“I’ll drop this off on my way home.”
Chapter
Thirteen
Ryan pulledinto Aelin's driveway at six o'clock on the dot.Compensating for something?She would’ve laughed at her own joke had his tortured expression from the night before not been branded into her retinas.
His wife had permanent brain damage. The reality of it had kept her up the night before, her thoughts spinning behind her closed eyelids until she had to flick on the light and read to be able to fall asleep.
She thought knowing her situation would satisfy her curiosity, but instead it had only ramped it up. What was he going to do? Was he planning to stay married to her forever? Was she expected to live long? Did Amaya like seeing her, or did it only make everything worse?
That was what did her in. The idea of a ten-year-old girl having to accept that her mom was gone but still alive? In some terrible reality where she couldn’t think or act like an adult? He said it happened a few years ago, which meant Amaya had been young the last time her mother had been herself.
All of it was heartbreaking. Add in the guilt she felt over snapping at him for being late for her stupid date, and the first time Aelin teared up was before ten a.m.
The girls scrambled away from the front window where they’d been watching on their knees so they wouldn’t get their shoes on the carpet. Aelin hadn’t even nagged them to get ready. The second she’d mentioned to Bailey that she got to go to Amaya’s house that night, the two of them had become an impromptu mosh pit.
“Hurry! We only have until eight thirty.” Amaya leaped to her feet when she hit the hardwood, and Bailey ran to the door after her.
Aelin felt a little bad taking Ryan up on his offer to watch Bailey after the missed date the night before. It wasn’t like he’d been gallivanting. Colin, Megan, and Tag had been more than happy to reschedule. When she’d texted, she’d assumed the answer would’ve been a kind “No thanks,” but Megan instead responded with:
We don’t have to prep dinner two nights in a row? Yes, please
She’d sent the address of a different restaurant, a Thai fusion place. Aelin opted for the same outfit since she’d already changed into loungewear by the time Ryan showed up to pick up Amaya.
Aelin followed the girls to the front yard.
Ryan stood in front of the car. “What, no hug?”
Amaya was already sliding into the back seat with Bailey. “At home, Dad.”
Aelin stood on the steps, her hands in her back pockets. “Thanks for doing this.”
Ryan glanced up, and it felt as if she suddenly existed in a vacuum. Her skin pricked as his eyes travelled over her.
He cleared his throat. “You look nice.”
“Thank you.” She fought against the urge to adjust her shirt or hair or . . . dodge behind the pillar on the porch. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
“You have my address.”
She nodded, thinking about that moment in the elementary school hallway when he’d been so close she could hear his breath.
He opened the car door. “Don’t stress about timing. I don’t have plans tonight. Just . . . have a good time.” Ryan paused as if he was going to say something else, then patted the door and dropped to his seat.
_____
Aelin pulled up to the restaurant Megan had sent her the address for. She parked in the back and walked around to the front entrance. As soon as she stepped through the doors, she was greeted by wooden furnishings, colourful upholstery, and flickering lanterns. Soft, live music floated from a small stage at the back of the room to her right.
"Aelin!" Megan stood and waved from a table near the back. She grinned at the hostess and walked over, her heels clicking on the polished hardwood floors.
If it wouldn’t have been for the small cleft in her chin, Megan Moses would’ve looked nothing like her brother. Aelin wondered if that had anything to do with their ability to remain friends through everything. Her dirty-blond hair fell in waves just past her shoulders, and she wore a blouse that hung off her right shoulder, eighties style.
Megan pulled her into a hug, then moved over for Aelin to sit next to her on the bench. She looked up to find Megan’s husband, Tag, and her date for the night, Colin.
Colin watched her with an easy smile that created smile lines at the corners of his eyes. He was clean cut with a close-cropped beard, just a hint of grey in his sideburns. She quickly glanced at Tag, who was sporting a rugged professor look with Harry Potter style spectacles.
“Those are new.” Aelin pointed at his glasses, and Tag chuckled.
