Page 115 of Done with You

“I think Oona is after peace, and seeing you do the work, before she makes herself vulnerable again. Remember the way you turned her down the first time?”

“Not a moment I’m particularly proud of …”

“I know, honey.” She offered him a small, understanding smile. “We can promise people things until we run out of oxygen, but that’s just lip service. Following through for the right reasons is what sets us apart from the rest and makes the work long-lasting.”

Her blue eyes twinkled and crinkled at the corners as her mouth curled up into a bigger, knowing, motherly smile. Even though he’d only just met Joy, he felt more mothered and cared for by this woman than he did his own mother. She was maternal instinct and love incarnate. An enormous heart in such a small package.

“I know it’s hard,” she went on. “And you want the feelings you have right now to stick around for as long as possible. But this isn’t the real world. Not here. Not right now. Not for you two, anyway. The real world is back in Montreal, away from family, where you’re not under the same roof, and she works and you do the work to get better. If this is meant to be, meant to last, it needs to happen there. Not in this winter fantasy vacation land where you are roommates and keep falling into bed with each other because of proximity and ease.”

Aiden’s chest rose and fell on a dramatic sigh. He sipped his coffee and stared at his lap. Of course, Joy was right. He wasn’t sure this woman had ever been wrong about anything.

But the truth wasn’t what he wanted to hear.

“Your epiphany about drunk drivers is a huge step,” she said, interrupting his delicate emotional spiral as he focused on the ink-black coffee, steaming in his mug. “And realizing you have feelings for Oona and want more with her is another big step. But little steps are important, too. All the steps are. That’s why they are there. One thing at a time.”

He took another sip and nodded. “Thank you.”

“Anytime, sweetheart. And I mean that. Even when you head home, you can call me anytime.”

He lifted his gaze to hers.

She shrugged. “And for what it’s worth, even though I don’t know Oona all that well, from what I do know about her and having met her at Pasha’s wedding, I think you guys make a pretty good fit. You just have to turn your puzzle pieces around a few times until it’s the right fit.”

He drank more of his coffee.

Joy finished hers, then clapped her hands and sat up. “Now, I hear you are in charge of food. Come in here and tell me what I can make for appetizers and such. I’m obviously going to contribute, so just tell me what is needed.”

Aiden pried himself off the couch and followed Joy into the kitchen with his half-full mug of coffee. “Well, what do you think about a cheese platter?”

Joy nodded. “I’ll make one for the guests and a separate one for Heath.”

Aiden snorted. “And maybe another one for Jace, that man can eat, too.”

Joy sighed, grabbed a grocery pad off the fridge and a pen and started to write things down. “All right, enough cheese to feed an army. What else?”

Chapter Twenty-Two

“Well, the motherfucking meteorologist gets to keep his job this time,” Rayma said, the morning of the wedding as she scuffed out of her bedroom in her slippers and housecoat, looking not at all like a woman about to get married later that day.

Aiden had been up until midnight the night before cooking, and was up again at six that morning to continue prepping food. He’d put Jordan to work helping him wrap wontons and deep fry them, then he put his brother on dredging duty to take care of the broccoli and cheese stuffed breaded chicken breasts. But he still had a few more appetizers to take care of.

Rayma was up and dressed, as was Aiden. Just like they predicted, a few guests were unable to make it to the wedding due to weather. Either they couldn’t get over to the island because the wind had canceled the ferries and flights or some people were located further north on the island and were facing even more snow than Victoria and couldn’t drive.

Not that Aiden had been anywhere on Vancouver Island besides Victoria, apparently there was a big mountain called The Malahat that separated Victoria on the southern tip, from the rest of the island, and the road through the mountain passage was treacherous. And besides a ferry or a backwoods road, there was no other way to get to the city.

As of midnight, the night before, their head count was around forty, which Pasha said would be tight, but doable in their house. So Aiden needed to make sure they provided enough food for forty people.

He liked that he had a purpose and was able to help.

Rayma, despite everyone assuring her that the wedding would be beautiful, didn’t really perk up at all. She was still devastated.

It didn’t help that her mother had called her around dinner time and encouraged her to just cancel the wedding. That Rayma should have expected this and the fact that she didn’t have a backup was so like her.

Rayma just turned into a hermit in her bedroom after that. Oona comforted her while Jordan helped Aiden with food.

Oona, for the most part, avoided Aiden.

Which he hated.

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