Page 93 of On the Rocks

“Nana Dee got her test results,” he said. “Trent just let us know in the group chat. It’s not good, and he’s going to need my support going forward. They both will. That’s why I have to be a guy they can count on. And I don’t think I can be that guy if I’m with you.”

It felt like I’d been kicked in the chest. There was no fooling myself anymore. I wasn’t going to wake up and realize this was a dream—and Aiden wasn’t going to suddenly change his mind. He really thought he was better off without me. So now therewas nothing for me to do but feel like an idiot for believing that love was going to work out for me this time.

“Anyway,” he said. “Did that answer your question?”

“Yeah, I…uh. It sure did,” I said, turning away from him without looking back. I wouldn’t cry in front of him. I pulled the front door open, determined to walk out of his life with my head held high, but I barely made it to the elevator before I crumbled to pieces.

28

AIDEN

“Uncle Aiden!” a voice cried as the door to my office burst open. Hailey tore through the room like a glittery blur. She was the Tasmanian Devil come to life as she launched herself at me, grabbing hold of one of my legs and latching on with her whole body like a koala. I took a couple shuffling steps, making her giggle as she stared up at me, hanging on for the ride. “Guess what?”

“What?”

“Daddy said I don’t have to go to daycare today.”

“Is Ms. Linny sick again?” I asked.

“Nope!” Hailey said, popping the P. I couldn’t help smiling at her exuberance.

“Is daycare closed?”

She shook her head, wearing a cheeky little smile.

“Oh, I see. You’re playing hooky.” Was this something to do with Amanda? She’d been flaking on her time with Haileymore and more recently, changing pickup times or forgoing taking her daughter at all for their scheduled weekends. I knew it was another one of her games—make life complicated and inconvenient for Dominic so he’d cave to her demands. A flash of frustration washed through me, but I stamped down on it as Hailey squeezed my leg tighter. “I guess we’re just gonna have to get you a job with the company since you’re here so often. How do you feel about marketing?”

Hailey wrinkled her nose, her little lips pursed in thought. “I’m too small for a job.”

“Too small? Since when? I thought you were a big girl who went down the big girl slide at the park?”

Hailey giggled. “I am!”

“Exactly. If you can handle the big girl slide, I think you can handle an executive marketing position.” She stared at me like I was speaking nonsense, her tiny eyebrows inching closer together. “Maybe marketing’s not your thing, huh? What kind of job do you want to do?”

“Umm,” she said, leaning back, her arms still locked around my leg. “Eat food!”

“Got it. You want to be the official cafeteria product tester.”

“Yes!”

“And I assume you’ll want a full salary and benefits to perform this vital work?”

She nodded. “Yep.”

“Well, then, Miss Hailey, I’ll have HR draw up your contract. How does that sound?”

“Good!”

“Great, now that the boring stuff is out of the way, how would you like to celebrate?”

She pulled two pink hair ties from her pocket. “I got some new ones!”

“What? New hair ties!”

“Daddy bought them for me ’cause I put away all my toys in the bin. See, they have unicorns on them.” She handed the ties to me so I could examine the matching unicorn charms.

“These are definitely the coolest hair ties I’ve ever seen. Should I put them in my hair?” I teased, gathering up my curls with one hand.

---