ChapterTwenty-Eight #2
I stiffened before I even lifted my head.
Jacob’s arm dropped away gently, as if he knew who it was before I did.
Aaron stood in the hallway, his eyes darting between Jacob and me, but his expression was unreadable.
He was dressed as if he’d come straight from the office.
His wool trench coat covered a dark gray tailored suit, a black turtleneck sweater, and designer loafers.
His hand was on the handle of his favorite chocolate-brown rolling duffel luggage.
I sat up straight, but I didn’t bother to move from my seat.
I had no desire or energy to do so as I lifted a small prayer that he would not come here to make trouble—or worse, make this time about him.
Regardless of what was brewing between him, Jacob, and me, this wasn’t about any of us. It was about my father.
“I came as soon as I heard,” he said quietly. “Is your father okay? How are you all holding up?”
His voice didn’t hold arrogance this time, nor was it filled with irritation or assumption. It didn’t even hold anger. Just concern—honest, uncomplicated concern.
“I…we’re…managing,” I said. “Daddy is tired, but he’s going home tonight.”
Aaron nodded. His face showed relief at the news, yet his shoulders drooped. Still, he didn’t speak. It felt as if he were grieving something privately—something that had nothing to do with my father and everything to do with us, or the lack of there being an us.
Shaking it off, he squared his shoulders before he spoke again. “I’d like to speak with you. Alone. Just for a minute.”
My gaze immediately went to Jacob. It was obvious that he’d meant his apology because where I half-expected anger, hurt, and disappointment, there was none.
He didn’t flinch. He didn’t stiffen into coldness with me.
He didn’t even give me that accusatory look he would’ve given just days ago.
He just sat back and said softly, “Take your time.”
His strong confidence and quiet trust meant more than any lustful attraction we held for each other. The page had finally turned. No matter where life took us, we were on a new chapter, and that gave me the courage I needed to stand up.
I followed Aaron down to the front lobby.
We ducked off to a small waiting area away from the bustle up front, where it was quieter, with no one there save for a couple of nurses grabbing coffee near the vending machines and a janitor pushing a mop bucket.
Aaron exhaled and ran a hand over his face.
“I have to be back in D.C. by the morning. I hadn’t planned on being here this long, so I didn’t rearrange my schedule.
Before I go…I needed to see you. When I stopped at the coffee shop, I overheard the cashier telling her husband, I think, that you and your family were here because your dad was in the hospital, and I rushed straight here. ”
As soon as Aaron mentioned the cashier at the coffee shop, I knew he was referring to Janelle.
She was my girl, and I know she meant well, but she would never be able to hold water, let alone private information.
My brow dipped in confusion as I tried to process how Janelle would even know that any of us were here, and then it dawned on me.
When Jacob and I came in, we passed by Janelle’s mother on the way to where my daddy was located.
I remembered her waving, but it hadn’t registered with me at the time because my only focus was getting to my father.
My head lowered with a slight smirk. Now, it made sense how my family’s business was all over Skye Ridge. HIPAA regulations be damned.
That aside, I straightened my face and prepared myself for whatever came next with Aaron.
Sure, he’d come out of concern, but I knew him well enough to know there was more on his chest. He may have dressed like the pretty man that he was, but he was a born and bred fighter—a pit bull in a suit.
That’s why he was an excellent attorney.
If he fought like that in his professional career, he would most certainly do so in his personal life. I expected nothing less.
“Amariah,” he said, voice cracking just a little, “I’ve asked you before—pleaded with you, I know—but this time…
it’s different. I’ve heard you, and I promise whatever your decision is, I’ll accept it, but I couldn’t leave this place and board that plane without being absolutely certain.
So, I’m asking one last time: Will you reconsider us? ”
I looked at him—really looked at him. Aaron was a good man.
A stable man. A successful man. A man who most women would clamor over to be in the same vicinity as him.
But he was also the same man who wanted the idea of me more than the truth of me.
We were both good people. We just weren’t meant to be each other’s person.
And that was fine. I could no longer sell my dreams and desires short for someone good enough to settle with instead of someone I was meant to be with.
I refused to serve a life sentence for longevity when we deserved to be prisoners of true love.
I needed the person I trusted to hold my hand when the time came to lower my father in the ground, knowing their love would uplift me afterward.
“I’m so sorry,” I murmured. “I am. Truly. But the answer is still no.”
He swallowed hard, eyes glistening. “Even after everything we built?”
“We didn’t build the same things.” My voice was soft, but firm. “You built a future you wanted to shape for us. I tried to build a version of myself that would fit into it. But the truth is…I was never fully yours. My heart wasn’t.”
Understanding swept across his features. A long silence ensued as he gathered his thoughts and himself. Then he nodded, almost imperceptibly. Again, there was no cockiness, anger, or even defeat, but there was one unmistakable feature: acceptance.
“You know,” he whispered, “I always wondered why I couldn’t reach you fully.
Why there was always a closed door somewhere in you where I wasn’t invited.
” He gave a soft laugh that came with answered questions.
“Just now, I saw it. The way he held you. The way you leaned into him.” His eyes met mine with painful clarity.
“The fighter in me had to try one last time, but I knew then I could never be your husband because you’ve always belonged to him.
Even if neither of you has admitted it.” The truth was intense, but it wasn’t intended to be cruel.
He stepped closer, pressed a gentle kiss to my forehead, and I knew it was the closure he needed after our tumultuous relationship. “Be happy, Amariah,” he whispered, his lips still lingering against my head.
Peering up at him, I nodded with a faint smile. “You, too, Aaron. You, too.”
An alert on his cell phone flashed, signaling the arrival of his waiting RoadRide driving service. He turned, walked toward the sliding doors, and didn’t look back. I watched him disappear into the overcast afternoon, snow beginning to fall in slow spirals around him.
When the taillights of the SUV faded onto the street, I turned back toward the elevator, eager to head back to my father, to my mother…
to Jacob. Even with the heaviness of the day, something inside me felt new.
As if, somewhere between heartbreak and healing, I’d finally found my future because in my heart I knew I had.