Page 126 of Skylar

“Well, you’re not the only one,” Skylar confessed.

“Want to talk about it?”

Skylar wasn’t sure she did, but she also could use some advice. However, she wasn’t sure that she’d get unbiased guidance from her parents.

“Aiden asked me out,” she said. “And he wants me to consider rekindling our relationship.”

“I don’t think you should rekindle things,” her mom said, surprising Skylar.

“You don’t? I would have thought you’d be on board with us dating.”

“Oh, I am,” her mom said. “I just don’t think you should try to rekindle what you had. You’re both different now. You’ve had experiences—some of them with each other—that have shaped you into different people than you were back when you dated before. So rather than rekindling, I think it’s better to approach it as a fresh relationship.”

Skylar could see the sense in what her mom said. Clearly, what they’d had in the past hadn’t worked for Aiden, which meant, ultimately, that it hadn’t worked for her either. If she viewed things in a new way, perhaps she could keep from thinking of how he’d been during the last weeks of their relationship and what followed. Perhaps…

“So you think I should date him again?”

“I think you should give it some good consideration before you dismiss it outright,” her mom said. “I know he hurt youbefore, so you’ll need to decide if you’re willing to let that go or if the memory of that will constantly raise its ugly head.”

“How do I let it go?” Skylar asked. “Honestly, it’s what’s holding me back. It’s not that I don’t want to leave that in the past, but I just don’t know how.”

“Have you prayed about it?” her dad asked, entering the conversation for the first time.

Skylar looked down at her mug, which was currently half full. “A bit.”

“Praying is certainly the best first step,” her mom said. “But then it’s going to take a concerted effort on your part to forgive Aiden and move forward with him.”

“What if he hurts me again?” she asked. “What if he finds someone he likes better after we start dating?”

“I don’t think that will happen,” her mom told her with a smile. “Aiden seems mature enough now to realize that commitment needs to be total and complete. Which means that once he’s committed to you, he doesn’t even give a thought that someone else might be better.”

Would that be possible? Could she trust that his love would be strong enough this time?

“But you need to make sure that this is God’s will first,” her dad added. “And then trust Him to be with the two of you as you build a life together.”

It sounded so simple when her dad put it that way. However, she wasn’t sure how to determine if it was God’s will.

Was the fact that she felt so unsettled a sign that it wasn’t?

A pang of ache went through her heart at that thought.

“We’ll be praying for both of you,” her mom told her as she came to put her arm around Skylar’s shoulders.

Skylar sat mulling over their conversation as her parents worked together to make themselves breakfast. She still wasn’t super hungry, but agreed to a toasted bagel with blueberry cream cheese when her mom offered to make her one.

After they’d eaten, Skylar took over the job of cleaning up. Once everything was sparkling, she went to her room to get her laptop, then went out to the back porch, where there were some chairs and a table set up on the deck.

The day was forecasted to be hot, but right then it was pleasantly warm. Skylar sat down in one of the chairs and opened her laptop. She’d already done some preliminary research on companies that matched the kind of place where she wanted to work, so she continued to sort through which ones seemed to be a good fit for her. Not that she wouldn’t apply to all of them if necessary, but she had some definite preferences from what she’d seen of their online presence.

Her parents came outside to join her at one point, but they didn’t stay too long since they had told Charli they’d be at the hospital around lunch time. They planned to take food up to Charli and Shiloh.

Skylar tried to use her time wisely as she passed the hours until she got a text from Aiden saying he was on his way home.

She’d changed into a pair of white capris and a lilac colored blouse with tiny white polka dots on it. It was another warm day, so she’d pulled her hair was up into a ponytail and kept her makeup minimal.

Because she’d been keeping an eye out for Aiden from the living room window, she saw when he pulled in. Gathering upher purse and phone, she left the house, locking it using the keypad on the door.

Pushing his sunglasses to the top of his head, Aiden greeted her with a smile as she joined him at the car. “You look very nice.”

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