Molly gave her another quick squeeze. “Humor your other mother. You’re parked at the other end of the block, it’s dark, and I raised him to be a gentleman.”
How was she supposed to argue with that? “Yes, ma’am.”
The three of them walked out together, locking the door against the engine roar of a dozen fans. Riley could feel the faint vibration against the glass. She was pretty sure she’d hear the drone in her sleep. If she managed to sleep.
Molly opened her car door. “See you in the morning, honey. I’ll bring pastries from Sweet Magnolias for breakfast.”
“Then I’ll bring coffee.” Lifting her hand in a wave, Riley watched Molly drive off.
Resigned to having an escort, she started walking.
Liam stayed quiet. Grateful for the reprieve, she listened to the echo of their footsteps as it mixed with the symphony of night insects and the sound of a car on a nearby street. After the tumult of the day, the summer silence soaked into her bones, unknotting something in her gut.
At her car, Riley turned toward Liam to see him reaching out for her. “Don’t.”
He stopped, one hand outstretched, hurt flickering over his face before he shut down to stoic mode again.
“I’ll fix it, Riley. I’m going to make this right.”
He thought she blamed him for all of this.
She tried to soften the rejection with an apologetic smile. “I know you will. You’re not at fault here. It’s just that, if you hug me right now, I’m going to start crying, and I really don’t have time for that.” Never mind the fact that curling up in his arms and bawling sounded pretty amazing.
For a moment, she thought he’d ignore her wishes and pull her into his arms as he had weeks before. A part of her wished he would so she could let go of the burden she carried, just for a little while. But he didn’t move.
“I’m sorry.”
Riley had the sense that he was apologizing for more than the soggy disaster that was her business, but she absolutely couldn’t deal with that right now. She didn’t want his apology for not being on the same page as she was. She just wanted him to pretend it hadn’t happened. Someday, she’d get past the lingering mortification over the kiss he hadn’t returned. But that day was somewhere far off in the future.
Still, she hated seeing him miserable too, so she made an effort to be the friend he wanted. “You’ve already helped so much. I can’t imagine how much worse things would’ve been if you hadn’t taken charge in the chaos.”
His level-headed dependability had taken some of the pressure off so that she could actually do what needed doing on the business side as quickly as possible. The prescription drugs were protected, insurance had been notified, and as much stock as possible had been salvaged. Things were bad, but because of him, they weren’t a complete loss. She needed to remember that.
“The fact is, I’m really glad you were here.” Riley realized she meant it. And she wasn’t at all sure how she felt about that.
Liam shifted toward her. “You want to get a drink? I figure we can both use one after today.”
What she wanted was a long soak and a week to sleep. But those weren’t in the cards either. She shook her head. “As
you said, it’s late. And there’s lots to do tomorrow. I should head home. Thank you for helping today.”
“I wish I could’ve done more.”
Riley couldn’t stop herself from laying a hand on his arm. “You kept a level head. And that helped me keep mine. The rest can be fixed, and I know I can rely on you to do it. So stop beating yourself up for not being omniscient and knowing what was going to happen.”
His lips twitched in a humorless smile. “Didn’t you know? As the oldest, I’m supposed to be all-seeing, all-knowing.”
“You’ve got that confused. That’s your mother’s job. Now go home and go to bed, Boy Scout. We’ve got a busy week ahead of us.”
“That we do. Get some sleep, Riley Marie.”
As she drove away, Riley thought maybe now she actually would.
~*~
Liam measured the stretch of wall a third time, making a notation on a small notepad before moving over to the miter saw to cut the next piece of moulding. He just wanted to finish up the bedroom before he called it a day and headed out to Judd’s place for poker night. The guys would provide a much needed distraction.
In the week since the flood, he’d replaced the water heater, ripped out damaged flooring and walls in the closet that housed it, and generally eradicated evidence that anything had even gone wrong. The apartment was coming along nicely. The pharmacy below…not so much. He’d ripped out drywall down there, pulled down large chunks of the ceiling and wet insulation to help speed the drying process, but the shop was still filled with fans and dehumidifiers. He could hear the drone of them from up here.