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She kissed him. “It’s not your fault. I did, too.” She started to get up. “I need to go talk to him.”
John sat. “Let me.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Let me try. Man to man.”
She put a hand on his back. “Okay. Go see if he’ll listen to you.”
John left the bedroom and found Aaron in the kitchen, eating a bowl of cereal. “Hey, bud. What’re you eating there?”
“Captain Crunch.”
“Mmm. Good choice. Do you know where your dad is?”
“He’s outside. He said he had to go get some air. But isn’t there air everywhere?”
“Yeah. But sometimes the outside air feels a little better. I’m going to go talk to him. Finish your cereal. Aunt Ember will be out in a couple of minutes.”
John left Aaron and went onto the porch and saw Scott down by the lake. John headed for him and got a scowl from Scott when he got close.
“I really don’t have anything to say to you, John.”
“Good. Then just listen.” John stopped a few feet away from Scott, then took a breath. “I understand all of your reservations. You think I’m being selfish and taking advantage of Ember. But it’s not like that. And this just happened. I tried to fight it. But I’m in love with Ember. And she’s in love with me.”
Scott shook his head. “You’ve only known her a month. And neither one of you knows who you are. How can she be in love with you?” He took a moment. “I get the mystique. You’re…well, I can see why she’s drawn to you. But you both should know better.”
“What’s your biggest issue with this, Scott?”
“You know what my issue is. The fact you could be married. The fact you potentially just made my sister the other woman.”
John nodded. “If I thought that was even theslightest possibility. We wouldn’t be having this conversation.”
Scott folded his arms across his chest. “But you don’t know. You talk about feeling it. And that you’d somehow magically know if there was a woman out there waiting for you. But you don’t actually know.”
John looked at his left hand. “If I was wearing a ring on the night I was mugged. Why did they take it? It was probably a simple gold band worth a couple hundred bucks at the most in a pawn shop. Why take that, and leave my watch? Which is expensive and easier to get rid of. They took my wallet, because I probably had cash in it. They took my vehicle and probably dumped it somewhere. It makes no sense they took my wedding ring. Which means I wasn’t wearing it. So, worst-case scenario, I have an ex-wife out there.”
“But dammit, John. You don’t know. This is all speculation and you rationalizing your choice to be with Ember.”
John shrugged. “Okay. You’re entitled to your opinion. You’re even entitled to voice it. But at the end of the day, this is mine and Ember’s decision. It’d be a lot easier on her, though, if you were the least bit supportive.”
Scott sighed. “You’re right. It is her decision. But no. I don’t need to support it.” He started walking toward the house.
“What are you doing, Scott?”
“I’m getting my son and I’m going home.”
John followed him. “Don’t do that.”
Scott glanced over his shoulder. “I can’t stay here with you two. I have a son to think about.”
“Scott. We’re not going to do anything in front of Aaron. You should know your sister better than that.”
“You were in her room last night.”
“I went in to say goodnight. I fell asleep. I was fully dressed when you came into the room. Nothing happened last night.”
Scott kept walking and as he reached the porch, Ember came outside. “Scott?”
