Page 97 of Skylar

Mom:Glad you made it home, darling. Did everything go well?

It went smoothly. Glad to be home again, though. Love you!

She backed out of that text conversation and into the next one.

Charli:Yay! We need to set up a chat for you and Shiloh sometime in the next couple of days. She wants you to read to her again.

I don’t have anything going on, so any time you want will work for me. Looking forward to it. Hugs and kisses to you all.

She had bought a copy of the book that she’d read to Shiloh that last time they’d been together, and she’d continued to read from it with her every couple of days. Charli had said that Shiloh had asked that Skylar be the one to keep reading that book, so Charli had chosen a different book for them to read at home.

After that message, she went to the next one.

Aiden:Back on American soil, huh? Hope you didn’t have any cranky passengers or ones that got air sick.

Skylar chuckled, unable to keep the smile from her face.

No cranky or sick ones, thankfully. But glad I don’t have to deal with people for a few days.

She didn’t bother to mention that this flight had had a couple of flirty and slightly handsy men in the group. It always seemed like there was one or two on flights like that who thought they’d shoot their shot with her.

On most flights, she was far more likely to deal with drunk and flirtatious men than she was cranky or sick people.

How was your project presentation?

He’d mentioned that he was putting on what they hoped would be their final presentation for a client before they would sign off on the project.

Somehow, in the two weeks since she’d returned home, they’d fallen into texting each other fairly regularly. At least once a day, if not more. Skylar wasn’t exactly sure why sheencouraged it, though she tried to convince herself it was because he was sharing things with her about Shiloh.

Except she actually got most of her information on Shiloh from Charli. Aiden only passed stuff on to her after his visits with Shiloh on the weekend.

Aiden:It went really well. We should hear within the next couple of days if this is the accepted version of the design. This has caused me and my partner to gray prematurely, I have to say.

Well, they say men with gray hair are distinguished, so I think you’ll be okay.

Aiden:LOL But no one wants to look like a grandfather when they’re not even a father yet. Well, I mean, not a full-time father yet.

Is that something you want?

Aiden’s response was slow to come, and Skylar didn’t even realize she was holding her breath until his reply popped up on the screen, and it rushed out of her.

Aiden:Definitely. I’m just not sure when it will happen. For now, I’m happy to have Shiloh and Willow in my life, and to have a father/uncle role with them.

Skylar shifted to lean her hip against the counter as she stared down at the reply. In the past few weeks, she’d imagined what Aiden would be like in a fatherly role, but now the image that came to her was of Aiden having children of his own with some unknown woman.

Putting her phone face down on the counter, she moved to the fridge to pull out some deli meat, tomatoes, and cheese, as well as everything else she needed to make her favorite sandwich. Her phone chimed with an incoming text message,but she waited until she’d laid two pieces of bread on her plate and spread mayo on them to check it.

Aiden:What about you?

I’m not sure kids are in my future, and I think I’m okay with that.

Aiden:What? Why?

Skylar could picture him frowning at his phone as he typed out the message.

Let’s just say my attempts at relationships have been unsuccessful, and I’m not in a place at the moment where I want to devote that much time and energy into someone else.

Aiden:I guess I understand that, but you always hoped to have kids, so I hope it works out for you.

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