I watched Lucas' retreating form and the urge to strangle him was overwhelming. He did that on purpose, he wanted me to just give up and go home. He was right though, I did struggle with the couch, not as much but enough to make me doubt being able to help with the heavier items in the house.

I walked into the house and found Lucas in the kitchen guzzling a glass of water. A small drop escaped from the glass and slipped down his chin all the way past his throat and I became transfixed on the droplet. I instantly swung my gaze away and heat crept into my cheeks.

"Still think you're up for today?" he asked only half teasing.

I narrowed my eyes, "Yes, I am."

My bags were still standing by the front door and I left Lucas in the kitchen to load my bags into the car. No point in leaving all of my luggage right in front of the door. A few minutes later a sports car pulled up and a heavily tattooed man got out of the car.

H was almost a whole head taller than Lucas and I couldn't deny that he was attractive. He gave me a crooked smile and walked in my direction. "You must be Katelyn?"

"I'm sorry, who are you?"

"Ah, I see. We have a mutual friend, about this tall," the man held his hand out to indicate height, "he's also very grouchy and rude. Not really a people person."

I laughed, "You're talking about Lucas but we're not friends."

He stuck out his hand, "The name's Liam."

I shook Liam's hand just as Lucas sauntered out of the house, "What are you doing here?"

Lucas looked between me and Liam and I felt his gaze skewer me in place. Liam held his hand up in mock surrender and I saw the mirth dancing in his eyes.

"Mrs. M said you might need some help here today and I'm free."

Lucas' jaw ticked, "Of course you are."

"You never told me Katelyn was this beautiful. If you did, I would have been here yesterday!"

My jaw unhinged and my cheeks caught fire. As I peeked up at Lucas I saw a thundercloud descend on his face.

"Shouldn't you be terrorizing your neighbor?" Lucas said through gritted teeth.

Liam grinned, "They moved out this morning."

Lucas just shook his head and I tried to place these two as friends. This was just too much macho testosterone for me.

"Well, it was nice meeting you, Liam. I have a lot to do."

I turned around and walked away from Liam and all the way past Lucas who had his arms crossed over his chest. I felt my heart rate pick up its pace and scowled.

There was no denying that Liam was attractive, any woman would have to be blind not to notice but he had no effect on me whatsoever. Lucas, on the other hand, had me a blubbering, nervous mess half the time and I couldn't wrap my brain around it.

Liam and Lucas spent the morning carrying out all the furniture until the first floor was empty. I stayed out of their way by boxing up all the things in the bedrooms and upstairs of the house. After I was done with the boxes, I lugged them downstairs and Lucas and Liam loaded them onto the truck.

I was in the bedroom with all the girly stickers busy unpacking the closet when I found a shoebox full of photos and letters. What gave me pause however was that my mom's name was scrawled on the lid with pink glitter.

My breathing grew labored and I couldn't get myself to pack the box away. Instead, I carried the box to my car and put it on the passenger seat. When I walked back into the house Liam was slumped against the wall and Lucas was guzzling from a water bottle. They both looked up in time to see me walk into the foyer.

"Man, I'm starving! When are we eating? Shouldn't there be like a break time?" Liam whined.

Lucas' eyes found mine and he nodded his head, "You're right, we should get some food." he said never taking his eyes off mine.

Liam's eyes perked up at the mention of food, "Can we get sloppy Joe's from Garcia's? Katelyn have you had one since you've been here?"

I frowned and shook my head, "Haven't really had time to get sloppy Joe's."

"Then you haven't lived! I'll get the food!" Liam said before jumping up and running out.

"How does he know I'm not a vegetarian?"

"Are you one? Besides Liam is a, do now think later type of person."

I laughed, "No, I'm not."

I walked to the kitchen and poured myself a glass of lemonade that Monica had made yesterday. It was really good and helped with the thirst. Lucas walked up behind me and leaned on the counter.

"So are we going to talk about the spider--"

"No! This morning never even happened!"

Lucas roared in laughter and I narrowed my eyes at him. For the next half hour, I tried my best to ignore him as much as possible. I even sat outside on the porch step soaking up some of the summer sun's rays.

I tilted my head back just as Lucas flopped down next to me. We sat in silence but his presence alone made my heart race. He was so close all I had to do was lean in and I would rest my head on his shoulder. The thought itself didn't surprise me, it was the overwhelming desire to do it that had me gleaming beet red.

The loud roar of an engine pulled me from my own thoughts and a few seconds later, Liam parked his car at the curb and got out. The closer Liam got to the house the stronger the delicious scent became and my mouth watered. I remembered that I haven't even had breakfast. I'll blame that on Lucas and the spider but right now, I was starving.

To just add to my humiliation a loud snarling sound came from my stomach that caused Lucas to snicker. "Come on before that growling scares off all the cats in the neighborhood."

