“I know,” I replied with a chuckle. “It seemed like the more responsible thing to do. A steady source of income, or so my mother said.”
He nodded. “What was your childhood like?”
I paused before quickly getting back to cutting up a tomato. “It was okay. How about yours? It must have been so fun growing up here. Did your family camp a lot?”
Aiden turned and looked at me, his brows pulled slightly in. “Was that your subtle way of saying you don’t want to talk about your childhood?”
I half shrugged.
“You don’t have to talk about it, but Iwouldlike to get to know you better, Emma.”
Looking at him, I couldn’t ignore the sparkle of curiosity in his eyes. I never spoke about my family, but for some reason, the way he quietly studied me made me want to share.
“I had what I think was a normal childhood, until it wasn’t. My father left when I was young and it…well…my mother didn’t handle it well. Things were difficult after he left. Let’s just say I spent more time over at my friends’ houses than I did at home.”
“Fair enough,” Aiden replied, not pushing me for more information. He finished cutting up the cucumber, then picked up his wine. “To answer your question, we did camp a lot. My folks moved to Estes Park after they got married and decided to open a store here. It had been a dream of my mother’s, and my dad moved heaven and earth to make it happen for her.”
My heart swelled. “How sweet of your father to do that.”
“Yeah, he really loves Mom. He was a firefighter, so he just transferred and started working for the park.”
“Is that why you do what you do?”
He shrugged. “I guess it has something to do with it. But I’ve just loved that park for as long as I can remember. We would go for hikes all the time. I probably know that park better than I know my way around town.”
We both laughed.
“I knew from an early age I wanted to be a cop. I almost joined the Marines but ended up not taking that path.”
The bowl I’d just picked up fell from my hands and dropped to the island. I jumped at the sound.
Aiden swung around to face me. “Hey, you okay?”
My entire body began to tremble as the image of Ben in his Marine Corps uniform filled my head.
“What’s wrong?” He cupped my face in his hands and bent his head to look at me. “Talk to me, Emma.”
Pushing the memory away, I looked into Aiden’s eyes. An instant feeling of safety swept over me when our eyes locked. “I’m so sorry. I’m fine! Totally fine.” I forced myself to smile. “Clumsy is all.”
His hands fell to my upper arms while his eyes swept over my body, checking to make sure I really was okay. “Are you sure? You seemed scared to death there for a second.”
A nervous chuckle escaped my lips. “No. No. The bowl slipped and I guess the sound scared me because I wasn’t…um…expecting it.”
He studied me in that way of his, knowing I wasn’t telling him the truth, and that made my chest tighten with anxiety. How was he so in tune with my feelings when I hardly knew him?
“I’m okay,” I whispered.
With a slow nod, Aiden dropped his hands, and I instantly missed the warmth of his touch.
After finding my voice, I asked, “Why didn’t you join the military?”
“What?” he asked in a confused voice.
“You said you wanted to join the Marines but didn’t.”
“Oh, right. Lisa got pregnant, and her parents didn’t want her to be raising a kid all alone, and I agreed. She lost the baby not long after we got married. It was hard on her, she blamed herself because she didn’t want the baby at all. She was also angry that she’d been forced to marry me and give up her plans to leave Estes Park, all for nothing.”
My head jerked up at that. He must have felt my eyes on him, because he met my gaze. I could see the sadness clearly. Surely, he couldn’t really believe she felt that way? Or…did she actuallysaythose things?
