Page 13 of Grounding the Baker
“You need someone who understands your heart, Liam. You take on too much, and you’re always there for other people. Your perfect man will ease those burdens for you.”
“I’m not looking to be a kept man.”
“You could never be that. Even when you’re a dad, and you will be one day, you’ll always need something which is just yours. Any man who’s worthy of your heart will understand that and encourage you.”
“Sounds too good to be true.”
“You’ll find him when the time is right, or maybe he’ll find you, just when you need him the most.”
A knockon the door yanked him out of his memory. Liam looked up and saw it was Austin looking through the glass window with a concerned look on his face. He was wearing a woolly hat with a bobble on it, which should not look that good on a man of his age.
Liam pulled himself up off the floor, not remembering having sat there. He walked towards the door, unlocked it, and opened it. Before he could say anything, Austin pushed inside. Not aggressively, but he seemed to be in a hurry.
“Are you okay, Liam?” he asked.
“Yeah, I’m fine. You look cold.”
“It’s Baltic out there.”
That explained the rush to get inside.
“Do you want a drink to warm you up?”
“Are you having one?”
He nodded. “Come into the kitchen. The machine is clean, so we’ll have to be old-fashioned and use a kettle.”
“Whatever’s easiest for you.” He smiled.
Liam felt his legs shake. This guy couldn’t be real. Well, of course he was real, but he was off-limits, which might be a good thing. If he met the Mr Perfect his mum had suggested right now, he was too much of a hot mess to be an attractive prospect.
“What are you doing out this late?” asked Liam. “Where’s your daughter?”
“A neighbour’s watching her. I left something at the pub and walked back. Why were you in here on your own, sitting on the floor?”
“Just . . . I was just . . . just thinking, I guess.”
“About your mum?”
“Yeah. I just feel closest to her here.”
“I can understand that. If I think of your mum, I imagine her here.”
“I keep forgetting you knew her. Is it rude that I don’t remember you?”
“Of course not. You’re what, twenty-eight?”
Liam nodded as he turned the kettle on and grabbed some mugs. He’d make tea. It was the solver of all life’s problems, and instant coffee was something he’d never been able to understand.
“So, you would have been six when I left home. I didn’t visit a lot in my twenties, and then when we had Maisie and visited my parents more, you’d left home by then as well.”
“Did you think you’d end up moving back here?”
“No. I mean, this is the right place for Maisie and me, but it wasn’t part of the plan.”
Liam nodded and got the tea bags out, then poured the boiling water over them before heading to the fridge for milk.
“What about you, Liam? Did you plan to move back here someday?”
