Page 105 of Skylar

“I hate to put an end to this get-together so soon,” Skylar said. “But I’ve been up since three-thirty this morning. Our flightout of Miami left at eight, which was five Serenity time. It’s been a long day.”

“Oh, that is a long day for you.” Her mom moved to give her a hug. “Sleep as long as you need to tomorrow. We’ll wake you if there’s news.”

“Are you going to Serenity for church?” Skylar asked.

Her mom shook her head. “We’ll just watch the service on the internet.”

After getting a drink of water, Skylar turned to Aiden, who was leaning back against the counter in the kitchen, arms crossed over his chest. “Thank you again for picking me up and for giving me a place to stay. I really appreciate it.”

As Aiden smiled in response, his gaze softened. “Any time. I was happy to do it.”

With butterflies fluttering in her stomach, Skylar said goodnight to her parents, then headed for the room where Aiden had put her bags. It shared a bathroom with Willow’s empty room, so she didn’t have to worry about hogging the bathroom while she took a long, hot shower.

She hadn’t had time to take one after her flight from Miami to Vegas, as she’d focused on packing for her trip to Serenity. And once she’d realized that she wasn’t going to have to rush back for her job, she’d taken the time to pack more than she might otherwise have. Which was why she had two suitcases instead of just one, like last time.

As she lay under the covers after her shower and getting ready for bed, Skylar realized that while her worry wasn’t completely gone, it had lessened now that she was surrounded by people who shared her concerns. Though it had cost her her job, she didn’t doubt for a second that she’d made the rightdecision to come to Coeur d’Alene to be near her family and Shiloh.

Exhaustion helped her fall asleep surprisingly quickly, and when she woke the next morning, it was nearly nine o’clock. It took her a minute to remember where she was, but once she did, she flipped the covers off and went into the bathroom to prepare for the day.

After going through her morning routine, she got dressed. She hoped that she’d get to see Shiloh that day, but she realized it might not happen.

When she left the room, she immediately smelled coffee and bacon. Venturing along the hallway that opened into the living area, she saw her parents and Aiden in the kitchen as if they’d never left it the night before.

“Good morning, darling,” her mom said as she approached them. “How did you sleep?”

“Really well,” Skylar said. “Better than I expected, to be honest.”

“You were probably pretty tired after a long day of travel.”

Skylar nodded, then thanked Aiden when he handed her a cup of coffee.

“Cream and sugar are on the table,” he said. “And so is breakfast.”

“Have you all eaten already?”

“Nope,” her dad said. “We were just getting ready to sit down.”

They all went to the table where there was a platter of bacon and eggs, along with a stack of toast and some fruit.

Once they were seated, her dad said a prayer for the meal, as well as everyone affected by Shiloh being in the hospital, but most importantly, Shiloh herself.

As they ate, her dad gave them the update he’d received from Charli just a few minutes earlier after Shiloh’s doctor had come around. It seemed that her body was fighting an infection, which they’d narrowed down so that they could prescribe a more focused antibiotic instead of a broad spectrum one.

Unfortunately, it had meant that, since her immune system was compromised, they were discouraging visitors, aside from parents, for the time being. Skylar was disappointed, but didn’t bother pointing out that she and Aiden were also parents. Charli and Blake knew that, so if they wanted them there, they’d be there.

When they finished eating, her mom started to clear off the table, but Aiden stopped her. “You took care of breakfast. I’ll do the cleanup.”

“I’ll help,” Skylar said, knowing that her parents would expect her to make that offer. Not that she was opposed to helping Aiden.

Together they cleaned the table, then Skylar loaded the dishwasher while Aiden washed up the pans they’d used to make the bacon and eggs. They worked in silence, though it wasn’t a tense time like it might have been a few weeks ago. Things had definitely changed between them.

Or at least Skylar thought they had. Did Aiden feel the same shift she did?

Once the kitchen was all cleaned up, Aiden said, “Thanks for the help.”

“You’re welcome.”

They joined her parents in the living room, where there was a large television on one wall. It was big enough that they’d probably feel like they were sitting in the front pew of the church.

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