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Lucas busied himself mixing the ingredients together, the scrape of the spoon on the pan the only sound. He turned the burner on under the saucepan. “Sis, honestly, I don’t have a clue how I’d feel in your shoes. Wanting a baby, then finding out that Aidan had a child by another woman.”
“Lucas, can we not go there tonight?” She pushed her hair off her face, irrationally feeling Aidan’s skin against hers when he’d kissed her forehead on the beach this evening.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to start there, but we have to start somewhere. You need to decide what you want to do about it.”
“Like what?” she asked.
“Well, if you and Aidan aren’t going to settle your differences, then you’ll need to look for somewhere to live. It would make sense for you to stay at the house, but he’ll have to move his daughter somewhere—another move for the little girl. Not the best choice. Or you could find a condo or an apartment while you get to work on your divorce.”
“Divorce! I don’t want to divorce Aidan.”
Slowly Lucas turned with the saucepan in his hands, filling two mugs with the steaming brown liquid. “If you don’t want to divorce him, what do you want?”
“I—I want Aidan to understand that he’s hurt me, and I need time to get over it.”
“Then maybe you should simply get an apartment while you decide if you’re ready to forgive him or not.”
“You make it sound like I’m punishing him.”
“Aren’t you?” Lucas cocked one eyebrow at her.
“No! I’m the one being punished. I’m the one who has to find a way to live around my husband’s infidelity.”
“Gracie, that was five years ago. Five years during which you’ve been happy, right?”
“Yes…except for not having a baby.”
“But you are working on that, right? I mean, you’ve been in touch with an adoption lawyer.”
“I have. But Aidan wasn’t keen about it. When the whole mess with Deidre happened, it got left behind. Besides how can he pretend to want to adopt when our marriage is in danger?”
“Gracie, that’s not fair. Did Aidan say he didn’t want to adopt?”
“No. He just didn’t act very excited when I told him I’d found a lawyer.”
“Okay. So you were in the middle of considering adoption when all this happened, and now you’re convinced that Aidan wouldn’t be interested in adopting a child.” He took a sip of his hot chocolate, a concerned frown on his face.
“What? Why are you looking at me like that?” she asked, annoyed that her brother was taking Aidan’s side.
Lucas put his cup down. “Gracie, if you want your marriage, I suggest that you get over there and talk to your husband about Emma, about what you want out of life, about the child you’d like to adopt. Get the ball rolling.”
“It’s not that simple,” she said, feeling defensive, something she rarely experienced around her brother.
“It is simple, if you love him. If you don’t love him, then get out of his life. He’s my brother-in-law and I’m mad at him for what he did to you. But he’s also my friend and my partner. In all the years I’ve known Aidan, he has been an honorable man who loves you. I’ve envied him that happiness. As I’ve gotten closer to Maria, I’ve learned something that is key to loving someone. You have to talk to each other, no matter how painful the subject is, no matter how difficult or even embarrassing it is to share how you’re feeling. If you love someone, you talk, you listen.”
“We’ve been talking,” she said, wishing this conversation could be over.
