CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Aiden waited until they were in the car on the way home from the hospital to ask Skylar about the brief snippets of the conversation he had overheard between her and Charli.
“Did I hear right?” he asked. “You quit your job?”
“Yes.”
She didn’t hesitate to confirm it, so it didn’t seem like she was trying to keep it a secret. But if not, why hadn’t she said anything to him about it?
“Is that really what you wanted to do?”
This time, her response was a little slower coming. “Well, I don’t like being without a job, but it was the right thing to do. I need to be here, I think.”
“Have you told your parents?”
“Not yet.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t know. Part of me feels that perhaps I was a bit irresponsible making that decision without having another job already lined up.”
“It might be considered irresponsible if you didn’t have a solid reason for doing it. Or at least I think you have a good reason to want to be here.”
Skylar was silent for a stretch, then she said, “I never wanted to live here because it would be hard to see Shiloh and not be able to be her mother.”
“And has that changed now?”
“Now, I’ve settled into my role as her aunt,” Skylar said. “But since she also knows who I am to her, it feels like I should be closer to her. Especially with her health being so precarious.”
“I understand the struggling with how to view her. I think I’ve come to a place of acceptance. I’ll never be her father, but I can be someone who is still important to her.”
“Yes. We’re not just another aunt and uncle to her. She knows that as well as we do.”
“Will you be staying with your parents again?” Aiden asked, wishing she could live in Coeur d’Alene, especially if she decided to give a relationship with him a shot.
“Probably. I really haven’t thought it through too much, to be honest. A lot depends on where I find a job. If I get a job here, then it makes more sense for me to live here. Like you, I don’t really want to deal with a commute, especially in winter.”
“I’m sure Shiloh will be thrilled when she finds out,” Aiden said as he pulled to a stop at a red light and looked over at Skylar. “When we spent time together after you left, she always talked about how she missed you.”
A gentle smile crept onto her face. “I missed her a lot, too.”
“Did you miss me?” he asked, half joking.
The light turned green, so he had to look away before she answered.
“I missed everyone,” she said. “But yes, maybe I missed you a little, too.”
“I’ll take that.”
“About the date,” Skylar said. “Where exactly do you want this to go?”
The change in the direction of their conversation took him by surprise. But it was a direction he was happy to go in. It meant that she hadn’t completely said no to the idea of dating.
“I’m not just looking for a girlfriend,” Aiden said, deciding to lay it all out. “I want a wife. So if you do decide you want to go on a date with me, just know that I’m serious. No casual dating for me. I want this to be something headed toward marriage. If you’re not interested in that, too, you might as well turn me down now.”
“I don’t mind that you’re serious,” she said. “I’m not looking for casual either.” She gave a little huff of laughter. “Well, to be honest, I wasn’t looking for anything.”
“Have you chosen not to date?”
“Oh, I’ve dated,” she said. “In fact, I’d just broken up with a guy when my mom called to let me know what was going on with Shiloh.”
Aiden’s stomach soured at the revelation. Of course she’d been dating. She was a beautiful woman who no doubt attracted the attention of many men. Including the rich ones who travelled on the private jets she’d worked on.
“Was it serious?” he asked. “Had you been dating long?”
“About nine months,” she said.
He noticed she didn’t say anything about the seriousness of the relationship, but nine months wasn’t exactly casual. The breakup could be why she was hesitant to pursue something with him.
If the breakup had happened right before Shiloh’s diagnosis, it had been several weeks already. Was that enough time for her to get over the guy?
“I didn’t realize that when I asked you out,” he said.
“Does it make a difference?”
“I think it does,” he said. “Because if you’re still getting over that guy, I understand why you wouldn’t be interested in something with me. Just forget that I asked, and we’ll continue on as we are. Friends.”
Skylar was quiet, and when Aiden glanced over at her, he saw she’d turned her face toward the window so he couldn’t see her expression.
