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“I’m pretty sure if I had more kids, they wouldn’t come close to comparing to you.”
I chuckled as I walked over to him and kissed his bald head. “Mama said to tell you she’s ordering Chinese.”
“Sounds good.” He sat back in his chair and studied my face. Detective Karl Jones was now on the case, searching for any off emotions I might’ve been hiding. “How are you, baby girl?”
“I’m good. I’m applying to a few more grad schools tomorrow and am about to help Mama with the baking.”
“You know dang well that’s not what I’m asking about.”
I sighed and leaned against his desk, crossing my arms. “I’m good, Daddy.”
“It would be okay if you weren’t. You don’t always have to be good, but you should always be true. Any feeling is warranted, especially when it comes to Aiden.”
Even hearing his name sent chills down my spine. I couldn’t lie straight to Dad, so instead, I pushed myself from the desk. “I’m going to get back to helping Mama, and I’ll come get you when the food is here.”
He smirked. “Good on you for not lying to me. Love you forever.”
“Love you longer than that,” I replied, giving him another kiss on the forehead.
After we all ate dinner together, Mama and I got to work decorating the cookies.
I was a bit stunned that Mama bought my speech about Aiden being nothing but ancient history and me being fine with his return to Leeks. If anything, my nerves were a mess. I could hardly stop making up scenarios of what would happen if we ran into one another. For the past week, I’d been having fake conversations with myself as if I were speaking to Aiden for the first time in years.
“Hey, dude. What’s up? Want to do that weird handshake we always did?”
“Hey, Aiden, how goes it?”
“Well, look what the cat dragged in. Get it? The cat? You were my Tom. I was your Jerry. Meow!”
Clearly, I was screwed.
My stomach had been in knots, and those knots tightened even more as I plastered Aiden’s face against the sugar cookies. A face I once loved so much. I still loved it, to be honest. Aiden Walters was the kind of man that a woman never truly got over. My biggest fear about seeing him was that those feelings of longing would come rushing back at me, and I wouldn’t be able to stop myself from diving straight into his arms.
For that reason alone, I needed to avoid him at all costs.
I didn’t have a clue how I would avoid seeing Aiden tomorrow, but I knew I had to try my best. With the way my heart and mind were tangled up, it was clear the results of our interaction may vary.
Sure, I was able to play cool with my parents about the idea of coming face-to-face with Aiden. Yet I wasn’t certain I could do the same when it came to him being right in front of me. That night I’d take semi-tricking my parents as a victorious win.
And the Oscar for best performance of getting over one’s ex in a mature and appropriate fashion goes to Hailee Rose Jones.
Best performance ever.
23
Hailee
“He’s here! He’s here!”people chattered around the Starlight Inn the following morning as I organized the bookshelves in the sitting room.
Those words alone made my heart pound faster within my chest.
The people surrounding me hurried from where they were socializing and dashed out of the building. I knew exactly where they were going—to the clock tower to see the golden boy of Leeks, Wisconsin. The man of the hour. The Oscar-winning celebrity who was born and raised in our town. The one, the only, Aiden Scott Walters. America’s—correction, the world’s—heartthrob.
I couldn’t believe the day had finally come.
The news of Aiden returning to our small town had been all anyone had been able to talk about since Laurie informed everyone of the news about three weeks ago. It had been five years since Aiden stepped foot in our town, and a lot had changed for him since then. He’d been a star in an Emmy-winning drama series. Last year, he starred in three blockbuster films, and just recently, he’d won his first Oscar.
It was hard to believe there was a day and time when he was my Aiden. My best friend, my other half. My person. Now, we were nothing more than strangers. People didn’t talk enough about the shift from friends to lovers and then to strangers. It cut a little deeper than most heartbreaks, and that wound never completely healed.
