My mouth fell open. It was a loaded question. “I don’t know. I would have to think about it, I suppose.”
“All right, so what is your first thought?”
There was no way to answer that wouldn’t hurt him. I would have stayed with my mother to make sure she was dealt with, but then I would have come back for Amy. I didn’t know yet where Aaron and I stood as a couple. Swallowing hard, I came up with an answer that wasn’t a lie but didn’t really feed into the conversation. It was a lousy scapegoat.
I shrugged. “That I shouldn’t say yes to a man who doesn’t know how I feel about roses.”
He grinned at me and kissed my neck. The passion was an ember that refused to stay cool. It wouldn’t be long before I was craving the touch of his skin once again.
“You’re right, I should have brought daises. How could you ever forgive me?”
Smiling, I pulled the covers over us a little further. “Oh, I think we can work something out.
Chapter 16
Aaron
The familiar feeling of Julia snuggled next to me was intoxicating as the sunlight peeked through the window. I ran my fingers along her body, gently tugging on her hips as she pressed against me. Before I could think about plunging my cock into her, a frantic knock came from the door. With a disappointed groan, my boner went down and I pulled on my shorts as Julia dashed into the bathroom. Amy bounced into the room.
“Hi, Daddy!” she said cheerfully. “So, what are we going to do today?”
“I’m not sure yet, honey. I need to talk to your grandma and see what she wants to do.”
Amy shook her head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. She was super cranky this morning and said to leave her alone.” A frown pursed her lips. “I don’t like it when she pouts.”
“Hmm,” I muttered.
My mother didn’t often pout, as Amy called it. She was pretty independent, and any problems she had, she always shared with us. My mind instantly went to Marcel, and I wondered if something happened that I didn’t know about. I knocked on the bathroom door and Julia opened it. Amy smiled and ran to her mother.
“I’m going to go see if my mom is okay,” I told her.
She looked at me questioningly but nodded her head. I made my way around the suite until I got to the almost hidden door that led to the adjoining room and suite. She, too, had her own balcony and bathroom, with the common area bringing the separate rooms together. I knocked on the door but she didn’t answer. After a few minutes, I made my way inside. If Marcel was there, she would have told me right away.
“Mom?” I asked as I entered the darkened room. “Hey, I just wanted to make sure everything was okay.”
“Why wouldn’t it be?” she grumbled from the sofa. “I thought I told Amy I didn’t want any visitors today.”
“You did, and that’s why I’m here. She’s worried about you. Did something happen with Marcel?” I grinned. “Do I need to start breaking bones?”
She glared at me. “Marcel and I are doing just fine. Tell me, how are you and Julia?”
“Fine,” I muttered. “It’s taking some time to adjust because she travels so much, but otherwise, we’re doing okay. Why, did Amy say something different?”
Theresa shook her head. “No. She didn’t need to say anything different. I know what you did, Aaron. I know how you pushed Julia away.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked with a dry mouth.
She stood up and spun around, her eyes beating into my soul. “I was outside on the patio last night when the two of you were talking. You lied to me! You made that poor woman be part of this charade just to save face! That is not the man I raised! What the hell were you thinking?”
I stumbled backward. “Mom, it’s not like that. You don’t understand what’s going on.”
I regretted the words as soon as they were out of my mouth. My mother’s eyes grew wide before she calmed herself down. I needed to think fast or else this was going to blow up in my face. She didn’t have all the details, but judging by how angry she looked, I don’t think that she cared about them. It was understandable. The whole reason I didn’t want her to know that we’d gotten divorced was because I knew that I was in the wrong. She would blame me for what had happened, and with good reason. It was scary how much Julia and my mother were alike.
“You need to fix this,” she said.
“I know, I just don’t know how. I thought that she would want to come back with us once we were together. I never knew how hard things were for her.”
“You should have gone to her mother’s and brought her back. The last thing that poor girl needed was to be trapped in a house with that psycho. Now, what are you doing to fix things?”
I sighed and sat down on the couch. “I don’t know what I can do besides give her space to figure out what she wants.”
“And if she has to go back there, to deal with her mother and all the legalities? What are you going to do then?”
“There isn’t anything that I can do other than support her. I can’t force her to stay with us, Mom. You know that.”
“I do know that. I also know that you never should have let her go. Anything that’s happened over the past five years is partly your fault. You knew when you got into a relationship with her and eventually married her that she would need your support. You were just too busy taking care of other options.”
“Jesus, tell me you aren’t bringing up Jenny. For the last time, nothing happened!”
“Nothing but the downfall of your marriage, you mean? You and I both know that little tart was trying to break you up, and she succeeded. You know, I used to think that you were so strong, carrying on the house while Julia worked, but I see now that you didn’t even respect me enough to tell me the truth.”
“Mom, please don’t be like this. Julia and I are working through things. Can’t you see that?”
“The only thing that I see is a man losing his family because he won’t bend. When she leaves, and she will, you’re going to be the one to blame for that. You should have followed her then, and you need to follow her now. Do you understand me?”
“I do, I just don’t know if she’s going to let me follow her. She was so scared of Amy getting hurt or knowing something wasn’t right.”
