I broke eye contact. “And Lisa didn’t enjoy the park?”
Aiden laughed. “No. She wasn’t the outdoor type. She had plans to move to New York after graduation, but the pregnancy changed all of that. I knew she had regrets. That was part of our marriage troubles.”
“Did she ever go to New York?” I asked as I pulled the lasagna out of the oven.
“I took her once for our anniversary. She said it wasn’t what she thought it was going to be. I think in her mind, she had some sort of big fantasy about it. Still, she wanted to travel more, and I was trying to move up into the position I have now and taking time off wasn’t something I could do. She was pretty angry at me for picking my job over her, even though I promised we could travel more after I got the promotion. It was just hard, ya know? We got married young and, well…I don’t know. It was hard.”
After cutting a small piece of lasagna for myself and setting it on a plate, I looked at Aiden. “Marriage is very hard.”
He nodded. “Emma…do you mind if I ask why you got divorced?”
I could actually feel my face drain of color. I cleared my throat and faced him. “If you don’t mind, Aiden, that’s a part of my life I’d like to forget.”
He frowned.
“Let’s just say I was in a marriage that wasn’t healthy at all.”
“How bad was it?”
My gaze fell to the floor.
Aiden’s cell phone rang, and I breathed a sigh of relief.
“Hello? Oh, hey, yeah.” He turned and walked toward his office. “Sherry, yes, I remember you.”
A heavy sensation hit me square in the chest as I realized he was speaking to a woman. It was like someone had taken a piece of granite and dropped it into my body.
Jealous much, Emma?
I sighed and shook my head. “You vowed to start over, and falling for a guy was not part of the plan,” I whispered to myself.
Trying not to think too much about it, I finished my plate, grabbed my freshly made salad, and headed into the family room. I would probably end up spending the evening alone, and I was okay with that. It was for the best, if I had to be truthful with myself.
Hitting Netflix, I searched forSuits, finding the episode Aiden had left off on. I got myself settled on the sofa, pulled the TV tray closer to me and dug into the food. I moaned and closed my eyes as I took in all the flavors of the lasagna.
“You weren’t even going to wait for me?” Aiden said with a chuckle as he sat down beside me with his plate.
“Oh, sorry! I figured you might end up going out tonight after all.”
He gave me a confused look. “Why would you think that?”
“Um, well…I guess I thought maybe you were making plans for a date?”
Throwing his head back and laughing, Aiden bumped me on the shoulder and said, “That’s funny. No, Sherry is a volunteer at our church. She’s fairly new to town. She wanted to know if I could help out with setting up something for the kids on Sunday after church.”
“That’s nice of you,” I said, trying to act casual. I needed to get myself in check if I wanted to hang out with Aiden as friends.
“Oh man, Emma. This is the best lasagna I’ve ever had. Is it all homemade?”
It was my turn to laugh. “No. I bought the pasta at the store and the sauce is from a jar. I do have one secret ingredient, but I can’t share it with you.”
He took another bite. “I’m going to have to keep you on even after Hadley doesn’t need a nanny, just for this lasagna.”
Smiling, I tried to ignore the way that sent my heart beating faster. I hit play on the remote, and we were soon immersed in the show and our lasagna.
CHAPTER TWELVE
AIDEN
