Stonehill series collect.., p.119
Stonehill Series Collection, page 119
“I don’t mind helping, sweetie.”
Leaning on the counter, he watched her looking around his bare kitchen. “Mom, Meg and I are friends.”
She turned to him. “That’s nice, honey. It’s good that you two could get beyond the past.”
“But if I have my way,” he continued, “we’ll get back to being more. I miss her.”
Becca inhaled sharply as she turned her attention to the food she’d brought. She didn’t encourage him, but she didn’t discourage him either. Her silence, however, spoke ten thousand words, and none of them good.
“What’s your problem with her?” he asked.
“Nothing.” She faked a smile as she faced him again.
“Yeah, I’m going to have to call bullshit on that. I saw your reaction to her when she came into the room.”
“I was surprised, that’s all.”
He stared at her. “You used to have the same reaction back when we were dating. Whenever she was around, you always got a little bit frigid.”
She tried to laugh off his observation. “That’s not true.”
“I hope it’s not because of her ethnicity.”
Becca gasped, as if shocked at the accusation. “I am not a racist, Aiden,” she whispered harshly. “How could you say that?”
“Well, there’s something about her that puts you off. If it isn’t because she’s Japanese, what is it?”
She didn’t answer, and he didn’t push because feet started pounding down the stairs, indicating their private conversation had to end. Phil and Meg laughed as she chased him down the stairs. Becca forced that frozen smile to her lips, and Aiden stood to watch the pair race across the empty living room. Phil reached the counter first and threw his hands in the air.
“Winner, winner, biggest piece for dinner,” he announced.
Meg play-punched him in the gut. “Cheater.”
“Whatever. Hey, Becca, thank for bringing pizza over,” Phil said.
“Well, I had my reasons. I wanted to see how much progress you’d made.” She slipped into her natural state of playing hostess and opened the pizza boxes. As the three painters lined up, she asked each what kind of pizza they wanted and served them. Aiden noticed that she tried extra hard to be courteous to Meg. Since he didn’t have a table, they all leaned against the one unpainted wall and ate.
Becca asked about Harris and Mallory and Aiden’s work, but she clearly struggled trying to find anything to say to Meg. Aiden hoped Meg hadn’t noticed, but when he caught her eye, she lifted a brow and smirked just enough to let him know she had.
Clearly there as something there. His mother denied it was because of Meg’s heritage, but the rock that was forming low in his stomach was telling him his suspicions were true.
It was well after midnight when Meg decided to throw in the proverbial towel and washed the paintbrush she’d been using. Her hands were cramped, her back hurt, and she’d inhaled so many paint fumes over the course of the day, she didn’t think she’d ever smell anything but the chemicals again.
She set the paintbrush on the counter with the wet bristles hanging over the sink so they could drip dry. After drying her hands on a towel, she rolled her shoulders to stretch the muscles and looked around the kitchen. She never would have picked such plain colors, but the off-white really did work well in the room. The walls looked crisp and clean.
“What do you think?” Aiden asked, bringing his roller in.
“I like it. The color makes it look so bright.”
He pulled the used roller off the handle and wrapped it in a plastic bag so it would still be wet and usable when they returned to finish the job sometime the next day. He was clearly brooding over something, but she couldn’t put her finger on it.
“Whatcha thinking, Aiden?”
He set the roller aside and leaned against the counter. “I’m sorry.”
She tilted her head. “About?”
“About my mom. I don’t know what her problem is, but I’ll tell her to get over it.”
She sighed. He wasn’t that stupid. He knew; he just didn’t want to admit it.
“You know exactly what the problem is, Aiden. I’m the problem. Everything about me is the problem.”
He opened his mouth, but she gave her head a sharp shake to stop him.
“The last thing your parents want is little Japanese grandchildren running around their yard for the neighbors to see,” she said.
He looked like he was going to argue but thought better of it. “I’m going to talk to her. I really hope that’s not her issue, because that’s a pretty outdated point of view to have.” Reaching out, he grabbed her hand and pulled her to him until she was inches away. He tucked a long strand of her dark hair behind her ear and stared into her eyes. “As for me, I’d be pretty damned happy to have little Japanese children running around my yard for the neighbors to see.”
She didn’t know what to say to that. Of all the plans they’d had for the future, they’d avoided any mention of children, but the image that danced through her mind was perfect. For a moment she thought it was the fumes she’d inhaled, but deep inside she knew better than that. Without thinking, she closed the distance between them and put her mouth to his. Four long years had passed since the last time she’d kissed this man, but her body remembered him.
The moment he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against his chest, she responded the same way she had so long ago. She slid her arms up his chest and wrapped them around his neck, digging her fingers into his short hair. The strands used to be longer, easier to fist in her hand, but she didn’t mind the shorter cut he kept now. She could still thread her fingers in and pull him closer, and that’s exactly what she did.
He hugged her even tighter as he brushed his tongue over her lips. She parted them and let him in. The intimate exchange heated as he lowered one hand, cupping her ass and pulling her hips against him. Temptation was strong. If this continued, she had no doubt her bare ass would be on the counter as she let Aiden have his way with her. The image was so clear and appealing she almost begged him to make it real, but she wasn’t thinking clearly.
