Chapter 24. Raise Your Hand If You Think Second Chances Are Overrated
Raise Your Hand If You Think Second Chances Are Overrated
Monday mornings at the yarn store were usually less busy, and the morning after the skydiving outing was no exception.
Nicole was running the Knotty Tea Society at our corner nook (today’s beverage of choice: banana-flavored lattes from Quinn’s café), while I’d been staring at my laptop since we opened, using this little window of quiet time to try to go over the plans for the street festival.
“Try” being the operative word, because my mind kept drifting back to what had happened with Rob yesterday.
The kiss had been playing on a continuous loop in my brain for the past twenty-four hours, each time the images more vivid than before, like I was reliving and replaying the moment over and over again on a Dolby cinema screen.
I found myself reaching for my phone more than once last night, debating if I should call or text him, although I wouldn’t really know what to say.
Stop it. There were absolutely zero benefits to be gained from overthinking and overanalyzing him and/or the kiss. Relationships weren’t my forte, and he was still hung up on his ex, wasn’t he? Wasn’t that why he wanted me to go with him to the weddings?
A soft ping alerted me to a new email. It was from Rob’s contact at the Port Benedict tourism office, wanting to schedule an appointment to come and talk to a few business owners on our strip for their article. I replied to the email, then sat back and stared at my phone.
Maybe I could use this as an excuse. I could call Rob to say thanks and see if he’d bring up the kiss first. Or maybe I should bring it up first. No, because what would I say?
Hey, I really enjoyed our kiss yesterday, but I don’t know what to do about it, because we want different things in life. You got any thoughts?
Sighing, I refocused my attention on my screen and the street festival planning.
At least things were lining up nicely on this front: I managed to secure another sponsor for the event, the permit for the festival was approved a few days ago, and the list of people wanting to rent the stalls was nearly full.
I still didn’t know if what we were planning would work.
If it would help bring more people to visit our strip, or if it was just a massive waste of time.
Ellie spoke to the owners who were thinking of selling, to see if they would like to take part in the street festival, but so far only two had said yes.
I blew out a long breath. What if we gambled on the wrong strategy? What if this entire thing turned out to be nothing but a spectacular flop?
Maybe there was another angle we could approach this from.
I opened a new search page, then typed in “Port Benedict Plaza shopping precinct.” There were over ten pages of results, nothing I hadn’t seen before: a Google Map of the area, followed by the official website of Port Benedict Plaza and a list of its social media accounts and official pages from retail brands that had a presence in the shopping center.
I kept scrolling, my finger aimlessly tapping my touchpad, when one of the search results caught my interest.
It was an article written by a self-proclaimed amateur architectural historian, detailing a comprehensive history of this area.
According to the author, the cluster of shops that became Port Benedict Plaza and our strip of shops were built over one hundred years ago.
It had the distinction of being one of the first business districts in town, and our row of brick buildings had apparently even involved a prominent architect of the time in its design.
Before I could dig any further, the front door swung open and someone walked in, their face obscured behind the humongous bouquet of pink roses they were carrying. I saved the link to the article and closed my laptop.
“Hi there. Can I help you?”
The bouquet was lowered, and Aiden flashed me an uncertain smile.
“Hey!” I raised my eyebrows in surprise. “I wasn’t expecting you.”
“I know.” He gave me a sheepish smile. “I just wanted to apologize again for yesterday. I felt terrible leaving you on your own, but I was panicking and I couldn’t think straight.
I couldn’t sleep the night before, because I got so anxious about doing the jump.
” He paused, looking embarrassed. “I’m deathly afraid of heights, and a friend told me going skydiving would help me overcome the phobia, but no. It’s too bloody much.”
“Don’t worry about it.” I waved him off. “Rob drove out and jumped with me, so I wasn’t alone. It’s all good.” His name brought back memories of the kiss again, and I had to shake my head, desperately trying to dislodge thoughts of him from my mind.
Focus. On this man with the gorgeous bouquet in front of you. He’s here, not Rob.
“He did?” A frown briefly flashed across Aiden’s face, but it was gone the next second, as he handed me the bouquet. “These are for you. I know this doesn’t make up for yesterday, but I hope it’s a start.”
“These are beautiful. How do you know they’re my favorite?”
He cleared his throat. “Rob gave me a tip about the roses.”
My stomach did somersaults. And backflips. Possibly even some cartwheels.
Instead of getting butterflies in my stomach from Aiden’s romantic gesture, like I was supposed to, I was too hyper-focused on the fact that Rob remembered about the flowers.
“I know I messed things up yesterday,” Aiden was saying, and I had to force myself to focus my attention on him.
“But I’m here to ask for a second chance, and if you’ll still have me, I’d love to take you out for coffee or dinner sometime.
Although if you said no, I would totally understand.
” He tilted his head at the door. “Say the word and I’ll go, no questions asked. ”
A part of me knew I should be saying yes.
He was making an effort, because who wouldn’t have a fear of heights, right?
Plus, he was definitely the top choice on the list of potential suitors (let’s face it, he was the only one on the list).
