Total pages in book: 112
Estimated words: 107944 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 540(@200wpm)___ 432(@250wpm)___ 360(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107944 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 540(@200wpm)___ 432(@250wpm)___ 360(@300wpm)
He gave me another smile. “Stella wasn’t lying. I’ve always wanted a brother. You have my number now. Use it.”
“I will. It goes both ways.”
“When you’re back in Los Angeles filming, we’ll meet up again.” He took my hand for a shake and pulled me into a hug.
“I thought you didn’t do hugs?”
“Whatever. It’s Christmas.”
I thanked everyone for a final time before heading out to my car and driving to meet up with Catherine. My nerves were shot, and I wasn’t quite certain how to deal with the anxiety I’d been feeling. As I parked the car, I climbed out. Standing in front of the shop was a woman in a luxury coat and red bottom heels. She looked at me, and my stomach knotted up.
“Catherine?” I asked.
She blinked, and I saw pieces of me in her expressions. “Aiden, yes. Hello.”
She seemed nervous, but I couldn’t blame her. I felt it, too.
“Do you want to head in and get coffee?” I started to open the door and she stopped me.
“No, not really. I just wanted to meet to get it out of the way. It seemed important to you, but I don’t want to give you false hope. From what I can tell, you have a good life now. I don’t want to interfere with that, and honestly, I’m not interested in being involved in your life.”
The coldness of her words stung. I couldn’t say that Damian didn’t warn me.
“No, I get it. I guess I don’t know why I wanted to meet you.”
“So you could look at me and realize you already had the best parents. It’s fine. Consider this my Christmas gift to you.”
“Thank you.”
She nodded. “Whoever thought that Samuel and I would make something this talented?”
I blinked. “What?”
“Did I say something wrong?”
“Yeah. You mean you and Jake. Not Samuel.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Uh, no. I think I know whose baby I carried. I don’t even know who this Jake person is that you’re talking about.”
I felt nauseous. As if I’d been sucker punched in the gut. “Are you sure?”
She sarcastically laughed. “Yeah, I’m certain. One doesn’t easily forget the man who messed up your body for nine months.”
My mind was spinning, and I felt faint. I wasn’t certain what to do, so I excused myself from the situation. “It was nice meeting you, Catherine, but I have to go.”
42
Hailee
* * *
I’d been counting down the hours for Aiden to make it home. Mama and Dad had been slow dancing around the Walters’s living room with Laurie, laughing up a storm while Samuel kept to himself for the most part. I still couldn’t stomach what I’d overheard the night before, and I was more than ready to tell Aiden if Samuel didn’t step up and handle the issues at hand. It’d been eating at me since I’d heard Jake confess everything.
Aiden sent me his location as he was driving home from the airport, and I felt the same excitement I had when I was a kid whenever he’d come back home to me. I dashed outside the second I saw his car was pulling into the driveway, and I rocketed straight into his arms.
“Merry Christmas,” I whispered against the nape of his neck as he held me.
“Merry Christmas, babe.” He pulled back and kissed me. I could feel the tension against his lips.
“What is it?” I asked as we disconnected. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. Come on. Let’s go inside.” He took my hand into his, and I followed. The second he was through the door, and laid his eyes on his father on the living room couch, his nostrils began to flare. He dropped my hand.
“Aiden, what is it…?” I asked, but he ignored me as he marched over to his father.
“Is it true?” he blurted out. The music on the record player kept playing, but Laurie and my parents stopped their movements. “About Catherine and you?”
Samuel stood from the couch with a look of shock in his eyes. Then his stare moved to me. “You told me you wouldn’t say a word.”
Oh no.
Aiden’s eyes met mine, and the look of hurt and betrayal that washed over him made me want to vomit. “You knew?” he asked as tears flooded his stare.
I shook my head and reached out to him. “No, Aiden, it’s not what you—” He shoved my hand away from him.
No, no, no…
“What’s going on?” Laurie asked.
“Now, listen, son…” Samuel started to step toward Aiden, but he was instantly stopped.
“Fuck you!” Aiden hissed at his father as he shoved him hard against the chest.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, what’s going on?” Dad asked, stepping between the two men to make sure it didn’t escalate. “Aiden, what are you doing?”
“What am I doing? How about you ask what he’s been doing,” Aiden muttered. He flung his hands in irritation as he looked at Samuel. “How about you tell the crowd the truth, huh? How you aren’t the stand-up man you’ve always made yourself out to be.”