Destined To Be A Dad (Welcome To Destiny Book 9) (4 page)

The only sound was the low chirping of crickets now that the sun had set. And there was a distant thunder that could only be the fireworks from the rodeo. It was then that Liam noticed the outside lights on the porch, pathway and the model homes situated in front of the main house had come on automatically, casting muted pockets of yellow glowing here and there, but the end of the porch where they sat was dark.

So dark that he couldn’t see Missy’s face clearly.

He rose again. Lighting candles on the dresser, he brought back a few and placed them in the center of the table in time to catch the shaking of the glass in her hand.

“I was nineteen years old, a mother, a wife...trying to go to school, to live up to my parents’ expectations...to Stanford’s.” Missy finished the last of her wine. “It wasn’t easy.”

He was sure it wasn’t. At nineteen he’d been concentrating on rodeoing full-time and working for his father, attached to nothing but his horse and trailer. Not even his so-called marriage had rated any importance. One of the reasons it’d ended so quickly.

How long had Missy and Stanford been married? Were they still?

Liam’s gaze went to her left hand clutching the glass. No ring. Did that mean anything? “Casey never mentioned her father today.”

“Stanford died in a car accident when she was five years old. Before that we were—he traveled a lot. For business. She barely remembers him.”

So, she hadn’t remarried in the decade since? He tucked away that question, not wanting to go there. “You started to tell me about test results. I’m guessing you’re referring to the ones that said Stanford was a match.”

“Yes, but what I found in the dark corners of my father’s desk were two test results,” Missy said, reaching for an oversize leather tote. She tilted it toward the light and rummaged around inside, pulling out some paperwork and thrusting it at him. “The one he showed me all those years ago and the
real
test. The one that stated Stanford was not a match. This, of course, meant you were—are—Casey’s father.”

Liam took the papers, but kept his eyes on her. “I’m guessing this is what you and your mother argued about.”

“You bet your arse. She admitted to knowing the whole thing, all this time, when I confronted her.” Missy grabbed her glass, saw it was empty and set it down again. “Like I said, I had to fly to LA the next day for a work commitment without the chance to talk to Casey. I couldn’t have sprung something like this on her at the last minute and then left. Not that it mattered. Apparently she overheard me and Mum and...and took matters into her own hands.”

She looked at him then, her gaze steady. “The one thing I did plan was coming to Destiny. To find you and tell you everything. Casey got here first.”

Liam nodded, certain if he tried to speak right now the words wouldn’t make it past the lump in his throat.

He tried to mentally piece together the jigsaw puzzle her story created. He believed her, as crazy as it was. He was angry at her parents for what they had done to both of them—all three of them. To keep the true paternity of their grandchild from their daughter because...

He had no idea why. Other than that they must’ve been dead set against the plans Missy had made all those years ago to move to America. To go to college here. To be with him. Plans he’d stomped all over with his size-twelve boots when he’d announced
his
plan to rodeo full-time instead of going to the University of Wyoming.

So where did they go from here?

“I planned to tell Casey once we were together again. She wasn’t supposed to arrive in the States until Monday, meeting me in LA,” Missy continued. “She, of course, took it upon herself to change all that.”

“Who was watching Casey while you traveled? Your mother?”

Missy nodded.

“I’m guessing she too was in the dark about Casey’s plans.” Liam leaned forward and set his now empty glass down. “Does she know where her granddaughter is now?”

“Of course. We spoke during my layover. And yes, she had no idea what Casey was up to. She was under the impression she was staying with friends.”

“You seem pretty calm about all of this—”

She cut him off with a casual wave of her hand. “Believe me, I’m not.”

“Really?” There was that cool British reserve again, and it irked him. “Your daughter changes her international flight plans, arrives alone in a foreign country and hitches a ride to Destiny from the airport and you’re just—”

Her beautiful blue eyes grew wide. “Hitched?”

“It was just pure luck that I ran into her at the rodeo at all. In time to get her out of what might’ve been a...sticky situation.”

“I’m not sure what that means, but believe me, I will be discussing my daughter’s actions with her as soon as I see her.” Missy dropped her hand to the tote in her lap. “And answering what I’m sure will be quite a few questions from her about this entire situation. Thankfully, she and I have plenty of time to talk. We’re flying to Hawaii next week for a planned holiday before returning to London next month.”

Liam’s head spun, his thoughts a jumbled mess of questions, ideas and plans, but her words cut through. “Wait a minute, you mean you
were
flying to Hawaii.”

