Full Circle Read Online Free PDF Page B

night. She had, of course, seen him at the clinic earlier, but so far she’d succeeded in keeping their discussions professional during work hours. She hadn’t yet admitted to him that she’d driven to the hospital in Austin, a trip of forty-five minutes each way even without traffic, only to find out that Laura had a case of false contractions and everything was fine. Oh, and she’d also scored a lecture from Justin—the same one she’d heard a few dozen times—about overreacting to every little thing with the baby. Her brother had paged Liam thinking he was at his own house and had never intended to tell Elisa about the trek to the emergency room.
    That bothered her a lot. Her own false contractions had ended up being very real and led to emergency cesarean delivery of a baby not developed enough to survive. She wasn’t overreacting. She was being prepared, and Justin should appreciate her experience, not keep her in the dark.
    When she entered her home and saw Liam lying on the kitchen floor, his head and arms stuck inside the cabinet beneath the sink, Elisa cursed her brother yet again.
    Damn him. She’d complained for months about the repairs that needed to be done around the house. Instead of dragging his butt over to help her fix them, Justin had put his spare key to what he considered to be good use. After last night’s fiasco, she would make sure to get it back from Liam before she took any more baths.
    “What is going on in there?” she asked when he stopped banging on…whatever he was banging on.
    He waved a wrench in greeting. “The leaky faucet is about to leak no more.”
    “You’re a regular Mr. Fix-It.”
    “I can be quite the handyman.”
    “You scared me to death. I thought you were a burglar. Where’s your car?”
    “I walked. Sorry to scare you. Justin said you wouldn’t be home until later.”
    Ha! She’d been right—her evil brother had plotted this surprise. Good thing class had ended early today so she could bust him.
    Liam continued his assault on her pipes. Elisa tossed her books onto the sofa and then joined him in the kitchen. He was flat on his back, his denim-clad legs bent and spread. She opened the fridge and stuck her head inside its cool interior longer than necessary before grabbing two sodas and placing them on her mother’s old kitchen table.
    She didn’t know whether to appreciate his help or be annoyed that he had resumed the caretaker role, even though this time he was fending off water damage instead of a selfish boyfriend. She opted for the former, hoping he would take it as a sign that she enjoyed his company more than she let on. As a kid, she had made a lot of mistakes, but the way she’d treated Liam was one she could fix. He had proven many times that he didn’t deserve her blowing him off as a nice guy, a face in the crowd.
    He was so much more than that.
    “So what are you doing here, Liam Barton?”
    The rhythmic grinding of the wrench stopped again. “What? I just told you. Fixing your faucet.”
    “No, I mean, what are you doing here . In Windy Flats. Sounds to me like you were making quite the living back in Dallas.”
    He dropped his tools and emerged from beneath the sink, quirking an eyebrow at her. “Been talking with your brother?”
    “Yep. After I told him about you spying on me in the bath, he was willing to tell me anything I wanted to hear.”
    Liam stared in horror. “I didn’t see you in the—”
    He stopped then cracked a smile, looking more relieved than amused at her joke. “That’s funny,” he said. “I’m more inclined to believe that if Justin heard anything about you being naked, he’d run from the room before you had time to ask one question.”
    Hearing him use the word naked , in reference to her no less, gave her goose bumps and distracted her from his playful jab. She took a swig of her drink and swiped at her forehead.
    He joined her at the table, reaching for the unopened can. “Thanks.”
    She nodded, lost