pulled at the cuffs of his tux as he stood in the lobby of the luxurious hotel Fiona had booked for them. A handful of people had glanced sideways at him and Xander as if realizing that the two men looked familiar, but no one approached, thank goodness.
“How are you feeling?” Xander asked quietly.
“Fine,” Liam said tersely.
“I could have given the speech,” Xander replied. “It’s not worth all this stress.”
Liam softened. It wasn’t Xander’s fault that Liam had agreed to come, nor was it his fault that Fiona insisted that Liam had to make an appearance. A prominent one.
“You hate speaking in public.”
“I do,” he conceded. “Perhaps I could have written down the speech and distributed it to everyone to read.”
That made Liam laugh. “Next time.” He gripped his little brother on the shoulder for a moment. “But I really am doing okay.” For now.
The elevator dinged, and both brothers looked up to see Callie and Viola walk out of it.
Liam’s heart completely stopped beating when he saw Viola. Her long auburn hair had been pulled half-up, and the curls that remained tumbled halfway down her back. She wore a flowing dress in a blue so deep, it was the color of the night sky just before dawn. A long, charcoal coat hung from her arm, and he helped her into it after she approached.
“You look incredible,” he told her, his mouth close to her ear, his heart racing as tendrils of her hair brushed against his chin.
“You’re not so bad yourself,” she replied, turning to face him, her eyes caught intently in his.
The elevator dinged again, and this time their mother stepped out of it. She seemed even older now than the last time he saw her. Her hair was dyed brown and cut short, as always, but she seemed to be moving slower, and there was a weariness around her eyes that he hadn’t recalled seeing before. He resolved to do better at staying in touch with her. As he had learned so painfully with his dad, she would not be around forever.
Xander stepped forward to kiss their mom’s cheek, followed by Callie, who clasped her hand, and then Liam, who gave her a hug. “It’s good to see you,” she said.
“You too, Mom.”
“And who is this?” she asked, indicating Viola.
“Viola Nightingdale,” she replied with a friendly smile. She stepped forward and took his mother’s outstretched hand.
“Ah, so you’re the young lady who has caught my son’s eye. Callie’s childhood friend, correct?”
Liam lifted an eyebrow at Xander, who had the decency to look abashed. It appeared that his little brother had been keeping more in touch with their mother than he had.
“She was worried about you,” Xander murmured while their mom asked Viola what she did for a living.
“She could have called me.”
“And you could have called her.”
Liam conceded that fact with a nod. It wasn’t that he hadn’t wanted to call his mom, it was that he hadn’t really thought of it. He needed to change that going forward.
“Ready?” Xander asked the group. “There’s a car outside for us.”
They walked outside to where a driver stood, waiting for them.
Viola leaned close to Liam, and he inhaled her fresh scent. “By car, he meant limo, I assume.”
“What else would it be?” Liam smirked, and she nudged him gently with her elbow. The driver opened the door to the black, stretch limo, and the party of five climbed into the back of it.
The memorial event was being held in a luxurious banquet hall near Central Park. Conversation swirled around Liam, but he stared out the window, mindfully working on calming his nerves. He wasn’t nervous about the event, necessarily—he’d been to thousands of events and never had problems talking to people—but he was worried about being in public after last time’s debacle.
A cool hand slipped into his and squeezed his fingers. He looked over at Viola, who was telling his mom about the theater restoration, making everyone laugh with her rendition of throwing Liam’s phone down the vent.
“I like this one,” his mom said, making even Liam laugh this time, despite the tightening twist in his stomach as they got closer and closer. He held on to Viola’s hand, grateful she’d agreed to come with him. He couldn’t imagine facing this first public appearance without her.
Sooner than he would have liked, they arrived at the banquet hall. Liam helped Viola from the limo and then his mother. Each woman took an arm, and he led them inside.
It had been