Perfect Night (Mason Creek)

The door was closed and locked. Anyone wanting to see me had to knock.

I got up and was surprised to find Aiden behind the door.

“Don’t be a stranger,” he said with a wide grin. I couldn’t give it back to him.

“Can I help you with anything?” I said, holding the door handle.

“I could use your help,” he said, hesitantly. Easily picking up my no bullshit vibes.

I exhaled and opened the door a little wider, giving him space to come into the small room. Aiden was a big guy. Bigger than my dad who hadn’t been small himself.

Though I had no right to be angry with him, the simple fact was I was. He’d also done me several kindnesses. I owed him more than one. “Sure, come in.”

He shocked me with his request.

Chapter 10

Aiden

Darcy turned to face me with mischief in her eyes. She was one of those women who was well aware of her looks and knew how to use them to get a guy’s attention.

I’d been with enough women to know what I wanted at this stage in my life, and I was prepared to wait as long as it took to get it. Giving into temptation wasn’t an option. It would only give me regrets I couldn’t take back.

“What’s in that bag?” I asked.

Along with the pizza box, she’d brought one of those reusable looking shopping bags filled with stuff.

“Don’t you want to eat first?” she asked.

“I’ll eat and you explain,” I said.

“First you have to come over here. I promise not to bite unless you want me to.”

“Darce,” I warned. I had a feeling she wasn’t going to give up easily.

She rolled her eyes before digging in her bag. “Come see.” Out came some blue tile, a white square shape of stone, and two wooden panels, one white and one blue.

“What’s this?” I did have a clue as I stepped forward but wanted to hear her ideas.

“The kitchen is the heart of the home. I thought you could go with white shaker style upper cabinets.” She pointed at the white panel. “For the island and even for the lowers, you could do blue.” She tapped the other wooden panel. “If color scares you, you can just do a blue backsplash in this tile and white quartz countertops which are easier to maintain than granite.”

Then she pointed out how she would rearrange the kitchen footprint. It actually sounded good, though I wasn’t that fussy. I was confused about one thing.

“Why blue?” I asked her.

“Personally, I’d go with grey, but I figured you’re doing this for Emma, and I hear her favorite color is blue.” My eyes widened. “Don’t look shocked. I’m not dumb. You sure as hell aren’t renovating this house for me.” She placed her hand above where my arms were folded and leaned in. “Just because you might end up with little miss goody goody, doesn’t mean you can’t have a little fun.” She came closer. “I won’t tell if you won’t.”

I caught her hand and moved my head before she could kiss me. “Why do you hate Emma so much?”

She eyed her hands where I’d captured them. I let them go. She stepped back. “Why do you think?” When I didn’t answer fast enough, she continued, “I loved you, Aiden. I would have done anything for you. You had to know that. Yet, you left me, broken hearted.”

I reached for her, hating that I’d hurt her. I did care about her. “Darcy, we’ve talked about this.”

She held up her hands to stop me. “Just answer this. If you had stayed, would you have married me?”

I closed my eyes, trying to think of a way to say no without making her feel as though she hadn’t been worth it. “Darcy,” I said again, feeling like it was the only safe thing to say while navigating the minefield she put in front of me.

“That’s a no,” she finished for me.

“It’s not because of what you think. We talked a lot about leaving. If I stayed, then that meant I didn’t want to leave and I thought you did.”

“Yet, you left, and I stayed.”

“Why?”

“Where does a girl like me go. I wasn’t great in school. Then, I really didn’t have ambitions outside of marrying you.”

“Really?” I asked. “The girl I knew wanted to see the world and you should.”

“Who would want me?”

“Oh Darce, any man would want you. Malcolm doesn’t deserve you.”

“How would you know?”

“I met him, or rather I met him as the mayor today. I hate to judge a man on one meeting, but he’s quite arrogant.”

“He’s my last option. God knows there’s no one else in this godforsaken town who deserves me.”

“You have a gift. Your ideas for the kitchen far surpass anything I would have thought of on my own. I would have left the kitchen layout as is. You should go to school or get an interior designing job outside of Mason Creek and find a man who will make you believe in love.”