CHAPTER THREE
Skylar set her silverware on her plate, finished with her lunch, even though she’d only eaten very little. Her appetite since finding out about Shiloh’s diagnosis had been pretty much non-existent. Not to mention having had to see Aiden again. Both situations had robbed her of her appetite, and she only ate enough to keep her parents off her back.
“So you’re definitely on board with us having a family dinner and meeting tonight?” her dad asked.
“Do I have a choice?” Skylar asked, trying to keep her true feelings out of her voice.
She’d agreed, but only because Charli and Blake had felt that it was necessary to inform the family when they asked them to consider being tested for the stem cell match.
Most of the time, Skylar refused to think about Shiloh being her daughter. However, that hadn’t always been the case. In the days and weeks following Shiloh’s birth, she’d had to train herself to only view Shiloh as a niece.
Now, she had to acknowledge that she was her birth mom and deal with the ramifications of that revelation. Her hope was that whatever happened, her interactions with Aiden would be non-existent. Unfortunately, she doubted that was possible.
Seeing him again after almost a decade had been jarring.
The last time he’d stood in front of her, he’d been clean shaven and boasting a longer-than-normal hair style. His tall, lanky body, clothed in faded jeans and T-shirt, had been tense with anger as he’d ended their relationship.
The man she’d seen in the office the day before hadn’t shown much emotion at all. He’d been wearing a suit and tie and sported a professionally styled haircut. There was also the lightest bit of scruff on his face.
She’d heard from her mom, who’d heard from Cole, that a couple of years earlier, Aiden had lost his dad and sister over the course of less than twelve months. That no doubt accounted for the strain she’d seen on his face.
She didn’t have much sympathy for Aiden, but she had a lot for his mom. She was such a sweet woman, and Skylar had loved her.
If the current situation had an upside, funnily enough, it was that she was no longer dwelling on her most recent breakup. The past and all its messiness were calling louder than the present and its heartache.
“What do you need me to do for the dinner tonight?” Skylar asked, even though she didn’t want the meal to actually occur.
“We’re going to have spaghetti, salad, and garlic bread,” her mom said. “Zane told me he’d drop off the sauce, since he and Kelsey can’t come because of work, though we’ll make the pasta here. Kayleigh is bringing fresh bread from the resort, and Rori is bringing a salad. Oh, and Misha said she’d bring dessert.”
“I guess my contribution will be setting the table,” Skylar said. “And maybe pouring water.”
Her mom chuckled. “Every job is an important job.”
Skylar had heard that plenty while growing up. As she sipped her coffee, her mom continued to talk about the dinner. What tablecloth she wanted used. And if she’d have a centerpiece.
Skylar didn’t give any input, but that didn’t matter because her mom wasn’t really looking for her opinion anyway.
Eventually, her mom got a phone call, which interrupted her chatter. Skylar finished her coffee, then rinsed out the mug and put it in the dishwasher.
“Going for a run,” she mouthed at her mom, who nodded as she continued talking to the person on the phone.
Skylar went upstairs to her room and quickly changed into a pair of running shorts and a T-shirt, then put on her runners. It was only a matter of minutes before she headed down the front porch steps to the driveway.
She took a couple of minutes to stretch her legs, preparing to tackle the run she had in mind.
When she’d been in high school, she’d jogged outside. Now that she lived in Vegas, where it could be oppressively hot, she preferred the treadmill, usually watching a show or reading a book as she ran. That day, however, she was left with just her thoughts and a playlist of music with a beat that helped her keep her pace.
The road her parents lived on wasn’t heavily trafficked, so she didn’t have to deal with many cars. She didn’t really expect to face any trouble during her run, but she had still brought a small canister of pepper spray with her, just in case.
Soon she left the long driveway and was out on the road, her feet pounding on the asphalt as she ran. The route she took was familiar since it was the one she and her parents had agreed on back in high school, and she didn’t deviate from it even all these years later.
She hadn’t gone far when she was reminded of how Aiden used to come on runs with her, insisting that he wanted exercise, though she’d thought his reason was to keep her safe.
Too bad he hadn’t protected her from himself.
Anger fueled her, and soon her pounding steps on the asphalt were out of sync with the music and in sync with her emotions. Her life felt out of sync as well. Out of step with where it had been just days earlier.
The decision had been made to not just give all the details about the adoption to the family, but also to Shiloh. Skylar had hoped that wouldn’t be revealed to Shiloh for years to come. Preferably when Shiloh was an adult, close to the age that Skylar had been when she’d delivered her.
But that was not to be.
And now Skylar had to accept that whether she liked it or not, her secrets were all going to come tumbling out.
