Page 77 of His to Cherish
Chapter 16
I was sweating from my run and gasping for breath as I hit my front porch in the setting sun. Running with Camden was always fun, but there was something about the pavement pounding beneath my feet as I ran mile after mile alone in the fresh late spring weather. It gave me the freedom to clear my mind and was much better than being cooped up in my musty basement, using my treadmill during the harsh Michigan winters.
I loved the burn of air in my overworked lungs and the way my muscles ached after pushing myself to run a road with hills instead of the flatness and help of a machine beneath my feet.
I got lost in running. It was my place, where my mind could drift as I listened to music and processed everything going on in my world.
Today my mind was spinning faster than a hamster’s exercise wheel.
During my lunch break at school, I had called Beth to check on Shane in the hospital, only to hear that Aidan had stopped by and spoken with him earlier. I had been so surprised to learn that Aidan had left my house to go see him that I hadn’t even thought to ask what they’d talked about, although I was burning with curiosity.
Regardless, after their conversation, Shane had agreed with his mom’s proposal to have him checked in for a thirty-day program in order to help him with his “issues,” as Beth described it. Apparently there was a lot more going on his life than just the loss of Derrick and his feelings of guilt.
But I did hang up the phone smiling. Shane was getting help and I was thankful for it.
A sense of tranquility overcame me as I stepped inside my house, still thinking of the conversation with Beth, the note and cupcake from Aidan this morning, and the events of last night.
Aidan went to see Shane.
I grinned and grabbed a bottle of water from my fridge, twisting off the top and guzzling half of it, my body screaming at me for hydration.
He might not have gone to see Shane because of anything I said. It was more likely because Aidan was just a great a man—a kind and tender man—and he wanted to do the right thing for Shane.
I took it as a sign that he was beginning to realize that there were other people hurting over Derrick’s death and he could lean on more people, as well as be there to help others through their mutual loss.
But things were beginning to feel better for me than they had in a long time.
My life felt good.
So when my phone buzzed and I saw a text from Paige light up my phone, I didn’t have to debate my response.
I’m at Fireside. Come eat with me.
Me: Checking out the taken owner again? You know you’re friends with Trina, right?
Paige: Don’t judge. She doesn’t care, and Lucas likes it when I ogle Declan. Always ends up good for Lucas in the end.
Ew. TMI.
I supposed I brought that one on myself, though, despite not really needing to think about what Paige and her husband did.
Laughing, I typed out my response that I’d meet her there soon.
Then I hurried to my bedroom to shower.
—
Every time I visited Fireside Grill, I felt like I’d stepped into a piece of Latham Hills’s history. The atmosphere was always warm and inviting, decorated with firefighting memorabilia that had been collected ever since this Detroit suburb had been established. The bonus to us women was the male firefighter photo spreads that lined the walls and decorated the tables. What woman didn’t love the fantasy of being saved from death by a sexy, ripped man in uniform?
Women swooned over characters like that in romance novels all the time, and yet as I met Paige at the bar, the calendars and photos Trina had added last year to bring attention to Declan’s struggling restaurant didn’t grab my attention like they usually did.
Perhaps it was because I’d had my own muscular, swoon-worthy man in my bed and in my arms the past few nights.
By the time I met Paige at the restaurant, I still hadn’t heard from Aidan. Not even a reply to my text from this morning thanking him for the sweet treat. I was getting worried about him, not because he hadn’t talked to me, but because based on the short conversation with Beth, I knew he’d had a hard day.
It had to have been emotional for him, and while I wanted to find him to comfort him, I was trying to give him the space he needed.
I figured he’d tell me when and if he needed me.
