The Butterfly Effect (Boggy Creek Valley 1)

“Yes, you can!” When I turned around, I came to an abrupt stop, causing the younger woman to bump into me.

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” I said as I turned and gave her a warm smile before taking a quick look back at the man who’d made me falter.

Aiden.

I hadn’t seen him in more than two weeks. No texts, no phone calls, nothing but silence. I had been worried about him at first, but as each day went by with no communication, my worry turned to anger. I had tried to call him once, a couple of days after he had walked out on me, but didn’t leave a message. It didn’t feel right to say what I wanted to say over voicemail. He didn’t bother to follow up with the missed call, though, which hurt more than I wanted to admit.

Ignoring the way my body seemed to come alive at the sight of him, I made my way over to the counter and began helping the women get their apples. With two bags full of apples and one famous Boggy Creek Valley Apple pie in hand, they made their way out of the small enclosed area of the store.

The man had the nerve to smile at me with those dimples of his as he made his way over. Truth be told, I wanted to be angry with him, but a part of me knew why he had left. At least, I thought I knew why.

“I’ve been thinking about you,” he said.

That small child inside of me wanted to stomp my foot and point my finger at him as I shouted about how he’d hurt my feelings. Instead, I acted like a grown up. “I’ve been thinking about you too,” I admitted.

“I thought maybe we could have dinner.” He leaned against one of the tables and crossed his ankles. “My mom and Carl would love to have you over. I’ve been spending some time with both of them and getting to know what’s going on with the construction business and all.”

With a nod, I said, “Dinner sounds nice. I heard you got the deal with Kathleen. Congratulations. I’m happy for the company.”

A brilliant smile broke out on his face. “She’s a demanding client, but I think things will work out well. She simply needed to have some ground rules put in place.”

I lifted a brow. “Ground rules?”

He rolled his eyes. “Let’s just say when we have meetings with her, it’s in a very public place or with more than two other people there. She came on to both me and Tucker. She’s a viper, and that’s putting it nicely. We’re building her a mansion pretty much. It’ll bring in a lot of money for O’Hara Construction.”

I was positive my eyes were as round as saucers hearing this bit of information. It was also nice that Aiden was sharing all of this with me. “I’m sure it will all work out for everyone, that is, if she learns to keep it professional.”

He nodded and rubbed the back of his neck. “I, um, had to do some repairs for Greer at the bookstore. She wasn’t there though.”

That made me pause. Was he worried I’d be jealous?

“Aiden, you don’t have to explain your every move to me. I’m not going to lie and say I wasn’t hurt by you walking away like you did. But I understand.”

A confused expression moved over his face.

“You understand?”

I nodded.

“I was worried sick about you. But when two days turned to five. Then seven into ten…” I shook my head. “I deserve more than that. I already wasted part of my life with a man who didn’t care enough about me or my feelings, and I will not go down that road again. I can’t do it again. For the sake of my own heart. No matter how much I love you, I will not allow you to push me away when things get rough. I need a partnership, Aiden. I need you to trust me, and I need to be able to trust you.”

Aiden took a few steps away from me and rubbed his hand over his face as he looked around the small area that was filled with apples and heavenly desserts. For a moment, he looked panicked. Scared, as if he was trapped and looking for the closest way out. He shook away whatever it was that seemed to be bothering him and focused back on me.

“I…I, um. I do trust you, Willa. That night, I…I…”

The pained expression on his face nearly made my knees buckle.

“You had a dream. A bad dream,” I whispered.

He nodded. “When I woke up and saw what I was doing to you…I…I would never hurt you.”

My heart instantly melted on the spot, and a rush of an entirely different emotion swept over me. Protectiveness.