Kate Hoffmann - Liam

“It does now,” Ellie said. “But believe me, it will fade. You’re a man. Sooner or later you’re going to feel compelled to move on.”

“Don’t lump me in with Ronald and all the others that have hurt you.”

“Why should I believe that you’re different?” Ellie asked, praying that he’d give her an answer she could believe.

“What if I loved you?” Liam asked.

Ellie sucked in a sharp breath and looked up into his eyes. She’d heard those words before and, in her experience, they usually signaled the end of a relationship rather than the beginning. Once a man said it, he believed that it gave him the license to stop trying. Then boredom would set in and then, one day, it would be over.

She’d never realized how jaded she’d become. Was she even capable of loving a man, capable of summoning the trust it required? She’d spent most of her adult life searching for the one person who would return that love. Just one person who’d make her feel as if she wasn’t all alone in the world. “That’s a nice sentiment, but saying it isn’t going to change my mind.”

“Damn it, Ellie, you can’t just walk away.”

“Yes, I can,” she said, her heart aching with tightly controlled emotion. She reached out to touch him, then thought better of it. “Goodbye, Liam. Take care.”

Ellie started toward the door, praying that, this time, he wouldn’t follow her. Yet with every step she took, she was a heartbeat away from turning around and running back into his arms. But Ellie refused to go back. She’d made her decision and now she was prepared to live with it. She’d take control of her life again and think about what she wanted beyond a romantic relationship. When she’d come to Boston, she’d resolved to spend a year without a man in her life, to put all her bad experiences in the past and begin fresh. And now she had to follow through on that promise to herself.

But as she stepped out onto the street, Ellie fought back a surge of tears. Maybe she was walking away from the best man she’d ever met. Maybe she was making the biggest mistake in her life. But she wouldn’t know for sure unless she actually walked away.

She took a deep breath and put one foot in front of the other. It was the hardest thing she’d ever done in her life.

LIAM SAT AT THE BAR, a pint of flat Guinness sitting in front of him. It was the lunch hour and there were only a few regulars at the bar. Seamus stood at the far end, chatting with one of them while Liam flipped through the latest edition of the Boston Globe.

He’d taken a nice photo of the governor opening a new factory in Woburn that should have made the paper, but it was nowhere to be found. Well, at least he’d gotten paid, whether they printed the photo or not. And he still had the money from Sean’s embezzlement case burning a hole in his pocket.

He’d thought about buying a new lens or maybe a new camera. Or spending the money on some decent prints of his work, putting a portfolio together that he might be able to take to a few galleries in town. But the idea that seemed to stick in his mind was more of a gamble than a practical choice. He’d considered giving the money to Sean and asking him to find Ellie Thorpe.

She’d left Boston the day Ronald Pettibone was arrested. Liam had stopped at her apartment that night to try to convince her to stay, only to find her gone. Her landlord had told him that the movers would arrive the next week to put her belongings into storage until she settled somewhere and sent for them. He hadn’t been able to tell Liam where Ellie had gone.

Since then, Liam had been at a loss to figure out where she was. He didn’t know anything about her family or her friends. She’d mentioned San Francisco and maybe Chicago, but those were both big cities, and easy places to get lost in.

Liam had no choice but to accept that it was over. He’d never see her again. Unless he thought of a way to find her. It hadn’t taken him long to realize the mistake he’d made, to admit how he really felt. He was in love with Ellie Thorpe.

“Hi, big brother.”

Liam straightened as Keely strolled into the pub. He closed the paper and tossed it onto an empty stool. “Hi, little sister. What are you up to?”

“I’m looking for you,” she said.

“Well, you found me.”

She slid onto the stool beside him. Seamus wandered over and Keely asked for a club soda with a wedge of lime. Seamus winked at her and Keely gave him a warm smile as he served her drink. Though Seamus had only had a daughter for a year or so, he had quickly learned to enjoy the affection that Keely seemed to lavish on him. “And you’ll have something to eat, too,” he said.

“Corned beef on rye,” Keely said, “with a slice of Swiss cheese. And fries.”

Seamus wrote down the order, then tore it off the pad. “Coming right up.”

“So, what did you want to talk to me about?” Liam asked.

“Photos,” Keely replied.

“When and where?”

“No, this is about photos you’ve already taken. Remember those pictures of Boston landmarks that you did for Rafe’s conference room?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, Rafe was hosting a board meeting for some charity he works for and there was a woman there who is working on a coffee table book about Boston. And she was very interested in talking to you about your photos. I think she might want to buy a few of them.” Keely reached into her pocket and handed him a business card. “That’s her number. She’s expecting your call.”

“Thanks. This is great.”

“You know, I’ve always thought your photos were very special. I’m glad someone else agrees.”

Liam reached out and slipped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her into a hug. “Does Rafe know what a lucky guy he is?”

“I keep reminding him,” Keely joked. But then her smile slowly faded. “Sean told Conor about your friend Eleanor. And Conor told Olivia and Olivia told me. I’m sorry it didn’t work out. Ellie seemed like a really nice girl.”

“I guess the Quinn curse isn’t much of a curse anymore. I followed the rules, I came riding to her rescue. She was supposed to fall in love with me and take me away from all this. But it didn’t work. Instead, I fell in love with her.”

Keely blinked in surprise, then laughed. “Wow. You’re in love. That’s a pretty important realization. Did you bother to tell her that?”

Liam nodded. “Yeah. In a roundabout way. I mean, I didn’t come right out and say it. It was more of a what-if scenario.”

Keely rolled her eyes. “What is it with you guys? Why is it so hard for you to express your feelings?”

“Do you really need to ask?” Liam nodded toward Seamus. “I guess you haven’t heard enough of the Mighty Quinn stories to understand. Quinns are not supposed to fall in love. Women are evil and they are bent on destroying us in the end.”

“That is such a load of crap!” Keely said.

Liam shrugged. “The way I see it, I dodged a bullet. I’m the only Quinn who has managed to escape the powers of a woman.”

“You’re not free yet,” Keely said. “After all, you’re sitting here in the middle of the day, feeling sorry for yourself and trying to forget about the woman you’re not in love with when I can clearly see that will never happen.”

Liam laughed softly, then shook his head. “You do cut right to the heart of it, don’t you?”

“I’m a Quinn. We don’t sugarcoat things.” Keely reached out and covered his hand with hers. “Go find her. Make this work, Li. Tell her how you feel and make it work. Don’t let those silly legends and family curses take this away from you.”

Liam groaned softly, then put his forehead down on the bar. “What the hell am I doing? I should go to her, find her and convince her to come back. But I’m scared that I’m going to be shut down again and then it’s really going to be over. Right now, it’s safer living in limbo, hoping that I still have a chance.”