“No, I—”

“Don’t think you can just show up, drop a bomb about a long-lost daughter and walk away three days later.” Liam’s anger was back and it was hot. He got to his feet again. “I don’t care who got here first.”

“We have plans.”

“Plans change.”

She stood as well, ready to argue, but then a caravan of cars came down the drive. They parked in the nearby lot and his family spilled out into the night. Moments later they were across the yard and heading up the porch, with Casey leading the way.

“Mum!”

Missy’s expression transformed when she saw her daughter, and seconds later they held each other in a tight embrace. When they finally let go, Missy stepped back, running her hands lightly over Casey’s multicolored hair as she looked in her daughter’s eyes. Then she took in the new boots Casey was proudly showing off.

Watching the two of them, and the private world they created just by being in each other’s company, made Liam’s chest ache. This was supposed to be his daughter, but he’d never felt more like an outsider despite being surrounded by his own family.

He cleared his throat, catching both of their attention.

“Missy, I think you probably remember my folks, Alistair and Elise Murphy.” The sooner they got introductions over with, the sooner they could get back to talking about how long she and Casey were sticking around. “Mom and Dad, this is Casey’s mother, Melissa Dobbs.”

She took his mother’s outstretched hand first and then his father’s. “Yes, of course, I remember you, Mr. and Mrs. Murphy. It’s good to see you again. And please, call me Missy.”

“Oh, it’s so nice to see you, too, dear,” his mother said, giving her the once-over before sending a wink Liam’s way that he hoped no one else noticed. “We remember you as well. You’ve grown up so nice.”

“Ah, thank you.”

“And these are two of my three brothers who live in town.” Liam waved at the men standing nearby. “I’m guessing Adam took Fay and A.J. straight on home?”

“Only because the baby was fussy. Otherwise they would’ve been here too. Hi, Missy, I’m Nolan Murphy.” Liam’s brother stepped forward and gave her a quick handshake. “Adam’s our oldest brother and the smart one. He doesn’t live here on the compound.” He then pointed at the three teenagers lounging on the steps. “Those hooligans are mine. Abby is sixteen and the twins, Luke and Logan, are thirteen.”

Missy smiled at the kids and then returned his greeting. “I’m sorry, I don’t remember meeting you before. Or Adam.”

“That’s because I was living in Boston the year you were here. Adam was serving overseas in the military.”

After nodding, she then shook hands with Bryant and his wife, Laurie. “Now, you I remember,” she said. “You were a wee freshman when I was here last.”

“Yeah, that was me.” Bryant grinned. “Devlin is only a year behind Liam, so you must remember him too.”

“Yes, I do remember Devlin. Popular with the ladies, right?”

“Oh, that’s our Dev,” Elise said, and then laughed. “Only now he’s a one-woman man and living in London, actually, for the next few months, with his lady love, Tanya. And our youngest, Ric—oh, he must’ve been just six or seven when you were here—is in the air force, stationed in northern Italy.”

“Well, it’s lovely to meet you all...again...and thank you for taking care of my daughter today. I do appreciate it.”

“We enjoyed having her with us.” Elise smiled warmly at Casey, waving off Missy’s gratitude. “And we’re looking forward to getting to know her—and you—better during your stay.”

Missy glanced at her daughter for a moment before her gaze flickered in Liam’s direction. “Well, we’re only in town for a few days,” she said, looking back at his mother. “The weekend. Casey and I have a holiday scheduled—”

“Mum, are you daft? We can’t go now!” Casey spun around, grabbing her arm. “I just got here. We just got here! There’s so much more I want to see and do!”

“Casey, we have reservations—”

“Off the bloody reservations! Everything’s changed now!”

Liam couldn’t agree more, but from the look on Missy’s face, she wasn’t buying into her daughter’s excitement.

“Why don’t we head inside and let these three talk this out,” Alistair said, heading for the door with his wife in tow.

“Are you kidding?” Abby leaned in from her perch on the stairs, flinging her long blond hair back over one shoulder. “This is getting good!”

“Nolan...”

Liam sent his brother a warning look, but the man was already corralling his kids off the steps and around the side yard. Bryant and Laurie followed his folks indoors. Then it was the three of them as Casey continued her campaign to change her mother’s mind.

It wasn’t working.

He could see it in Missy’s eyes, hear it in her voice as she laid out the travel plans she and Casey had for spending the next month in a private villa on the beach in Maui. Nice. She’d come from a world of money and power back when they’d first met all those years ago. He guessed she—or her family—was still doing okay.

