Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 104239 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 521(@200wpm)___ 417(@250wpm)___ 347(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104239 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 521(@200wpm)___ 417(@250wpm)___ 347(@300wpm)
He’s clearly no fan of mine right now. I can’t take it personally when I know it’s out of love for Aspen. At least he goes back to rubbing her shoulders after shooting me a death glare while she stares down at her folded hands.
I take a seat across from her, watching for any little reaction she gives off. I glance up at Xander, who lingers in the doorway. Does this mean he’s leaving? He needs to leave. I’m not having this discussion in his presence.
As it turns out, we’re waiting for another participant.
“Charlotte.” I rise from my chair as she enters the room. She nods in acknowledgment, and I take a seat while she does the same, leaving a couple of chairs between us. She can’t take her eyes off Aspen, who’s begun tapping her foot in a quick rhythm.
“We’ll leave you three alone,” Xander exclaims.
It’s obvious that’s the last thing Quinton wants to do, and I’m sure Xander would rather stick around. When Q glances down at Aspen, his eyebrows raised, I know this is the way she wants it. She nods briefly, and he exits the room with his father behind him.
“Thank you for sitting down to talk.” Aspen’s voice is soft but firm. Like she’s reciting something she’s practiced in her head. “I’ve had a little more time to think things over. I’m sorry I reacted the way I did.”
“You had every right to. You were reacting from your emotions. Anybody would.”
Her gaze brushes against mine ever so briefly before landing on the table between us. “Anyway, I wasn’t proud of myself.”
“Do you have any questions you need to be answered?” Charlotte asks.
The way she wrings her hands together in her lap reveals her strain. What she wants more than anything is to leap across the table and wrap her daughter in a big, tight hug.
“I have a million questions,” Aspen admits. “But the biggest one is where have you been the last few years, and why did people think you were dead?”
Charlotte explains everything she has told me before. Aspen is shocked about her adoptive parents’ involvement, but she doesn’t seem too surprised either.
“I traveled through Europe for a bit, trying to find my place in the world. I was lost for a long time, figuratively and sometimes actually. I ended up settling down in Italy, where I found someone.”
“So you have a boyfriend?” Aspen asks curiously.
“Actually, I’m married, and… I also have two young boys.”
“I have siblings?”
Charlotte nods, and her eyes light up, talking about her boys, the love for them so evident.
Aspen’s gaze bleeds into Charlotte, and she smiles at her mother. “I can’t wait to meet them. I mean, if that’s something that’s okay with you?”
“Of course! I would love that. You have no idea how much that would mean to me.”
That’s good. At least they have that.
“Are there any more burning questions?”
“So many, but I don’t think they could all be answered right away. More like they’ll come up with time.”
“But you’re willing to give me the time?”
Aspen’s head bobs up and down, eyes shining as they fill with tears. “Willing? I want to. I want to get to know you. I’m sorry things started out the way they did.”
“That was my fault. I should have—”
I hold up a hand, signaling her to stop while clearing my throat. It does nothing to dislodge the lump forming there. “It’s my fault. I’m willing to take the blame because I deserve it. I let too much time pass when I knew how important it was to you that Aspen knows you’re alive. I hope you can forgive me.” It’s Aspen who I direct that to, my gaze swinging her way.
She chews at her lip nervously while averting her eyes. Not a good sign and not something easy for me to sit through and witness without pushing her in any way. “I’m going to need time for that,” she finally mumbles. “I don’t know how long. But it’s not happening right away. In fact, I… don’t think I want to see you for a bit after this.”
It isn’t easy to hear. I know it’s what I deserve, and I certainly didn’t expect much better—in fact, I wouldn’t have been surprised if it was much worse.
“I understand.” But it’s still disappointing, knowing she’s hurting badly.
It’s time for me to do what I know has to be done, so I offer Charlotte what I intend as a reassuring nod before standing. “I’ll let the two of you talk. And for what it’s worth, I’m glad you’re finally together. That’s how it should be.”
Charlotte smiles in gratitude, eyes shining like our daughter’s. Aspen merely glances my way before looking at the table again.
So that’s as much as I’m going to get from her now. I’m not okay with it, but I have to at least pretend to be as I walk from the room with the sense of having destroyed the one good thing I had going for me. No matter if she forgives me, there’ll never be any putting things back to the way they were before.