A New Hope
Page 34
Zoe’s heart softened at the sight. Though a toughie, she couldn’t help but feel sorry for whatever was happening at this address and wanted to help. She was not the only person standing at a distance. Neighbors shook their heads and hugging themselves as though against a chill.
As Zoe looked around the yard she noticed the lawn needed cutting badly and the paint on the house was peeling. Gingerly she stepped onto the driveway. She wasn’t sure what she would say but an expression of sympathy seemed appropriate. She was a few feet away when the man raised his head and turned towards her. The porch light framed his face and she gasped at the sight.
“Oh God. It’s you,” she whispered. Not sure how to react she started to retrace her steps, hoping he hadn’t recognized her but she wasn’t so lucky.
He called out to her. “Hello there.” She pretended not to hear and kept walking. “Hey, you. BMW lady!”
Embarrassed, she stopped and turned. He had left the porch and jogged towards her. She couldn’t hear his footsteps because of the long grass. As she turned, she noticed the top buttons on his shirt were undone and he was wearing no shoes. Upon closer inspection she saw his shirt was untucked.
Before she could respond, the paramedics came out with an elderly woman strapped to the stretcher. There was a little difficulty maneuvering her down the stairs before they placed her in the back of the ambulance. A second younger man in a baseball cap stood watching. “I’m sorry,” the man – Aiden, she remembered suddenly – said. “I’ve got to go.”
Zoe returned to her car without speaking and watched while Aiden briefly spoke to the young man – who she saw now was only a teenager – before hurrying into the back of the ambulance with the stretcher and the paramedics. As they pulled away and turned toward the hospital, Zoe turned her car in the other direction and somberly drove home.
Meanwhile, Aiden was wondering what could have brought her there. Had she purposely sought him out? He had given her his address so she would know where to send the bill. Maybe she’d decided it wasn’t worth her time and she’d changed her mind about making him pay for it. Was she there to apologize for her behavior earlier? He hadn’t even had time to tell his grandmother about the minor accident before she collapsed. She’d suffered a heart attack a few years before and had to take a multitude of medications every day to keep healthy.
He only had his grandmother and younger brother and didn’t know what he would do without her. She was the source of his strength and he was the apple of her eye. She’d lost her son and daughter-in-law when Aiden was thirteen and his brother was just a few months old. She raised the two boys on her own. Now Aiden looked at his grandmother in the ambulance and a tear formed in the corner of his eye. She looked so frail lying there as the medics poked her and called out readings to one another. He didn’t want to lose her and was worried she wouldn’t wake up.
Zoe could not get her mind off Aiden. There was a mix of emotions going through her mind and she found it hard to sort through them. Even as her heart went out to him for whatever he and his loved ones must be suffering, on some level, she wished she could erase her premature admiration for his strong forearms and obviously broad shoulders.
Aiden was the last man she should be attracted to and the idea that she had found him attractive, even for just a second, disgusted her. He had hit her car and added to an already stressful day. She didn’t want to like him and resented her brain chemistry for triggering an attraction to someone she was determined to despise. Infuriated with herself, she stripped off her clothes and dumped them in the hamper. She’d only worn them for a short time but they felt dirty to her. She felt dirty. In her only her underwear, she climbed under the covers and pulled the comforter up to her chin.
“Argh!” she growled in frustration. “Get out of my head you fender-bending moron!” Try as she might it was impossible to forget those few moments before she recognized him. He was normal then, just a man… a very attractive man. The vibrating of her cell phone on the nightstand startled her and she quickly answered.
“Hello?” she said breathlessly.
“Zoe, are you all right? You sound funny.” It was Mason returning her call.
She was relieved and happy. Hearing Mason’s voice was like a breath of fresh air and she wished, as she had on many earlier occasions that they were better suited romantically. She would just have to comfort herself by enjoying their deep bonds of friendship, which she knew would last forever.
“Yes, I’m fine,” she wanted to tell Mason about her night but wasn’t sure what she made of it herself.
“Are you sure?” she could hear him yawning on the other end of the line. “You said it was urgent I call you back.”
“Sorry about the time difference. I know it’s ridiculously late there, but Mason, I need you.”
“That’s unexpected. When did you finally realize?” He teased.
“Get your mind out of the gutter. I need you to come to California. Can you spare me a couple of weeks?” her voice had taken on a serious tone.
“I can probably squeeze you into my schedule. What’s up? Does it have something to do with your father’s company? Is everything all right?”
She could hear the concern in his voice and proceeded to reassure him that she was all right and only needed him to help her check out the accounts. She declined to tell him of where her suspicions were leading her because she still wasn’t sure and didn’t want to jump the gun over something harmless; the last thing she wanted was to come across to her father and the Board of Directors as paranoid.
“Okay, it’s the perfect thing to put my father off a little longer. When’s good for you?” he asked, excited about spending time with Zoe again. It had only been a few days but he missed her reassuring presence. She helped him stay strong when dealing with dear old Dad.
“How about Saturday?”
“Saturday’s fine.” They finished the conversation with him promising on the lives of his future merger-arranged children to come and Zoe felt better by the time Mason hung up the phone. At least she had gotten Aiden off her mind temporarily. Damn. There is again, she thought as she drifted off to sleep.
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