Chapter 65

Liam shook Roger’s hand and kissed Elise on the cheek. Maggie put on her best smile and followed suit.

“Well, this is the woman who finally managed to settle Liam down. Congratulations, young lady!” Roger said, smiling. Maggie liked his kind eyes.

“Thank you, Mr. Westin. It is a pleasure to meet you!”

Elise Westin had more of her daughter in her, and her eyes didn’t quite meet her smile. “Yes, congratulations. I wonder what charms you used to convince Liam to finally settle down?”

You could hear the sour tone in her voice, and Maggie was not in the mood for some bitchy woman ruining this fabulous party that Charlie and Beth had set up for them.

They were her family, and Maggie was very protective of her own.

“It’s amazing isn’t it how things can change in the blink of an eye? One little moment can change your life.

“The decision that I made to go to that office building and to have my path collide with Liam’s is the best thing that ever happened to me.

“Funny how he never looked back and pursued me even though I turned him down at every turn.”

The older woman narrowed her eyes at Maggie as Charlie started turning red from trying not to laugh.

Roger pulled her away as Maggie turned her attention back to the woman in front of Liam. Her stare was boring holes into his head as Liam kept a poker face on.

“And you must be Tessa! I have heard so much about you. Thank you for coming to celebrate our marriage!” Maggie said with fake enthusiasm.

“Yes, congratulations, Liam, Martha. I hope you are happy together,” Tessa spewed, clearly trying to piss off Maggie.

“It’s Maggie, and we are so incredibly happy. With our baby on the way, I couldn’t be more excited about life!” Liam replied.

Tessa looked at them, gave a fake smile, and walked into the crowd.

“Maggie, I love you! That was perfect! You are so cheeky!” Charlie snickered.

“She is such a bitch. I’m sorry that she came with her parents. Please forgive me, darling!” Beth begged.

“It’s fine, Mom, I figured I would see her sometime this week. We aren’t going to let her ruin this night, so let’s just go and have fun!” Liam assured her.

The line had died down, and Beth told her to get a plate and eat up. Maggie didn’t need to be told twice and filled her plate, relishing in every bite she took.

Many people came by to talk, and Maggie found so many of them charming and fun. She laughed and mingled with Bethany and Liza.

An hour later, Charlie came up and asked her to find her husband. He wanted to make a toast, and Liam had taken a work call in the library.

Maggie rolled her eyes at the thought of her husband taking a work call and promised to find him and be back in a few minutes.

She set down her glass of sparkling flavored water and slowly made her way to the back of the huge house where the library was.

The door was ajar, and she could hear Liam’s frustrated voice.

“What don’t you understand about that? You had your chance, and you blew it—literally!”

“I know I made a mistake, Liam, but we can go back to the way we were! Don’t you remember how good we were together?”

Maggie’s temper instantly flared. She wanted to bust in and beat that bitch’s face in, but she knew that wasn’t an option. She listened to hear what Liam was saying to her.

“Tessa, I’m not going to tell you this again! We are over! Done! I don’t want you! I have the most beautiful wife in the world who understands me and loves me for me, not my bank account!

“You always wanted to know how much money I had, what you could spend it on, and what that money could give you. Bloody hell, Maggie even hates if I buy her anything!

“You, on the other hand, hated my best friend and cheated on me with a neighbor! And you come to a party celebrating my marriage and ask me to have an affair with you!

“I don’t want to know how many times you cheated on poor Andrew! Once a cheater, always a cheater!”

Maggie was so proud of her husband as he told off the conniving bitch. As he took a breath, she took that opportunity to help Liam out.

“Oh, there you are, babe! Your dad sent me to find you, he wants to make a speech!” Maggie swept in and threw her arms around his neck, feeling him relax. “Shall we go?”

“We were having a discussion, Martha, so maybe you could come back later!” Tessa hissed at Maggie.

Maggie narrowed her eyes at the woman in front of her and let her temper take over.

“Bitch, you better back the fuck up! This is ~my~ husband, and we are needed in another room! I heard him tell you that he is not interested in ~anything~ you have to offer!

“Now we can do this the easy way, with you leaving this room like an adult and going back to the party, or the hard way with me dragging your lying, cheating, skanky ass out in front of everyone.

