Chapter 17
CHAPTER 17
J une’s father greeted him with a bone-crushing hug. Aiden’s family was fairly affectionate, so he normally wouldn’t have been put off by the gesture. But instead of affection, it felt like gratitude. As if Aiden was somehow doing him a favor by taking June off his hands. Worse, June stood by looking wounded and aloof, as if she understood the meaning of the hug and was attempting to find her happy place. For that reason, as soon as June’s father let go of him, Aiden stepped closer to June, slipping his arm reassuringly around her shoulders and giving them a squeeze. But that only made June’s father smile wider with approval.
“Shouldn’t we get started?” June inserted.
Her father jumped and rubbed his massive hands together. “Yep. Have a seat, you two.” He indicated the chairs across from his desk. “June, as you’re the one who’s usually in charge of the signing, you’ll have to make certain I don’t overlook anything important.”
June gave a small nod, picked up the stack of papers, along with two pens. She handed one of the pens to Aiden and held hers aloft, waiting. Her father began explaining things as he handed them each a paper. Aiden, normally a responsible adult, didn’t even try to listen as Mr. Kellogg droned on and on about amortization and other legalities that meant little to nothing. Instead Aiden’s eyes kept wandering to June, his co-conspirator, his fellow victim in life’s latest cruelty, his…wife? The word made his heart seize and turn over, with shock or grief he couldn’t discern. Aiden didn’t like surprises or unplanned events. He certainly didn’t enjoy the fact that his fiancé jilted him at his wedding. And yet June had stepped forward like a Phoenix rising from the ashes of his ruin. Not only did her comforting presence make everything better, she was so ridiculously beautiful it reached another part of him, one kept separate from all the ugliness of the current situation. June’s loveliness appealed to him the same way a painting or perfect piece of classical music appealed to him, as if it had been created with the purpose of stirring his soul to something else, something bigger, something almost otherworldly. He’d heard the term “soul piercing” but this was the first time he’d ever felt it, as if an unseen hand wielded an invisible sword through his midsection, an odd mix of pleasure and pain.
They were in the middle of a mind numbing and mundane task, literally signing their names over and over on an endless stream of papers, and yet Aiden was having a moment. Maybe June wasn’t actually his wife. The legality of that was still a bit of a sketchy mystery to him. But she was bound to him now in some mysterious and supernatural way, as if she were actually his to take care of. And he would take care of her. No matter what, he would do his best to shield her from any coming storms, to heal her and make her whole so that by the time their situation came to an end, she was ready to move on and find someone who could love her the way Aiden knew she was capable of loving. She deserved that and then some. Really, she deserved the whole world on a plate. Aiden couldn’t give her everything but, wasted as his heart now was, he vowed to give her as much as possible, as much as he was able, friendship and protection chief among them.
“Is that everything?” her father asked.
“That’s it,” June replied, resting her pen on the massive stack of papers.
“Well,” Mr. Kellogg said, rubbing his hands together again. They were so calloused they made a rough rasping sound. “I’d offer to take you out for a celebration steak, but I’m certain you want to get right over there and see your house.”
If he hadn’t been keeping track of her in his peripheral vision, Aiden wouldn’t have noticed June’s wince. He should probably wince on his own behalf. The last thing in the world Aiden currently wanted was to go inspect the house he’d built with the woman who’d jilted him, but his newfound thoughts about June distracted him.
“Dad,” she began.
“Of course,” Aiden interrupted, holding out his palm for the keys. Beaming, Mr. Kellogg dropped the keys into them. His hand was so much larger than Aiden’s it was like a dump truck dropping a load of mulch into a garden bucket. Aiden wrapped his hand around the keys, focusing on the way they bit into his fingers instead of all the raging emotions inside him. His house, his massive I-don’t-want-it-this-was-Erica’s-baby house. Even with June, how could he endure it?
June stood and touched her hand lightly to his bicep, bringing him back to the present. “Thanks, Dad. Talk to you soon.”
When Aiden remained staring into space, apparently incapable of coherent thought or action, June threaded her arm through his and practically dragged him outside and to his car.
“Do you need me to drive?” she asked.
“No,” he said, nodding and handing her his keys.
She laughed, bringing a reluctant smile to his face, too. “Come on, Dr. Lawrence. Let’s power through and face it head on.” She patted his chest.
“Lead on, June,” he said, tucking himself into the passenger side of his car. There was something wrong about that, but he tried not to delve too deeply. Despite his promise to take care of June in all the ways, he probably shouldn’t be driving at the moment. In his current state he might accidentally plunge them off a cliff. It wasn’t every day that a man pledged his life away and then went to inspect one of the main causes of his misery. Maybe if he hadn’t agreed to build the house, Erica wouldn’t have left him.