Either way, she didn’t want to be in Destiny. Didn’t want to be near him. Too bad. If she thought she could waltz out of the continental US, taking his daughter with her, and expect him to be okay with that, she had another think coming.

His fingers tightened into a fist, crinkling the paperwork he still held. An idea popped into his head and tumbled out of his mouth. “Here’s another reason for you two to stick around. We need to do another DNA test.”

The two women stopped talking and turned in unison to look at him.

Missy’s light blue eyes crackled with fire, but it was the wounded look that flashed in Casey’s that got to him.

Damn, what else could he do?

He believed Missy’s story about a doctored DNA test, even if it was a bit farfetched. Who knew how long this lie would’ve gone on if not for her father suddenly dying, Casey overhearing, Liam still living in the same town where it all started...

For whatever reason, the universe had conspired to bring him and Missy back together—to bring them all together—and he wanted them to stay. More than he’d wanted anything in a long time.

“Look, this is a negative report telling us who’s not a match,” Liam said, gesturing with the paperwork. “A report we now know that has been tampered with. We should have another test done—me and Casey—just so we’re all a hundred percent sure.”

Chapter Three

C
asey was ready to tell her real father what he could do with his suggestion about a new DNA test, and knowing her daughter’s temper, it wasn’t going to be pretty. Not that Missy blamed her. After his veiled remarks concerning her parenting skills, she was ready to tell him what he could do with his demand for another test herself.

“I think he’s right,” she said instead, before Casey could speak. She read the surprise on Liam’s face at her like-mindedness, but her focus at the moment had to be on her daughter.

Missy reached for Casey’s hand, hating that it was ice-cold. A quick squeeze got her attention. “We should have an up-to-date test done. For his sake, sweetie, and ours.”

Casey’s bravado crumbled and the fire left her eyes. “Why did Granddad do this to you? To us? To Dad?” She bit hard at her bottom lip, and her gaze swung over to Liam. “I mean...you know, my other...”

“It’s okay.” Liam’s voice was gentler now. “Things are a little mixed-up at the moment.”

To say the least. The hurt and confusion reflected on Liam’s and Casey’s faces—feelings that shone brightly in matching sets of dark blue eyes—shook Missy to her core.

Almost as much as the realization that the two of them shared the same eyes. Same shape, same color. A deep cerulean blue she’d once told Liam matched the river-fed lake back behind the Murphy family home. A color she always told Casey was her favorite.

How had she never noticed that before now?

Because you believed the lie you were told years ago. The scared girl deep inside you clung to those test results, filled with righteous indignation that this man didn’t deserve to be the father of your precious baby girl.

Missy blinked away that sudden insight, not willing or able to deal with that bitter pill of truth. Not tonight. “I think we should—”

“How did you two hook up anyway?” Casey blurted out. “It’s a long way between London and Destiny—oh, wait! I overheard Grandmum say letting you go to America was a mistake. You’d turned nineteen just before you had me...bollocks, don’t tell me I’m a souvenir from a one-off during a spring break trip.”

“No!” Liam and Missy spoke at the same time, their voices united.

“You were not the result of a one-night stand,” Missy continued, aghast that the idea had popped into her daughter’s head.

“You never told her?” he asked, taking a step closer. His broad shoulders blocked out the porch light behind him, casting his face in shadows, but the tightening of his jaw was unmistakable. “About your time in Destiny? About us?”

Missy shook her head, surprised at the nuance of hurt in his tone. No, that was impossible. The man had married someone else less than a year after she’d left sixteen years ago. A lifetime ago.

“That’s right. You said a few minutes ago you remembered his family!” Casey’s voice grew excited again. “So you two were a couple? And you lived here in Destiny, Mum? For how long?”

“A year,” Liam said.

“It was more like eleven months.” Missy spoke at the same time, overriding him. “As part of a student exchange program when I was in my sixth form. The twelfth grade in an American high school, and yes, Liam and I dated during that time.”

“I’d say you did more than date, Mum. A lot more.”

Liam let loose a snort that changed to a clearing of his throat, one hand fisted against his mouth, when Missy glared at him. Still, he remained silent, only tilting his head in her direction.

She sighed. She wanted nothing more than to sink up to her nose in bubbles and then collapse into bed, but some private time with her daughter was needed first.

“Sweetie, it’s been a long day. For all of us. Right now, I could use a hot bath and we—” she gave Casey’s hand another quick squeeze “—need to have a long talk. About everything. Including your clandestine adventure getting to America, which, despite everything, you’re not off the hook for.”

