“I’m sure they did. Once in college, I tried convincing Josh to go with me, but he wouldn’t budge. He had zero sense of adventure.”
An unwanted, unwarranted surge of jealousy shot through him, making his brain malfunction. “If we’re ever in California together, I’ll explore it with you.”
“Thanks, but they boarded up the place two years ago. The property was purchased by a developer, and he didn’t want the liability.”
Aaron’s heart sank. “The land’s going to be developed? Why not preserve it as a historic landmark.”
“It will be. Kind of.” Her forehead creased. “The buyer wants to restore the area into the mining town it once was and turn it into a tourist trap.”
“You don’t sound crazy about the idea.”
“I’m torn. It will bring jobs to the area, but I don’t want to lose the charm, which I’m afraid will happen.” She ran the tips of her fingers along her jaw. “Nothing stays the same, does it? Not even what’s been in place for over a century.”
He thought carefully before responding. “Life changes whether we want it to or not. We have to learn to roll with it.”
“Don’t I know that,” she muttered.
Thinking she was worried about tomorrow, he stretched his arm across the table and laid his hand on hers. “Roxie’s going to be fine. She’ll be the same Roxie she was before, just a few pounds lighter.”
“It’s not that.” She pulled away and stood. Leaned against the post.
When she didn’t expound, he gently prodded. “Then what?”
She hugged her arms to her chest. “This isn’t easy for me.”
“What isn’t?” If he had to keep askingwhatthis night wouldn’t go anywhere. Which wouldn’t be an issue except she obviously wanted to get something off her chest.
“Apologizing.”
He blinked, uncertain he heard her correctly. “Apologizing?”
“Yes.”
“For what?” He rubbed the back of his neck. This conversation had him confused.
“For avoiding you all week, then calling when I needed help.” She cast her gaze to the ground. “It wasn’t fair to you.”
“You had your reasons, I assume. You don’t own me an explanation.”
“Yes, I do.” She raised her chin and locked eyes with him. “You said you want to know me better, but the thing is, I think we know each other better than we realize, and that scares me.”
That he agreed with, but there was more she had to say. He stood up and walked to her in long, slow paces. “It doesn’t scare me.”
“You’ve never had your heart shattered to pieces.” Her throat constricted. “It’s been ten years, but I’m still messed up from when Josh walked out on me the day before our wedding.”
“Sweetheart, I’m not Josh.” He touched her cheek with the tip of his finger. A brief touch to enable trust, nothing more, not yet.
“I know that.” She hugged herself tighter. “Sunday night, you didn’t hesitate to do what needed to be done.”
“What else was I do to? The situation could have been life-threatening. It wasn’t the time for indecision.”
“That’s my point. Josh couldn’t make a decision for anything. I always thought it was cute, but now I realize it was a major character flaw.” Her shoulders slumped. “Honestly, if that had been him driving in the storm, we probably would have driven through a tornado before he decided to find safety.”
“I’m not perfect. I won’t always make the right decisions. There are times I make rash ones and they turn out wrong.”
A small smile broke through. “I don’t expect perfection. I wouldn’t even want it.”
“Good, or I’d infinitely disappoint you.”