She was tired and her emotions had been in a blender since he’d returned. He’d told her that he loved her. She’d admitted that she loved him. But they had to be smart about this. They had to be the grownups now that they hadn’t been four years ago. And grownups thought things through. Screwing him on a whim on his kitchen counter was not thinking things through.
“Aiden,” she breathed after breaking the kiss.
“Don’t say it,” he begged with a whisper.
“I have to go.”
“You said it,” he pouted. He put his forehead to hers and cupped her face. The gesture was so sweet and tender, she nearly melted. “Thank you for helping me today.”
“You’re welcome.”
He didn’t release his hold on her, and she didn’t pull back. “Text me when you get home,” he said. “I won’t sleep until I know you’re home safe.”
She smiled. “I will.”
He dipped his head and kissed her lightly. “I love you, Megumi Tanaka.”
He very rarely used her full name. She probably would have taken offence, but she knew he’d done so then to let her know he loved everything—even her heritage—even if his parents might not.
She put a bit of distance between them then. The sincerity in his eyes was obvious. She didn’t doubt his love for her in that moment, and another bit of her defenses fell. “I love you,” she whispered. “Good night.”
She was to the door before he called out to her. Turning, she lifted her brows in question.
“How do you feel about furniture shopping now?”
Holding her breath, she considered his offer and then nodded. “I think I’ll have time this week. Call me.”
Chapter 12
Meg shouldn’t have kissed Aiden the night before. She shouldn’t have let him hold her in his arms. She shouldn’t have let herself melt into him or let his warmth seep into her soul. She shouldn’t have allowed herself to imagine their children running through that house. She’d barely slept a wink thinking about him and their kiss and how good it felt to be with him. And how stupid it was to trust him again.
Sinking into her sofa, she pulled a blanket around her, but it didn’t come close to the comfort of his embrace. He was right there, so obviously waiting for her to accept him, and she wanted that. More than anything, she wanted to go back in time and have what they had lost, but she just couldn’t take the leap. She was standing on the edge, looking down, but the fear of landing flat on her face again was too great.
Are you guys up? she texted to Mallory and then sank back on the sofa as she waited for a response and let thoughts of Aiden fill her mind. The beep of an incoming response distracted her.
Mallory’s reply was, Aiden?
Of course.
Bring breakfast. And coffee.
Meg was wearing old yoga pants and a sweatshirt, but she didn’t care. She was planning to go paint at Aiden’s later anyway. She wasn’t concerned about ruining the old clothes. She stuffed her feet into her shoes and debated which fast food drive-through to hit before going to Mallory’s. She arrived at her friend’s house with a bag filled with hash browns, sausage biscuits, and a stack of pancakes for Jessica. She balanced that with a drink carrier filled with three cups of coffee and one orange juice.
Mallory opened the door still in her pajamas with Harris in the wrap around her chest. “Feed me,” she said dramatically.
Meg set her offerings on the kitchen table. “Where’s Phil?”
“With Aiden,” Mallory said, as if it were the most obvious thing ever.
Meg widened her eyes. “What? Why?”
“Because he sent a pathetic text too.”
“Hey. My text wasn’t pathetic. I just asked if you were up.”
“I read between the lines.” She held up the pancakes with questions in her eyes.
“For Jess.”
“She stayed at Kara’s last night. These are mine.” She tore open a pack of syrup and drowned the fluffy cakes. “I know about last night. About the kiss. Very romantic.”
Meg frowned. “It was. Kind of.”
Mallory stopped her fork before she could fill her mouth. “Why only kind of?”
Meg unwrapped a biscuit and lifted the top off. She had a habit of checking her food before eating it since she hated eggs with every ounce of her being and more than once she’d gotten a mouthful without realizing it. Satisfied that the food was as she ordered, she picked it up, ready to take a bite. “His mom.”
Mallory creased her brow. “Becca was there?”
“No. Well, not physically. We were discussing how she doesn’t like me. Aiden reassured me that he didn’t care, and then…I kissed him.”
“Awww, that’s so sweet. But why wouldn’t Becca like you?”
“We don’t know for certain, but we’re pretty sure she’d rather Aiden dated someone a little less…non-white.”
Mallory took time to sip her coffee before responding. “I don’t know them well, Meg, but I can see how they’d have a problem with that. Becca and Jim are a bit old-fashioned. Jim more so than Becca. But you and I both know Aiden doesn’t feel that way. If he did, you guys wouldn’t have dated back then and he sure as hell wouldn’t be so determined to win you back now.”
Meg creased her brow. “He’s not—”
“He is. Trust me. He is. If his parents can’t accept you, I really believe he’d choose you.”
“Yeah,” Meg dropped her breakfast. “He all but said that last night. That’s part of the problem. I don’t want him to have to do that. A big reason he came back here was to bring his family together. I don’t want to make that more difficult for him. It’s not just his parents, Mallory. We don’t have the best history, you know.”
“But you’ve both changed since then, Meg. The Aiden I know is nothing like the man you used to tell me about. And you’re not the Meg who used to cry over him for hours at a time.”
