Page 112 of Skylar

Aiden nodded. “It’s not that I don’t like yard work. But I prefer to use things that have a motor. Like the mower or the weed whacker. This kneeling in the dirt trying not to grab the wrong plant isn’t so appealing.”

“Well, it looks like you’ve done a good job, even if it isn’t what you want to do.”

“I’m going to grab a soda,” Aiden said. “Did you want something cold to drink too?”

“Sure.” Dan fell into step beside him. “That sounds good.”

Dan veered off to sit in one of the chairs on the deck while Aiden went into the kitchen to get their drinks. He found Cathy and Skylar standing next to the counter, talking. Although their conversation died when they saw him, making Aiden a little self-conscious about the fact that he didn’t have a shirt on.

“Been playing in the dirt?” Cathy asked as she gestured to her own shoulder.

Aiden checked one shoulder, then the other and saw what she was indicating. He didn’t bother to brush it off since he was going to take a shower soon, anyway.

“Yeah.” He opened the fridge and bent to pull out a couple of the cans of soda he’d put there the previous day. “Mom’s flowerbeds seem to contain as many weeds as they do flowers these days.” Straightening, he lifted one of the cans. “Did either of you want soda too?”

Both women shook their heads, but Cathy said, “I’m going to get a glass of water and join you men outside in a bit.”

“Sounds good.”

Back outside, Aiden handed Dan one can, then set the other near the chair he planned to sit in. He went to where he’d dropped his shirt earlier and took a minute to pull it on before returning to where Dan sat.

“Did you and Skylar talk?” Dan asked.

Aiden cracked the tab of his soda, then lifted a brow at Dan. “Is that why the two of you disappeared earlier?”

Dan shrugged. “We figured it couldn’t hurt for you two to have some time to yourselves.”

“Well, we talked a little, but I’m not sure if it helped,” he said. “In fact, it might have made things worse.”

“I doubt that,” Dan said. “Just have some patience with her. She isn’t as apt to jump into things like she might have been as a teen.”

Aiden had already come to the conclusion that he’d have to be patient. He had to let Skylar work out things at her speed, but at least now she knew that he had a strong desire to rekindle their relationship.

And he needed her to know that he wasn’t looking for just some casual dating. He wanted that future they’d once talked about. The one with love, marriage, and kids. More kids. Ones that they could raise themselves this time.

The back door swung open, and the women appeared. Cathy had just sat down beside Dan when her phone rang. She glanced at the screen and murmured, “Charli.”

She answered it, but rather than putting it on speakerphone, she lifted it to her ear.

“Hello, darling.”

It was terribly hard to only hear half the conversation, especially since Cathy’s side was limited to hums and one-word responses. They were left to have to decipher what she was hearing from her expression. She didn’t look thrilled by what she was hearing, but she also didn’t seem too upset.

Aiden’s leg bounced as he lifted his can of soda to take a sip. Skylar was tapping her fingernails on the edge of her glass of water. Only Dan seemed calm and patient as he waited for his wife to finish the conversation.

When Cathy finally hung up, Skylar said, “Well?”

“Hang on.” Cathy set aside her phone and picked up her glass to take a sip. “Okay. So Charli said that Shiloh seems to be responding to the new antibiotic, which is good news. Unfortunately, the doctors have seen some things that apparently concern them. Shiloh will be having a full workup to see if there’s a chance the treatment didn’t work as well as they’d hoped.”

“It’s too soon,” Skylar murmured.

“Unfortunately, there are times that treatments don’t do what we hope they will,” Dan said. “But that’s why we wanted to be prepared for the next step if this first one didn’t work.”

Skylar bowed her head, but not before Aiden caught a glimpse of the pain on her face. He understood the pain, but he wasn’t surprised by the news the way Skylar seemed to be.

“Listen, darling,” Cathy said as she leaned to put her hand on Skylar’s arm. “We are not without hope. God has provided a match for Shiloh, right in our own family, and I believe that there is a reason for that. So don’t give up hope. We’re not.”

“I know. I had just hoped that her problem was something easily solved and not related to her cancer.”

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