Beyond Chance

by Karice Bolton

  “You don’t say.”

  He grinned and licked his lips before taking a sip of water. “Honestly, it’s nothing I like to talk about. The attention was undeserved and quite lopsided when I frame it up with everything else that I’d done in my life.”

  I shook my head in disbelief. The many sides of Aaron seemed at odds with each other, yet they were all needed in order to define the man he’d become. Learning about this put into perspective so many inconsistencies that I didn’t understand. There was much more to his story than what was even online, let alone what he even told Gabby. The depth to Aaron was staggering, and it seemed like I’d only scratched the surface.

  “Oh, my god,” I whispered.

  “What?” he asked.

  “I remember you. I remember the story. I can’t believe I didn’t put two and two together.”

  “Why would you? It was a long time ago…”

  “But still. I remember now. It was on all the channels. I was in high school.”

  Aaron nodded. “My worst fear about the whole thing was that Gabby would see something about it in the news. I was a complete fraud. I abandoned my little sister because I was too cowardly to stand up to our dad, and here I was being declared a national hero. It was complete garbage and wrong on so many levels. The least of things she needed to see was her long-lost brother being hailed as a hero. I was no hero. It was just happenchance that I was there.”

  “I don’t know how she didn’t see it,” I muttered, shaking my head. “You were everywhere.”

  Aaron let out another sigh. “Yes. I was.”

  “How in the world she didn’t notice you if not on television, at least at the grocery store. You were on all the magazines.”

  He nodded and had a pained expression. “When I left Gabby, I looked a lot different than I did when everything happened. The military will make a man out of even the most scrawny individual.” He attempted to grin, and I couldn’t help but smile at the man who I’d so deeply misunderstood. “Not that I was ever scrawny.”

  “So over about the spread of six months, Elizabeth somehow became known as my fiancée, even though I never asked or gave her a ring. I didn’t question how that story got spread. I didn’t want to know. Anyway, I went on with my life and as quickly as I was thrust into the spotlight, I fell from it. Jason and I developed our product and then we both jumped ship the moment we could.

  “The sad thing is that I think Elizabeth actually told her friends that we were engaged. I’ll admit I leaned on her a lot during that whole time, but I never thought I gave her that idea. Shit. I mean, we didn’t even sleep together. I mean…come on.” He flashed a devilish grin, and my cheeks reddened at this revelation.

  Having all of the pieces of Aaron’s hidden life emerge and paint a complete picture of the man I fell in love with made my spirit rise to the occasion. I never should’ve second-guessed him, but I hoped that going forward, we wouldn’t hide anything big or small.

  “I felt bad that she got carried through all that. Some story even ran about her being dumped by me. I have my suspicions who leaked that one.”

  “Tracy?” I asked.

  He nodded. “But whatever. When Elizabeth got out of the service, she worked a few low-paying jobs, and then she came up with the idea for her business. By the time she reached out to me, I was already working with my father again. I thought it was the least I could do to help get her on her feet. Plus, she had a really good idea. It honestly never occurred to me that the worlds would collide, so to speak.”

  “It’s so damn hard to stay mad at you when you have such good excuses. I’m the one who should be apologizing. I should have trusted you and what you had to say last night. Instead, I’ve spent my first day in Paris sleeping and raising hell.”

  Aaron laughed and threw his hands up. “Let’s not get carried away. I should have filled in the woman I want to spend the rest of my life with.”

  His admission sent me to the clouds and back, and I hoped one day I’d be lucky enough to fulfill that wish, but in the meantime, I needed to understand Aaron’s motives and take comfort that he’d begun to share with me parts of his life that he’d tried to forget.

  “Patience has never been one of my virtues.” I folded my arms and stood outside the door to the studio. I was perched on the top stair waiting for him to let me see what he’d been working on the last three weeks.

  “That’s okay. I love all your others. Now give me one more second,” Aaron hollered into the hall.

  “Okay. Your one second is up.”

  “How about two seconds,” he laughed.

  “Come on. I flew all the way across the world to see your work, and now you’re going to hide it from me?”

  Aaron appeared in the doorway, his expression solemn. “I thought you flew all the way across the world to be with me.”

  “Well, maybe. But your work comes in a close second.” I grinned as he drew my hands into his.

  “You have to shut your eyes, and you have to realize that absolutely nothing is put together yet. You’re just seeing the pieces. I’ll be constructing it somewhere else.”

  “I got it. Now let me in.”

  “Close your eyes.”

  I huffed, but I squeezed them shut and allowed him to lead me into the studio. I walked about ten steps before he had me turn to the right. My hip bumped into a sharp object and something clunked onto the floor and I let out a gasp.

  “It’s okay. It was just a ruler.” He stopped walking, and I detected a slight change in his breathing patterns. “Ready?”

  “More than.”

  “Open them up.”

