Waiting for You (16 page)

She was curled up on the couch in her pajamas, toying with a strand
of hair, when there was a tap at the door. Aidan let himself in, offering
a bag of takeout to Karise as he entered the room. “I thought you might
be ready for some food.”

“You’re too good to me.” She accepted the food with a small smile.
Whatever he’d brought, it smelled heavenly.

“Not really.” He waved off the compliment. “It’s purely self-serving,
I assure you.”

Karise
eyed the
angel
hair pasta and
roasted
vegetables appreciatively.
“How is bringing me dinner self-serving, exactly?”

“It’s all part of my grand master plan to bend you to my will.”

“Ah. I see.” She took a bite, savoring the burst of flavors. “Whatever
your motive, I thank you. This is fantastic.”

“I thought you might be in the mood for something a little lighter
since we had burgers for lunch. I brought us some dark chocolate cake
back, too – just in case I was wrong.”

“You’re a wise man.”

“That might be the first time I’ve heard those words.” Aidan laughed
before disappearing from view.

“I find that hard to believe,” Karise said in between bites.

“Just ask my father,” Aidan called from the other room. “He’ll clear
you right up on the matter.”

“You don’t talk much about your parents.”

Aidan reemerged in a pair of pajama bottoms and a T-shirt that
clung ever-so-slightly to his muscles. “That’s to preserve my self-esteem.
Liam is the good son. I’m the troublemaker.”

Karise frowned, setting aside her dinner. “Have they met you?”

Aidan sat in a chair across from her. “I appreciate the sentiment, but
they weren’t totally off base. I was a bit of a bastard in my younger days.
Probably pretty close to what you thought of me when we first met.”

“It’s not nice to bring that up,” she reprimanded. “If we’re going
to work, you have to promise not to remind me of the times I’ve been
wrong. Anyone knows that’s the key to a good relationship.”

“Sounds perfectly reasonable,” he played along.

“It is,” she assured him. “So, if you were such a reprobate, what happened?”

“Zoe. From the moment I found out she was on the way, I knew I owed her better.”

“Better than what?”

“Better than my dad.” His voice was soft.

Karise let the words hang in the air for a moment, wondering if she should ask him to expound on that.

“He was at the pub more than he was home.” Aidan supplied an answer to the question she hadn’t worked up the nerve to voice.

“I’m sorry.” The words didn’t suffice, but Karise wasn’t sure what
else to say.

“You know, it’s okay. It’s not like he beat us, and he kept a roof
over our heads, but he wasn’t the kind of father I wanted to be. Liam,
he really stepped up and filled in that role. Me, I took his absence as a
free pass to do whatever the hell I wanted.”

“What about your mom?”

“She’s a good person.” He paused, perhaps thinking about his
answer. “We weren’t close. She worked a lot. She’s a professor; for as long as I can remember, she has lived and breathed that job.”

It occurred to Karise that there was more than one way a parent
could abandon a child. In that moment, she felt silly for allowing her
mother’s choices to dictate so much of her life. She rose from her spot
on the couch, curling up on Aidan’s lap and resting her head on his
shoulder.

“You are such a treasure; just hearing your name makes my heart
smile. Whoever you’ve been, I’m thankful for who you are. I’m sorry
your family hasn’t taken the time to get to know that man.” Karise
knew the instant she’d stopped avoiding Aidan, she’d begun falling
for him. Now, snuggled up in the cocoon of his arms, she couldn’t
remember why she’d even tried to fight it.

He didn’t respond at first, other than to squeeze her a little tighter.
“They’re the ones missing out; they don’t get the joy of having Zoe in
their lives.”

Karise wasn’t sure how long she was content to feel the steady rise
and fall of each breath, to soak in everything about his nearness. He was the one who eventually broke the silence.

“You never told me about your talk with Devon and Alex.”

Karise straightened, an impish smile playing on her lips. “That’s right. We spent the first 10 minutes or so talking about you. Devon’s pretty eager to meet you.”

“That’s not even funny.”

“From where I’m sitting it’s hilarious,” she countered.

“You have a mean streak.”

“I try to keep it well hidden.”

His response was to tickle her side, which sent her shooting off his lap.

“That’s uncalled for.”

His eyes lit up. “You’re really ticklish, aren’t you?”

“Not at all,” she lied.

“I’m going to call that bluff.” Just like that, he was off the chair in
pursuit. She evaded him for a good two laps around the room, only
to be caught when she misjudged his arm length as they darted around
the corner of the bed. They tumbled onto the mattress, her teary-eyed
and
breathless
from
laughter
, him with the very devil
shining
in his
eyes.

He took pity on her when she threatened to wet herself if he didn’t
stop. His hands stilled on her waist, and he leaned down to kiss her
neck. “That spot, that spot right there, stares at me all day every day, begging to be kissed.”

Karise was pretty sure she was going to melt right into the bed.
Before she could respond, he was gone, only to return a moment later
with their chocolate cake and a bottle of wine.

“I still want to hear about the call.”

She had a pretty good idea what he was actually doing – respecting
her wish to wait. And as much as the thought of not waiting appealed
to her at the moment, she knew it was the right thing to do. Obviously
avoiding Aidan altogether hadn’t worked out so well for her, but there
was no reason they couldn’t take it nice and slow.

She sat up, pulling her legs under her and watching him set out
their dessert. “Let me see…we really did spend some time catching up.
It was nice. It felt like a normal family. I did ask Devon about calling his friend; he said he’d do that tonight.”

“You asked him right on the heels of that stunning first encounter?”

“It was the perfect time. Devon was giggling too hard to say no.” Karise chuckled at the memory.

“Do men giggle?”

“Fine, Devon was laughing in a manly way.”

“I know I should thank you, but I’m still a little mortified.”

