Page 55 of Holiday Home 4
He wasn’t sure how she might feel about what had happenedinsaid dorm room, aware as she seemed to be about her daughter’s inexperience. But based on his early impressions of her, he doubted she’d be shocked and appalled by it. She wouldn’t ruin his life over it, at least, whereas Arnold might. He’d blatantly implied that he didn’t intend to let Liam and Anna stay together for long. So far, nothing had come of that threat, though Evelyn might also be to thank for that. She’d said she’d work on soothing her husband’s wrath, and maybe she’d been successful.
One could hope. Liam didn’t exactly want to deal with Arnold again. He imagined that Anna’s feelings were a little more complex, but he’d only ever seen her in a neutral or bad mood when her father’s name came up. He wanted her to be free of his selfish insistences for as long as possible.
“Two beauties come in through my door; how lucky am I!” Avril grinned. “I only thought there’d be one.”
“Surprise,” Evelyn said, smiling back. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen either of you, so hearing that you’d both be here, I figured I could be efficient about it. How are you both doing?”
“Better now,” Avril said.
“Very well, nice to see you,” Liam said, smiling first at Evelyn, then at Anna. “Glad to be back.”
Anna blushed but beamed at him. As always, a week away from these women—specifically, Avril and Anna, though the surprise visit from Evelyn was hardly disappointing—was a trial he suffered through as best he could.
“Are you planning to stay over for a little while?” Avril asked Evelyn.
“If I’m welcome, I suppose I might,” Evelyn replied.
“You’re always welcome here,” Anna said.
“Then I shall stay,” Evelyn said, smiling.
Inhabiting some sort of idyllic fantasy, Liam found himself surrounded by three sublimely beautiful women. Sharing the couch with Avril and Anna, Liam couldn’t understate how fortunate he felt. As unrealistic as it might feel to him, this was hisnormal,his expected. When he came over to this apartment, he knew he’d be welcomed in. If only one were here, he’d probably engage in a blissful act. If they were both here, he could spend time with two incredible, gorgeous women.
It was crazy, and yet it was now the norm.
“How goes the preparation for your all’s trip?” Evelyn asked, one attractive leg folded over the other. “It’s getting closer and closer.”
“Everything’s good to go,” Avril said. “The Sunday after this one is the final day for voting; then, we’ll finally all know where Liam wants us to go. And then we wait one more painful month.”
Liam blinked, surprised to hear his name come up. He realized quickly that he hadn’t fully realized that Evelyn knewhe’dbe going on the trip. But after his name drop, she didn’tappear in the least bit surprised or perturbed. Nor about the fact that he had the ability, somehow, to decide where they’d be going.
“It’ll probably be Fiji,” Liam said. “Only one person was willing to throw out where she wanted to go.”
“Victoria,” Avril added. “It’s the only place she’s never been. Me neither, actually. So, I’m all for it.”
Evelyn nodded. “I’ve never been there, either. But I hear it’s as beautiful a place on Earth as one can find. I really should visit it myself, one of these days.”
“There’s room on the plane for one more,” Avril noted, to which Anna furrowed her brow. Liam felt the same, though he imagined his consternation was from a slightly different place. Namely, Evelyn’s presence would add a layer of difficulty to his time with theotherwomen visiting the islands.
Evelyn, for her good graces, only laughed and shook her head. “I don’t think a mother should go to a romantic, tropical getaway at the same time her daughter and boyfriend are visiting. No, I think both her parents should be at least a thousand miles away during that.”
Anna blushed again, and Liam commiserated for her. It seemed that when her mother and Avril mixed, a little more of the latter’s brand of playfulness imbued them both.
“I’ll find some other tropical beach to lay out on during that time,” Evelyn said. “What are the other places that you all were considering?”
“Maldives, Bora, Bora, Tahiti, and the Bahamas,” Anna answered.
Pursing that luscious mouth of hers thoughtfully, Evelyn tapped her nails on her knee. “Maybe Bora, Bora. We’d be in the same ocean, but they’re at least a thousand miles apart, right?”
“Probably,” Avril said. “When I checked the time in the air for everywhere, it was only about a nine-hour flight to Bora,Bora. We’ll be up in the clouds for eleven or so for Fiji. Plenty of time for a certain someone to shore up his lacking knowledge of baseball pop culture.”
Evelyn arched an eyebrow at the same time that Liam rolled his eyes. “Speaking of, it’ll be right after opening day when you all depart. How do you think things will go? I heard about the troubles with Vargas.”
Avril waved a flippant hand through the air, yet curiously, Anna’s response—one of slight alarm—was the one that piqued Liam’s interest. That was all it would do because he had no way of figuring out why she’d reacted in such a way. Unless she justreallydidn’t want to get Avril going about baseball.
“It’ll be fine; he can whine and moan all he wants, but he’s still going to have to play. The arbitration panel was just the other day, and he didn’t get his way. Boohoo for him; he either plays under the salary offered this year or loses his nineteen million. I hope he does, the whiny jackass.”
“I hope it will work out,” Evelyn said diplomatically. “I know it’s been quite the headache. It’s all that’s been talked about over the past few weeks.”