Page 122 of Skylar

Aiden’s hope for his chances with Skylar took a nosedive with that question. “We’ll figure it out. I won’t make things difficult for you.”

Skylar turned one of her hands over so that their palms were touching. Warmth spread through Aiden as she sandwiched his hand between hers.

“I like the Aiden I’ve come to know since I came to your office,” Skylar said, her voice soft. “Parts of you are still the boy I loved as a teen. But you’ve also changed from him. I worry you’ll change again.”

“Change is inevitable. For both of us. Our experiences in life change us. My prayer is that I will only change for the better in the years to come,” Aiden said. “I feel like I’m more open to rebuke, and I’d be happy to have an accountability partner.”

“Someone like Cole?”

“He’d be a good choice,” Aiden said. “I know he’d have your best interests at heart, so if he came to me with concerns, I’d know they were really serious.”

It felt a bit weird to be discussing things the way they were.

The first time he’d asked her out on a date, it had been preceded by some—or maybe a lot—of flirting between them. When he’d finally asked her out, she’d accepted without hesitation, and things had grown from there.

This time around, they were both coming with baggage. Lots of baggage. And since it was baggage that Aiden himself had packed, he now needed to have patience as he and Skylar unpacked it.

Discussion was needed.

These weren’t things that could just be pushed off to deal with later. They would directly impact their relationship if they didn’t at least try to hash things out. Because if they couldn’t work through it, there was no chance for a relationship between them.

So while it wouldn’t be even remotely a romantic start to a relationship, Aiden knew it was more important than roses or any other physical gift. This was him giving her the gift ofunderstanding and patience. And it was as much a gift to him as it was to her.

Aiden wanted to think they were starting to build the foundation for something lasting. So the stronger it was, the better.

He just hoped that Skylar felt the same way.

“Can I have one more night to think about this?” she asked, her voice barely audible in the slowly darkening evening.

Aiden tightened his fingers around hers. “You can have as long as you need. I’m not going anywhere.”

“I’m glad.”

“I just realized we haven’t had supper yet,” Aiden said as he looked around. “And it looks like your parents aren’t back yet. Do you want to go out and grab something?”

“Sure. I am a bit hungry.”

After a brief discussion about their restaurant options, they settled on the one they’d always preferred as teens. And when they got there, they placed orders nearly identical to what they’d ordered back then, too.

By the time they got back to the house with the food, Cathy and Dan were there and greeted them with smiles.

“How did the visit at the hospital go?” Cathy asked as they joined Aiden and Skylar at the dining room table.

“It went really well,” Skylar said, then glanced at Aiden. “Right?”

“Yes, I thought she looked good. Better than I expected. She even playedGo Fishwith me and didn’t seem lethargic or anything.”

“That is encouraging,” Cathy said. “That means the meds are tackling whatever got her sick in the first place.”

“Which could mean that her symptoms might be entirely attributed to the infection and not the cancer,” Dan added.

Skylar lowered her burger without taking a bite. “Really? Is that possible?”

“It’s possible,” Cathy said. “But the test results will give us the answer for certain.”

“But it is a very good sign,” Dan said.

“Oh, that would be wonderful if it’s something easily treatable.”

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