“Watcha thinking over there?” June asked, giving his thigh a squeeze.
“Playing the what if game,” he said, tone repulsively dismal and forlorn.
“A natural reaction,” June agreed with a nod. “Eventually you’ll get past it and realize there was nothing you could have done, absolutely nothing. It’s the price of having free will. We can’t control the actions of others.”
“Be cool if we could, though,” Aiden muttered, staring listlessly at the passing landscape.
June laughed, tugging a smile from his reluctant lips once more. “Listen to you, Pol Pot. One girl dumps you egregiously and you turn into a dictator.”
He rested his head wearily on the rest as he regarded her. “Maybe I always was. Maybe that was why she left me.”
June put the car in park and faced him, taking his cheeks between her two hands. “Now, you listen to me. I will not have any fake husband of mine talking about himself that way. I have spent an inordinate amount of time with both you and Erica the last few months. Believe me when I tell you her issues are her own and have nothing to do with you.”
“Did she…did she say anything to you? Did you have any hint this was going to happen?”
She searched his eyes, probably trying to figure out how honest she wanted to be. At last she gave him a sad little smile. “No. But, to be honest, I was a little worried about you guys. I didn’t expect her to pull a runner, but I saw a rocky road ahead of you.”
She didn’t go so far as to suggest the jilting was a good thing or, worse, a blessing in disguise. But she didn’t have to say the words for him to figure her meaning. He let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding. “Why didn’t I see it?”
She brushed his bangs aside, a sweetly affectionate gesture. “Because you didn’t want to. And why would you? You guys were together nearly three years. You thought she was safe and familiar and any little quibbles would work themselves out after the dust settled.”
Busted, that was exactly what he’d thought. “But you don’t think they would have?”
“They didn’t seem like such minor quibbles to me. They seemed like major differences and red flags.”
“I’m not coming off well in this scenario. Who knew I was such a moron?”
“You’re coming off fine, and you’re not a moron. You’re a good guy who wanted to see the best in the woman you were about to marry. I know it’s hard right now, but please try to stop beating yourself up. You’re blameless here. That happens so rarely you should really milk it a bit. Play the victim, see how much mileage you can get out of it.” She dropped her hands from his cheeks and touched the tip of her nose to his.
The scent of her filled his nose and now Aiden was having a whole other set of complex emotions and reactions. He couldn’t articulate them, but they felt something like, June…pretty… girl…smell good close by reach and touch, yum, yum, yum. Yeah, definitely keeping his mouth shut for the time being.
June glanced behind him toward the house. “Ready?”
“Yes,” he said, but it came out like a question.
Her eyes shifted to him.
“Yes,” he said more definitively, adding a nod for good measure.
“Do you want me to carry you?” she offered.
Aiden laughed. “If you can carry me, I think I’ll officially have to shred my man card. In fact…” He bounded from the car with renewed determination, opened her door, pulled her out, and swept her into his arms.
“Are you carrying me over the threshold right now?” June verified.
“Yes,” Aiden said, puffing more than a little. She was tiny and lithe, but also tall. Either she wasn’t as light as she looked or he definitely needed to hit the weight room some more. Probably both things.
He made it up the stairs, stumbling slightly with June giggling a little. He glanced down at her and she pressed her palm to her mouth. “Sorry, it’s very sweet. And here we are.” She reached over and opened the door.
Aiden carried her through and stopped short.
“Ta-da,” she said softly.
He hadn’t wanted this, hadn’t had much say in how it would look, wasn’t vested in the outcome. But even he couldn’t deny how beautiful it was. The walls were all white, but the woodwork had been stained a dark brown. The juxtaposition made a nice contrast, and the layout was incredible, with a winding staircase off to one side and a massive dining room with a high ceiling.
“Welcome home, Dr. Lawrence,” June murmured, staring at his reaction instead of the house around her.
“It’s so neat and clean,” he realized. “Did you stay up late before the wedding, making certain everything was presentable?”
“I wanted everything to be perfect,” she said sadly, palm resting gently on his cheek.
In a way he couldn’t explain, it kind of was. It was horrible and perfect and everything all together. Once again Aiden was unable to articulate all the conflicting emotions now broiling through him. So instead he kissed her. It was supposed to be an affectionate press of lips, but once again as soon as he touched her all rational thought fled and something that felt a lot like desperation took over. He clutched her closer and then she was pitching backwards out of his embrace, her head smacking hard on the wall as he dropped her completely.