Chapter Four

Blake

 

Families gathered along the dam, enjoying the sunny day. Some were situated on blankets in the grass while others walked the path, passing me with a warm smile. I always thought that would be me one day with a family. Coming back to this town, my town, it gave me a sinking feeling in my heart that I’d made the wrong choice by leaving.

After college, with Mom and Dad gone and Liam gone, it just wasn’t the same. Aiden was in the hospital in Germany, recovering from an injury, I wasn’t sure how bad. I could’ve waited, stuck around to check on him, and possibly fulfilled my girlhood dream of becoming his wife, but I didn’t. I bolted, and I hadn’t looked back, until now, until Liam called, asking me to come home to meet his family.

My phone buzzed in my pocket, and before I looked at the screen, I already knew it was Liam calling again.

I slid my thumb across the ignore button and shoved it back into my pocket. I knew he was wondering if I was still in town, or if I’d taken back off again. A part of me wanted to leave, but I had nowhere to go back to. My lease was up in the small apartment in Las Vegas, and the wild, never-ending city had worn on me enough that the small-town life was appealing once again. I left everything to come here. I left nothing to come here.

With a crash, a furry golden retriever was on me, jumping up to greet me as I balanced myself from his impact.

“Hi there, who are you?” I asked in my baby voice.

He was friendly, energetic, and tugging hard on the leash that his owner obviously couldn’t control.

“Wow, I just keep running into you,” I looked up at Aiden attached to the other end of the leash as he spoke.

“Literally,” I laughed, kneeling down to pet the rambunctious pup.

“He’s still learning who’s in charge,” Aiden grumbled, pulling back on the leash to get him off me.

“I think he knows,” I smirked, standing to my feet.

“Okay, well I’m still learning then,” Aiden laughed.

His laugh brought me back to a time when we were kids. It hadn’t changed, unlike his appearance. He was always tall, but somehow, he seemed taller, and his once lanky arms were filled out with rippled muscles now. He grew a goatee, which made him look older, and I could see the stress had taken a toll on him from the lines around his eyes.

“You just get him?” I asked.

“He’s not mine; he’s Holly’s. I’m just taking him for a walk, trying to calm him down until she can handle him herself,” Aiden responded.

Like a knife through my heart, I pictured Holly, a petite little Hispanic girl that his mother loved, that he loved. I glanced towards his hand, no ring on his finger, but that didn’t mean there wouldn’t be soon. Why did I come back here for this torture?

“Is that your girlfriend?” I asked, trying to sound cool, even though I was dying inside.

“No, that’s Liam’s daughter, your niece, I guess,” he chuckled nervously.

My cheeks burned with embarrassment from the misunderstanding, and that knife in my heart pulled out just a bit.

“Oh,” I gulped.

“He didn’t tell you?” he asked, the stress in his voice obvious.

“Yes, he told me, I just didn’t register the name,” I apologized.

“Thank God, I thought I ruined a surprise or something,” he exhaled.

“No, he already sprung that surprise on me. Guess it was a hell of a surprise to him too, sounds like,” I smiled.

Aiden was being pulled by the puppy towards the grass. I followed him as he let the pup lead. We stood under a large tree while he sniffed around for a place to do his business.

“I still feel horrible for keeping the secret,” Aiden confessed.

My jaw dropped, and I knew my look had to be filled with complete shock as I stared at him.

“You knew?” I asked.

He nodded.

“The whole time?” I questioned.

“Pretty much,” he sighed.

I suddenly felt bad for my brother. Aiden was his best friend. For him to keep a secret like that for so many years, that had to sting. Wow.

There was so much I wanted to ask, but before I could start my interrogation, Aiden’s phone lit up, and he slid his finger across the screen to answer.

“Hey, Mom,” he groaned, sounding like he was less than pleased to hear from her.

“What are you talking about? Where are you?” he asked, looking over his shoulder and then scanning the area around us.

His dark eyes landed on mine, and a strange smirk spread across his face. He pulled the phone from his ear and turned on the speaker so I could hear what was causing him so much confusion and stress.

“So, who’s the girl? Is she pretty?” his mother asked.

I snickered, trying hard to keep my voice down.

“Mom, why do you think I’m with a girl?” he asked sternly.

“Anna-Marie called. She said you were by the dam with a girl, that it looked like you were on a date,” she cooed.

Aiden rolled his eyes and looked up to the sky as if he was asking someone above for help. I had to turn around so my laughter wouldn’t be heard, covering my mouth hard with my hand.

“You really need to calm down, and quit having your crew spy on me,” he scolded.

“My crew, I don’t have no crew. She just knows how desperate I am to have you settle down; she thought she’d share the good news since my own son won’t,” she laid on the guilt trip thick.

“There’s no good news. It’s just a friend,” he insisted.

Hearing that shoved the knife a little deeper into my heart. It was clear that Aiden still thought of me as ‘just a friend,’ or worse, as his ‘best friends little sister.’

I played with the puppy while he finished up his phone call, trying not to show my disappointment at being called ‘just a friend.’

“I’m so sorry,” he gushed, his cheeks turning red as he spoke.

I busted out laughing, partly from the silliness of the situation, partly from nervousness.

“Sounds like she’s really trying to marry you off,” I teased.

His eyes rolled, and he sighed as he shoved the phone back into his pocket.

“You have no idea,” he groaned.

The only good news that came from the call, as I could gather, was the fact Aiden was indeed single.

“We should just get married,” I blurted out with a chuckle.

Aiden’s eyes froze on mine, the expression strange and hard to read. Oh shit, why did I say that? He probably thinks I’m a freak.

“I’m just sayin’, it would get her off your back,” I stammered.

He busted out laughing, making me feel silly for the suggestion. Why would Aiden want to marry me?

“That was stupid, sorry. I was just joking,” I quickly injected.

My expression soured, and his laughter stopped abruptly. He stared at me with remorse in his eyes.

“No, it’s just that Alyssa and Liam said the same thing, that I should find someone to marry me out of convenience. I just thought they were crazy, because what would the girl get out of it, ya know?” he explained.

What would the girl get out of it? Aiden, of course. He was tall, dark, and handsome, with a huge heart, a beautiful smile, and a body so tight it made me drool just to glance at it.

“I’d do it. I don’t want to go back to Las Vegas, and staying in a bed and breakfast kind of sucks,” I moaned.

“So, you’re staying?” he asked, his eyes lighting up with excitement.

I nodded. “I think so,” I sighed.

The dog started to pull at him again, bored with the area he’d been sniffing and his business done.

“I better get this dog back to Holly. Can I get your number?” he said quickly.

I pulled my phone from my pocket, dialing in his number as he recited it to me slowly. I hit call, listening to the buzz that it created in his pocket, and smiled.

“Now you have it,” I smirked.

The puppy jerked his arm hard, ready to chase a passing bicyclist. Aiden quickly told me goodbye, saying it was good to see me, and he was happy that I’d decided to stay before he was tugged in the opposite direction from where I stood.

I thought about his reaction to my suggestion, wondering if he’d ever given any thought of there being an ‘us,’ and quickly shrugged it off. Probably not.

My thoughts wandered to Liam, and an ache formed in my heart for him. He’d had a daughter for eleven years, one with the woman he loved—the only woman he’d ever loved—and no one told him, not even his best friend.

I knew at that moment that he’d beaten himself up for not coming back sooner far worse than I ever could.