No, she misses me. No, happy holidays. Nothing.
Jumping, I stare at the door.
“Knock, knock, Aspen!” The knock at the door has me lurching to my feet and heading for the door.
I open it and lean on the doorjamb. “Hi, Charlie.”
“Hi, Aspen. You wanna come over and watch The Grinch?”
Chuckling painfully, I shake my head. I’m afraid I’m a little too much like that sad character right now.
“I don’t want to put your Dad out.”
Her head cocks, her dark hair slipping out of the hat perched on her head. Her cheeks are as red at the hat but she grimaces. “My dad really misses you, Aspen. He thinks you don’t want to see him.”
“I think he doesn’t want to see me.”
“That’s not true,” she huffs. “He won’t even smile. I can’t get him to sing or anything. He’s so sad that he just…he’s barely talking. Trust me, he misses you.”
My heart stutters. My whole body lighting up. “I’m sure that’s not true.”
She grabs hold of my hand and pulls me out the door. “Come see. He looks sick.”
“Oh, I hope he’s alright.”
Like a lost lamb I follow as she drags me down the path and to their house, stumbling on a rock and barely keeping my feet under me.
We reach the door and Charlie pushes it open, hollering, “Dad! We’ve got company.”
“I’m in the kitchen.” He does sound…bad. His voice is rough.
I follow along behind Charlie and she drags me inside until we’re standing, staring at Sebastian at the table sitting with a cup of coffee.
“Hello, Sebastian.”
His head comes up and I draw in a shaky breath. There are dark circles under his glorious eyes. His skin looks pale and thinner than the last time I saw him.
“Aspen,” he breathes, standing slowly, staring at me like I’m a ghost. His shaky hand reaches out and I can’t help myself. I move towards him and reach for his hand, letting him clasp mine.
He draws it up to his lips and his warm breath on my skin flashes that fire to life inside me.
“I’m so sorry, Aspen. Whatever I did, I didn’t mean it. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
I shake my head. “You didn’t hurt me. But I don’t understand. Why did you leave then? If you wanted to…”. My voice trails off.
Charlie sighs when her Dad turns to her. “I’ll go play.” She darts out and we’re alone.
“I thought I hurt you. I can’t bear that thought. And I didn’t want to rush this. So I…I wanted to wait. Just a little while. Until you got to know me better. Until you loved me as much as I love you.”
Gasping, I stumble forward. My body presses against his and I breathe in that scent that’s so him. Pine. Spice. And man.
He presses my chin up and stares at me, devouring me with his eyes. “I love you so much. It kills me that I hurt you.”
“You hurt me when you left. I thought you regretted what happened. I thought it wasn’t good for you and you didn’t want me the way I wanted you.”
“I want you. I want you so much that it’s like a physical ache in my soul.”
Sucking in a sharp breath, I gasp out, “I love you, too.”
