Page 87 of Skylar

Skylar shifted so she was in the same position as him, facing him directly. “You didn’t look fine.”

Aiden glanced around, noting that they weren’t too close to others, then said, “I’m just thinking about Shiloh.”

“She’s doing fine,” Skylar said. “Charli said that even though she still has some residue effects from the chemo, she’s doing better each day.”

Aiden nodded. “It’s just so hard to see her like that and not be able to do anything to help her.”

“Yeah. It’s a very helpless feeling.”

“I’m just very grateful that Charli is letting us have a relationship with her. I know my mom has been so happy to welcome another member of the family after having lost two. And Willow loves her already.”

“Charli and Blake are better people than I am,” Skylar said. “I’m not sure I would have been as welcoming.”

“Yeah. Me either, to be honest.”

They drifted quietly for a few minutes, then Aiden said, “Do you know when you’re leaving yet?”

Aiden didn’t want her to leave. Now that he had her back in his life, he didn’t want her to go back to Vegas. However, he understood why she might find it difficult to stay in Serenity. She’d already stayed longer than he’d thought she might. Of course, the main reason was probably her inability to work because of her foot.

Skylar took her time answering. “I don’t know. Probably in a week or so. I see Gareth tomorrow, so we’ll see what he says. Once I can wear my work shoes again, I’ll have to get back to my job. I doubt that they’d hold my position for much longer.”

“Too bad you couldn’t get a similar job flying out of Coeur d’Alene,” Aiden said, trying not to add on that he really wished that could be.

“Yeah. Unfortunately, that’s not really a possibility for me.”

“Have you ever considered another type of job?”

“Sure. I’ve thought about what I might do if this didn’t work out. But so far it has, so I haven’t really given much thought to it.”

“I wish I could move back to Serenity,” Aiden mused. “But there’s no company here for me to work at, and I don’t really want to drive an hour every morning to get to work.”

“You could start one,” Skylar said. “Your plan was always to start your own business.”

“Our plan,” he reminded her. “We were going to open that company together.”

Skylar’s expression saddened, and her gaze went distant, as if recalling all the moments they’d spent talking about that future. “Yeah. Guess that wasn’t what life had for us.”

It hurt him that his actions had derailed the future she’d planned for herself. Because of everything, she’d abandoned her schooling and moved in a completely different direction.

“Are you happy at your job?” If she was, that would help to ease the guilt he carried over what he’d done to mess up her life.

However, the long pause before she answered caused his guilt to increase.

“It’s not a bad job, and I’ve had the opportunity to visit places I might not have otherwise. So I enjoy that, but sometimes I feel like I’m missing something that satisfies the creative side of me.”

“Do you have any hobbies that help with that?”

“Not really. These days, if I want an outlet for my creativity, it usually comes in the form of coloring in an adult coloring book.”

“My mom has a couple of those,” Aiden said. “We use them when Willow wants us to color with her.”

“You color in them too?”

Aiden shrugged. “Yep. It’s not something I ever thought I’d do, but it’s pretty hard to say no to my mom or to Willow. I’ve become pretty good at staying in the lines.”

Skylar laughed. “You should have learned that in kindergarten.”

“Guess I’m a late bloomer.”

---