Page 6 of Perseverance of Love

THREE

~ Aria ~

It was eerily quiet in the house without the boys or Peter. Kelly and I sat in the living room, idly reading magazines and playing about on our phones. It wasn’t until there was a knock on the door, did I realize I had read the same article three times over.

“I’ll get it,” Kelly said, pushing herself off the couch.

I took a sip of my water as I watched her leave the room. My legs dangled over the back of the armchair lazily, and my hair was shoved up in a messy bun. That’s what made it even worse when my sister walked back into the room, followed by Samuel.

“It’s for you,” Kelly said with a subtle wink as she sat back down.

“Sam,” I rolled off the armchair and onto my feet, almost knocking my glass over, “I didn’t expect you today.”

His grin was infectious, “Well, you did say if I need anything, I should come to see you.”

What was it? Was he in trouble? Was he going to open up about his father’s death? A flood of thoughts spilled through my mind as I led him through the house and out into the garden. I didn’t even realize where I was taking him until I saw the bench at the back. Eyes wide opened, I turned to face him. Sam must have guessed that I was surprised as he started to laugh.

“Yes, I remember this bench well. Wasn’t this the place where I got to sneak a hand up your shirt for the first time?”

His smirk had me blushing, and I had to quickly look away. After we sat down, I turned myself to face him, although barely able to maintain eye contact for more than a few seconds without feeling my insides start to heat up.

“What is it?” I asked gently, “Has something else happened?”

He shook his head, “Not exactly. In fact, my mom is starting to look like herself again.”

“That’s great news. She always was a strong woman.”

“That she is,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck, “Which makes it a rather awkward situation.”

The tone in his voice had me concerned. What was awkward? What had put such a confident guy on edge?

“Which is?” I prompted.

“Well, my mom has been crying a lot lately, and it seemed nothing I could do would cheer her up. So, we were sitting at the counter earlier, and she was reminiscing about dad. You remember how they always used to sit at that counter together in the evenings? Yeah. She was saying how she envisioned there would have been a time where they were sitting there with me and my wife. Then she started talking about you and…”

He drifted off, but my brain started to fill in the gaps. I clapped a hand to my mouth.

“You didn’t.”

“I did. It was the only thing to make her smile again. I just said we were dating. That was it.”

“That’s it?” I exploded, “You lied to a widow not two days after she buried her husband?”

“He was my dad too.”

A tendril of guilt snaked through me, and I lowered my tone. I knew that he was hurting too, but I felt like I should still have some say in the matter.

“So now what?” I asked grimly.

“She wants you over for dinner.”

“And I’m just meant to play the part of your girlfriend?”

Swiftly, he grabbed my hands, forcing me to look into those deep brown eyes of his. I felt myself melting at his touch, and I knew there would be no resisting.

“Please,” he begged, “I know you don’t owe me anything, but I just want to make her happy. When you leave town next, we can say we broke up. It’ll just be a bit of acting for a short while to keep her happy.”

I knew it was a bad idea. I felt a nagging feeling of concern at the back of my brain, but at that moment, I couldn’t notice anything but those eyes. My resolve all but broken, I simply nodded.

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