did the one thing she’d asked of him. The one thing that broke her heart in two.
He left.
Stella gripped the countertop, finally letting her tears flow in sharp, bracing sobs.
“Mom?”
She looked up, wiping her eyes. Matty was standing there, looking stricken. “It’s… fine,” she lied, hiccupping through her sobs. “Don’t worry, please. This isn’t about you.”
“Aidan was only trying to help, because I asked.” Matty said, sounding anxious. “Don’t be mad at him.”
“Oh honey, it’s not that.” Stella tried to pull herself together, but Matty went to her, and wrapped his arms around her waist in a familiar hug, and it was more than she could bear.
She’d done this for him. For both of them. To keep them safe from uncertainty and pain. But holding him then, Stella wondered how it could ever be OK, knowing what she’d lost.
Knowing what love felt like, before she walked away.
“I’m sorry, mom,” he whispered, and her tears kept falling.
“Me too, baby,” she whispered back. “Me too.”
18
Aidan’s alarm woke him at 7 a.m., the way it did every morning. And like every other morning these days, he hit the ‘snooze’ button, buried his head back under the pillows, and ignored it.
He wasn’t going anywhere.
It had been a week since Stella had ended things. A week of late-night drinking, and early morning hangovers, and trying to ignore that gnawing feeling in his gut that he’d just made the biggest mistake of his life.
Why hadn’t he promised her he’d stay?
Aidan slumped lower and tried to banish the guilt from his mind. The rain was drumming outside his windows, and the grey, miserable day was a perfect match for his mood.
This wasn’t his fault, he told himself, for the hundredth time. Stella was the one who’d ended it all, and she’d made herself perfectly clear. She wasn’t willing to take a chance on things, she was pushing for way too much, way too soon, and it would have been crazy to make those kind of promises, just because she was scared.
Right?
Aidan buried his head deeper under the pillows. The answer didn’t matter now, anyway. It was over. Never mind that he still wanted her. Never mind that the damn ache deep in his chest wasn’t going anywhere, and that every day he thought about walking the half-mile to her door and begging for another try. She’d made her choice, and all the questions in the world weren’t changing it now.
No, the only thing he should be asking was why he was still stuck in Sweetbriar Cove, instead of getting back to his real life again?
There was a barking noise, and suddenly, Aidan was set upon by fifty pounds of damp, drooling, enthusiastic golden Labrador.
“Archie?” he managed, trying to push him away. The dog kept licking his face, until Aidan managed to shove him off the bed – leaving muddy footprints behind. “What the hell?”
“Good morning, big brother.” Cassie strode into the room, and yanked back the curtains.
Aidan winced, trying to shield his eyes from the light. He had a splitting headache, thanks to the bourbon he’d been drinking last night – sitting alone on his back porch, hoping to numb the pain with liquor or the cold, or a fearsome combination of the two. But it would take a hell of a lot more whiskey, and a bad case of pneumonia to ease this ache.
“Go away,” he groaned, falling back onto the pillows. “How did you get in?”
“Your door code is mom’s birthday,” Cassie replied. “Real secure.” She moved closer, standing over the bed. “Wow, you’re pathetic when you’re all heartbroken,” she said, teasing. “I’ve never seen you like this before.”
Aidan made a grumbling sound.
“Are you coming to breakfast?” she asked.
“Nope.”
“It’s Alice’s birthday,” Cassie reminded him. “Come on, we’re all having pancakes at the diner to celebrate.”
“I can’t,” Aidan muttered. “She’ll be there.”
He didn’t need to say who.
“Already cleared it!” Cassie said, annoyingly cheerful. “It’s just family for breakfast, then Alice is spending the day with us girls. So, you have zero excuses not to come.” She went to his closet, and started rifling through his stuff. “Hmmm… I like you in a cable-knit. Very ‘rugged fisherman’.” She tossed a sweater on the bed. “Come on,” she yanked at his foot. “You know what the others are like, there’ll be no pancakes left in the state once Luke and Chase get started.”
“Jesus, Cassie, can you please just leave me alone?!” Aidan finally roared.
Cassie’s smile turned sympathetic. “Sorry, big brother, but no. You’ve been wallowing in whiskey all