“What in the hell did I just hear you say?” Scott emerged from the hall with Connor and Brennan at his side.
Ophelia batted her long lashes at him.“N’awlins.”
A shit-eating grin spread across Connor’s face as he stepped into the living room. “Well,shit. It’s on now.”
“Hell nah,” Ophelia said, still snarky. “I was just saying how much I love living inN’awlins.”
Scott lunged across the living room to bury his face in Ophelia’s neck as he growled low and deep. She giggled wildly and stamped her bare feet on the rug, and then he lifted his face and gave her an enamored grin. “You’re a troublemaker.”
Ophelia offered her own blatantly enamored grin and tousled his hair before kissing him. Liza picked up the beer and sipped it as she floated her gaze toward the front door out of politeness. Unfortunately, however, Connor had selected that spot to casually stand, and their eyes collided in an uncomfortable, knowing glance.
“So how do you likeNew Orleansso far?” Ophelia asked with snarky emphasis after Scott took a seat next to her.
Liza smiled. “I love it. I wish I could stick around, but I’ll only be here until I get things in order for Jimmy.”
Ophelia tilted her head as she lifted her eyebrows. “Oh, you’re not here permanently?”
“Yeah, I thought you decided to stick around,” Brennan added as he meandered into the living room, leaning against the wall next to the entrance to the kitchen.
Liza cut her eyes between Brennan and Ophelia. “I mean…I’m going to stick around long enough to finish the branding overhaul and establish the digital marketing plan. Once all of that is in place, I can manage everything in a remote capacity.”
She glanced at Connor, her mind piping up,because I can’t handle being around you for any longer than that.
“I just don’t see the point in permanently uprooting my life and starting over at thirty-one years old,” Liza concluded. “I love it here, but it’s just not home.”
Scott wagged his index finger. “I uprooted my life and started over here when I was just a hair younger than you.” He squeezed Ophelia’s thigh, and they exchanged a loving glance. He looked back at Liza. “Best thing I ever did.”
Liza offered a cordial smile. “I would venture to guess you were after different things than I am. It was the first available job, and I just wanted to keep from tapping into my savings.”
Scott chuckled and caressed Ophelia’s thigh. “Yeah, that’snotwhat I was thinking about.”
“Huh,” Brennan uttered, causing Liza to look at him again. He was watching her below his furrowed brow. “I thought you were staying.” He pushed away from the wall to slip back inside the kitchen. “That’s a shame.”
Liza eyed him as he disappeared into the kitchen, and she knew what he was thinking. He thought it was a shame because he was convinced she and Connor could work things out, but Brennan didn’t understand how truly traumatic and awful the reality of their history was.
“So,” Scott said, shaking Liza out of her thoughts, “Connor mentioned y’all are planning to sign Oscar Quinn Washington.”
“Yes. I was hoping it wouldn’t be crossing any lines to ask if you might write a follow up to the article you wrote on him a few weeks ago.” Liza set her beer back on the coaster. “We learned today that he’s got a rough situation. He was pretty adversely affected by the…by uh…” Liza’s eyes cut to the three New Orleans residents in the room who most assuredly had vivid memories of the storm. “He has a difficult—”
“He lost his family in K,” Connor said, voice low and focusing his attention with laser-like accuracy on Scott and Ophelia.
Ophelia’s brows gathered as she frowned. Scott pulled his lips between his teeth and tilted his chin low.
“He must have been pretty young,” Scott said, rubbing the scruff on his cheek.
“He waseight.” Connor shoved his hands in his pockets and shifted his weight. “He was in foster care until he was eighteen and then moved back into his old house. The house is fucked, and he’s been living in it for years because it’s his only connection to his family. He’s got nobody.”
Scott lifted his chin, displaying an appalled expression before shooting up from the chair. “Well.” He clapped his hands together. “I’m gonna go grab my laptop and get started on this right now.”
He turned to leave the room, and Connor followed him, the both of them speaking in hushed tones as they disappeared down a hall. Ophelia’s brows were still crinkled together as she rubbed her delicate collar bone and stared at the shrimp.
Liza cleared her throat, abundantly aware she needed to defuse the uncomfortable atmosphere of the room. “How old is your daughter?”
Ophelia looked up from the coffee table, and a warm smile spread across her face. “She’ll be ten in November.”
A sudden, excruciating pang slammed Liza’s chest, but she managed to smile unaffectedly. It was probably not the best question to ask because Liza had immediately guessed the little girl’s approximate age. Her heart and mind had a radar of sorts that subconsciously directed her attention to children of a certain age. The fact that Scott and Ophelia’s daughter wasthatage,and they lived next door to Connor made the pang all the more deafening and painful.
It was all a vivid picture of the future with Connor she’d previously envisioned that was never meant to be.
