The Proposal
Page 14“Do you hate me now because of that?”
She shook her head wildly back and forth. “No, how could you even think that?”
“It’s just you were staring at me and not saying anything. I thought you might feel used or deceived.”
“That’s not it at all. In fact, I was thinking much more highly of you because of what you told me.”
“Really?”
“I’m glad having Noah is a way you feel you can repent for what you did. It’s never too late for redemption, Aidan.”
A hopeful look entered his tortured eyes. “I’d give anything and everything in this world to redeem myself with you. Just please, please give me the chance.”
Emma couldn’t hold the intensity of his desperate gaze any longer. Staring down at her lap, she fought to breathe. Her mind whirled with trying to process her out of control thoughts while her chest heaved with emotion. Did she really want to give him the chance to redeem himself? Could she actually do that to herself and her heart? And if she denied him, how was she even to have him a part of Noah’s life without letting her feelings get in the way?
“Please, Em,” he begged.
“I guess I can try,” she finally replied. When she glanced back up at him, his blue eyes shone with determination. “I’m not making any promises.”
He smiled. “I can take that—I can take whatever you’re willing to give me.”
Emma laughed when she appeared to be asking her more than Aidan. She patted her very full belly. “No, I think I’m good.”
Aidan swept his hand inside his jacket pocket for his wallet. Without even glancing at the bill, he stuffed a wad of cash in the envelope. When Jenny started to protest at his generosity, he shook his head. “I owe a lot more than that to you and your dad for taking care of me in the last few weeks.”
“We were happy to do it.” Jenny leaned over and gave Aidan a quick hug. “Just promise to take care of yourself, and we’ll call it even, okay?”
He nodded as his eyes burned into Emma’s. “I’m already feeling like my old self again.”
She cocked her eyebrows at him. “Let’s hope that’s not every aspect of your old self,” she said, rising out of the booth.
“Damn, Em, do you always have to shred me with those freakin’ claws of yours?” he grumbled as he stood up.
Jenny threw a worried glance between the two of them before forcing a smile to her face. “Well, I hope to see you guys again soon.”
Emma gave Jenny a reassuring smile. “Thanks you.” After giving her a quick hug, she started out of the bar. Aidan hurried to catch up with her. He stepped in front of her just before she could open the door.
“Thank you,” she mumbled, trying to ignore the little zap of electricity she felt when his body touched hers. She edged away from him as they started back to his car. The drive over to the VFW was silent except for the muted sound of the radio playing love songs that were like spikes to her broken heart.
When they pulled up to her abandoned car, she didn’t want to leave him. Her brain screamed for her to pick up her hands and feet and get going. Finally, as her hand reached for the door handle, Aidan grabbed her shoulder. “Wait!” he cried.
Aidan’s chest tightened at the prospect of letting Emma out of his sight for even a second. They had come so far in the last few hours he was afraid it might all fade like a dream if they didn’t remain together. He was desperate for anything to keep her with him. A thought flashed in his mind, and he blurted, “Can I see Beau?”
Emma stared down at her lap. He could tell she was raging a battle within herself about whether to let him come over. “Please?” he pressed.
Her shoulders sagged, but she raised her head and smiled. “Of course. I mean, he does miss you.”
Aidan gave a bark of a laugh. “I doubt it. He chose you over me, didn’t he?” He was then assaulted with the painful memory of the night Emma caught him with Heather. The sight of Beau running after Emma, nudging her stomach and whining to go with her, cut through to his heart the same way it did that night. Shuddering, he forced a smile to his face. “I’m sure he’s too busy eating table scraps and lying around on your couch to miss me.”
“No, he really does. After all, you were his daddy for two years.”
“Good because I’ve missed him.” He leaned over the gearshift towards her. “I’ve missed him every moment of every day.” Her green eyes widened both at his proximity and the fact that they both knew he wasn’t talking about Beau anymore. The electricity crackled all around the two of them.
“You can follow me home.”
“Thank you.”
He waited until she was safely in her car and cranked up before he pulled out of the parking space. On the way to her house, his fingers drummed anxiously against the steering wheel. Even though it wasn’t more than ten minutes, he couldn’t seem to get there fast enough. Hope pulsed through him that she might finally forgive him and fully let him back into her life.
As he started to pull into the driveway, a yard sign caught his eye. Squinting in the darkness, he gasped at the recognition of the realty sign. The words For Sale sent a stake through his heart. Animosity overwrought the amorous feelings he had pulsing through him.
Shrinking from his anger, she pressed herself against the car. “Yes,” she whispered.
Shame washed over him that his reaction had frightened her. “I’m sorry for shouting at you, but how could you not tell me?”
“I was going to,” she argued
“When? The day the moving van came? Christ, Emma, we’ve been together all night! I unveiled my heart and soul, yet you couldn’t manage to tell me this one little detail?”
“I’m sorry.”
He was afraid to ask the next question because deep down he already knew the answer. “And just where are you going?”
“I’m moving back home—to Ellijay. I’m going to live with Grammy and Granddaddy for a while until the house sells, and then I might find a place of my own close by them. They’re getting older. Granddaddy fell off a ladder a week ago and just had to have hip replacement surgery. They need me, but more importantly, I need them.”