I’ll give her all the time she needs.
One way or another, Aspen will be mine.
CHAPTER
SEVEN
ASPEN
Today is the first day of my apology tour. I decided to start with Maggie first. I asked her if we could meet at her place since Calloway had club business to deal with today. She invited me over without a second thought.
Now I’m standing at the edge of the clearing to the cabin she shares with my brother.
I don’t know why I am so nervous. This is Maggie. She is going to accept me. Logically, I know that, but somewhere inside is the insecure little girl who was abandoned by her mom when she was only a girl.
Taking a deep breath, I head up the porch and knock on the door. Maggie answers it within seconds as if she were waiting for me.
She looks nervous too as she pulls me in for a hug.
“Come in. I made us some snacks.”
I smile when I see the charcuterie board laid out.
We always loved to act like we were fancy while we ate our cheese and crackers. It’s a small piece of my life before that brings me comfort.
I take a seat, accepting the glass of lemonade she hands me.
“I made it myself, so I hope it’s not too sweet.”
This is why she needed to be my first apology. Maggie has already forgiven me. She is showing that with her actions. Like making lemonade because I think store-bought isn’t tangy enough.
“Thank you, and thank you for letting me come over. I have something I want to talk to you about.”
“Of course. My door is always open to you. You know that.”
I nod as I try to get my words together.
“I owe you an apology,” I start, but she interrupts me.
“Absolutely not. You don’t owe me anything,” she tells me.
“I appreciate you letting me off the hook, but I don’t want that. I need to do this. Even if it’s not necessary for you,” I tell her.
She looks surprised, but nods. “Okay, I’m listening.”
“I owe you an apology for a lot. I don’t want it to be a blanket apology, though, so give me a minute to go through it all with you.”
“Take as much time as you need.”
I take a drink before I start.
“When we were kids, I would fly off the handle a lot. I was impulsive and quick to anger. I got us in trouble a lot. That bled into our teenage years and even to today. For that, I am sorry. I should have considered your feelings more than I did. I was a selfish person. It took getting kidnapped for me to realize I was the problem. I don’t want to be the problem anymore. The biggest apology I owe you is for how I acted these past few months. I am the reason I got kidnapped, and you had to run for your life. I put myself in that situation, but after I was rescued, I blamed you. I saw you happy with my brother, and I lashed out. You didn’t deserve that, and neither did he. For that, I amtruly sorry. I will never be able to take back what I did, but I am hoping that I can learn from it and become a better person.”
“You already are. Aspen from the past would have never come around to apologize. I never blamed you for it, but hearing you now, I think I needed to hear you say it,” Maggie admits.
“You were always better than me. Kinder. More compassionate. I idolize you,” I tell her.
“You can be those things too.”
