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“Do you like wildlife, Emma?” His voice was low and soft as he asked, and I couldn’t ignore how it made me feel warm inside. The question wasn’t just a conversation starter. I knew what he did for a living, and I knew how important it was to him.
Picking up my wine again, I replied honestly, “Yes. It’s one of the reasons I moved up here. Estes Park holds some of my best memories.”
“As a child?”
“Ever.”
Aiden frowned, and it appeared he wanted to ask me to explain, but he let it go. “Would you like to go up into the park sometime? I’ll take you to an area away from the tourists and you can really get a feel for nature.”
Chewing on my bottom lip, I replied, “I would love that. Thank you.”
“Great, maybe the three of us can go up tomorrow. Before we know it, winter will be settling in and we’ll lose our chance.”
I smiled and nodded. “Sounds great. I’m looking forward to it.” After another few moments of silence, I said, “I’ll just go fix a couple salads to go with our meal.”
I didn’t stick around to see if Aiden was surprised by my quick departure, but I heard him following.
“Need help?” he asked, walking into the kitchen. “I put the lasagna in a bit ago and didn’t bother with the whole dish. Just a couple of big pieces so it would heat faster.”
I motioned to the cucumber. “How about you cut that up.”
Aiden set his wine glass down and got to work. “Do you like cooking?” he asked after a few moments.
I couldn’t help but smile. “Yes! At one point, I thought I might want to go to culinary school, but in the end, I went to college for education.”
“That’s a complete one-eighty.”
“I know,” I replied with a chuckle. “It seemed like the more responsible thing to do. A steady source of income, or so my mother said.”
He nodded. “What was your childhood like?”
I paused before quickly getting back to cutting up a tomato. “It was okay. How about yours? It must have been so fun growing up here. Did your family camp a lot?”
Aiden turned and looked at me, his brows pulled slightly in. “Was that your subtle way of saying you don’t want to talk about your childhood?”
I half shrugged.
“You don’t have to talk about it, but Iwouldlike to get to know you better, Emma.”
Looking at him, I couldn’t ignore the sparkle of curiosity in his eyes. I never spoke about my family, but for some reason, the way he quietly studied me made me want to share.
“I had what I think was a normal childhood, until it wasn’t. My father left when I was young and it…well…my mother didn’thandle it well. Things were difficult after he left. Let’s just say I spent more time over at my friends’ houses than I did at home.”
“Fair enough,” Aiden replied, not pushing me for more information. He finished cutting up the cucumber, then picked up his wine. “To answer your question, we did camp a lot. My folks moved to Estes Park after they got married and decided to open a store here. It had been a dream of my mother’s, and my dad moved heaven and earth to make it happen for her.”
My heart swelled. “How sweet of your father to do that.”
“Yeah, he really loves Mom. He was a firefighter, so he just transferred and started working for the park.”
“Is that why you do what you do?”
He shrugged. “I guess it has something to do with it. But I’ve just loved that park for as long as I can remember. We would go for hikes all the time. I probably know that park better than I know my way around town.”
We both laughed.
“I knew from an early age I wanted to be a cop. I almost joined the Marines but ended up not taking that path.”
The bowl I’d just picked up fell from my hands and dropped to the island. I jumped at the sound.
