Page 82 of Skylar

“Yep. I rented a pontoon boat for us.”

“Who all is going?”

“Wilder said he and Lexi would come, and Kayleigh was going to talk to Hudson.” He thumped Aiden on the shoulder. “And I hope you’ll come too.”

“Of course. I think my mom was planning to spend some time with a couple of her friends. They have some grandchildren around Willow’s age, so I think they’re going to the park together.”

“Were they going to see Shiloh?” Skylar asked.

“I talked with Charli this morning about spending some time with her,” Aiden said. “But she said that Shiloh had a bit of a rough night, so they were just going to give her a low-key day today. She did say we could stop by before we head back to Coeur d’Alene to say goodbye, though.”

Before discovering that Shiloh had cancer and doing some additional research of her own, Skylar had thought that once chemo was over and indications were that the treatment had seemed to work, that everything would go back to normal. Unfortunately, that was not the case. So it was possible—probable even—that Shiloh would continue to suffer with the negative effects of the treatment she’d received so far.

“Well, let’s head out and get on that boat,” Cole said. “Do you have a swimsuit, Aid?”

“I’m sure I’ve got a really old one at the house.”

“How about you, Sky?”

“Yeah. I’m not sure why I stuck a couple in, but I did.”

“Perfect.” He turned back to Aiden. “Do you want us to swing by and pick you up so your mom can have the car?”

“Sure. That would be great. I’ll just need to head to the house first with them.”

“Okay. We’ll be there in an hour,” Cole said. “Is that enough time?”

“Should be.”

A few minutes later, she and Cole were in his car, headed to the house.

“Is there anyone you’d like to invite to join us?” Cole asked. “We’ve got the room. The boat I rented accommodates fifteen people.”

“Who would I invite?”

“Is Allie still living around here?” Cole said, naming her best friend from high school.

“No clue.”

“You guys fell out?”

Skylar shrugged. “I guess you could say that. She didn’t approve of a couple of my decisions.”

“Like?”

Skylar wasn’t sure she wanted to delve into all that with him, but it might help him understand some of what she’d gone through.

“When I was worried that I was losing Aiden, I decided that the best way to keep him was to sleep with him.”

“Really?” Cole’s tone was incredulous. “Pretty sure we were told in our youth group tonotdo that.”

Skylar sighed. “I know. It wasn’t the right thing to do, and Allie felt the same way. She told me not to do it, but I ignored her. When she found out what I’d done, she was furious that I’d gone against everything we’d been taught.”

“Wow. I mean, she always was very focused on her faith, even at a young age, so I guess her reaction kind of makes sense.”

“When I found out I was pregnant, I never told her,” Skylar said, remembering how hard that time had been. She’d been away at college, dealing with a breakup, the loss of her closest friend, and finding out she was pregnant. “When I went to her, upset that Aiden had ended things, she basically said I told you so. That was the last conversation we had.”

“I’m sorry, sis.”

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