“Hopefully that
passes
soon, because they’re coming to California.”

“Devon?”

“And Alex. They want me to have Victoria cremated. In a few weeks,
they’ll come so the three of us can spread her ashes together.”

“When was the last time all three of you were in the same place?”

Karise paused in thought, taking the time to savor a bite of cake. “I’m not sure we’ve ever been in the same place.”

“Wait, have you even met Alex before?”

“Not in person. She called a couple of times years ago. I’m sorry to say I wasn’t very nice to her, so she stopped trying.”

“Why weren’t you nice to her?” Aidan snagged a bite of chocolate
for himself.

“I told myself I didn’t want to serve as their reminder that their mom abandoned them. I think the truth has more to do with me not wanting to be reminded who Victoria was, who I was.”

Aidan set down his fork and quietly regarded her for a moment. “Do you know what I thought the first moment I saw you?”

Karise shook her head slowly.

“You were with that ridiculous amadan…”

Karise interrupted him there, “No, I told you that you had to quit
calling him that or you had to tell me what it meant.”

“Fine, you were with that
fool
and he was ignoring you. Even from
across the room I could see he treated you like an accessory. He didn’t
even notice when you slipped away. And I thought to myself that you
were the most beautiful woman I’d ever laid eyes on. If I had a woman
like you, she would be the center of my life, not just an accessory.”

“Oh.” Karise had been on the verge of interrupting Aidan again to
chastise him for calling William names. Now she was glad she hadn’t.

“Whatever your origins, the woman you’ve become matters very
much to me and to everyone else in your life. I, for one, am completely
and totally crazy about you.”

“I’m crazy about you, too. It scares me how much,” she admitted.

He rewarded her with a lopsided grin. “Come on, get up for a
second.”

She complied, watching him curiously as he set the food next to the untouched bottle of wine. He pulled back the covers and climbed in bed, holding the covers up so she could join him.

“My lovely Karise, I think you should know that I have every
intention of holding you close tonight. I’m going to fall asleep with
you in my arms.”

She snuggled up close to him, kissing his hand on impulse once
they’d settled in. Normally, being this close to Aidan would send desire
shooting through previously undiscovered nerve endings. But this
night, it brought her peace. She fell asleep a very happy woman.

Her eyes popped open early the next morning. Her mind was
instantly alert, but her body was entirely too comfortable to even think
about moving. Instead, she stayed in Aidan’s arms and mulled over
the day ahead of her. More than anything, she was fixated on one thing:
Should she see her mother before she was cremated? Part of her was
curious and wanted to make that connection. Another part didn’t think
seeing
a shell in a casket was the only i
mpressio
n she wanted of Victoria.
Would it be better to keep the image she already had in her mind?

“What are you thinking about so hard?” Aidan interrupted her reverie.

“Why do you know I’m thinking about something?”

“Your entire body has tensed up.”

“Ah.” Karise hadn’t noticed, but now that he mentioned it, she tried to force herself to relax. “I’m trying to decide if I want to see Victoria today.”

“Oooh, yeah, that is a tough call.”

She laced her fingers through his, pulling his arms in closer to her.
“What would you do?”

“I honestly have no idea.”

“Is it wrong that I don’t think I want to see her? It wouldn’t help
me get to know her, who she was. I think it would just make me sad.”

“I don’t think there is a right or wrong choice there.” Aidan’s phone
interrupted what he was going to say next. “Hold that thought.”

He rolled over to snag his phone off the nightstand, leaving Karise
to mull over the decision at hand while half her mind was listening
to Aidan’s end of the conversation, not that she could tell what it was
about. His answers were fairly noncommittal.

He hung up and rolled back over, wrapping his arms around her again as he nuzzled her neck.

“Who was that?” She didn’t care if she was being nosy.

“That was Eldon. He owns a grocery chain on the Eastern seaboard.
Devon didn’t waste any time making that phone call.”

“That doesn’t surprise me.”

“But that was really fast. I can’t believe I already heard from the guy.”

“When Devon asks, people tend to listen.”

“It was really nice of him to make that call.”

“He’s a nice guy, but I’ll be sure to pass along your thanks.”

“Thank you.”

Karise
waited a few beats, but Aidan didn’t
seem
inclined to expand
on the conversation. “So, what did he say?”

“He invited me to attend a grocer’s convention with him next week.
He said it was late notice, but he had an extra seat at his table if I could
make it.”

“That’s amazing!” Karise sat up and looked at Aidan. “Why do I get the impression you don’t think that’s amazing?”

“That’s another airfare and another trip away from Zoe. Even if I
could manage both, this is a
terrible
time of year to try to get a babysitter.
Everyone is so busy.”

“I’ll do it.” The words tumbled out before she’d had a chance to
process them.

“I appreciate the offer, but I can’t ask that of you.”

“You didn’t ask, I offered.”

“No, really,” he hesitated.

“Yes, really. Zoe and I will have fun. It’ll be girl time.”

“Really?”

“Would you stop saying that? Yes, really! I can handle a few days
alone with a little girl.”

Karise was happy when Aidan finally agreed, until it settled in that
he’d finally agreed. What on earth was she going to do, all alone with
a little girl for days?

“I’M ONLY GOING
to be gone for a few days. Try really hard not to
get into any trouble.” Karise patted the crimson and silver urn. The
color and carvings were fitting for a woman who’d lived her life as
vibrantly and blithely as Victoria McAlister had. Even if Karise hadn’t
been able to bring herself to visit Victoria before the cremation, she thought she’d at least done a good job picking the urn. She couldn’t
say when exactly she’d begun talking to it, or rather the contents inside.
But its presence on her mantle had filled the place, making it hard to ignore. At some point, she’d given up ignoring and started chatting.