Unraveled (Love in Salem, book 2) (12 page)

“Have you ever thought of having kids?” 

She regretted the question as soon as it passed her lips.  God, he would think she was dropping hints and pushing him too hard.

“All the time, actually.”  Longing deepened his voice.  When he saw her questioning look, he told her, “I had my life mapped out when I was ten.”  He smiled.  “I was ambitious.  Anyway, I was going to go to college, graduate at the top of my class, get married to a beautiful woman, and have tons of children.”  His smile died.  “I didn’t accomplish any of it.”

She squeezed hand.  “I had this instructor at Harrison-Graham that always told me, ‘Everything happens for a reason, young lady.  If you missed out on something, then it wasn’t meant to be.  If it falls in your lap, its fate, and you should grab on to it with both hands.’  I think he was only trying to justify why I was never allowed to return home on holidays, though.”

Her comment angered him.  “Good God, your parents are bastards.”

“Not bastards.”  She defended.  “Just incapable of caring about anyone but themselves.  If it’s any consolation, they don’t even care about each other either.”

“Not really.”  He huffed.

Paxton walked his client up to the register and completed the transaction on the work he had just done.  Since this was a one session job, he didn’t worry about scheduling another appointment.

Scooping Hayden up, he tossed him over his shoulder and waved goodbye to everyone.  Hayden squealed with delight and yelled ‘Bye, bye!’ all the way out the door.

“He’s a good dad.  I hope this goes to court soon so we can get Hayden back with us where he belongs.”

She agreed readily.  Unfortunately, that was out her hands.  As long as Cassie’s lawyer played the continuance game, it could be close to a year before his case goes before the judge.  It was just one of the many defects in the justice system.

“Hayden is every speck as adorable as your niece.”  

Aidan nodded.  “Jordyn.”  He smiled as he looked over at the picture of her that was hanging on the wall behind the counter.  “It’s hard to believe she is going to be a year old pretty soon.”

The little girl was beautiful with her bright toothless smile and large curls lying haphazardly around her cherub face.  She looked just like her mother

“Do you have any other nieces or nephews?”

“No.  Just the two.  I figured Wyatt and Samantha would have popped a couple kids out by now, but they don’t seem to be in any hurry.”

She remembered Wyatt from the band.  “Are you related to them?”

“No, but he is like a brother to me anyway.”  The door chimed again drawing Aidan’s attention to the young woman who walked in.  “Excuse me for a second.”

He walked up to the young woman in greeting.  Leading her to the counter, he left her to leaf through the books while he returned to Atayla’s side.

“I have to get back to work.  I still have about three hours before I can get out of here.  Why don’t you go ahead and go?  I’m sure you have better things to do than hang out here.”

Atayla looked back at the woman who now found Aidan’s ass more interesting than the books she was supposed to be perusing.  Is this woman the reason he suddenly wanted her to leave?  He didn’t seem to mind her being here until little miss twiggy showed up.

“Hey?”  His hands surrounding her face brought her eyes back to his.  “Everything alright?”

Closing her eyes, Atayla swallowed her insecurities and suspicions.  The emotions he brought out in her were enough to give her whiplash.  She’s never been prone to mood swings before, but when it came to Aidan she could turn from happy to volatile in a matter of seconds.

“I’m fine.”  She answered. 

“Are you sure?”  Doubtfully.

Glancing back to the woman at the counter she noticed how the woman had taken on a very seductive pose.  If she contorted her body anymore to display her tits and ass, she would throw her hips out of joint. 

“Atayla?”

Sucking in a breath, she nodded.  “I’ll see you later.”

Aidan grabbed her arm before she could turn to leave and pulled her past the booths and through the door at the back of the shop.  Once in the hallway, he turned around and wrapped her in his arms.

“Tell me.”  Was his quiet demand.

Atayla didn’t bother to feign ignorance.  He saw her distress clearly and she knew it.

“I’m okay.  I should just leave so you can get back to work.”

Curling his index finger under her chin, he lifted her head so he could make eye contact with her.  He smoothed her hair back behind her ear with his other hand and implored her open up to him.

“Not now, Aidan.  I just…”  She sighed in frustration, not wanting her personal issues to wreak havoc on their relationship.  “I’ll talk to you about it later, but not now.”

“Tonight then.”  He pulled his keys out of his pocket and removed a key from the ring.  Handing it to her, he kissed her lips.  “Meet me at home a little after seven.”

When all she did was nod her acknowledgment he kissed her again.  “I want you there before I get home.”

Chapter Twelve

Nervous didn’t even begin to describe the way Atayla felt as she paced back and forth across Aidan’s living room.  Her past relationship with Randall was difficult for her to discuss.   Retelling the horrendous tale, acknowledging all her shortcomings, wasn’t exactly something she wanted Aidan to hear.

She rather liked the fact that he was oblivious to her all faults.  Not that everything that happened was entirely her fault.  She wasn’t totally ignorant to what had actually occurred back in California.  She knew Randall was an abusive scumbag, but she was a big enough person to own her mistakes.

What she needed was something to help soothe her nerves.  She was so tense over the whole situation that she jumped over the slightest noise.  Pete had come out for a while to watch her pace after she arrived, but the thick cloud of despair looming around her must have been suffocating because he took off to one of his hidey places.

Atayla ambled into the kitchen and pulled out a bottle of wine.  Aidan always had at least one bottle chilled and at the ready.  One never knew when an occasion may call for it.  Well, it definitely called for it today.   A little liquid courage never hurt anyone.