Her daughter’s gaze again flickered to Liam.

“A talk with just the two of us,” Missy added, this time looking fully at Liam, half expecting him to argue with her over this as well. “If that’s all right with you?”

He returned her stare for a long moment, and then nodded. “If you think that’s best.” He dropped his hand to his side. “For now.”

Meaning Casey and he—or more likely the three of them—would be talking about their shared past, and where they all went from here, during the next few days. At least his anger about their planned holiday seemed to have disappeared, probably because of Casey’s vocal objections to leaving Destiny.

Not that agreeing to another test meant anything had changed.

Still, things had gone better than Missy had hoped for tonight. Considering the merry-go-round of memories, emotions and questions that she’d been riding since that night in her father’s study, Missy was proud of how she’d handled things so far.

Once she and her daughter started talking? All bets were off.

Casey had never been one to back down from what she was feeling, and like most teenagers, she could get a bit cheeky when her emotions were riled, not holding back whatever she might be thinking. Missy was used to it, even if she did have to pull in Casey’s reins from time to time. The truth was she’d encouraged her daughter to always speak her mind and be honest with what she was feeling. A trait that often exasperated Casey’s grandparents, especially her grandmother.

It was time to end this evening before she went into memory overload. “Liam, if you could arrange for a car to take us to the closest hotel, perhaps that quaint bed-and-breakfast in town, we’d greatly appreciate it.”

Her heart stuttered when he gave a quick shake of his head. “No can do. The inn is full. So are the two hotels out by the highway. With the rodeo in town, there isn’t an empty room anywhere. People are staying as far away as Laramie. Even Cheyenne.”

“Well, we have to stay somewhere. I doubt we’ll be able to do anything about a test until Monday.” She released Casey and turned back for the phone she’d left on the table. “Let me do a search and see what I can find—”

“How about we stay here? Who’s living in those?”

“Cassalyn Dobbs!” Missy spun back around, surprised by the boldness of her daughter, who was pointing at the nearby log homes. “How cheeky of you.”

“She’s not being
cheeky
, just curious.” Liam again shook his head, this time with a slight smile on his face. “Sorry, but those are only model homes. They have electricity, as you can see, but no plumbing. Since your mother mentioned wanting a bubble bath—”

“I didn’t say anything about bubbles,” she cut him off, her gaze on her phone, positive she hadn’t spoken that desire aloud. “And we can’t stay here.”

“Of course you can.” Elise Murphy’s voice carried from the doorway as she came back out to the porch. “You’re more than welcome.”

Stay here in the Murphy family home? Not bloody likely!

Now it was Missy’s turn to shake her head. “Oh, we wouldn’t want to impose—”

“It’s no imposition, dear.” Elise hurried to join them. “We’d love to have you. Now, we do have an empty guest room in the main house, but it only has a queen-size bed. Much too small for the two of you. Nolan’s place is out—what with the four of them, it’s already crowded and why he turned his guest room into an office I’ll never understand.”

“He likes to work late,” Liam said. “Really late.”

“And he can’t walk across the yard to his office here in the main house?” Elise harrumphed. “Bryant and Laurie’s cabin is too small. And you—” she paused to swat at her son’s chest “—if you’d bother to furnish any of the rooms in your new place beside the master suite—”

“My place has furniture,” Liam interrupted his mother. “Just not in the bedrooms.”

“And aren’t you sorry about that now?”

The flash of awareness in his gaze caused Missy’s already hastened heartbeat to race out of control. Pressing a hand to her chest, as if that would ease the wild thumping, she tried to put a stop to this. “I appreciate your offer, but we’ll be fine in a hotel.”

“Wait, I have the perfect place!” The older woman’s eyes lit up as she clasped her hands together. “You can stay in the boathouse.”

“The boathouse?” Casey asked. “What’s that?”

“It’s down back, on the lake. Above where we store the boats and canoes and stuff. It used to be a storage area, but a few years ago I came up with the idea of...”

Missy’s gaze locked with Liam’s, his mother’s chatter fading to a dull buzzing. The boathouse. A private sanctuary in the middle of the Murphy family madness she and Liam had often sneaked off to whenever they wanted to be alone.

They’d discovered the secluded setting by accident one cool and stormy spring afternoon after hurrying back from a canoe ride, soaked to the skin and looking for shelter.

