Page 9 of Skylar

CHAPTER THREE

Skylar set her silverware on her plate, finished with her lunch, even though she’d only eaten very little. Her appetite since finding out about Shiloh’s diagnosis had been pretty much non-existent. Not to mention having had to see Aiden again. Both situations had robbed her of her appetite, and she only ate enough to keep her parents off her back.

“So you’re definitely on board with us having a family dinner and meeting tonight?” her dad asked.

“Do I have a choice?” Skylar asked, trying to keep her true feelings out of her voice.

She’d agreed, but only because Charli and Blake had felt that it was necessary to inform the family when they asked them to consider being tested for the stem cell match.

Most of the time, Skylar refused to think about Shiloh being her daughter. However, that hadn’t always been the case. In the days and weeks following Shiloh’s birth, she’d had to train herself to only view Shiloh as a niece.

Now, she had to acknowledge that she was her birth mom and deal with the ramifications of that revelation. Her hope was that whatever happened, her interactions with Aiden would be non-existent. Unfortunately, she doubted that was possible.

Seeing him again after almost a decade had been jarring.

The last time he’d stood in front of her, he’d been clean shaven and boasting a longer-than-normal hair style. His tall, lanky body, clothed in faded jeans and T-shirt, had been tense with anger as he’d ended their relationship.

The man she’d seen in the office the day before hadn’t shown much emotion at all. He’d been wearing a suit and tie and sported a professionally styled haircut. There was also the lightest bit of scruff on his face.

She’d heard from her mom, who’d heard from Cole, that a couple of years earlier, Aiden had lost his dad and sister over the course of less than twelve months. That no doubt accounted for the strain she’d seen on his face.

She didn’t have much sympathy for Aiden, but she had a lot for his mom. She was such a sweet woman, and Skylar had loved her.

If the current situation had an upside, funnily enough, it was that she was no longer dwelling on her most recent breakup. The past and all its messiness were calling louder than the present and its heartache.

“What do you need me to do for the dinner tonight?” Skylar asked, even though she didn’t want the meal to actually occur.

“We’re going to have spaghetti, salad, and garlic bread,” her mom said. “Zane told me he’d drop off the sauce, since he and Kelsey can’t come because of work, though we’ll make the pasta here. Kayleigh is bringing fresh bread from the resort, and Rori is bringing a salad. Oh, and Misha said she’d bring dessert.”

“I guess my contribution will be setting the table,” Skylar said. “And maybe pouring water.”

Her mom chuckled. “Every job is an important job.”

Skylar had heard that plenty while growing up. As she sipped her coffee, her mom continued to talk about the dinner. What tablecloth she wanted used. And if she’d have a centerpiece.

Skylar didn’t give any input, but that didn’t matter because her mom wasn’t really looking for her opinion anyway.

Eventually, her mom got a phone call, which interrupted her chatter. Skylar finished her coffee, then rinsed out the mug and put it in the dishwasher.

“Going for a run,” she mouthed at her mom, who nodded as she continued talking to the person on the phone.

Skylar went upstairs to her room and quickly changed into a pair of running shorts and a T-shirt, then put on her runners. It was only a matter of minutes before she headed down the front porch steps to the driveway.

She took a couple of minutes to stretch her legs, preparing to tackle the run she had in mind.

When she’d been in high school, she’d jogged outside. Now that she lived in Vegas, where it could be oppressively hot, she preferred the treadmill, usually watching a show or reading a book as she ran. That day, however, she was left with just her thoughts and a playlist of music with a beat that helped her keep her pace.

The road her parents lived on wasn’t heavily trafficked, so she didn’t have to deal with many cars. She didn’t really expect to face any trouble during her run, but she had still brought a small canister of pepper spray with her, just in case.

Soon she left the long driveway and was out on the road, her feet pounding on the asphalt as she ran. The route she took was familiar since it was the one she and her parents had agreed on back in high school, and she didn’t deviate from it even all these years later.

She hadn’t gone far when she was reminded of how Aiden used to come on runs with her, insisting that he wanted exercise, though she’d thought his reason was to keep her safe.

Too bad he hadn’t protected her from himself.

Anger fueled her, and soon her pounding steps on the asphalt were out of sync with the music and in sync with her emotions. Her life felt out of sync as well. Out of step with where it had been just days earlier.

The decision had been made to not just give all the details about the adoption to the family, but also to Shiloh. Skylar had hoped that wouldn’t be revealed to Shiloh for years to come. Preferably when Shiloh was an adult, close to the age that Skylar had been when she’d delivered her.

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