When she returned to the house, she was dripping with sweat, and her muscles ached, but in a good way. She greeted her parents briefly, then went upstairs to take a shower.
As the afternoon progressed, the all too familiar flutter of nerves and anxiety grew. By the time her siblings arrived, Skylar was a mess, though she was trying her best to keep her emotions in check.
“Hey, sis,” Wilder said as he wrapped her in a tight hug, then picked her up and spun her around before putting her back down. “I’m surprised you’re here.”
“Yeah. So am I.”
His brows lifted at her response. “What’s going on?”
“You’ll find out a little later.”
“That sounds… ominous.” He glanced around. “Is something up with Mom and Dad?”
“No, they’re fine.”
“Nothing like keeping us in suspense,” he said with a frown as he reached to take Lexi’s hand. “I like that in movies and books, but not so much in real life.”
“You’ll survive,” Skylar assured him.
The noise level in the house grew as more family arrived. With siblings and their spouses, there was almost twenty of them in total.
Though it was loud, once they were settled around the table, the conversation died down as their dad said grace. The food was delicious—especially the sauce that Zane had made.
Though a few of the siblings had tried to figure out why they were there, it wasn’t until they were eating dessert that her dad finally asked everyone for their attention.
“I suppose you’re all wondering if there’s a purpose for our gathering tonight, and there is. You’re probably also wondering why Skylar is here, when her visits rarely occur during this time of the year unless there’s a wedding. There’s a reason for that too.”
“The same reason?” Gareth asked.
“Yes.”
It felt like everyone looked at her, then back at her dad.
“What’s going on?” Jay asked.
When her dad gave her a questioning look, Skylar gave a small gesture, indicating he should go ahead with the explanation. She wasn’t sure she could get through it without a rush of emotions that she wouldn’t be able to contain.
Over the next several minutes, her dad explained what had happened, though he didn’t give all the details of the breakup. Skylar was grateful for that, but she had a feeling her siblings were going to ask all about it.
“Wait a second,” Jay said, holding up his hand. “Shiloh is Skylar’s daughter? And Aiden —Cole’s BFF—is her father?”
“Yes,” her dad said.
Jay turned to look at Skylar, concern on his face. “I can’t believe he did that.”
Well, in that regard, they agreed. “I couldn’t either.”
“Unreal.” Jay shook his head. “Absolutely unreal.”
“Does Cole know?” Gareth asked.
Skylar shook her head. “I never told him, though maybe Aiden has.”
“If Cole hasn’t been burning up the wire calling one of us, I would imagine that he doesn’t know yet.”
“I would really like to have a conversation with Aiden,” Jay said darkly. “I spoke to the guys when I was coaching them, telling them how to treat girls and how to handle relationships.”
“You’ll get a chance to speak with him,” their dad said, before he went on to explain what had brought Aiden into their lives, and how it related to Shiloh’s diagnosis.
“So, is his family going to be tested, too?” Gareth asked. “Even though the likelihood of being a match is low?”
“Well, as you know, low is not no,” her dad said. “Regardless of how we feel about what Aiden did, we need to find out if he or someone in his family is a match for Shiloh.”
“So, how’s this going to work?” Janessa asked.
As their dad explained everything that had been arranged for the coming Friday, Skylar looked around at her siblings. None of them were regarding her with judgment. Given that three of the ten of them had ended up with a child born outside of marriage, she supposed judgment wouldn’t be their first response.
And from the sound of things, Jay was more unhappy with Aiden than with her.
After answering a few questions, the information portion of the evening was done. Several people got up and shuffled around to talk to those they hadn’t been seated next to during the meal.
“I never thought you’d be so good at keeping secrets,” Janessa said as she sat down in the seat next to Skylar. “You and Charli both.”
“She kept this secret because I asked her to,” Skylar told her. “From the start, she thought we should tell the family.”
“I would have liked to know,” Janessa said. “But I understand why you didn’t want it to be public knowledge.”
“And it still wouldn’t be except for this latest turn of events and having to bring Aiden back into our lives.”
“How has it been for you, seeing him again?” Janessa asked.
Skylar wrinkled her nose. “It’s been difficult.”
“Is he acting the same as he did when he broke up with you?”
“We’ve only had one conversation so far, so he hasn’t had time to show too much of his attitude. But he didn’t outright send me packing, so perhaps he’s matured.”
“I suppose losing your dad and your sister would cause a guy to have to grow up fast,” Janessa said. “And rearrange your priorities.”
“Hopefully it’s had that effect on him.”
“Too bad he wasn’t that kind of man back when you got pregnant.”