  My eyes flashed open, and he stepped away allowing me to see his pieces propped against the wall and arranged on the floor. Directly in front of me, metal streamed out of an opening that twisted into itself. The shapes reminded me of something from the ocean. The beauty he managed to capture in his pieces always exceeded my expectations, and these were no exception. Whether it was brutality or sensuality, Aaron’s work was full of emotion, and the simplicity and clean lines of his pieces screamed perfection. I knelt down and studied the piece closest to me on the floor, my finger tracing the outline against the wood floor.

  “These are incredible. Breathtaking actually. This piece reminds of a scion, but one who was taken from her family in the sea not the land…”

  “Is that so?” Aaron asked, narrowing his eyes as I spoke of the piece.

  “These metal shards streaming away, look like the ties to her family she’s trying to cut from her life or her way of existing.”

  He knelt down and his gaze darkened as I lifted my hand away from the piece.

  “Anyway, that’s what I see in this one.” I glanced across the room to distract myself from the intensity sitting behind his expression.

  “It’s not even fully constructed yet. I’m amazed you can see all that from so little.”

  I shrugged and stood up, moving to his next sculpture. This piece was different than the other one, but it still felt like the subject was reaching for something it couldn’t obtain. The sorrow that dripped from it was terrifying, and I couldn’t help but see Aaron in this piece as I thought back to his confessions from the day before. The hollowness of the metal contributed to the melancholy feeling that washed over me when looking at the sculpture. It felt like two worlds collided, whether it was peace and war or love and hate, but the longer I looked at the metal, the more I felt I was staring into a portion of Aaron’s soul.

  He walked over to me and slid his arm around my waist. I rested my head on his shoulder, and my heart felt heavy as I stared at the piece in front of us. The half completed sculpture told me so much more about Aaron than he even knew.

  “What do you think?” he whispered.

  “I think you might have found your calling.”

  He squeezed my waist and sighed. “I’m not that sure about that.”

  “That’s just jitters. Believe me when I tell you that your work is out of this w
orld.”

  “Now that you’ve seen what I’ve been working on up here, will you finally let me eat and take you around a little bit?” he asked. “I need a break.”

  I nodded and smiled. This was how I saw my trip to Paris unfolding, but I wouldn’t take back the last forty-eight hours for anything. It brought me closer to the man I loved. Questions were still swimming around inside my mind, and I’d find a time to ask them, but now wasn’t the time. I wanted to play tourist in my new city.

  “So what do you have in mind? The Louvre or the Eiffel Tower or a walk along the Seine…”

  “How about none of those.” His brow arched.

  “What?”

  “The Eiffel Tower is overrated, and we can do the Louvre another day when we can get an early start.”

  “How in the world can you say that the Eiffel Tower is overrated?” I was halfway down the stairs and came to a screeching halt at his latest curve ball. I was here to explore the city.

  “It’s just a tourist trap. The lines are outrageous, and the space needle is just as awesome.” There was something mischievous lurking behind his expression, and I decided not to fall into his plan. I mean maybe he’d seen it a few times with all of his travels, but come on. It was the Eiffel Tower.

  I dropped my shoulders and flipped my hand, dismissing the idea entirely. I’d get there one way or another. “So what have you got up your sleeve?”

  “I thought you might like to picnic in Jardin du Luxembourg. We can pick up some macaroons from Ladurée and wander the gardens and see the statues, or we can find a quiet place to enjoy one another’s company.”

  “Both options sound heavenly.” I walked down the last couple of steps and pushed open the door leading back into the dining room and was pleasantly greeted by a warm breeze from the open window. “I still need to try the crepe place, but I’d like the embarrassment of the cappuccino catastrophe to blow over.”

  “I’m sure they’ve long since forgotten,” Aaron assured me.

  “In a day?” I laughed.

  “Well, soon they won’t remember…” He winked, and I just shook my head at his feeble attempt to gloss over the fiasco.

  “Do I need to bring anything special?” I asked.

  “I don’t even think you need a sweater. It’s been warm from the moment I arrived and I don’t see it letting up.”

  I strolled to the window and poked my head out the opening, thrilled at the thought of getting to stroll through Paris. Today had been exactly as I’d imagined it. We both woke up and shared breakfast. While he went up to work, I spent the morning reading and felt absolutely no guilt for doing so once in my life. I was wearing a green, fitted dress and had no plans to change. Jeans might be more practical, but this dress made me feel amazing.

  Just as I turned around from the window, Aaron picked up my phone from the dining room table and handed it to me. “It looks like you got a text earlier.”

  I glanced at the screen and typed my password, which revealed a text from my mom. It must have come over while I was reading, but my heart fell when I saw the subject of the message.

  Did you see the news I forwarded you about Derek?

  News? What news? I hadn’t looked at email since I arrived. The whole purpose of being in Paris was to hide from it all. Even though I didn’t want to ask, I knew it would bother me the rest of the day if I didn’t get the details.

