Luckily, I had reception, and I pulled out my AAA card to dial the number for assistance. I gave the operator the name of the bar, which I spotted when we first entered.
“The Rustic,” I told her.
I let out a relieved breath when she relayed that the driver of the truck that was on the way knew exactly where it was.
“He should be there in about twenty minutes.”
Things could be worse, I reminded myself as I hung up the phone.
“Why are we still in the bathroom?” Aiden asked.
I held up my phone. “Charging. Does your tablet have any battery left?”
He nodded.
“You can play your game for a bit while we wait for my phone to finish, and then we’ll wait out in the car, okay?”
All Aiden heard was me allowing him to play on his tablet long past usual hours, and he lost interest in anything I said after that. He hopped up on the counter next to the sink and started playing.
As for me, I paced back and forth with my phone in my hand, trying to hold it together. I couldn’t release the look on Ace’s face from my mind.
For the past decade and a half, I often wondered what our son would’ve looked like if he had lived. I got my answer standing in the middle of The Rustic while waiting for a tow truck to come and change my flat tire.
AJ, or Ace Junior, as I had named him, would have features just like his father. With brown, silky hair, an angular jaw and pink lips, and matching grey eyes.
I bet he would’ve been the mirror image of Ace.
“Mama, your phone’s ringing.”
I blinked and peered down at my phone to see it was indeed ringing. “Hello?”
“Ma’am, this is Chuck from Triple AAA,” the man said. “I’m in the parking lot of The Rustic, but I don’t see anyone out here waiting.”
“We’re inside,” I told him. “Coming right out.”
I hung up and gathered my things, and grabbed Aiden to exit. I braced myself before pulling the door open and quickly leaving. This time Aiden dragged behind me, not because he was half asleep, but because of the speed at which I walked. I didn’t look around the bar or try to make eye contact with anyone.
I held my breath until I made it to the door. Only once we exited did I exhale. I saw the tow truck right away and rushed over to greet Chuck.
Nerves washed through me as he fixed the tire, and I continued to peer over my shoulder every other minute. I presume it didn’t take long, but it felt like an eternity. I didn’t sense that Ace was still around, but I refused to stop and check.
Chuck changed the tire, and I practically threw a tip at him before jumping in the car. When Aiden was all buckled in, I peeled out of the parking lot. No need to stick around The Rustic any longer.
I had only one goal in mind for my time in Harlington: to meet with my grandmother’s estate attorney, retrieve the inheritance she supposedly left me, and get the hell out of town and back to my regular life back East.
CHAPTER2
Savannah
After a sleepless night, I found myself wide awake, staring at the blank television screen in our hotel room. Aiden would often awaken in the middle of the night with a nightmare, but not last night, keeping me up.
I’d dreamt of grey, piercing eyes, sunflowers, and the sound of doctors’ voices telling me there was nothing more they could do. Obviously, seeing Ace again had done a number on my senses.
With a sigh, I pushed up from the bed, to sit up. I had another thirty minutes before I needed to awaken Aiden so that we could get ready to go to the lawyer’s office.
In an attempt to shake free of the memories from my dreams, I cupped my face and shook my head. That only served to bring as a reminder of the first time I met my husband.
Then