Someone nice enough to spend the next several months with, but one I wouldn’t fall in love with.
If only my thoughts weren’t all consumed by someone else and that damn kiss.
I gave myself a mental kick in the butt and smiled at him. “I’d love that.”
“Wonderful.” His face lit up with a smile. “What about dinner tonight?”
I gestured at my laptop. “We’ve got a big event coming up, and I’m planning on working on that for the rest of the week. Can we do Friday night?”
“Absolutely. It’s a date.”
Once he left, I reached for my phone, composed a text message to Rob to let him know about the date with Aiden—fine, it was an excuse to get in touch with him—and sent it before I could second-guess myself.
His reply came a minute later, a short Thrilled for you.
That’s it? That’s his response?
But honestly, what did I expect? For him to stop me going on the date and profess his undying love for me? I was the one who had kissed him first and then walked away first, too, while I knew perfectly well that he was still holding a torch for his ex.
I had only myself to blame.
During our dinner on Friday, I casually mentioned go-karting to Aiden.
He’d jumped at the idea and suggested that we try a place after, one that was bigger and busier than the one I’d gone to with Rob.
We did our first twelve laps, and because Aiden was having so much fun, he coaxed me into doing another twelve.
By the time we were finished, it was almost nine, and as we returned our helmets to the track attendant, Aiden leaned closer to me.
“I had a really great time.”
“So did I.”
“I’m going away for a conference tomorrow,” he said. “Can we get together for dinner when I’m back? Saturday next weekend?”
“I’d love to, but I can’t. It’s my grandfather’s eightieth birthday and we’re having a surprise party for him that night.”
“That’s lovely.” Aiden’s face turned wistful. “I haven’t seen my grandparents and the rest of my family for over a year. They’re back in London, and I haven’t been able to take time off because of work. I miss them a lot.”
He seemed so dejected, and an idea popped into my head.
“Would you like to come? There’ll be cake.
” I knew how hard it could be living away from your family, because I’d experienced that firsthand, having missed my grandparents when I was working all around the country. Inviting him was the kind thing to do.
“To your grandfather’s birthday?” He looked taken aback. “I don’t want to impose.”
“I wouldn’t have asked otherwise.”
“Then I’m in.” He gave me a warm smile. “If there’s cake, I’m always in.”
Aiden had an early flight to catch, so we said our goodbyes not long after, and I took out my phone as I walked back to my car.
My heart nearly stopped when I saw my screen. There were five missed calls and four messages from Rob in the past two hours, each one sounding like he was getting increasingly worried and frantic about my well-being.
My heart was beating quicker as my thumb hovered over his number. Should I call him back? Our last conversation was a few days ago, when I updated him about the date with Aiden, and he’d given his curt three-word answer.
But my friends were his friends. Avoiding him long-term wasn’t sustainable.
He picked up on the first ring. “Kim! Are you okay?”
Okay, so it sounded like he was going to pretend that the kiss hadn’t happened. Fine, I could play along.
“Hey.” My tone was cool, belying the chaotic storm inside at hearing his voice. “Of course I’m okay. Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Thank goodness.” He sounded relieved. “Ellie said you were going go-karting with Aiden, and I got worried when you didn’t respond to my first text message. I thought something had happened.”
I unlocked my car. “What did you think was going to happen?”
“You had a crash when we went, remember? And you were with Aiden, and after what he pulled last time at skydiving, my mind went to the worst-case scenario. I thought maybe you had another incident and Aiden abandoned you again, and I didn’t know which track you guys are at, and I was tempted to call all the karting places in town—” He stopped himself and took a deep breath.
“Alec thinks it’d be a bit stalkerish. And Ellie, too.
But I mean, bad things could have happened.
There’s been serious incidents caused by go-karting before, you know. ”
He’s been freaking out because he thought something had happened to me?
“I’m fine. Everything’s good.”
There was a pause. “I’m glad.” He cleared his throat. “So the date went well?”
“Yeah. He’s funny, and kind, and nice. I had a great time.”
But he’s not you.
“Right.” There was another pause. “Guess we chose the right person this time.”
“Guess we did.”
“Great.” He cleared his throat again. “I better go. Say hi to your grandfather for me.”
Opa. I still wouldn’t have a clue how I’d act around Rob, but I knew I had to invite him to Opa’s birthday party.
“Wait. Are you free next Saturday night? It’s his eightieth birthday, and we’re organizing a surprise party for him at the yarn store.
I know he’s grown fond of you, so it’ll mean a lot to him if you can make it. ”
“I’d love to, but I have something with my dad that night.” He sounded genuinely apologetic. “It’s an event for that major project that he’s been working on.”
I shouldn’t have felt disappointed, but I did. “Maybe you can drop by after. If you want.”
“Of course.” He was quiet again. “I’m thrilled things are working out for you and Aiden. I guess my work here is done.”
“Yeah.” I knew this would eventually happen, but somehow, those words weren’t what I wanted to hear. “I guess it is.”