Janessa’s statement echoed one of the thoughts Skylar had been struggling with. But it was irrelevant to where they were currently. They couldn’t go back in time. They could only deal with the present, good or bad.
And once she had been tested, she’d head back to Vegas and put all of this behind her. She couldn’t wait.
Soon, people began to leave. But before they did, each of her siblings came to her to give her a hug and offer her support. No one seemed angry at her for what had happened or for keeping the secret for so long.
“I think that went well,” her mom said once it was just the three of them.
Skylar bent to put a few last plates into the dishwasher. “As well as could be expected, I suppose.”
“You should give your siblings more credit,” her dad admonished gently. “They love you, and they’d never attack you over something like this. Especially because they all know and love Shiloh.”
Skylar had distanced herself from her family over the years, so it had been hard to know how they might react. “I hope that one of us will be a match for Shiloh.”
“I hope so too,” her mom said as she wiped down the counter. “It will be easier if we’re dealing with a family member.”
If Skylar didn’t have to continue to deal with Aiden, that would be easier for her, too. But she had no idea what Aiden was going to do now that he’d learned that he really had fathered a child.
She was upstairs in her room, taking off her makeup, when her phone rang. Seeing Aiden’s name on the screen made her want to ignore the call. Why couldn’t he text like a normal person?
Maybe he was calling to say that he’d help, but then he wanted to walk away and never hear from her again.
“Hello?” she said as she answered the call and tapped for the speakerphone before setting the phone on the bathroom counter.
After they’d exchanged greetings, Aiden said, “I’d like to ask you a few more questions about the situation.”
“Okay?”
“First, what is the baby’s name?”
Skylar hesitated, not sure where Aiden was going. “I’m afraid that I’m not comfortable sharing that information at the moment.”
“Why?” Aiden was direct in a way he hadn’t been as a teen.
“Because I don’t trust you.” She could also be direct in that way. “Oh, and I also don’t like you.”
There was a long beat of silence before Aiden chuckled. “Well, you’re certainly not pulling your punches these days.”
“Why should I?” she asked. “You certainly didn’t nine years ago.”
She heard the heavy sigh through the speaker of the phone. “Fair enough.”
“So, no name. Next question?”
As she dumped facial cleanser onto a cotton pad, she heard Aiden say, “What are the chances that I’d get to meet her? Should I decide I want that?”
Skylar’s stomach sank, and her fingers squeezed the cotton pad until the liquid pressed against her palm. “Zero chances.”
“Is that your answer or the adoptive parents’ answer?”
She wanted to say it was both of theirs, but she honestly didn’t know for certain how Charli and Blake felt about it. Charli had been after her for the last couple of years to let them tell Shiloh that Skylar was her birth mother.
So far, she’d resisted the idea. It was entirely possible that they might be open to the idea of telling Shiloh who her father was.
“It’s mine, definitely,” Skylar admitted. “But it’s also possibly the adoptive parents’ as well.”
“I would like to know for sure that they feel that way.”
She wanted to tell him she wouldn’t ask them. Instead, she said, “I can ask them, but there’s no guarantee they’ll say yes.”
“And no guarantee that you’d tell me even if they did.”
She let her silence speak for her. “Next question. Or rather, last question.”
“When do we need to come for testing?”
“I’ll ask my dad for the specifics and text you the information.”
Aiden might phone like some uncouth person, but she was polite enough to text.
“Appreciate that,” he said. “Are you living in Serenity now?”
“You’re not entitled to another question,” she told him. “But I’ll answer it, anyway. No, I don’t live in Serenity.”
She could tell he really wanted to ask where she lived, but to his credit—not that she wanted to give him credit for anything—he didn’t.
“Well, I’ll let you go,” he said. “Look forward to your text. Have a good night.”
“You too,” Skylar replied, trying to be polite in a way she hadn’t been earlier.
After she hung up, she puffed out her cheeks with a breath and stared at herself in the mirror. Tilting her head, she gazed into her own eyes.
What had Aiden thought when he’d seen her? Had he catalogued the changes in her the way she had in him?
She knew her appearance had changed over the years. Her hair wasn’t as long as she’d worn it in high school. Her figure had filled out a bit more once she’d stopped cheering and because of the pregnancy. The thing that bothered her the most, however, were the slight lines that had appeared on her face in the past year.
They were nothing major, and it was unlikely that anyone else had noticed them. However, she had noticed them, and they bothered her. She wasn’t even thirty years old!
With that in mind, she turned her attention back to her nighttime facial routine. She’d talk to her dad the next morning to ask about the plan for the testing.
And perhaps she’d give Charli a call to ask what they thought about Aiden knowing something about Shiloh.
Though she could probably put off making that call for a day or two.