“Things aren’t right now. All you’re doing is lying to yourself and that little girl.”
“Then tell me what to do, Mother!” I yelled, a little louder than intended.
“You fix this! I’ve seen the way that you guys look at each other. You love her and she loves you. I’ve seen the looks. I don’t know what to tell you, but you need to fix the situation and I need some space.”
“What do you mean? This is supposed to be a family trip.”
She turned away from me. “I know, but I don’t feel much like a family right now. I taught you better than this, Aaron. I didn’t raise a liar.”
“Mom, please don’t be like this. Amy won’t understand why you don’t want to spend time with us.”
“Then make up another lie. You’re getting good at that,” she said with a tone of finality.
I walked somberly out of her space and slammed the door behind me. While it wasn’t intentional, it made me feel a little better. Everything had gone to hell, and now my mother knew the truth. She would never trust me again and it was a heartbreaking realization. Amy and Julia were waiting for me in the small kitchenette. They both looked at me expectantly, but it was Amy who was looking around for her beloved grandma.
“Daddy?” she asked. “Why isn’t Grandma with you? Is she sick?”
I started to tell her the lie I’d formulated, but my mother’s words rang in my ears still. “Honey, Grandma wants a little bit of time by herself, and that’s okay. We’re going to explore the new island today, just the three of us. How does that sound?”
She crossed her arms and started to pout. “I don’t like that idea. Maybe if I could talk to her, she would want to come with us.”
“Not this time, kiddo. Why don’t you go get your bag ready, and we can head out?”
Amy looked like she was going to have a meltdown, but Julia reached across the island and took her hand with a smile. “Don’t worry, we’ll still have lots of fun. I heard there is a giant fort that we can explore here too. Won’t that be fun?”
“I guess,” she muttered before her eyes lit up. “Can we play spy?”
“Of course we can! That’s my favorite game, you know. Go do what your dad asked, and I’ll get ready too.”
“Okay,” she said, slightly more chipper at the prospect of playing with her mother.
I slid into the seat that she vacated and felt Julia’s eyes on me, waiting to know what was really going on. If I told her everything, she would blame herself, but I couldn’t lie anymore. She was going to have to know the truth.
“She knows,” I whispered. “My mother knows that we aren’t really still married. Last night, she heard everything while we were out on the patio. I’m so sorry, Julia. I never meant to share your secrets like that.”
She turned away from me. “I can’t say that I’m surprised. She always was a sly old woman. I guess this explains why she doesn’t want to spend the day with us. Is there anything that I can do? Maybe if I went and talked to her?”
“No,” I said with a bit more bite in my tone than intended.
Julia shrank away from me at once. “Okay.”
“I didn’t mean it like that, Julia. I just think that she needs some time and we should give it to her. It’s a lot for anyone to process, even my eccentric mother.”
“She is never going to forgive me for leaving, is she?”
“That isn’t the problem,” I muttered.
I wanted to tell her all the details of the conversation but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. If she knew how I had failed her, she would leave and never come back. All I could think about was keeping her close to me and making sure that she understood how much I cared. My mother needed me to fix the relationship for Amy’s sake, but I needed to fix it for my own. I loved her. I’d never stopped loving her, and I wouldn’t lose her again.
“Tell me what is, then,” she whispered as she took my hand.
“I can’t,” I said. “I just can’t right now, okay? Can we please just take Amy to the island? All I wanted was one family trip where we could at least pretend like everything was okay, but I can’t even have that. Now I’m going to have to tell my baby girl that her mother isn’t really my wife.”
“Aaron,” she whispered. “I don’t think that’s the best idea right now. She’s just getting use to my being around. If you tell her we aren’t married, she’ll have more questions that I don’t know if I can answer.”
“So it should all be on me?” I asked sharply. “My mother was right.”
I slammed my fist against the table and stood up just as Amy came bouncing back into the room. Julia looked shocked at the sudden outburst of anger but she said nothing. I could see the wheels in her head turning, but with Amy around, there was no more time to talk things through. We had a daughter and she needed us.
“Are you all ready?” asked Julia, a smile plastered on her face.
Amy didn’t look as sure as she did. “I guess. Is everything okay? You old people are acting really strange,” she muttered.
“Everything is fine, sweetie,” Julia said as she walked over to her. “Let’s go.”
She reached around to grab her purse and our eyes met. Julia was pissed. I could tell by the glare that she shot back at me for a split second before heading out the door. It was going to be a long day.
Chapter 17
Julia
I was fuming by the time that we left. I stormed up the ship’s steps and followed Amy out to the ramp and waited for Aaron to follow behind us. The cruise had set up to have a large outdoor breakfast buffet for guests, and I could quickly see that was where Amy was leading me. She didn’t stop to talk until we’d found a table and she sank down in her seat. Even though she was just a kid, she could still sense the tension between everyone.
I tried to take her hand but she pulled away as I spoke. “Honey, everything is going to be okay. Sometimes, adults have bad moods just like kids do. Grandma just needed a little bit of time. When was the last time you saw her?”
She shrugged. “Last year, I guess.”
