Chapter 16
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
The Thursday morning sun was deceivingly bright, considering the cool breeze that chilled Delaney’s skin as she walked beside Mr. Aylett toward the park, Charlotte a few steps ahead of them.
Her purse was ready with snacks and water, and he carried his laptop.
Delaney’s sternum still ached, but it was improving.
This should’ve been a relaxing outing, but the tension in Mr. Aylett’s shoulders belied the peaceful surroundings.
Every few steps, his gaze swept the area like he expected danger to emerge from behind the oak trees or the picnic pavilion.
He reminded her of her bodyguard-cousin, Grant.
No matter the surroundings, he was always on the lookout for threats.
They reached the playground, and Charlotte started to run.
Delaney grabbed her hand. “Wait. We need to go over the rules.” She crouched to her eye level.
“You have to stay where I can see you, within the playground.” She pointed to the border between the soft mulch under the equipment and the grassy expanse beyond it.
“Don’t leave this area without my permission. Understand?”
Charlotte nodded solemnly, as if she had every intention of obeying. But Delaney knew better.
“Do you remember what happens if you disobey?”
The little girl’s shoulders lifted and fell.
“We have to go home. So stay in the play area where you’re safe, and we can play for a whole hour, okay?”
“Okay!” She ran for the swings, claimed one, and started pumping her legs.
Noah stopped to watch. “I didn’t know she could do that.”
“We’ve been working on it.”
“That’s amazing.” He grinned at her. “It never occurred to me that she was old enough for that.”
“I’ve been around kids more than you. Honestly, it makes my life easier when I don’t have to push.”
“I bet.” He looked around, and she did, too, but Heather wasn’t there yet.
“We’re a little early,” she said.
They walked to the bench closest to the play area and sat, watching Charlotte.
A question had been humming in Delaney’s brain for a while. “What does her father do for work that keeps him away?”
“Jasper?” Noah’s lips pinched closed. “Nothing.”
“He must do something.”
Mr. Aylett’s scoff told her otherwise. “Mom and I did our best to try to straighten him out, but after Dad died, he just…fell apart. And then Mom died, and I tried to rein him in, but I…failed.”
She was confused. “How old was he when your parents died?”
“He was fifteen when Dad died, twenty-two when Mom died.”
“You’re not that much older, right?”
“Three years.”
“So you were…eighteen and twenty-five? Why did you feel like you were responsible for straightening him out?”
Mr. Aylett watched Charlotte swing for a few beats before he shrugged. “I’ve always felt responsible for him, even when we were little. Once, when he was five or six, I guess, we were at the beach. He had on those arm floats, you know what I mean?”
“I’m familiar.”
“Anyway, he got too far out, and the tide was carrying him further. I was already out there, so I swam to him and pulled him back.” Noah glanced her way.
“Impressive.”
“It wasn’t a big deal, but my mom went on like I’d saved his life. And my dad…” There was a pause, a sigh. “He took my shoulders and crouched down to meet my eyes and told me he was proud of me for protecting my little brother. That this was what big brothers did.”
“Sure, when Jasper was five. When he was fifteen, you were only eighteen. It wasn’t your job to save him. And certainly not when he was in his twenties. He was an adult.”
“Still my brother.”
“Well, yeah.” She considered her words carefully, not wanting to offend him. “I used to take care of Kenzie a lot. But if I still felt responsible for her…I can’t even imagine.”
“It’s not so easy to turn off.”
Delaney watched Charlotte jog from the swings to the slides. “Children need to be protected. You’ve got to trust grown-ups to figure out their own lives.”
“It’s different with Jasper.” Mr. Aylett seemed to be working through something, so she didn’t argue.
After a few moments, he continued. “We were on the boat, celebrating his fifteenth birthday. Dad was letting him pilot. He and Mom had gone belowdecks to make lunch. Jasper was a good sailor, but his friends were there, so he started showing off. He lifted the main sail. It was windy, and we started flying. I wasn’t paying attention.
I’d invited this girl, and she had on this little…
” He sighed. “Doesn’t matter. The point is, I should’ve been paying attention.
Dad must’ve felt the speed because he came charging up the stairs, yelling at Jasper.
Right when Jasper was shifting the boom. ”
“Oh, no.” Delaney didn’t know much about sailing, but she knew enough that worry pooled in her midsection.
“Yeah. Dad got hit. He wasn’t wearing a life jacket. He went over and just…sank.”
She gripped his arm. “I’m so sorry.”
He looked at her hand, and she pulled it away, embarrassed that she’d touched him.