“I still want a relationship with you,” Aiden said. “But I don’t want to be your rebound or for us to get involved when you still have feelings for someone else. That would doom the relationship from the start.”
“I don’t still have feelings for him.”
“Okay. So if he showed up today and tried to get back together, you wouldn’t be interested?”
“He already did show up, sort of, when I was in Vegas.”
“What do you mean?”
“He started texting me again, wanting us to meet for coffee.”
“Did you?” he asked. “Sorry. That’s none of my business.”
“I don’t mind telling you, but maybe don’t mention this around my parents. I don’t really discuss my dating life with my family.” When he nodded, she continued on. “No. I did not meet him for coffee, and he’s now blocked on my phone and all my social media accounts.”
“Was it a bad breakup?”
“Not really,” she said. “He told me that he felt like he couldn’t get past the wall I had built around my heart. That I was emotionally distant, and he didn’t think we could have something long-term because of that.”
“But then he changed his mind?”
“I don’t know. And I didn’t care, so when he texted me to meet up, I didn’t have a problem telling him no.”
Knowing she wasn’t still in love with another guy brought a wave of relief to Aiden. She still might turn him down. But if she did agree to the date, at least he knew she was over her previous relationship.
He didn’t like the idea of her dating other men. But since he’d also dated, he didn’t really have any right to feel that way.
“Is there anything I can say or do to help put your mind at ease about us dating?”
“I don’t know. I think it’s something I just need to work on. Some of the things you said to me years ago were incredibly hurtful, and I struggle to get them out of my mind sometimes.”
“I really am sorry for what I said.”
“How will I know that you’re really committed to a relationship with me, and that you won’t drop me the minute another woman comes along who’s prettier than me? Has a better personality? Has a better job? I don’t want to be in a relationship that whenever a beautiful woman is around, I have to worry about losing you to her.”
Aiden heard the pain in her voice and realized just how negatively his words and actions had impacted her. He could tell her that he hadn’t meant them, but that wouldn’t lessen the hurt they’d caused her over the years.
“You’ve told me about your dating life,” Aiden said. “Let me tell you something about mine.”
“I won’t believe you if you tell me you haven’t been dating,” Skylar warned.
“No. I’m not telling you that.”
“Not that I want to hear about the women you’ve dated.”
“Well, babe, I didn’t really want to hear about the men you’ve dated either.”
“Fair enough.” She waved her hand in the air. “Go on.”
“When I was dating, I discovered I couldn’t date women with dark brown hair and eyes.”
“Well, they do say that blondes have more fun,” Skylar said. “So it stands to reason that men would prefer them.”
“No, that’s not what I mean,” Aiden said. “I couldn’t date anyone that reminded me of you because no matter how attractive they were, they just didn’t measure up to you.”
“So only the blondes were pretty enough to distract you?”
Aiden wanted to sigh in frustration at not being able to express himself well enough. “No, again. I struggled not to compare every woman I dated to you, but at least the blondes were less of a physical reminder of you.”
“How long ago did you date one of these blondes?” Skylar asked.
“It was back before my dad passed away,” he said. “I haven’t really dated since then.”
“Why not?”
“Too many other things demanding my attention, including my move here to Coeur d’Alene and helping Mom with Willow.”
Skylar was silent for a moment, then said, “If you were regretting the breakup, why didn’t you try to contact me to work it out? Or to at least apologize? It wasn’t like you didn’t know how to get hold of me.”
Aiden wasn’t sure how to explain what had been in his mind back then without either digging a deeper hole or sounding like he was making excuses. Because depending on which part of those early years after the breakup he focused on, it could go one way or the other.
He wondered if anything he said would make a difference. Was she just dragging it out to make him pay for what had happened? He didn’t really think so, though he certainly wouldn’t blame her if she did.
The house came into view before he had a chance to land on an answer. However, he didn’t want the conversation to end.
He pulled into the driveway and came to a stop. Before turning off the engine, he rolled down the windows a little. The day had taken on the gray shades of twilight, but it was still warm.
