Take me Somewhere

Chapter 12

Liam glanced over at Harper again and decided the silence had lasted long enough. They had woken up this morning and she had avoided looking him in the eyes since and had said nothing more than mumbles and multiple thank yous. Even when they had stopped to buy some clothes and other necessities for the trip he was unable to get much out of her. He knew she must be embarrassed from last night but he was excited about it; she had really opened up to him.

“Are you ever going to speak to me normally again?” He said into the silence of the car; they were getting very close to their destination, “You know that there is no reason for you to be embarrassed about last night don’t you?”

“I’m mortified!” Harper buried her head into her hands and Liam glanced over at her sudden change in volume.

“You really shouldn’t be. Last night was great Harper.”

She glanced over at him and then buried her face again, “I practically begged you to sleep with me. We barely know each other and I still have bruises on my face and probably a mild form of PTSD. I don’t even – “

“Hey.” Liam cut her off, “Look at me.” The commanding tone of his voice had her immediately doing as he said, “Finally being one hundred percent comfortable with someone and letting them know you are attracted to them is not something to be ashamed of.”

She shook her head slowly, “I’ve never acted like that before…I don’t know what got into me.”

“I got into you that’s what. We got into each – “Liam immediately paused at the words that just left his mouth, “That came out very wrong…” His brow was furrowed as he looked over at Harper. She was desperately trying not to react but when Liam’s mouth started to twitch at her obvious discomfort she doubled over in laughter.

“That was,” She tried to speak but couldn’t stop laughing as he started up too. They kept laughing until her sides hurt and tears were coming out of her eyes. After a few minutes they finally managed to calm down and she leaned back against the seat trying to catch her breath, “That was amazing. Thank you for that.” She turned her head towards him and grinned when he shook his head and blushed a little. Hearing Liam stumble over his words when she was usually the one was very refreshing.

“You would think I would be smoother than that after all these years.” He laughed a little bit more and took the last exit to his parent’s property, “On a more serious note…we’ll be there soon. I called my mom and let her know I was coming and had a guest; I didn’t give her any details. And that obviously means she is dying to find out; how do you feel about meeting everyone today?”

Harper immediately got nervous again and moved her hand up to her face. Things were healing faster than expected but you could still tell what had happened even with some decent makeup, “Right when we get there? I don’t know if I’m ready for all of that Liam…”

He put his hand on her thigh and she immediately wove her fingers through his, “I thought that might be the case. I mentioned to my mom that I needed a little bit of time before bringing my ‘guest’ over to meet the family. There is a nice cabin in the middle of the property that my parents built years ago, if you’d like, we can stay there for a while and give you some time to get more comfortable.”

She squeezed his hand and nodded at him, “I would appreciate that, thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” He grinned at her and she just sat there and took him in as the morning light made his blonde hair almost glow. Harper made a mental note to text Sarah and let her know the initial nickname she had given to Liam had been accurate. Liam continued talking, completely unaware of Harper’s fast spiral into obsession with him, “Now that that is out of the way, let’s get out of this car as soon as possible.” He pushed down on the gas and Harper turned to look out the window as the scenery started to fly by. They were still in fairly wooded areas but she could see off in the distance that enormous open fields were up ahead and she assumed that meant they were getting very close.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Oh Liam, this place is beautiful.” Harper said in awe as they continued their drive down the road to the cabin he had mentioned earlier. The entrance to the property had been somewhat muted in comparison to the breathtaking land that it opened into. They had driven by his parents home a few minutes prior and the gorgeous red and blue Victorian had almost made her tell him to go ahead and stop. She would meet everyone now just to have the chance to peek inside. The porch had wrapped around the two story house and beautiful plants had hung from hooks at specific locations; it looked like a picture from a magazine. She was pretty sure it was her dream home.

Liam felt pride swell inside him as she voiced her approval of his childhood home, “Thank you. It’s nice to take it in from someone else’s perspective.”

Harper turned back around in her seat from trying to take one last peek of the house before the trees has swallowed it up, “It’s amazing out here.” Her eyes were bright with excitement and Liam grabbed the back of her neck and pulled her in for a quick kiss. When he let her go she sat there for a moment in shock but then smiled at him and blushed.

They traveled a just a little longer when the cabin finally came into view. It was nestled in a grove of trees and next to a large pond, “Ducks!” Harper said in excitement as she saw them floating on top of the water, “Can I feed them? Will they even let me get that close?”

Liam laughed at her concern, “Most ducks, no, these ducks, yes. My mom bought them and has babied them so much they stick around all year. I think she may like them more than her own children sometimes.”

“Remind me to thank her.” Harper took in the story book cabin and paused when she noticed a man standing on the small porch, “Liam…who is that?” She turned and looked at him just as she finished asking and realized he had already noticed their guest.

“That” he said with annoyance in his voice, “Is my little brother. Who obviously completely ignored what my mother told him and came over here because he can never mind his own damn business.” Liam pulled the car to a stop and threw it into park.

Who she could only assume was Luke ran down the steps and over to her side of the car as Liam tried to hurry and get out to circumvent him, “God damn it Luke what are you doing here?” He said to him over the top of the car but Luke already had his hand on her door and was opening it for her.

Harper panicked and undid her seat belt as she fished around in her purse for her sunglasses when she saw a hand grab the straps from her hand and then lay palm open in front of her face, “Allow me ma’am. I’m sure you’re ready to get out of this car. I told my brother he needs to invest in something a bit bigger and get away from all those city slickers.”

