Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 79197 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 396(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79197 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 396(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
“Wait. Please…wait.” His voice sounded as defeated as I felt.
My eyes stung with the threat of tears, but I refused to let them show. Ten years of emotional and physical abuse was going to be harder to get over than I’d thought.
“Let me explain.”
My voice came out in a whisper. “You don’t need to explain. I’ll make sure someone can pick up Hadley from school.”
“Damn it, Emma!” he pleaded. “Just give me a minute to apologize and explain.”
I gently tugged my arm, and Aiden immediately let go.
Staring up at him, I took a deep breath and slowly blew it out. I could feel the tears pooling again, threatening to spill. When I spoke, my voice shook.
“I spent ten years of my life with a man who liked to scream at me, and I promised myself I would never, ever do it again, no matter who the man was.”
Aiden’s face went white, and he looked as if he might be sick. “I didn’t mean…I never raise my voice, Emma, but…I just…you caught me so off guard with the French toast.”
I stared at him, waiting for him to explain. Not that it would excuse his behavior.
“Lisa made Hadley French toast on special occasions. It was their thing. Their very special thing that they only shared together. Hadley has never once asked me to make it for her. When I saw it this morning, it totally shocked and threw me.”
“So, the first thing you assumed was that I had some hidden agenda behind it?”
His cheeks turned red.
“I’m not here to replace your wife, Aiden. I’m here because you hired me to take care of your daughter. And I already find myself falling for that little girl. I care about her and want to make her feel safe and happy. If you think that I’m doing it with malice, this obviously isn’t going to work. I can’t read your mind or follow an invisible set of rules. I realize this is new for you, but it is for me, too.”
Aiden nodded and turned away. He walked to the window and stared out. When it was clear he wasn’t going to say anything more, I sighed.
“Hadley will be late if I don’t get going,” I stated.
“After you drop her off, will you please meet me at the ranger station on the River Falls side?”
I swallowed hard. It was really better to leave now, before I grew any more attached to Hadley. I wasn’t sure why he needed me to stop by his job first.
“I…I don’t know where that is.”
“Just go to the entrance and tell them who you are. I’ll make sure they get you there.”
I nodded even though his back was still to me. “Yes. I’ll be there as soon as I drop her off.”
Without another word, I made my way back to the kitchen. The emptiness I felt in my chest was an entirely new feeling. It felt like I was about to lose something I didn’t even realize I needed.
CHAPTER NINE
AIDEN - JUMPING TO CONCLUSIONS
I sat at my desk at the ranger station and stared out the window as I tried to make sense of what the hell had happened to me earlier that morning. I overreacted about the French toast, obviously. But I was also filled with the urge to track down the man Emma had been married to and hurt him. Badly.
Her words replayed over and over in my head. I knew instinctively that she never would have said them voluntarily; that they were a result of my carelessness and the heat of the moment.
“I spent ten years of my life with a man who liked to scream at me, and I promised myself I would never, ever do it again—no matter who the man was.”
Rose had told me that Emma was divorced, but that was all. It was none of my business to ask any more questions.
When I saw her literally jump back in fear when I barked at her, saw the alarm in her eyes and heard her voice shake, I wanted to punch myself. Then when tears pooled in those big blue eyes of hers…I’d never hated myself more than I had in that moment. I’d hurt her, and that made me feel something far worse than regret and guilt. I just couldn’t put my finger on exactly what that feeling was.
My phone buzzed on my desk. “Aiden, Emma Middleton is here to see you.”
Rolling my neck to release some of the tension, I walked over and hit the button. “Thanks, Janie, will you show her in?”
“Sure thing.”
I continued to look out over the Rocky Mountains, taking in their beauty as I tried to figure out a way to tell Emma I was sorry for my behavior and beg her not to leave. Hadley would never forgive me if Emma left. It had only been a few days, but I already knew my daughter cared deeply for the woman. She was a breath of fresh air that Hadley desperately needed, and all I’d done so far was treat her like the enemy, when I knew damn well she was anything but.