“I wish I could explain what was in my mind back then,” Aiden said. “But all I can say is that I’ve matured enough to realize that what I did was wrong on several levels. I understand why you’re wary of trusting me again. I get it, I really do. I can tell you that if you decide to give me another chance, I will treat you the way you deserve to be treated, and as God would want me to treat you.”
“Like your dad treated your mom?”
Aiden smiled, remembering the times they’d discussed both sets of parents’ relationships. “Yes. Like Dad treated Mom. Since my dad passed, I’ve tried to do a few of the things for her that he used to do.”
“Like what?”
“She loves plants and flowers, and Dad used to bring her a new plant now and then. And in the summer, he’d pick up flowers for her to plant in her garden. She likes bouquets too, but definitely prefers something that lasts. So I’ve gotten in the habit of searching out rare plants that she might like to try her hand at growing. One of them was an orchid that has bloomed beautifully under her care.”
“Do she still have it?”
“Yes. She very carefully transported it back to the house in Serenity.” Aiden reached out to cover Skylar’s hands with his own, where they rested in her lap. “Sky, spending this time with you has made me fall in love with you all over again. I see the tenderness of your heart as you deal with Shiloh and even with me. I admire the strength you had to give Shiloh up and then take a position on the periphery of her life. I know that wasn’t easy at all.”
“Maybe I’m just the easy option,” Skylar said. “The one you already have a connection with. That you already know. The one that’s here.”
Aiden chuckled. “You may be many things, babe, but you’re definitely not the easy option. And before you protest that, I want you to know that that is one of the things I love about you. I don’t want an easy option. I want to be with someone who I know is going to work and fight for our relationship as much as I am. You are that person for me.”
“If I don’t feel the same way, how will things be between us as we deal with Shiloh?”
Aiden’s hope for his chances with Skylar took a nosedive with that question. “We’ll figure it out. I won’t make things difficult for you.”
Skylar turned one of her hands over so that their palms were touching. Warmth spread through Aiden as she sandwiched his hand between hers.
“I like the Aiden I’ve come to know since I came to your office,” Skylar said, her voice soft. “Parts of you are still the boy I loved as a teen. But you’ve also changed from him. I worry you’ll change again.”
“Change is inevitable. For both of us. Our experiences in life change us. My prayer is that I will only change for the better in the years to come,” Aiden said. “I feel like I’m more open to rebuke, and I’d be happy to have an accountability partner.”
“Someone like Cole?”
“He’d be a good choice,” Aiden said. “I know he’d have your best interests at heart, so if he came to me with concerns, I’d know they were really serious.”
It felt a bit weird to be discussing things the way they were.
The first time he’d asked her out on a date, it had been preceded by some—or maybe a lot—of flirting between them. When he’d finally asked her out, she’d accepted without hesitation, and things had grown from there.
This time around, they were both coming with baggage. Lots of baggage. And since it was baggage that Aiden himself had packed, he now needed to have patience as he and Skylar unpacked it.
Discussion was needed.
These weren’t things that could just be pushed off to deal with later. They would directly impact their relationship if they didn’t at least try to hash things out. Because if they couldn’t work through it, there was no chance for a relationship between them.
So while it wouldn’t be even remotely a romantic start to a relationship, Aiden knew it was more important than roses or any other physical gift. This was him giving her the gift of understanding and patience. And it was as much a gift to him as it was to her.
Aiden wanted to think they were starting to build the foundation for something lasting. So the stronger it was, the better.
He just hoped that Skylar felt the same way.
“Can I have one more night to think about this?” she asked, her voice barely audible in the slowly darkening evening.
Aiden tightened his fingers around hers. “You can have as long as you need. I’m not going anywhere.”
“I’m glad.”
“I just realized we haven’t had supper yet,” Aiden said as he looked around. “And it looks like your parents aren’t back yet. Do you want to go out and grab something?”
“Sure. I am a bit hungry.”
