart and into his soul.

He squared his shoulders, steeling his resolve, and pushed the emotions deep down where they couldn’t interfere with what he needed to do next. There would be time for pain later—if he was lucky enough to survive this. But for now, Liam had to be the man the situation demanded, not the man he wished he could be. He glanced at his reflection in the darkened window, noting the hard lines that had formed on his face.

“Get it together,” he muttered to himself before turning away from the quiet corner, his expression unreadable once more.

He went up to his room, calling Patrick to get the car ready, and found Paige asleep on the sofa.

“Hey, little sister,” Liam gently shook her awake. “You can take the big room.” He smiled down at her. “I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to go back to Frisco tonight.”

“Is everything okay?” Paige looked at him, confused.

“I need to get back,” Liam hedged. “Barb just called to tell me about her meeting with our brother. I need to go and make sure he’s okay. I can’t expect Courtney to handle this on her own.”

“Okay,” Paige said, yawning and sitting up before reaching out her arms for a hug. “Be careful, okay. And I’ll call you when I’ve spoken with Professor Stanton.”

“Thanks, little sister,” Liam hugged her and kissed her on the forehead. “Just charge everything to me.”

“Wow!” She grinned. “You really are getting into this highflyer role. ”

“Be safe, and call me as soon as you’re back in Hawaii,” Liam ignored her quip. “And let me know if you want to come over for Christmas. There's a lot of room in our chalet at Mistletoe Lodge.”

“I will,” Paige promised.

Liam nodded and left her. He met Patrick in the hall, and they went to the limo.

“Is there a problem with your brother?” Patrick asked as they pulled away from the hotel.

“I think there’s going to be,” Liam told him. “I believe my brother may be getting his memories back.”