Meant To Be - Heaven Hill Series #1

Chapter Thirty-Two

Lauren watched her son as he came out of his dorm room the next morning, his hand firmly clasping Denise's. The tension and wariness that had been tightly wound into his body the night before was no longer there. The large hickey that was present on the woman's neck was proof of just how he had relaxed. Truth be told she couldn't remember the last time he had walked around without tension in his shoulders and his eyes shifting this way and that. It saddened her that she'd never seen her son like this before.

"What do you say we grab some breakfast and go sit outside?" he asked as he ambled up to her. He seemed at peace with himself, much more comfortable in his body than she could ever remember him being.

She looked into his eyes, trying to gauge whether he really wanted to give her a second chance at being his mother. Her heart couldn't take it if he wasn't truly interested in this. What she saw there made her hopeful. It looked as if he wanted this as much as she did. "That's fine with me. Is your lady coming with us?"

The look he bestowed on Denise was one of pure adoration and love. To be honest, it made Lauren jealous. Even early on in her marriage to William, he had never looked at her like that. Liam pulled her hand to his lips and kissed the palm. "If she wants, and if you don't care."

"I don't. I would love it if you would come with us." Lauren was eager for anything that would allow her a few precious moments with the son she didn't know. Anything that would move their relationship forward.

Denise smiled prettily, "Then I would love to."

The trio walked into the kitchen and caught a glimpse of Tyler sitting at the table, a coffee cup in front of him. If she wasn't mistaken, that coffee cup looked like an amazingly real replica of a skull. His face was serious like it always was, and Denise could see lines of fatigue around his eyes and mouth.

"How's Meredith?" she asked, gasping as he lifted the cup up to his mouth and took a sip. It was, in fact, what she assumed it was. A small skull, but a skull nonetheless.

He shuddered as the caffeine coursed through his body. He hoped like hell this would wake him up because he had spent most of the previous night sitting in watch over Meredith. "Rough night and what's wrong with you?"

"Is that a skull?" she asked, her brows knitting together. "It looks disturbingly real. Is it?"

He smiled. She'd never seen the man smile before and it completely changed his face. It made her want to do anything he asked. It was very disconcerting, and she almost chuckled as Liam came up behind her and put an arm around her shoulder. For the first time it was obvious that Tyler was the 'make your panties drop' man of the group. Funny, she hadn't pegged him as that man before.

"People assume that because I'm Native American it is, but no one really knows for sure," his eyes twinkled with mischief.

"Liam is it real?" She asked, tilting her head to the side with the question.

"Don't know, darlin'. He won't even tell me. He plays things close to the vest sometimes. He just smiles at people and tells them that it may or may not be cursed."

"You mean he's your best friend and he doesn't tell you everything?" She asked, leaning back to look him in the eye.

"We're not a bunch of girls, baby. We're men, we don't have to tell each other everything. There's nothing wrong with keeping some things a mystery."

She frowned. That wasn't at all the answer she was looking for. Denise really wanted to know if it was cursed or not.

Liam grabbed her hand and lead her out of the kitchen, having gotten breakfast while she contemplated the presumed cursed skull coffee cup. Curious still, she looked back at the big man and shivered when he winked at her. It was pretty obvious he would never tell.