Love Thy Brother

Face To Face Again

Tamryn was driving towards the farm. They were all heading there for
another weekend get-together. Usually she was so excited to go but this
time she was very nervous. Everybody knew about her and Liam now. No
one have spoken a word about them when they called. They were all just
very concerned to know how she was feeling. But she knew she and Liam
would have to give some answers this weekend. And then there was the
fact that she was going to see Liam again. She haven’t seen him since she
came out of the hospital and she asked him to leave.
They spoke over the phone almost every day and he wanted to come and
see her a few times but she told him that she was not ready. Now she had
to face him. She was also still very bothered by what Allan told her. She
wanted to use this weekend to get to the bottom of it all.
When she got to the farm she drove straight to her and Liam’s condo and
opened the garage door with her remote. Her heart stood still when she
saw his car already parked in his spot and him leaning against it, waiting for
her. She parked her car and got out. The she stood against her car door
facing him. They were very close to each other.
“Hey Liam” she said. Oh how she missed him! If what Allan said about
him was true, it would break her heart into pieces.
“Hey girl!” he greeted her back. He didn’t move closer. He was not sure if
she was ready for that. “May I get a hug and a kiss?” he asked carefully.
She nodded and when he opened his arms to her, she walked right in. He
lifted her chin and kissed her softly. “Oh, I missed you so much!” he
whispered against her lips.
“I missed you too!” she said and just stood in his arms with her head
against his chest.
“How are you feeling?” he asked sincerely.

“I’m doing okay” she answered without looking up. She wanted to stay in
his arms for as long as she could. She didn’t want to leave this save
feeling she had when she was with him. Can this man really be what his
brother was accusing him of? Thinking of that she stiffened and stepped
out of his embrace.
Liam sensed the change in her behaviour and frowned. Maybe she was
still not ready for any intimacy, he thought.
“We should go and greet the others” she pointed to the door and tried to
hide her feelings from him. Which was very difficult. He knew her too well.
She could see that he noticed the change in her mood but she ignored it.
He just cleared his throat and said: “Yes. You know they are going to have
a lot of questions for us. But I will take care of them. Don’t worry.” He tried
to get her to relax again.
“No Liam! We are in this together. We will face them together.”
“Tammy, I’m not going to let them bully you. Not after what you have been
through.” He was determined to keep her save from what they might think
or say.
“What WE went through!” she corrected him. “You also lost a baby. Your
feelings are just as important as mine!”
He said nothing but she could see the pain flashed in his eyes. He stepped
aside and let her walk into the living room. She put her handbag down on
one of the couches and turned to him. She was reluctant to go outside and
face the rest of the family. Liam could sense that so he took her hand
firmly in his and walked out the door with her.
She blushed when she saw them. They all noticed her and Liam holding
hands but said nothing. Everybody was happy to see her and faffed
around her. Allan gave her a long hug. He was this normal clown person
again, but she knew now that it was only a mask he put up to protect
himself.

During dinner she watched them all one by one. Her family. So full of
secrets and lies. She looked specifically at Liam and Stephanie and their
behaviour towards one another. Liam didn’t leave Tamryn’s side at all.
Stephanie was quiet and moody. Not her old bubbly self. Was it because
Liam was with her the whole time? Or did Allan talk to his wife after all.
She could see something was wrong between the two of them.
Ryan was also very quiet and stern and she knew he was going to want to
talk with her and Liam. But so was Lydia. She looked tired. More than
usual. She didn’t look well at all. She wondered if Ryan took her to the
doctor as he said he would. That could also be the reason for his mood.
Her family felt broken. Nothing and no one seemed to be themselves. Is
this what she and Liam did to them? She couldn’t help but wonder.
That night they all went to bed early. No one was in the mood for talking.
When Liam closed their condo door behind him he asked: “Can we talk or
are you to tired?” He looked at her with so much concern in his eyes that
her heart melted. How can Allan accuse him of betrayal if he is so full of
care and love for her?
“Of course we can talk. I also think we should” she said and sat down on
the couch. He went to sit next to her and turned to face her. Then he took
one of her hands in his: “We need to talk about what happened. We
cannot just ignore it.” There was definite pain in his eyes.
“I know” she agreed. “I think it’s time.”
“Tammy, I’m not angry with you! I don’t blame you at all for what
happened” he assured her. He took her chin and lifted it so that she could
look in his eyes. “Did you hear what I just said? Do you believe what I just
said?”
“Yes I do, Liam. I’m sorry for the way I treated you. It was not fair at all.
You did not deserve it.” She was really sorry. Looking back now she knew
she could’ve handled it all better.

“I don’t care about that!” he said. “I understand you needed time on your
own. But please don’t shut me out anymore! I cannot stand it! These few
weeks have been hell for me! It felt like I was losing you!” He was
sounding so urgent.
“You will never lose me!” She took his face between her hands. “I love you
too much! This thing that happened to us just made my love for you
stronger.”
“Oh, my Love!” Liam sighed with relief. Her heart stopped! It was the first
time Liam called her his love. He pulled her towards him and kissed her so
passionately it made her head spin. She returned his kiss with such
hunger. She really missed this man!
“Tammy,” he said after a while, very out of breath. “I’m not going to make
love to you until we’re married. I will not put you through that again.” He
referred to the baby they lost. “I should’ve known better from the start. I
should’ve waited.” She could see that he was very serious and also being
very hard on himself. He wanted to take all the blame. “Allan should have
killed me like he promised” he gave a half-hearted smile.
“But I gave you permission, remember?” she reminded him. “You didn’t
want to but I made you do that. I am just as much to blame!”
Liam looked at her and smiled: “How about we stop blaming ourselves and
just move forward?”
“Sounds great, but how do you expect me not to make love to you
anymore?” she didn’t agree with his new rule. “Does that also mean I
cannot sleep next to you anymore?”
“Oh, you can sleep next to me if you can control yourself,” he said and
started laughing when he saw the disgusted look on her face.
She shrugged then she remembered something: “Wait a minute!” she held
one hand up. “Did you just propose to me and I totally missed it?”
Again he burst out with laughter: “I wondered how long it would take you to
realise! But that was just a promise of a proposal. Believe me, when I am going to propose to you, and I am, I will do a very decent job.” He smiled,
looking pleased with himself.
“Well, I can’t wait!” she said and gave him a big hug. “Can we please go to
bed now? I need to be close to you tonight. I really missed you so much!”
Liam stood up and pulled her up by her hands. Before they left she pulled
him back and said: “We have to talk about Allan. But not tonight! I’m too
tired now.”
They slowly walked up the stairs. Both of them very tired and warn out.
“What? No carrying me up the stairs tonight?” she teased him.
“No, you really hurt my back last time!” he teased her back. She playfully
slapped him and the both laughed.
At the top of the stairs she told him she was going to take a shower and
then she would join him in bed. Liam did the same. That night they laid in
each other’s arms and slept peacefully for the first time in weeks.