Page 33 of Make You Stay

“Like a total klutz? Actually, I’m much better. The first few days sucked, though. Thanks for my care package.”

This woman is amazing, constantly dropping off goodies with a silly note attached. Enid is great at brightening my day. “No worries. Chocolate makes everything better.”

“It must because I’m practically full weight-bearing now.”

Enid sniffs the air. “What is that delicious smell?”

“Chicken chili. It’s been cooking all day. Would you like to stay for dinner?”

“Are you sure there’s enough?”

“There’s a ton of food, more than enough for everyone. Can you invite the girls, too?”

She smiles, motioning toward the house next door. “What about Aidan? I’m sure he’s hungry.”

I fix my gaze on the blanket. “I’m not so sure about that. Barbara was over there earlier.”

“Really? What’s that about?”

My answer? A shrug, because honestly, I don’t want to know. Despite his less than stellar review of their evening, I’ve seen her leave his house twice in the past week.

After our unintentional snuggle-fest on the couch, Aidan has put some breathing room between the two of us, even focusing on jobs outside of my mother’s house.

It’s for the best, really.

No point falling for someone I can’t have, even though I’ve already fallen hard for him.

“Aidan is a good man, but you know that already.”

“What happened with you two? I probably sound terribly forward for asking, but you get along so well. Most exes are not that friendly.”

“We weren’t either, for a while, but we wanted to ensure the divorce was as painless as possible for the girls. Divorce is hard enough without throwing in personal grievances that have nothing to do with the kids.”

“I wish more people handled divorce like you and Aidan. After my mother left, she and my father only spoke once, and that was after his cancer diagnosis. She called to apologize, but my father had forgiven her long ago. It wasmewho held onto the grievances.”

“I’m sorry that was your experience. Aidan’s parents were terrible, which explains why he was so desperate to escape that house. We were high school sweethearts who rushed headlong into adulthood. We thought we could handle it, but we were wrong. Suddenly, we were in our late twenties with the distinct feeling that life had passed us by. Mia was a whoops. We hadn’t had sex in two years, and then one night, we did, and bam, Mia was born nine months later.”

“Wow. Fertile myrtle.”

“No, it’s all him,” Enid remarks with a grin. “By the time she was born, we were barely speaking. I met Jeff in the grocery store six months later. Totally didn’t see him coming.”

“How did Aidan react?”

“I think it relieved him, knowing he wasn’t the only one no longer in love.”

“That explains the camaraderie.”

“We made certain it wouldn’t get ugly. We adore each other, just like a brother and sister... who happen to have three children.”

“You have beautiful daughters.” It’s the truth. Their girls are gorgeous inside and out, much like their parents.

“Thank you. Don’t you want any kids?”

I release a groan, looking skyward. “I do. In fact, I planned on having a child this coming year.”

Unlike Aidan’s expression of shock, Enid simply nods at my declaration. “You’ll be a wonderful mom.”

“I hope so. Anyway, it hasn’t happened yet, so who knows if it will?”

---