She wrinkled her brow. “It wasn’t hours.”
“Hours.”
She gave up denying the accusation. She guessed Mallory was right, and she would know better. By the time Meg got done crying, she’d be chin deep in tissues and usually tipsy on the wine Mallory always served to ease her pain.
“You’re scared he’s going to hurt you again.”
The lump that suddenly lodged in Meg’s throat nearly choked her. “I want to trust him. I do. But whenever I start thinking about the future we could have, I remember the past that we did have.”
Mallory reached out and wiped a tear from Meg’s cheek. “The thing about love is that there are no guarantees. It’s one day at a time, and not every day is a good one. Some days it takes everything you have to believe in it. Aiden made a mistake, Meg. He paid for it. He suffered for it as much as you did. He misses you like crazy.”
“He left me,” she whispered. “He was supposed to love me, and he left me.”
“I know.” Mallory grabbed a few napkins and thrust them at Meg. “He hurt you. But right now, you are hurting yourself. You’re just sitting in limbo. You aren’t moving forward, and you aren’t letting go. You’re stuck in this in-between. You have to do something. Either believe in him or don’t, but don’t keep sitting here being torn about what could be and what was. You are both different than you were then. Do you love him?”
“Yes.” She dragged a napkin under her nose.
“Do you want to be with him?”
She knew the answer but didn’t want to admit it. “I don’t know.”
“Megumi,” Mallory said with the same tone she used to warn Jessica that her patience was wearing thin. “Do you want to be with Aiden?”
She was again bombarded with images of sharing his home with him, of seeing their kids running around, of a dog that would need to be walked and groomed and fed. Of the perfect future that she had never been willing to admit she wanted. “Yes.”
“So…do it.” Mallory grasped Meg’s hand. “Listen to me. Sometimes second chances lead to regret, but sometimes second chances are all that you need to find some happiness. If Aiden is choosing you over whatever issue his parents have, then let him choose you. Trust me, if Becca and Jim choose to continue alienating themselves from their family because they think they are somehow superior to everyone else, then that is their choice. Aiden wants to be with you, Meg. He really does.”
Meg sniffed, wiped her face, and sighed. “When did you get so smart?”
“Oh, honey,” Mallory cooed. “I’ve always been the smart one.”
Aiden left the café where he and Phil had shared breakfast and went straight to his parents’ house. He and Meg were going to get back together, he was confident of that, and sorting this whole thing out with Phil had made him see things far more clearly. Aiden’s mother wasn’t the problem. His mother had probably never been the problem. It was his father.
That was a conversation Aiden wasn’t sure he was ready to have, but the distance between him and his dad was only going to grow if he didn’t do something about it. If Phil’s suspicions were right, that Becca’s response to Meg was more about Jim’s feelings toward her, then Aiden needed to go straight to the source of the issue and end it.
He wasn’t surprised to find his dad sitting in front of the television watching a game. That seemed to be how he spent most of his time these days. Things didn’t used to be like that. His dad had never been overly affectionate, but he had been present. Sometime in the last five or so years, he’d started retreating, and nobody had seemed to notice or at least dared to mention it.
Sitting on the couch, he looked at the recliner that had been deemed his father’s. Nobody else ever sat there. “Hey, Dad.”
“Hey.”
His mom appeared in the door and offered Aiden a weak smile. “I wasn’t expecting you until later.”
“I just had breakfast with Phil. Since I was out, I thought I’d drop by.”
“Oh, well, I can be ready to go in just a few.”
“Actually, I’d like you to have a seat too, Mom.”
She stared at him for several seconds before sitting on the other end of the couch. Leaning forward, Aiden clasped his hands together and took a deep breath.
“Before I moved to New York, I didn’t pay much attention to a lot of things. Mostly because I was immature and self-centered. I didn’t give things much thought. Being in the city taught me a lot more than what I was expecting to learn. One of those things was how important family is. Several things played into my decision to come back to Stonehill. One of them was that I wanted to try to make things right with Megumi.”
His dad scrunched up his face. “That Chinese girl?”
“Japanese, Dad. She was born in Japan.”
“Aiden,” his mother said softly, as if warning him.
“When Meg and I were dating,” Aiden continued as if she hadn’t spoken, “I noticed that you two treated her differently than you’d treated other women I’d dated, but I didn’t really think about why. Until I noticed how Mom reacted to seeing her last night.”
“Jesus,” his dad muttered under his breath. “Boy.”
“Meg and I are working things out,” he said. “And I don’t care how you feel about that. I love her. I’ve always loved her, and I made a huge mistake when I broke things off with her. If I have my way, Meg and I will be married and have a family someday. So I want to make one thing very clear. If you have a problem with her, then you have a problem with me, and you’d better address it with me right now.”
He waited, but neither of his parents said anything. His mother had tears in her eyes, and his father’s jaw was set. Aiden pressed his lips together and exhaled loudly.
“Do either of you have a problem with Meg?”
“Do you have any idea the kind of shit your kids will have to take if they’re mixed?” his father finally asked.
“Dad,” he said as calmly as he could, “we aren’t living in the 1960s. Interracial couples are common now, and so are their children.”
