He seemed to be looking at her differently, too.
And more than usual. Far more. Every time she turned her head, she caught him looking at her.
Making her self-conscious about the skinny jeans and knee-length open sweater she’d pulled on over a jeweled long-sleeved T-shirt. He’d seen the outfit before. It wasn’t as if she had a closet full of clothes. But maybe he thought she should have dressed up more?
Or was too dressy?
Not that his surreptitious looks gave off any hint of disapproval. To the contrary. They were making her want to stand on the deck in the moonlight and kiss him.
The cruise around the harbor was sold out and included live entertainment, but when there were opportunities to talk, the conversation centered around Tamara. The fault of all three adults there, not the child’s.
It was as though they were all avoiding any negative topics—until the teenager asked them about Denver. She wanted to know about the mountains and the malls. About the Connelly Investments building and the home Liam had grown up in.
A home that could possibly be seized by the courts if Walter Connelly was found guilty of fraud. At the moment, Liam’s father was still living there.
“I texted Dad earlier,” Tamara said when they were just finishing their meal. “I asked him if I could come to Denver.”
“You did?” Missy said with shocked displeasure. And Gabrielle wondered if it was the first time the girl had texted her father since the breakup.
“I know you told me to wait for him to contact me, but I just wanted to see what he’d say.”
“What did he say?”
“No.”
“That’s it?” Liam asked.
“He said that he’s busy with work right now and wouldn’t be able to show me around or spend time with me.”
Gabrielle figured it was the best answer of any he could have given, unaware as he’d be just what Tamara knew about his current situation.
“So, I was thinking,” the girl went on. “Maybe I could come stay with you two?”
“With us?” Gabrielle looked at Liam.
“Wait,” Liam said, sitting back and scooting his chair a bit farther from the table. A bit farther from Gabrielle. “I thought we made it clear. We aren’t... We don’t live together. We’re friends. Period.” His statement sounded so...final...it hurt Gabrielle’s feelings.
“I know. But you’re pretty much living together,” Tamara said as Gabrielle breathed through the pain inside of her. “You’re in the same building.”
“In different apartments,” Gabrielle said before Liam could express any more discomfort.
Tamara spent the next ten minutes or so asking Liam about things they could do together in Denver. And Gabrielle breathed a sigh of relief.
To cover any inexplicable and completely inappropriate disappointment that hung in her midst.
* * *
ELLIOTT TANNER WAS waiting for them as they came through security. Marie was with him. And they seemed to have become quite good friends over the past couple of days, based on the ease with which Marie was conversing with him.
“It’s crazy,” she said as soon as she was in hearing distance. She went right up to Gabrielle, gave her a hug hello and then turned to Liam. “The Colorado district of the federal prosecutor’s office made an official announcement this morning—on a Sunday—that a grand jury indictment is being sought on several federal criminal charges against your father, and reporters are everywhere. George is just saying ‘no comment’ and ‘not guilty,’ and your dad hasn’t been seen out. So this afternoon they showed up at the coffee shop, waiting for you to show your face. I called Elliott right away.”
“According to my source, someone looked at public records and saw that you’d just purchased the Arapahoe,” Tanner said, keeping them all within the big reach of his shoulders, as though he was their umbrella.
Liam shrugged his carry-on over his shoulder, filled with adrenaline. He was a freelance reporter working for peanuts from his apartment. But no one was going to care about that. They cared that he was his father’s son.
“I’ll get a room at a hotel,” he said. Thinking clearly.
Marie was there.