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“I’m glad you enjoyed it.” Gareth glanced over at her. “Maybe we could do it again sometime.”
Warmth flooded Aria that had nothing to do with the heat spilling from the vents or the heated seats. That Gareth had enjoyed their time together enough to want to do it again made her so happy.
And hopeful… Probably more hopeful than she should be.
Her confidence had taken a huge hit after Tim had ended their engagement. He’d made her feel like she hadn’t been worth the effort of going through the hard times with her. Even in the short time she’d known Gareth, she’d seen that he was different. That he would be a solid rock if someone needed that strength in their life.
“I’d love to,” she told him.
“We can try another restaurant next time. Maybe one of those Korean barbecue places. Although we might have to drive a bit further for that.”
As far as Aria was concerned, the farther the drive, the better. Not just because it lessened the chances of Nora seeing them together, but also because she’d enjoy spending extra time with Gareth.
Cocooned in the warmth of the car, with Gareth sitting next to her, Aria felt happier than she had in a long time. Was it really possible that she could finally leave the horror of the past two years behind? She’d never leave the memory of her mom. But everything else that had happened? Yeah, she wanted all that to be gone from her memory.
“Have Janessa and Charli talked to you about their small group at church?” Gareth asked.
“They’ve mentioned it in passing.” Aria wasn’t sure that she was ready to be part of a group like that just yet, so she was glad that they weren’t pressuring her.
“I hope you know you’d be welcome to join them if you ever want to.”
“Yes. Janessa mentioned that.” She hesitated, not sure if she should talk about her previous non-involvement with a church. But she wanted to. Even though she couldn’t tell him everything about her past, she wanted to tell him a bit about it. “My mom and I moved around a lot during my growing up years, so we never really got involved with the small groups in the churches we attended. Mom also always seemed to prefer large churches.”
“Did you have any kind of support from the church you were attending when your mom passed away?”
“No.” Aria turned her gaze to the road in front of them. “Even though we’d been attending that church regularly for a couple of years, we hadn’t really made any friends there. It was easy to blend in and get lost in the crowd. My mom seemed to want that, and to be honest, at the time it was easier for me, too.”
“So, no one from the church was there for you when your mom died?”
Aria clenched her hands together, trying not to let her heart return to that time, though her mind did. “Not really. No. But it was okay.”
Even as she said the words, she was certain that Gareth saw them for the lie they were. Losing her mom—her only family—like that had broken her in so many ways, and there had been no one there to hold her as she’d tried to put her life back together again. She still clung to some broken pieces of herself, trying to figure out how to fit them into the new shape that her life had taken after she’d been left alone.
“I know that it’s probably not a time you like to dwell on,” Gareth said, his voice low and soft. “But just know that you can talk to me about it, if you need to. I’m sure you already know that Janessa would always listen, but so would I and so would Charli. Any of our family would, actually.”
Aria did know that, but the last thing she wanted was to weigh them down with all her emotional baggage. She didn’t want to be a burden to anyone. She wanted them to see her as a positive addition to their lives. None of them seemed to struggle the way she did.
“Thank you. I appreciate that. I’m doing okay, though, and most days it’s just easier to keep focused forward.”
“I get that,” Gareth said. “But I also know that sometimes our emotions can take us in a different direction. Which is why I want you to know that you’re safe to share your heart with us.”
He might think he was safe, but there were things Aria wasn’t sure she could ever share with any of them. She was aware enough about mental health to know that she should probably have gone to counseling after everything that had happened, but she hadn’t had the money to spend on that. Her anxiety, though better since coming to Serenity and leaving behind the toxic situation in Sacramento, had still not completely vanished. She hoped that in time it would, but something told her it wasn’t likely.
“Has your family lived here your whole life?” Aria asked, ready to turn the focus back on Gareth.
He hesitated for a moment, and she wondered if he wanted to question her more about her past. Thankfully, when he replied, it was to tell her a little about the history of his family.
“My dad’s family is from here, but my mom’s from Washington State. They met in medical school, then when they got married, they came back here and took over the clinic from my grandfather. He and my grandma live in Florida now. A few years ago, my mom came into a significant inheritance from her grandparents, and it gave her and Dad the opportunity to get involved in the medical mission work.”
“I’m sure they’re happy that you are carrying on their work at the clinic.”
“They would have continued to work there if none of us had been interested in the medical profession. As it is, it’s just me and Janessa who have gone that route.”
“I’m glad Janessa became a nurse,” Aria said as she angled herself toward Gareth again. “If she hadn’t, I never would have met her, and I wouldn’t have come to Serenity.”
“That would definitely have been our loss.” Gareth glanced over at her. “My loss, especially.”
Aria couldn’t keep the smile off her face. His words were like a balm on the parts of her heart that were still bruised and broken.