Filled with cast-off furniture, old toys and boxes and trunks filled with everything from books to clothes to holiday decorations, the place had had a faint musty smell, but it’d been warm and dry. After realizing no one had found out where they’d gone off to, they’d returned often. Just being together, away from everyone, had been wonderful.

Of course, the intimacy of the space had lent itself to kisses...and so much more. It’d been the first place they’d made love. On a warm night with moonlight streaming through the windows, both unsure of what they were doing, but secure in their feelings and what they wanted.

A wanting that deepened and grew—

“Missy?”

Liam’s husky voice broke into her memories, but it was his heated touch on her arm that jolted her out of the past.

She jerked away, refusing to look at him or accept the wild beating of her heart. Thankfully Elise was still going on about the design of the apartment, and her daughter was so enthralled with the description neither one of them had noticed how she had zoned out.

Liam had. Of course he had. He knew exactly why she was about to refuse his mother’s generous offer.

“Us dropping in unannounced like this isn’t fair to Liam...or to your family.” Missy prayed her words didn’t sound as distressed as she felt. “We really don’t want to put you to any trouble.”

“Oh, it’s no trouble, dear. We were expecting a visit from friends of Alistair’s for the rodeo, but they had to cancel at the last minute. The place is ready with fresh linens and a fully stocked kitchen.”

“It sounds perfect.” Casey offered a pleading look. “Please, Mum?”

It was late and the constant memories were draining, both emotionally and physically. Besides, after all this time, what did it really matter?

Hating the lump of desperation in her stomach at that thought, she forced a smile. “Thank you. We appreciate your hospitality.”

Elise smiled and handed a key ring to her son. “Here, perhaps you should take them around through the backyard. There’s still a group of people in the living room. We’ll see you both in the morning.”

His mother gave Casey a quick hug, which her daughter easily returned, surprising Missy again. She’d be hard-pressed to remember the last time she saw
her
mother exchange affections that way with Casey.

After the woman went back inside, the teen hurried to the stairs, grabbing Missy’s two small suitcases along with a duffel bag she recognized as belonging to her daughter.

“Blimey, Mum...only two cases? I thought you took a whole store full when you departed for California.”

“Most of which is still in LA,” she quipped, joining her daughter after getting her purse. “I only brought enough clothes for a weekend trip.”

“But we aren’t—”

She lightly tugged at her earlobe—a familiar gesture between them that had the desired effect of stopping Casey from arguing. For the moment, at least. Her daughter’s expression said she was clearly gearing up for round two.

Oh, a tub full of bubbles was sounding better all the time.

“Here, you take the key and let me carry those.” Liam relieved Casey of the luggage and gestured for them to head down the stairs first. “Let’s get you two settled. Casey, you know the way.”

As she followed her daughter, Missy wondered what Liam meant by that last statement.

“We came home earlier for dinner,” Liam said, falling into step beside her as they strolled down the lighted stone path that led around the side of the house. “Dad barbecued and then everyone headed back to the rodeo.”

Missy nodded, a bit mystified that he’d known what she’d been thinking. “Everyone but you.”

“I had a business emergency to deal with.” His voice turned low. “And I was waiting for you.”

A pang of...something she didn’t wish to label hit her right in the chest. She wrapped her arms across her middle against the chill that danced over her skin, raising goose bumps. The silky blazer and tank top she wore underneath were perfect for southern California in August, but the nights were cool here in Wyoming.

Yes, that had to be the reason for her body’s reaction to Liam’s words.

“Don’t worry, it doesn’t look anywhere near the same.”

Again, meant for her ears only, and she knew exactly what he was talking about. “It’s fine.”

“A lot has changed since you were here—”

“Yes, of course, it has.” She secretly hoped the attic space had been redone as extensively as Elise Murphy described. “As I said, it’s fine. Wait—what is—” She stopped short and pointed at the dark object just outside the reach of the outdoor lighting. “Is that a helicopter on the other side of the lot?”

“It’s for the family business,” Liam said. “A couple of my brothers and I are the pilots.”

She now remembered seeing something about it on the company’s website, but she’d had no idea... “You fly, too?”

Liam grinned, gesturing with her suitcase, and Missy started walking again, her heels clicking against the stones. The sturdy pathway continued through the large grassy yard and forest of trees at the back of the house.

She wondered how far it went. Years ago there’d been only a dirt trail that led from the oversize backyard down to the river. When they rounded the corner of the house, Missy stumbled to a stop. “Oh, my.”

“I told you things have changed a bit.” Liam’s voice flowed over her shoulder. “And I wasn’t just talking about the boathouse.”