Page 61 of Skylar

He headed back to the other end of the table where he’d set his plate. Settling down on the bench by Jay, he cracked his soda open and lifted the can to take a sip.

Skylar shifted her attention to her meal, taking a bite of the potato salad as she tried not to focus on Aiden.

It hadn’t been a big surprise to show up at the house and find Aiden there. In fact, once she’d seen him at church, she would have been more surprised if he hadn’t been invited.

Shewascurious as to why he’d shown up for the morning service. At the end of their relationship, she’d known that he had moved away from his faith, and she was sure that Cole had as well. Not that she was pointing fingers at them because she’d basically done the same thing.

It had been hard to find a church to plug into when she’d left Serenity for college. And when she’d discovered she was pregnant, finding a church had dropped completely off her priority list. Since then, she hadn’t even attempted to grow in her faith.

She was attending church in Serenity simply to appease her family. It wasn’t as bad as she’d thought it would be. In fact, there had been something comforting about being back in the familiarity of her childhood faith.

Glancing down the table, she did another quick category of Aiden’s appearance. It was hard not to compare him to the young man she’d fallen in love with.

Though he smiled easily enough as he conversed with her family, she could see that he didn’t have the carefree attitude he’d had as a teen. There were dark smudges under his eyes, and he’d lost the glow of youth. The responsibility of caring for his family in light of the tragedy they’d endured seemed to weigh him down.

Sadly for her, none of that had diminished his attractiveness.

It was one of the things that had sparked her initial crush on him. He’d also always treated her well, even when Cole was frustrated with her. Around the time she turned fifteen, their interactions had turned mildly flirtatious as they’d each put out feelers toward the other.

And then there had been their first date. Their first kiss. Holding hands. Hugging.

All of those moments played through her mind in great detail, and familiar butterflies came to life in her stomach. It was like the period of time around the breakup didn’t exist. The man he was now was most similar to the one she’d fallen in love with. Not the one who’d broken her heart.

“How’re you doing, Sky?” Jay asked. “Ankle doing better?”

“Not better enough.” Skylar took a sip of her soda, grateful for the distraction from her thoughts. “I still have pain if I’m not careful.”

“I’ve sprained a few ankles in my day, and they can be so annoying. Almost worse than a break because mentally, it feels like it should heal faster, and sometimes it doesn’t.”

“Sprained muscles can take a while to heal,” Misha said. “It really depends on how badly the muscle and ligaments are impacted.”

Conversation flowed easily around the table. Even Aiden was participating, sharing about his life and his career. She was a bit surprised at how well he interacted with her family.

In the past, he would never have shown up without Cole being there. Even when they were dating, he was most at ease when Cole was present, too. The way he conversed with Will and Jay spoke to the maturity he’d gained over the years.

When the guys began talking about basketball and how Cole had done in the most recent season, Janessa and Misha started up their own conversation, centered on the kids. Skylar just listened as she ate, since she had nothing to contribute.

“How are you finding things with Shiloh now that she knows about you?”

Skylar glanced at Janessa before lifting the hotdog her mom had fixed for her. “So far, so good.”

“Is it weird?” Misha asked.

“Yes.” She didn’t really need to ask Misha to clarify. “It was challenging enough when no one else knew. But it feels worse now.”

Janessa frowned at her. “What do you mean?”

“Everyone, including Shiloh, just viewed me as her aunt. Now, everyone knows she’s my biological daughter, and it just feels… weird. Harder.”

“Do you wish she was yours and Aiden’s now?”

Skylar shook her head. “Not in the way you mean. I think Charli and Blake are better parents to her given the circumstances, especially with what’s going on now. Had the situation been different, sure, it would have been nice to raise her, but that’s not how things worked out for us.”

Misha nodded. “You seem very determined to live in the moment and not dwell on what might have been.”

Well, that all depended on the moment, to be honest, but Skylar decided not to tell her that. She had a feeling that Misha was aware of that.

Was anyone ever able to live completely in the moment? Without any regrets for past decisions?

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