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“I… I miss you.”
“Aiden, when I thought it could be you in the accident…” Her voice broke. “I… I have to go.”
The next minute, she’d ended the call.
“So you called Vivian?” Riley asked.
“Yes, should’ve thought about it. I should’ve realized she’d be worried.”
“Of course, she’d worry about you. She’s in love with you, you idiot,” Riley said.
“In love? No, she’s… we… I…”
“Exactly,” Riley said. “She loves you. Why do you think she was worried about you? I hope you come to your senses soon before one of those broad-shouldered cowboys in town steals her heart. You tell her you miss her, you want to see her over weekends, but you can’t tell her you love her? Seriously, I have grown up with the two of you, but I still don’t understand the workings of the male brain.”
Aiden’s hands were in fists before he realized it. Vivian with another man? Breathing was a problem all of a sudden. Straightening his spine, he tried to inhale some fresh air, but the tight band around his chest wouldn’t allow him.
Vivian’s words at the ball kept running through his head. During the week they’d carry on with their lives. They wouldn’t get on each other’s nerves, there wouldn’t be any messy bits to deal with, only the fun part.
Sounded really great, didn’t it? So why wasn’t he happy about it?
Chapter Eighteen
Saturday afternoon, aweek later, Vivian sat down on the dilapidated steps in front of the house she’d just bought and opened her phone. Seconds later, music filled the quiet morning air. It was the song she and Aiden had danced to a week ago. By now, she knew the words by heart.
She was tired after working the morning shift in the ER, but excitement was bubbling inside her. The papers had been signed, there was a plan to restore the place to its former glory, soon, she’d be able to live here.
When she’d seen the final quote from the contractor, she’d nearly swallowed her tongue, but she had no doubt in her mind she was doing the right thing.
It was going to be her home. She’d looked up the meaning of home in the dictionary.The place where one lives permanently, especially as a member of a family or household.
So, okay, she didn’t have the family to go with the house, but she was going to get a German shepherd—they’d be a family of sorts. And this would be their home. Since the tragic death of their parents, she’d unconsciously been searching for a place where she would belong, where she would feel at home. The moment she’d seen this house, despite its obvious dilapidated state, she’d known this could be it. This could be the place she’d call home.
Annie would be just around the corner. Mitch didn’t have plans to move into his own place anytime soon. So, for the time being, he was also close by.
Sighing, she leaned back on her hands and looked up at Copper Mountain rising high above the small town. The sad truth, though, was this house, however fabulous it would be after renovations, would probably always just be a house. Aiden wouldn’t be in it.
She hadn’t been able to stop thinking about Samantha Taylor and Aiden’s effort to try and help her.
He helped people in need. The way he’d gone out of his way to help Tommy buy her flowers was probably one of the many kind things he did on a daily basis. How could he not know he was a good man?
A movement on the sidewalk drew her attention. It was Janice O’Sullivan hesitatingly approaching her. Smiling, Vivian waved. “Want to see what rundown really looks like?” She stopped the song.
Janice walked closer, glancing at the house. “My house also needed some serious renovation, but there is something to be said for an old place. The history, the stories, the people who lived and loved in them—I like to think everyone who has lived in it, leaves a little something of themselves, of their stories behind.” She gingerly sat down next to Vivian. “How are you doing, my dear?”
“I will be okay.”
“You know, love is a beautiful thing. The real thing doesn’t come around very often, and when you find it, you should do everything in your power to hold onto it.”
“What if the other person doesn’t feel the same way?”
“Do you know that for a fact?”
“He’s happy with temporary.” They both knew exactly to whom she was referring; there was no need for a name. “We’ll be seeing one another over weekends when we’re not working.”
“You both deserve so much more. My Aiden has always felt too deeply. I’m not interfering… or, okay, maybe I am, but life is short. Another chance at love is not guaranteed, believe me. Don’t make the same mistake I did. I thought there was time. We were young; we had all the time in the world, I said. Only, we didn’t. Grant didn’t. Died of cancer. Within a month.”
“Is that why you’ve never married?”