“It’s not like I’m living in New York City Luke, and this isn’t the Wild West.” Liam was annoyed as he started to round the car.

“I say all that just to get on his nerves, works every time.” Luke whispered to her as she continued to sit there and stare at his hand. Harper closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She did not want to come off as rude the first time meeting Liam’s family and she might as well get this part over with. The phrase baptism by fire went through her head and she placed her hand in Luke’s and allowed him to help her out of the car.

She pushed her hair away from her face and forced herself to smile up at him. He was just as tall as his brother and obviously related but where Liam had blonde hair Luke had brown. She couldn’t decide which combination with their green eyes was best; standing next to each other they made quite a pair, “Hello Luke, it’s nice to meet you.” Harper willed the turning of her stomach to stop and forced her shyness down; she had to get over this.

“It seems I’m at a disadvantage. I have no idea what your – “Harper knew why Luke had paused and quickly looked down and wrung her hands together. She hated Daren for ruining such a nice morning.

She felt Liam move next to her and wrap his arm around her shoulders. She resisted burying her face into him and opted to moving as close to him as possible, trying to draw some kind of strength from him, “Luke, I’d like you to meet Harper.” Liam said firmly.

Liam met his brother’s ‘what the hell?’ gaze and shook his head slowly. Luke glanced down at Harper’s hung head and nodded back at him after a few seconds. Liam knew he would have some explaining to do later but let his shoulders relax as Luke held out his hand so that Harper would see it.

“Hello there Harper.” She gently shook his hand and managed to meet his gaze again, “It sure is nice to have someone so pretty at the ranch. All I ever get to see” he motioned to Liam “is his annoying face and my parents; it can get rather boring.” He shoved his hands in his pockets and rocked back on his heels.

Harper knew Luke was trying to make her feel more comfortable and she was thankful, “I find Liam’s face to be rather enjoyable, but I haven’t known him long so maybe the annoyingness will come with time?”

“She has it all figured out. Doesn’t she Liam?” Luke laughed.

“Hey! I’m here two minutes and you two are already ganging up on me.” He tickled Harper in the side and tried to punch his brother in the arm but he was quick enough to jump out of reach while Harper squealed.

“Big brothers are made just so little brothers can give them a hard time.” Luke said as he gave his brother a wide girth and made his way towards the road, “I’ll let you two get settled. It was nice to meet you Harper.” He waved as he turned and Harper waved back. He yelled that he would see them at dinner over his shoulder and then was out of sight.

Liam still had his arm around her shoulders and she snuggled into him, “I like him.” She said softly.

Liam kissed her on the head, “Yeah, me too. I still want to string him up though.” He turned them and led them to the steps of the cabin, “You did great by the way, didn’t pause once while you were talking to him. Could I be rubbing off on you?”

Harper walked up the steps and stepped back as Liam unlocked the door. She hadn’t even noticed but besides the initial embarrassment she had spoken to Luke just like any normal person would. Her social skills seemed to be getting much better and she couldn’t deny that Liam had something to do with it. He was always so patient with her and when he was around she felt safe and capable of doing or saying anything without a harsh response. The more she was with him it became increasingly apparent that Daren had harmed her in more ways than one.

Liam stepped back and motioned Harper through the front door. She was met by an extremely cozy living room a few paces to her right and a warm and inviting kitchen to her left. A hallway was straight in front of her and she noticed three doors along its path before it lead straight to the backdoor and a view of the pond that wrapped around back. Wood furnishings complimented the exposed wood walls and a stone fireplace was the focal point of the main room. “Wow…” Harper said to herself as she slowly walked inside and turned around, “Is this a dream? I don’t think I ever want to leave.”

Liam closed the door behind him and went to examine the fireplace, “It’s a bit small but just wait until tonight when this thing is roaring and we can sit here and relax.”

“You’re giving me too much Liam.” Harper said with enough emotion in her voice to make him pause and look back at her. He saw her eyes glisten and made his way over to her.

“What do you mean?”

She motioned to the cabin and towards the front door, “This, all of this. Bringing me to your parent’s home; which is nothing short of a paradise. Skipping work, letting us stay in a place like this…and all to help me escape from that horrible person and what I let my life turn into. I don’t know how I’ll ever repay you.” A tear slipped free and she quickly wiped it away. She hadn’t meant to get so emotional but everything had hit her at once and she just couldn’t believe it.

Liam pulled her into him and wrapped his arms around her, “I’m glad you like it. It makes me happy that I can do this for you, don’t think anything of it.”

She laughed against his chest in disbelief that he could be more of a gentleman that he already was and he smiled over her head, “How about we get settled in and I steal the loaf of bread from the kitchen and we can go visit those ducks before I take you on a little walk around the place?”

Harper leaned back and smiled up at him and his hair fell into his face, “You may fail at being a smooth talker but you sure do know how to sweep a girl off her feet.”

Liam thought about skipping the duck feeding and walk all together as he looked down at her. He knew he could convince her to start up where they had left off last night but reprimanded himself for his thoughts. All she needed was to be thinking about a bedroom and no clothes while she met his parents tonight. She wouldn’t be able to speak a word and the awkwardness would kill her. Liam forced himself to step back and walk around her to the kitchen. Being a gentleman wasn’t all it was cracked up to be but his plans could wait.