Page 71 of His to Cherish
After I turned my phone on, my eyes jumped wide open at the number of missed calls and text messages on the home screen.
I slid my thumb across the arrow and my phone came to life with a long string of notifications.
My chin started to quiver when I saw a text from Beth.
He’s talking and has asked for help. I owe you my son’s life. Thank you so much for what you did for us today. I’ll never forget it.
I pushed back the tears and pressed my lips together to maintain control of my emotions.
“Thank goodness,” I whispered, and lifted my eyes to the ceiling. Not being overly religious, I didn’t pray often, but I believed God existed and he watched out for people. Most of the time, anyway. I’d seen too much death to think he had a role in everyone’s life every moment of the day, because if he did, I didn’t understand why he allowed so many horrible things to happen. But still, I prayed. “Take care of Shane, please. Watch over him. Keep him safe.”
Wiping the escaped tears from my cheeks, I inhaled a breath, opened my eyes, and scrolled through the rest of my phone messages.
Messages from the school were normal. It wasn’t often I took a sick day and it made me smile to think that I had been missed during the day. Either that or Rebecca went straight for the gossip phone tree letting everyone know something had happened to Shane. I frowned at the thought while I saw a slew of messages from coworkers asking how I was doing.
Texts and missed calls from Aidan were what made my heart pound against my chest. My pulse kicked up as memories of the morning flashed through my mind—not that the dull ache between my legs hadn’t reminded me of it all day long.
Had it really been just that morning that he had been in my arms and inside me?
I shivered, my body already warming with arousal at the memories, yet I pushed them down when I saw the texts take on a more frantic tone.
His last one, left twenty minutes before I got home said:
Call me. Please. I need to know you’re safe even if you’re avoiding me.
I frowned, my teeth finding my bottom lip and biting down. I wasn’t avoiding him. At least I hadn’t been then.
But I could imagine him worried, pacing his house wondering how Shane was doing or if something had happened to me, tugging at his hair when I continued to not answer his calls.
Aidan had taken a piece of my heart the very first day he showed up to help me with the landscaping, the first night he manned my grill, and the next day when he returned to continue helping.
It might have been for escape, but something else—something deeper—was beginning even then, and I was a fool for denying or questioning it.
He had a piece of my heart, and not only did I not want him to give it back, I didn’t want it anymore. It was his.
I checked the time and, seeing that it was almost midnight, I hesitated to call him, despite his recent text. It had been a long day and I wasn’t sure I was ready for more drama.
But I didn’t want him to worry anymore, either.
He answered on the very first ring, as if he’d been holding the phone in his hand, waiting for me. I couldn’t help but smile, even though his voice was heavy when he said, “Thank Christ. I’ve been trying to get ahold of you all day. I was just about to call the cops.”
“I’m sorry I made you worry,” I murmured into the phone, and stretched out in my bed. “It was a tough day.”
He was silent for a beat, for too long, and I almost regretted mentioning my day with Shane.
“How is he?” he finally asked.
I picked at my sheets and closed my eyes. “Hurting. Badly.” I swallowed, uncertain how much to share. Beth’s message that Shane had decided to get help was good news and gave me hope. But would Aidan think the same? How much could he handle on top of everything else?
It surprised me when his voice dropped an octave and he whispered, “How are you?”
“Hurting,” I responded without having to think, and while I might have felt like I was the one who should have been strong through all of this, I couldn’t stop myself from adding, “Badly.”
He shocked me further when he said, “I’ll be there in five.”
Before I could argue, before I could tell him I just wanted to be alone, he hung up.