“Jasper blamed himself.” Mr. Aylett sighed, the sound seeming to come from deep inside.
“I blamed him, too, at first. But it wasn’t Jasper’s fault.
Dad didn’t follow his own rules—always observe the deck before you move, always wear a life jacket.
Dad let his anger distract him, and it cost him his life. ”
Her heart hurt for what Mr. Aylett and his family had gone through. “But all that logic didn’t change how Jasper felt.”
“No.” He stretched his legs and shifted, moving a few inches away from her. “He’s never been the same. And yeah, what happened after that is partially my fault. I should never have said the things I said.”
“You were a kid.”
“I was eighteen.”
“So, a kid. And you were grieving too. You can’t take responsibility for everyone.”
“I should’ve—”
“Noah.” She hadn’t meant to use his first name, but it slipped out.
He faced her, a thousand emotions playing in his eyes, there and gone before she could name them.
“At some point, Jasper has to be responsible for himself and his own choices. That’s not your problem.”
His gaze drifted back to Charlotte, so hers did too.
A group of kids had come, their shouts and screams a cacophony disturbing the quiet.
“I told him I wanted to adopt her.”
Delaney whipped her attention back to Mr. Aylett. “Wow. That’s quite a commitment. But, let’s face it, you’re already her father. You definitely should.”
“He shut me down. Swears he’s going to figure it out.”
“Oh.” She turned back to the playground, disappointed for Noah and the sweet little girl who loved him so much. She was about to ask what Jasper’s plan was, but Heather was rushing toward them.
“Sorry I’m late!” She reached the bench, her gaze flicking to Mr. Aylett. “You brought reinforcements.”
“This is Charlotte’s uncle, Noah Aylett.” Delaney gestured between them. “Mr. Aylett, Heather Brown.”
He stood and extended his hand. “Nice to meet you, Heather.”
“Likewise.”
“Are you from Driftwood originally?”
“Baltimore, actually. I moved here this year.”
“Why Driftwood?”
She looked around, her gaze taking in the pretty park and the charming downtown area. “I needed a change. The city wasn’t…good for me.”
He nodded as if that made perfect sense. “It’s a nice community.” He turned to Delaney. “I’ll sit at that picnic table.” He nodded to the closest one, maybe thirty feet from the edge of the play area, where he could work and keep an eye on the crowd.
“We’ll let you know if we need anything.”
He walked away, and Heather took his seat on the bench.
“What’s up with him?” her friend asked, voice low as if he might hear.
“I was in a car accident a couple days ago, so he came in case I needed help.”
“Oh, no. What happened?”
“I had some trouble with my brakes and ended up hitting a tree.” Delaney didn’t want to go into the details. “I’m fine, just a little bruised. Speaking of, I thought I might have to cancel, but I didn’t have your number.”
They traded contact information. When Delaney was finished tapping Heather’s number into her phone, she looked up to see her friend watching Mr. Aylett, who’d opened his laptop but was looking around.
“Kind and handsome,” Heather said. “Not a bad combo.”
He was both, but Delaney didn’t want to talk about that, either. “How about you? Dating anyone?”
Her friend’s cheeks pinked. “I have been seeing this guy. He’s so sweet.”
Happy to have the conversation off of herself, Delaney leaned in and matched Heather’s lowered volume. “Tell me about him.”
“He’s so handsome and just…” She sighed, her eyes taking on a dreamy quality that reminded Delaney of childhood conversations with her sisters.
“He’s older than I am, but I don’t care about that.
I just care that he’s kind and generous, and really sees me, you know?
Like…I’ve told him about all my mistakes, and he doesn’t care. None of that matters to him.”
Delaney didn’t know what mistakes Heather was referring to, and her friend didn’t explain. “Why are we whispering?”
Heather’s gaze darted around the park as if spies lurked everywhere. “He’s about to be single, but he’s not…technically.”
“He’s married?” Her heart sank. Her friend had fallen for the oldest trick in the book.
“It’s not what you think. He really loves me, and he’s going to leave his wife soon. Before the end of the year, he said. And then we’re going to get married.”
“I see. He lives here, in town?”
“Virginia City. But we usually meet outside of Norfolk, where I live. Omigosh, Delaney, he’s paying for my apartment.
That’s how I know he really loves me. It’s so pretty.
I can see the water from the balcony, and the beach is right there.
I can walk all the way down to this pretty golf course, where the grass is so green it almost looks fake.
” Her eyes were wide as if she’d never seen such a thing.
“He says we can live in that apartment full-time after he leaves his wife. It’s little, but I don’t care. ”