AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Brynn walked to the passenger side, Aaron following, and reached for the door handle. Her hand grabbed his instead, and she jerked it back, as if she’d been burned.
A twinge of rejection lit Aaron’s rib cage. He flexed his jaw. This isn’t personal. He opened the door and cleared his throat. “Here you go.”
She ignored the hand he held out for her and grabbed the car door instead, climbing inside with effort. She set the bouquet on her lap and her bag on the floor before she buckled. He shut the door.
Inhaling a deep breath, he returned to the driver’s side and got in. The engine rumbled as he started the SUV.
“Ready to go?” he asked.
“Yup,” Dani answered, seemingly unfazed by her mother’s stone wall of silence.
Aaron shifted the car into gear and pulled out onto the road. “Where to?”
“Straight down here and make a right. Do you know where Pine Street is?”
He nodded. “On the outskirts of town?”
“Yeah, we live on that road.”
He followed her directions. Dani filled the silence, talking about her friends and when she planned to go to Hope again. She asked Aaron lots of questions about the center, and he answered each one when he could fit a word in. Brynn focused out her window as a light fall rain drizzled down.
“It’s the next house on the right.” Brynn’s soft voice spoke for the first time in twenty minutes.
Aaron flicked his blinker on and pulled in. It was a cute white house with forest-green shutters. “This is a nice place.”
“Oh, that’s not where we live.” Dani leaned over to the front seat and pointed to the one-car garage that had seen better days. “We live up there.”
Aaron’s stomach hardened. Was that place even safe? He exited the truck.
“You don’t have to get out,” Brynn protested.
“I’ll just walk you ladies to the door.” He stepped out from the car.
Brynn was quick to follow, Dani rushing ahead of them into the garage to get out of the rain. Aaron retrieved his umbrella before he walked to Brynn’s side of the car. He held it above her, staying by her side as they made their way to the dilapidated building.
Brynn stopped in front of the dirty door with a loose handle. She turned and looked up at him. Rain pitter-pattered on the umbrella above them. The smell of wet earth surrounded them, carrying with it a few notes of her floral scent, or maybe that was the flowers in her hand.
“This isn’t real. You don’t have to buy me flowers or drive me home.” Brynn’s gaze was vulnerable as her eyes roamed over his face.
“If you want people to believe this is real, I have to treat you as I would my actual girlfriend, or in this case, fiancée. Otherwise, people will talk, and that’s the last thing I’m sure you want.”
She swallowed and nodded. “Thank you for all of this. I promise I’ll pay you back eventually.”
He shook his head. “There is no running tab. I told you, what I give comes with no strings. You’ll see that eventually.”
She blinked, her big doe eyes seeming skeptical and untrusting. The thought angered him, not at Brynn—no, she was a victim. But for whoever had done this to her, caused such a deep wound of trauma that she couldn’t even trust there were good men out there. Was he doing the right thing? He glanced at Dani. Yes. Of course he was.
“I reserved the Emerson family barn for the wedding and reception. Do you want to meet with me and Mrs. Emerson and Nova? We can tell them how you want everything decorated, go over the finer details?”
“I . . . I really don’t want to sound ungrateful, or make more work for you, but I don’t care. It’s not real. We can just keep it simple. You don’t need to put up too much of a fuss for me.”
His chest squeezed tight, and he couldn’t help himself. He slowly lifted his hand, in plain view so she could see what he was doing before he brushed his thumb over her jawline to her cheek until he was cupping the side of her face.
Aaron locked eyes with her, hoping his truth would show in his gaze. “You deserve the world, Brynn. And I aim to keep reminding you until you believe it yourself.”
She shivered, her eyes volleying between his, as if she didn’t know what to think.
He let his hand fall to his side once more. “I’ll take care of everything. You just show up at Pippa’s. She and Charli promised me to help get you and Dani ready. They’ll pick you both up Friday evening.”
