Fiance Next Door

“Nope. Because I’m never having sex with you again.” She turns her back to me.

I pout.

“Not for the next two days anyway,” Aster adds. “I have to go back to Eastport to check on my dad.”

I stroke her arm. “Eli says he’s fine. The dogs are fine, too.”

“And I have to make the arrangements to transfer him to a nursing home.” Aster turns towards me. “Are you sure they’ll take care of him at Bridges?”

“Do you want me to buy the place and make sure of it?” I ask her.

Her eyes narrow. “You can?”

Probably, but I wasn’t serious.

“Don’t worry.” I pat Aster’s shoulder. “I know the owner and I’ve seen the place. It’s not like the other nursing homes. This one is a farm. There are lots of trees, open spaces, fresh air, animals.”

“But they don’t have to do manual labor, right?” she asks.

“Not unless they want to. Some old people like to keep their hands busy, you know.”

Aster shrugs. “I think my dad would like to take pictures.”

“I’m sure he’ll be able to take a lot of good ones there,” I tell her. “And he’ll have friends. He’ll be happy.”

“And he can bring Bart with him?”

“He can bring Bart with him,” I answer.

Aster sighs and falls silent. I know what she’s thinking. Even though she’s already decided to put her father in a nursing home, she’s still not sure it’s the right thing for her to do. And I can understand why.

“Hey.” I grab her hand and squeeze it. “You’re doing the right thing, Aster.”

“Am I? You know, I should have listened to you and put him in a nursing home to begin with. Then maybe I could convince myself I was doing the right thing. But now, it feels like I’m giving up on him, like I’m putting him in a nursing home because I can’t take care of him. I feel like I’m being selfish.”

“You’re not,” I tell her. “You tried to take care of your dad and you’re not giving up on him. You’re just realizing your limits. You have them, Aster, whether you like it or not.”

“Yeah, I know my limits,” Aster says. “That’s why I said no more sex.”

Oh. We’re still talking about that?

“Seriously, though.” Aster looks into my eyes. “Do you think my dad will be happy there?”

I bring her hand to my lips and plant a kiss on it. “I’m sure of it. It’s what he wanted. Didn’t he say so?”

“He didn’t say anything about a nursing home, probably because he knew I wouldn’t be able to afford it.”

I rub her fingers. “Well, you weren’t married to a billionaire then.”

“But he kept telling me not to waste my life but rather to live it. I guess that’s what I’m trying to do.”

“Then I’m sure he’ll be happy.” I lift her hand to my lips once more.

She smiles and tucks my hand beneath her chin. “Thank you.”

Our lips meet, but a moment later my phone rings.

“Saved by the phone,” Aster says.

I frown. I’d rather not answer, but the ringtone tells me it’s Giselle calling.

What does she want?

I sit up and hold the phone to my ear. “Giselle, this better be important.”

“Mason, have you talked to Lee?” she asks me.

She sounds worried.

“I…” I pause because Aster is gesturing for me to put the phone on speaker. I do that. Then I continue. “No, I haven’t spoken to Leander.”

“I have,” Aster speaks into the phone.

“Aster?” Giselle sounds surprised. “Wait. Does this mean the two of you are back together?”

Aster gives me a puzzled look. “You told her we had a fight?”

“She was here last week,” I say. “I had to explain why you weren’t here.”

“Oh.”

“Hello.” Giselle speaks in a louder voice.

“Yes, we’re back together,” I inform her.

I guess she has a right to know, since she did give me some good advice. Well, I wasn’t sure if it was good until a few days ago, but yeah, it seems to have worked.

“And you’re together for real now?” Giselle asks.

I glance at Aster. “I told her everything. Sorry.”

“It’s fine,” she says. “I told Peggy everything, too.”

My eyebrows crease. “Who’s Peggy, again?”

“Did you say yes or no?” Giselle asks.

“We are,” I tell her. “But that’s not why you called, is it?”

I hear her sigh. “No. I called about Leander.”

“Is he okay?” Aster asks.

I glance at her suspiciously.

She frowns. “I’m just asking if your brother is okay since the last time I saw him, he had just been in a fight.”

“He was in a fight? Is that what he said?” Giselle asks.

“No,” Aster answers. “He said he fell, but yeah, I think he was in a fight.”

“Because he called me about some pain and I checked on him and he had a broken rib,” Giselle says. “And that’s not all I found out.”

“What did you find out?” I ask her.