“And don’t you think that this is a lot for someone her age to be doing? She’s probably having just as much fun as you, but she needs some down time.”
“You don’t know Grandma,” she muttered. “You don’t ever see her. She never gets in a bad mood like this.”
“Okay,” I said. “My bad then.”
Aaron sat down and tried to smile. The tensions around the table were so high that Amy sat back and looked from one parent to the other and back several times before clearing her throat. She was too young to be taking on the burden of a parental argument. I had to do something or else the entire day was going to be ruined. I stood up and smiled at Amy.
“Wanna go get some food?” I asked cheerfully.
She shrugged. “I guess.”
“Hey,” Aaron said, picking up on the tone. “You need to show your mother some respect, okay? I know you’re disappointed, but I’m not going to take you out to have a fun day if you’re going to act like a spoiled brat.”
“This isn’t fair!” she said.
Aaron didn’t give in to her. “Life isn’t fair, kiddo. So, what is it going to be? We can go back to the boat now and spend the afternoon in the room while everyone else has fun. I’m sure your mother wouldn’t mind some time to shop.”
She huffed but said nothing else. I got up and went to the buffet, picking and choosing foods that I knew Amy liked. I wasn’t part of the fight between the two of them but it was easy enough for me to see what was going on between them. I was her mother, yes. But I also wasn’t an active parent in her life. Her actions were going to have consequences, but they weren’t for me to decide. It was her father who ruled their house, not me. I needed to have time to know his rules for her.
“So, I got a little bit of everything,” I said to her.
She perked up a little as she started to pick at the berries on the plate. We ate in silence as Aaron sipped his coffee and watched the crowd mulling around. I couldn’t think about what to say to him. It was obvious what his mother had told him. I just wanted to hear it from him first. It was starting to look like we wouldn’t get our happily ever after, not if his mother had anything to say about it.
“Are we ready?” asked Amy, the pep in her step revitalized a little bit.
I nodded. “Absolutely. Let’s roast this chicken stand. So, where are we going first? I think we should go to the fort. It’s big and perfect for running around.”
“Okay,” she said weakly, but a little cheer returned to her as she ran ahead of us to wait on the trolley that was going to take us downtown.
“I’m sorry about earlier,” he muttered. “My mother just has a way of getting under my skin.”
“Are you going to tell me what the fight was about?” I asked him.
He shrugged. “There was no fight. She told me that she knew I was lying and said that she didn’t want to spend any time with us today.”
“I feel like she is saying she doesn’t want to spend time with me. I ruined your family vacation just by being here.”
“You didn’t ruin anything,” he hissed. “Can we please not talk about this right now? I just want us to have a good day with Amy.”
“No,” I snarled at him. “You want me to be part of this family? Then I have a right to know what’s going on in it, okay? This isn’t a game to me or just a ploy to make everything seem happy.”
“You think I’m playing some kind of game?” he shot back. “I did everything I could to get you back here, even after five years of hearing nothing from you. Don’t you think you owe me a little bit of trust because of that?”
“Mom?” asked Amy.
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nbsp; I spun around. Neither of us had seen her standing behind me. Her eyes grew wide, tears threatening to spill out of them as she looked between her father and me. I didn’t know how much of the conversation she had heard, but it was enough to put her off balance. She had never seen us fight before. Even when she was a younger child, we’d made sure that any arguments we had were kept between us and never in front of her.
“Amy, honey,” said Aaron. “Mom and I were just talking.”
She shook her head vigorously. “No, you were fighting. You haven’t seen each other in a long time, and all you want to do is fight! This wouldn’t happen if Grandma were with us!”
Before either of us could say anything to her, she bolted. Aaron yelled after her but it didn’t do any good. She took off into the crowd. A feeling of panic stronger than any I’d ever known set in as we chased after her. She dodged and ran around people, making her way back to the cruise ship. It was evident that she was going back to Theresa, and I wondered if I should even go after her. With everything that had happened, I didn’t think that Theresa would want to see me.
Still, my daughter was in a strange country, running to a boat that was too big for her to find her way around. Aaron ran past me, hot on Amy’s trail. I skidded to a stop at the check-in point and breathlessly got the attention of the tanned man in a crew uniform that held the device to scan passenger wristbands.
“My daughter,” I huffed out. “She just ran on the boat. We’re passengers, but I don’t know if she is going to be able to find her way to our cabin or not.”
“Not a problem,” he said, quickly picking up his intercom. “We have a little girl,” he scanned my bracelet. “Passenger number seven-three-two-six. She is approximately nine years old, brown hair and brown eyes. If she is found, please keep her at the information desk.”
“What if she tries to get off the boat again?” I asked.
He looked slightly annoyed, and I knew what he was thinking as he requested extra staff to watch the other exits. He thought that we were bad parents for letting our child run around unattended. I wanted to slap him across the face for the subtle implication. We weren’t bad parents, or at least Aaron wasn’t a bad parent. I had let her run away, so I was still not the best role model. I wondered if he knew how hard it was to control a temperamental nine-year-old.
One More Kiss: A Second Chance Romance (One More Series Book 1) Page 10