She rummaged through a few drawers before she found the cork screw.  The bottle opened with a ‘pop’ and she poured a generous glass before chugging it down.  Already she could feel the warmth of the alcohol as it spread throughout her body, loosening her stiff limbs.

After pouring another glass of wine, she placed a stopper in the bottle.  This glass she sipped as she resumed her pacing.  At least she intended to sip, but before she knew it the glass was empty and she pouring another one.

The sound of the garage door opening stopped her in her tracks.  The rumble of his motorcycle grew louder as he drove it inside.  She was out of time.  To be honest, though, no amount of time would have adequately prepared her for this conversation.

Aidan strode through the door and saw her standing in the kitchen with a glass of wine in her hand, her posture defensive. 
Interesting.
  Walking up to her he stroked both her arms as he kissed her softly, lingeringly, on her lips.  She had a distinctive floral taste from the wine.

“Where are your keys?” 

Atayla pointed towards his bedroom without saying anything.  She watched him closely as he walked into the bedroom and retrieved her keys.  Striding back out, he kissed her again.

“Relax.  I’m just pulling your car into the garage.” 

He walked out and did just that.  After returning he grabbed a beer out of the refrigerator and directed her towards the couch.  He sat down next to her and grasped her hand, his thumb softly stroking against her knuckles.

Allowing the quiet to settle over them, Aidan rested his head against the back of the couch.  He could tell how wound up she was.  The tension literally vibrated off of her.  Whatever she had to discuss was obviously a distressing subject.  He would make it as easy for her as he could.

Lifting her hand up to his lips, he kissed the back of her hand. 

“Don’t ever be afraid to talk to me.  I would never judge you.  Ever.”

Atayla swallowed a drink of her wine.  “Yeah, that is
so
easy to believe.”

Setting his beer down on the end table, he tuned and captured her face with his hands.  He waited until she looked him directly in the eyes, wanting her to see the truth of his statement.  He sucked in a fortifying breath.

“I’m in love with you, Atayla.  Nothing you say tonight will change how I feel about you.  Nothing you could say will make me think less of you.”

Atayla blinked.  Once his words set in her heart rate tripled. 
Did he just tell me he loved me?
  The question must have written on her face because he responded.

“Yes.  I love you.  Now tell me why there is this wall between us.  I want us to be able to move on and allow this relationship to grow, but it can’t until we resolve this issue looming over us.”

Atayla licked her lips.  “When I was eighteen I met my ex, Randall.”  The words formed a lump in her throat, and she had to breathe through it in order to continue.

“We dated for a year then he asked me to move in with him.  He told me he wanted to take care of me.  I was young and foolish, and I believed him even though he had never actually expressed any kind of feelings for me.”

“You were young and impressionable, and he swept you off your feet.”  Aidan stated.

Atayla laughed.  “No, not really.  He just paid attention to me and I became enamored.  I’ve pretty much been on my own my whole life.  My mother and stepfather sent me away at a young age, and my trips home were few and far between.  Even when I was home they were too busy to spend any time with me.”

“I don’t understand how your parents could be so callous.”  He shook his head, perturbed.

Shrugging in response, she continued.  “So he paid attention to me when no one else ever had before.  I thought it was love, but it wasn’t.  After I moved in things…changed.”

When she remained quiet, he encouraged.  “Changed how?”

Her hands balled into fists.  He uncurled them and laced his fingers through hers.

“It was subtle at first.  A change in my diet.  A membership to the gym with a personal trainer.  He said it was to maintain a healthy lifestyle, but after a few months he began making comments about my body.  He couldn’t understand how with diet and exercise I wasn’t losing any weight.  He would refuse to take me places, especially out to eat because he was embarrassed to be seen with a ‘fat chick.’  Four years I put up with it.”

Tears slid down her cheeks in remembrance.  “He would accuse me of things that were not true, then turn around and rub his affairs in my face.  He told he wouldn’t need to seek the comforts of other women if I wasn’t so unattractive or so frigid in bed.  I couldn’t understand what I was doing wrong and after a while I stopped trying all together.”

Atayla sucked in a deep breath and blew it out through pursed lips.  “Then he hit me the first time.”  She placed her palm on her cheek and rubbed as though she still felt the sting.

Aidan silently seethed.  He wanted to say something comforting, but he was too afraid his anger would bleed through and she would react badly to it.

“He apologized, but told me it was my fault for angering him.  Said if I didn’t want to face the repercussions then I needed to be more respectful.  I walked on egg shells around him, did everything he told me to, but nothing changed.  He started looking for reasons to be mad at me and would start fights just so he could punish me.”

Atayla laughed self-deprecatingly.  “I fell for it every time too.  He knew just how to push my buttons and get me to respond.  I got out, though, thanks to Abby.   She knew I wasn’t happy, but didn’t know the extent of things until I finally confessed.”

A chill raced down her spine.  “He was so mad about something.  I can’t remember what.  I knew he was going to hit me again, so I turned and ran from him. 
Big Mistake.
  Turns out he enjoyed the chase.  He caught up with me just as I was rounding the couch.  He grabbed a hold of my hair and yanked me across the back of it.”

Swiping at her tears she looked over at Aidan. 

“I don’t want to talk about what happened after that.”  She looked down at her hands where they fidgeted with her skirt.  “I called Abby after he left the apartment.  Eight hours later I was safely ensconced inside Abby’s house, and I never looked back.”

Aidan grabbed Atayla and held her tight.  He couldn’t imagine anyone ever wanting to hurt her.  She was an angel,
his angel
, and she deserved to be respected and cherished every second of her life.