“I’m sure that your parents would be so pleased with the second option. If you choose the hard way, I guarantee Liza will be recording the entire thing and posting it on social media. What’ll it be?”

Liam was stunned at seeing Maggie so pissed and passionate about them. And he wasn’t ashamed to admit that it seriously turned him on to see his wife jealous and fighting for him.

Tessa looked at Liam, expecting some help with the pissed-off redhead in front of her.

“Well, I’ve got to go answer this text. I’ll be in touch, Liam,” Tessa said, making a move like she was going to hug or kiss him. Maggie was thrilled when he stepped away.

“Don’t touch me or contact me. We are ~over~!” he said with force. Tessa nodded her head and left, closing the door behind her.

“I can’t leave you alone for a minute before some effing woman from your past comes back, wanting you!” she exclaimed snuggling her nose in his neck.

“I’m not gonna lie, darling, that was hot! But please don’t get into any fights while you are pregnant…”

“I know, Liam. I have a hot temper, but I’m not stupid. I wouldn’t do anything to hurt our baby!”

“I know, darling. Are you okay? You know that I wouldn’t—”

“Stop talking and let’s go! I know you wouldn’t cheat on me.”

As they left the library, Maggie asked, “What was the work call? Is everything okay?”

“I will explain later,” he whispered as they walked. She nodded, trusting him.

Feeling safe that Maggie believed him, he kissed her and led her out to join his parents on the staircase.

Charlie cleared his throat and took a spoon to the crystal champagne flute to get everyone’s attention.

“I would like to thank everyone for coming tonight to celebrate Liam and Maggie’s marriage. We are so blessed to have such wonderful friends!

“Not many of you know, but I received a call from a very excited Liam in March. He told me straight away that he had found ‘the one’.

“Wanting to poke some fun at him, I asked him ‘the one for what?’ He immediately replied, ‘the one I am going to marry!’

“Surprised by his words, I asked how long ago he had met the young lady in question, and you can imagine my surprise when he replied with ‘about three hours ago.’

“Truly intrigued, I asked how he met her. He replied, very matter-of-factly, ‘I ran into her and she fell in a puddle, ruining her dress!’”

The guests all laughed as Charlie told the story. Liam blushed a little, and Maggie kissed his cheek to reassure him.

“Oh, it gets better! Luckily, she dropped her phone in the puddle and he was able to return it to her that day.

“My son, always looking for a way to make the best out of a bad situation, found where she lived and sent flowers galore.

“A few days later, he called back and told me that he had another meeting with this woman, and it didn’t end as well as he had hoped.

“I asked why, and he said ‘I ran into her playing softball, tripped her, and she broke her arm…’”

The crowd was roaring at this point, and Maggie was giggling, thinking back to that day.

“I was thinking that I would have to head to Florida and bail my son out of jail for stalking when he says, ‘She thinks that I am trying to make her life miserable!’

“So needless to say, he made up for the broken arm and the dress, and I have to say, I have never seen my son so happy and content.

“Maggie, you truly are the love of Liam’s life, and you are a beautiful couple. You bring out the best in each other.

“Elizabeth and I wish you every happiness life can give, lots of laughter, and many grandchildren for us! To Liam and Maggie!”

The crowd all raised their glasses and toasted the couple as they kissed for the crowd. Maggie had no idea that Liam had called his family so quickly to talk about her, and it made her heart swell.

Brett and Nick were right. He had fallen in love with her the moment they had met, no matter how unconventional that meeting was.

The night continued with Maggie meeting quite a few of Liam’s boarding school friends. They had begged him to row in a charity event on Tuesday afternoon.

Even though he and Maggie had plans to sightsee, Maggie insisted that he do it. She couldn’t wait to see him in action that day.

The evening finally started winding down around midnight, and the last guests took their leave.

Beth had all the kids stay the night since it was so late and told the cleaning crew to come back in the morning to finish.

They had earned a good night’s rest and promised they would be up to finish the cleanup.

Everyone fell into bed and slept hard after a wonderful night.

Maggie counted her blessings as she drifted off: a man who loved her so much, a family that accepted her, and a baby on the way. It was perfect.