Always Then and Now

Chapter 22

HANNAH

"Hey, so Emily's quickly growing out of her clothes, so I'm going to take her shopping for some new ones on Monday," I said to Liam as I handed Emily off to him that evening.

"Congratulations?" he asked, looking confused as he took the little girl from me.

I gave him a look and sighed with a smile. Apparently, I had to elaborate. "So, I'm going to need to switch her car seat from your car to mine so that I can take her," I explained. For the past month, Emily and I had stayed close to home during the day; I'd wanted to make sure she was comfortable in her own home before taking her too far away from it. Now I wanted to do some different things and take her to different places, give her new experiences.

Now Liam looked surprised. Surprised and uncomfortable. "Your car? That rust bucket out there in my garage? Absolutely not." He shook his head.

"Hey, I'll have you know that Henrietta has been a part of my family for more than a decade!" I protested, a little offended by his obvious distaste for my little hatchback.

"Yeah, and it shows, Sunshine. I'm surprised she doesn't fall apart the moment you slam the door," he said dryly.

"She runs just fine!" I exclaimed, exasperated. I didn't know what his problem was with my car. "There's nothing wrong with her. She's a healthy old girl."

"Han, you could barely start her last weekend when you went out to game night," he pointed out. "I was there, remember? It took you three tries to get her going. There's no way I'm going to risk the two of you getting stranded somewhere because Henrietta decides not to cooperate." I could practically hear the implied eye roll when he said her name.

I sighed. "Fine. I'll figure something else out." Deep down, I understood why he was putting his foot down. He had to think of his daughter's safety first, and Henrietta was definitely in her senior years. She was getting a little bit senile. Not that I'd admit that to him. I was just feeling a little bit contrary because of how he was speaking about my old girl. "Well, I'd better get going. I'll see you tonight." I gave him a little smile before turning to head to the garage, but he stopped me with a hand on my elbow.

"Whoa, where do you think you're going? Did I not just say I wasn't going to risk you driving that damn car?"

I looked at him, confused. "Yeah, with Emily, and I get it. You're making sure she's safe. But you can't forbid me from driving my own car."

"The hell I can't." I watched as he pulled out his phone, pressed a button, and put it to his ear. A moment later, he spoke. "Kate. Can you come pick Hannah up tonight for your game night? There's no way I'm letting her drive her deathtrap of a car."

"Liam!" I exclaimed, outraged by his words, but he ignored me. He spoke to Kate for a few more moments and then hung up and turned back to me, looking proud of himself. I glared at him. "Liam, what the heck?!"

"Hannah, I should have done this weeks ago. That car could fall apart at any moment. At any time, it could break down. I can't let you drive it and risk getting into an accident or getting stranded in the middle of nowhere," he said firmly, his gaze landing on me directly. I couldn't look away. His voice softened. "I need you to be safe too, not just Emily. Okay?"

I looked at him for a long moment, trying to decide how to answer. I was frustrated with him for putting his foot down but also extremely touched that he wanted to keep me safe. The latter side won. "Fine. Kate can bring me to game night, and I'll Uber back or something. But she can't drive me around all the time. How am I supposed to get around?"

"Leave that to me. I'll think of something," he said, smiling at me. Was that a touch of gratefulness I saw in his expression? I couldn't tell, but I also couldn't stay angry at him, not when he gave me that smile. It was unfair that a simple expression on his face, a soft tone of voice, could make me give in so easily.