Liam grinned as he walked in and Lucas and I followed suit. We sat the food down on the kitchen table and Liam passed me something wrapped in yellow paper and I frowned. Then, I opened the packaging and could hardly contain myself at that point. Not only did the sloppy Joe smell like heaven it looked like it too. It had cheese, tomatoes, and juicy minced meat.

I took a bite, the flavors exploded in my mouth and I closed my eyes and actually sighed in delight.

Liam chuckled, "Told you it's good. Pretty much the best thing in all of Silver Point."

"It's so good!" I crooned between bites.

I looked up to see Lucas looking at me with amusement and I just shrugged my shoulders. I was starving and tired and this sloppy Joe was my new salvation. Maybe this day wasn't so bad after all.

We finished eating and I got rid of all the paper wrappers after, I helped Liam and Lucas load the last boxes into the truck. When the sun started to set pulling the color from the sky, I was ready to sleep for days but I was also satisfied. It took the three of us most of the day but we had boxed up all of the furniture and loaded everything on the truck. The house seemed so much bigger empty, but also lonely.

Now that the furniture was out, I saw how big the house actually was. It was like a blank canvas waiting for the brushstroke of the artist, yet this artist had no idea what to paint.

I locked the doors after the guys loaded the last box and walked down the porch steps. When I looked up I caught Lucas staring at me and my cheeks burned. It wasn't the first time today I had caught him looking at me but every time I caught him my reaction was the same.

Lucas walked up to me and took a hold of my arm, "Liam is going to my house now, you can just drive behind him and my mom will show you where to stay."

I nodded my head unable to get the words out and walked to my car. I followed behind Liam's sports car as much as I could and that was a challenge in its own right. Every now and then I lost sight of his car only for him to rev his engine loudly.

When Liam pulled up in front of the gated property, I followed suit. We drove into a long winding driveway with a lot of trees blocking the view. The house came into view and I had to swallow the lump in my throat. Big grey walls stretched high, which looked like three floors high. There was a big wrap-around veranda with green vines snaking around the walls. The trimmings on the outside of the walls were a dark red-brown and I found myself liking the darker walls. It blended into the background and gave off a magical feel.

I had to commend Monica's style choices. I parked my car right next to Liam's car and hopped out.

"Pretty huge place, huh?"

I nodded my head to Liam, "Yeah, it is."

He walked ahead and I followed him still gawking at everything around me. There were lights all around the front garden that lit up the yard in an ethereal glow. When Liam and I walked into the foyer we were greeted by Monica.

She pulled me into a crushing hug, "I'm so glad you're here," she released me and turned to Liam, "why don't you get Katelyn's bags and bring them to the cottage."

Liam gave Monica a beaming smile, "Sure thing, Mrs. M."

When he left Monica started dragging me through the house. All the doors on the bottom floor had open archways for doors and large windows let in natural light. Monica had tastefully decorated the house in darker wood and warm colors. I marveled at everything around me. This place could give mom's home a run for its money.

"You have a beautiful home, Monica," I said as we walked into the kitchen.

There were two large sliding glass doors that led outside where a pool dominated the middle of the yard. Beyond that, I saw a cottage nestled between two large oak trees.

Monica pulled the glass doors open, "Thank you, honey, I've always had a flair for the dramatic. But I do love my home and I've always wanted a big place where the family could come together."

Just them Liam walked into the kitchen carrying my bags and the box I found in mom's room. I gingerly took the box from him and followed Monica to the cottage with Liam trailing behind me. Monica opened the door and waited for me to walk in first.

It was an open plan room, with the living room, kitchen, and a small dining area in one. At the far back, next to the small kitchen there was a single bedroom door.

"So, the bathroom is en-suite and the kitchen is fully stocked and ready to go! I know it's a little small but you'll have everything you need in here and you can always find me in the house if you ever need anything."

"It's perfect Monica, thank you for this."

Monica pulled me into another hug and I couldn't help hugging her back. The cottage may have been small but it was beautiful and more than what I needed.

"We'll be having dinner in an hour."

"Thanks, Monica but you don't have to go to any trouble."

"It's no trouble at all," then she looked at Liam standing in the door, "I have to feed these hooligans anyway."

"Hey! I'm a gentleman, Mrs. M."

I laughed and nodded my head, "Okay, I'll be there."

"Well then, we'll leave you to freshen up and you can come in anytime, okay?"

I quickly took a shower and then brushed out my long brown hair and pulled it into a tight bun on my head. There was no point in getting dressed for dinner so, I donned my favorite pair of faded jeans and my college hoodie.

After lacing up my sneakers, I walked to the door and took a deep breath, Having dinner with Lucas and whoever else wasn't something I was betting on but I couldn't let Monica down like that. I knew she wanted me to be there and in all honesty, I still wanted to ask her about my mom. They were best friends, surely she would know what happened.

The question remained though, did I really want to know?