The Butterfly Effect (Boggy Creek Valley 1)

“Why?” I asked, trying to keep my voice even while my heart fluttered in my chest.

He barely lifted his shoulder. “I came with you, I should have left with you.”

I chewed on my lip and decided the best thing to do was be honest with him. “Aiden, I won’t lie to you and say I didn’t mind that you wanted to stay behind with Greer. A part of me was…jealous, I guess.”

Two different emotions moved over his face. First was a look of disbelief, and then the corner of his mouth twitched with what seemed to be a smile he was trying to hide.

“I didn’t want to stay behind with Greer. I offered to help her clean up the place and didn’t think that you might have…” His voice trailed off.

“I might have what?” I asked, desperate for his answer. Lord, who am I right now? Clinging to his every word. I felt like that eighteen-year-old girl in the barn once again.

“Might have wanted to spend time with me.”

I jerked my head back at his words. “Why wouldn’t I want to spend time with you?”

“You certainly didn’t seem all that thrilled that I went with you to the bookstore,” he answered.

Suddenly I felt guilty and ashamed of how I had acted when Lacey pushed Aiden and me into going together. It hadn’t been for the reasons he thought though. “Of course I wanted you there, Aiden. You’re a friend and, well, Ben loved having you there.”

He nodded slowly. “Right.”

Was that hurt that crossed over his face? Did Aiden also want something more than friendship? The idea sent a thrill straight to the core of my stomach and made me want to squeeze my legs together.

“Did you and Greer catch up?” I asked, trying to let him know I was not the silly, jealous girl I acted like yesterday.

“Yeah, we cleaned up and then went to The Coffee Pot and grabbed a late lunch.”

I hated the rush of jealousy that ripped through me, and I willed it to go away. This wasn’t like me. But then again, I had never been in this position before. This was Aiden, after all, and the sooner I admitted to myself that I was still head over heels for him, the better. My only fear was him pushing me away or not feeling the same.

“That’s nice.” I wasn’t sure what else to say. This war inside of me was going to eat me alive if I didn’t get it under control.

“Yeah, it was good to catch up.”

I glanced up at him and smiled. “Are you planning on seeing her again? A date, maybe?”

He laughed and rubbed the back of his neck. “No. Like I said, Greer has always been just a friend, nothing more.”

I nodded, then went with my earlier gut feeling to be honest. “I think Greer might disagree with you. I mean, maybe she’s changed her mind about wanting to only be friends?”

The weight of his gaze on me made it hard not to look at him, so I pulled my gaze away and looked at the apple trees.

“That’s insane,” he stated.

“Aiden, please,” I said with a chuckle. “Surely you noticed how she looked at you. She’s interested in something other than friendship.”

“And you saw this by spending what, ten minutes with her?” he asked, a bit of frustration laced in his voice.

I gave him a half shrug and tried not to notice how the soft breeze blew his hair and made my fingers ache to feel it. The jacket he had on did nothing to hide the wide-shouldered man in it. “Call it a woman’s intuition. She wasn’t pleased when she thought you and I were together.”

He brought his hand to the back of his neck once again. “Well, I’m not interested in anything other than friendship where Greer is concerned. I need you to believe me on that.”

I wasn’t about to admit how happy that statement made me—to myself or to him. I had no right to keep Aiden from finding happiness with someone, even if that someone wasn’t me.

“I believe you. Um, what are your plans for today?” I asked, desperate for a change of subject. I liked Greer, and I now truly believed Aiden’s feelings toward her were platonic.

“Well, I unpacked all of my stuff last night, which wasn’t much, so that’s done. Mom and Granddad are home, and we all ate breakfast together, which was nice. I thought about taking a drive to the office and seeing what all is going on this week. The sooner I dive into O’Hara Construction, the better. Plus, it would put Granddad’s mind at ease.”

I raised my brows in surprise. “You’re going to take over the business completely?”

He nodded, a distant look in his eyes. “That’s why I came back to Boggy Creek. Mom needed me, and with Granddad being sick, either I take over or we sell the business—and that’s not about to happen. It’s always been the plan, I just didn’t expect it to be this soon.”