After a brief discussion about their restaurant options, they settled on the one they’d always preferred as teens. And when they got there, they placed orders nearly identical to what they’d ordered back then, too.
By the time they got back to the house with the food, Cathy and Dan were there and greeted them with smiles.
“How did the visit at the hospital go?” Cathy asked as they joined Aiden and Skylar at the dining room table.
“It went really well,” Skylar said, then glanced at Aiden. “Right?”
“Yes, I thought she looked good. Better than I expected. She even played Go Fish with me and didn’t seem lethargic or anything.”
“That is encouraging,” Cathy said. “That means the meds are tackling whatever got her sick in the first place.”
“Which could mean that her symptoms might be entirely attributed to the infection and not the cancer,” Dan added.
Skylar lowered her burger without taking a bite. “Really? Is that possible?”
“It’s possible,” Cathy said. “But the test results will give us the answer for certain.”
“But it is a very good sign,” Dan said.
“Oh, that would be wonderful if it’s something easily treatable.”
“Hopefully, they’ll get some of the results to Charli and Blake tomorrow.”
“Will you be heading back to Vegas soon?” Cathy asked.
Aiden glanced at Skylar to see if she planned to reveal her plans to her parents. He wasn’t sure why she hadn’t said anything earlier. He’d still be in the dark if he hadn’t heard that part of the conversation she’d had with Charli.
He hadn’t planned to eavesdrop on what they were discussing, but that part of the conversation had been loud enough that he’d heard it without any concentration on his part.
“I’m actually not going back,” she said. “Well, I’ll have to go to pack up my apartment, but I’m not going to live there anymore.”
“Really?” Cathy lifted her hands into the air. “What a wonderful answer to prayer!”
“What can we do to help you make the move?” Dan asked. “If you’re going to stay with us, at least at first, you’ll need to put your furnishings into a storage unit.”
“Yes. I’ll probably stay with you to start, but then, depending on where I get a job, I’ll figure out where to live.”
“Are you applying for jobs here, as well as in Serenity?” Cathy asked.
“Yes. I know that I probably should stick to hospitality jobs, but I’ve been thinking about also applying at some interior design places.”
Aiden smiled at the revelation. Not just that she was serious about getting a job, but that she was looking at jobs in the field that once had been her career choice.
“Are you looking at getting back into interior design?” Cathy asked.
Skylar shrugged. “I thought maybe if I got a job as a receptionist or something similar, I could see if I still have an interest in it. Then maybe I’d look into going back to school. I don’t know. I’ve changed over the years, so it’s possible that I won’t find it as interesting.”
“Well, you know we’ll support you whatever you decide,” Dan said with a smile at Skylar.
“I’m just so glad that you’re moving closer to home.”
“So you’d be okay if I get a place here and not in Serenity?”
“Of course, darling,” Cathy said. “An hour’s drive is so much more manageable than a five or six-hour plane ride.”
“When I wasn’t able to get more time off to come home when Shiloh got sick, I knew that I needed to change my situation. If I move here, I’ll be able to see her and not have to take time off, even when she’s in the hospital.”
“It sounds like you’ve put some thought into all of this,” Dan said.
Skylar nodded. “I want this to work out, so I’m trying to make sure I’m thinking things through.”
“So… is it just wanting to be closer to Shiloh that’s brought you home?”
Aiden froze, then lifted his burger for a bite, curious about what her answer would be. He was watching her, so he saw when she glanced in his direction.
“No. That’s not the only thing,” she said. “But we’ll see about the other stuff.”
Cathy looked at Aiden and gave him a smile and a wink. “Well, we’ll be praying for you. Both of you.”
“Thanks, Mom,” Skylar said, with only a slight edge of sarcasm to her words.
Aiden chuckled, then Cathy and Dan joined in, while Skylar just rolled her eyes.
It was nice to know he’d have the support of Skylar’s family if she decided to give him another chance. He had betrayed their trust in him in the past, but that wouldn’t happen again.