Page 90 of Skylar

Well, that ruled out her or Aiden, because, surely, if it had been Aiden, he would have shown some indication about it.

“He?” Aiden asked.

“Yep. The test results revealed that Cole is a good match for Shiloh.”

“Cole?” She and Aiden spoke in unison, their shock was reflected on Charli and Blake’s faces as well.

Her dad smiled. “I guess it’s a good thing that he decided to come home and be tested.”

Skylar turned to look at Aiden. He was close enough she could see the flecks of dark blue in his light blue irises. She could also see the emotions he was trying to keep in check.

“I can’t believe it’s Cole,” he said with a grin. “He is never going to stop spoiling her now.”

Skylar smiled. “This is just wild.”

She leaned against Aiden for a moment, then realized that perhaps people would read more into their interaction than was there. She didn’t jerk away from him, but as she straightened, his arm fell away.

“Will they do the transplant right away?” Aiden’s mom asked.

Her dad shook his head. “Doing the transplant will be the step they’ll take if it appears that this first treatment hasn’t worked. So for now, we won’t do anything with this information,but pray that we don’t need it. However, if Shiloh does, then we’re ready to go.”

It seemed timely that this news came just as she was preparing to leave. Cole had stayed for a week before he’d flown off again. And now it was her turn.

Her ankle was much better and barely gave her any pain, even when she walked around in her work heels. She’d let Denise know that she was prepared to go back on the schedule, and her first shift was just four days away. She would be flying back to Vegas in two days’ time.

It was time to get back to her job. To Vegas. To her life there. It was what she’d wanted when she’d first come back to Serenity. She hadn’t intended to stay this long, so she should be looking forward to leaving.

But she wasn’t.

The thought of leaving her family. Of not being able to see Shiloh for long stretches of time. Of not seeing Aiden… All of it left her with a very heavy heart. And a reluctance to return to the life she’d left behind in Vegas.

She’d come to Serenity nursing a bruised heart from a breakup, only to have her heart further broken by having to see the man who’d hurt her so badly in the past.

But somewhere along the way, healing had begun within her. Healing not just from the hurt inflicted by men, but healing from the hurt, guilt and anger she’d carried from believing that God had abandoned her. That He’d allowed Aiden to take so much from her.

Her time in Serenity, being with family, attending the church where she’d committed her life to God, seeing the changes in Aiden, spending time with Shiloh… There was no way she couldbe surrounded by all of that and not experience some change herself.

Her heart may have been hardened to some extent, but being around those who knew and loved her most had reached beyond the shell she’d erected around herself and her emotions. It was what Emmett had complained about when he broke up with her. That he didn’t feel like she was emotionally connecting with him.

Leaving was going to be so hard.

Tears pricked at her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. There would be time for crying later. This was her life, and she needed to get back to living it.

The conversation continued on around Skylar as she tried to keep her emotions from spilling out in front of everyone.

“Sky,” Charli said, drawing her attention from her thoughts. “Did you want us to bring Shiloh over tomorrow afternoon so you and Aiden can spend some time with her before you leave?”

“Yeah.” The word came out strangled, so Skylar cleared her throat and tried again. “That would be great.”

Willow and Shiloh were currently out in the backyard with Amelia, who had come with her parents and Shiloh for the meeting. It wasn’t a full family gathering, but Skylar imagined that the news would be posted in the family group chat soon enough.

“We’re still not taking her to church, but we’ll come by around two,” Charli said.

“Why don’t you all come for lunch?” her mom suggested.

“That would be nice,” Charli said. “But that’s a lot of people to feed.”

“We’ll just do burgers and hotdogs again. That’s easy enough.” Her mom turned to Tracy. “And you and Willow are welcome to come with Aiden as well.”

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