  No. What’s going on?

  Even though it was early in Seattle, my mom texted back.

  Jury selection is underway and with Derek’s online presence revealed in court documents, the local news has been eating it up. It’s good you’re out of town, but I want you to be aware. Love, mom

  The news chilled me to my core. My plan had been to be as far away from the spectacle as possible. Unable to focus on anything, I leaned against the wall and stared directly in front of me. The dull ache that stretched from my hip down to my leg worsened as the words settled over me. I would be connected to what this predator did for the rest of my life.

  “Brandy, what’s wrong?”

  I shook my head and handed him the phone as the anger threatened to overtake my world. Derek didn’t deserve attention. He was getting exactly what he wanted. A platform.

  I just wanted everything to go away. It was bad enough that I had to be reminded of what he did every day when I got up in the morning or bent over to grab something. It was the simple things in my life that would forever connect me to Derek.

  “If any of the press try track you down…” Aaron’s agitation cut through the room. “Why can’t they leave well enough alone?”

  The disgust in his voice spoke to the depth of emotion that swarmed and muddled my thoughts, pulling me in every direction.

  “The press must be hounding my family and my mom didn’t want to tell me,” I whispered.

  “I’m so sorry, babe. I know you hoped to avoid most of it while you were here. The media feeds off things like this. It’s sick.” His jaw tensed, and I realized his words meant more to me than they ever had. He’d been in my shoes. Against his wishes, Aaron had been thrust into the spotlight. It was something very few could understand, but he did. “If any of those story suckers are on the other line when I pick up the phone…”

  I laughed. “A story sucker?”

  “I refuse to call them journalists. Journalism is reporting the facts not sensationalizing the situation.” He balled his hands into fists and shook his head loathing the story-making machine our news had become.

  I nodded in agreement as the tension that I’d been feeling in my shoulders and body begin to dissipate as I watched Aaron carry the burden for me. I hadn’t asked him to, but he did it without question.

  “You still up for the park?” Aaron asked, taking my phone from my hands and placing it on the table. He tangled his fingers with mine and pulled me closer to him. Leaning my head against his chest, I breathed in everything about him and nodded my head.

  “I think it’s the perfect idea to get my mind off things.”

  Aaron wrapped his arms around me and held me tightly as I kept my eyes closed. Listening to the steady beat of his heart lulled me to a place of calmness that only moments before I didn’t believe existed.

  “I don’t know what I’d do without you,” I murmured.

  “It goes both ways, my love.”

  His grip lessened and I took a step back. “I’m not going to let this bastard spoil my first official second day in Paris.”

  Aaron smiled and gave a quick nod. “Agreed. I’ll go grab my wallet and we’ll be off.”

  I watched him walk out of the dining room, and my mind circled back to everything he revealed to me yesterday. There had been such a flood of information all at once that I was still waiting for the pieces to settle in place. It was hard to believe the man I’d fallen in love with had been a hero-in-hiding. I knew the events that unfolded that day in the church changed him forever, but I also understood the events prior to that had changed him as well. Some good. Some bad. It was up to me to navigate between the parallel worlds and discover the man behind the façade. Puzzling away, I imagined a lovely day with Aaron as I slowly made my way to the front door and waited for him to reappear.

  “You ready? I grabbed two waters. It gets pretty hot in the afternoon here.”

  I nodded and put both bottles in my bag and followed Aaron into the hallway. He locked all the deadbolts and we were off. Excitement pulsed through my veins at seeing Paris in the light of day and leaving my baggage behind.

  I allowed myself to imagine the beautiful Parisian days looming ahead of me—filled with delightful exploration and indulging in the sinfully delicious. I saw a simpler way of existing while I tried to unravel the madness of the life I’d left behind. I wasn’t going to be held prisoner in thought or action because of a choice that someone else made. Trusting the legal system would need to be enough for me. But what if it wasn’t? What if the actions of another dictated how my life would be? It also didn’t he
lp that I played peek-a-boo with someone who’s clearly in love with my boyfriend. I felt like if there was ever a moment when I might come undone, now might be the time. I only hoped it wasn’t at Aaron’s expense.

  But I felt like a ticking time bomb.

  “Try the yellow one,” Aaron said, handing me the box of macaroons. “It’s way better than the green one.”

  Hearing Aaron’s voice brought me back to the present and the very life I’d been daydreaming about. We’d managed to sample about every single color and type of macaroon we’d purchased. It started with the first one, raspberry, and my control steadily went downhill after that first bite. I couldn’t stop myself from trying every single one. We’d been lucky enough to find a large shade tree in Jardin du Luxembourg where we sat and watched the world go by. Other than the fact that the wrought iron chairs were a little uncomfortable, this moment was what I’d envisioned.

  “I could get used to this.” I dipped my hand into the box and snatched the only yellow one remaining. “But this is the last one I’m eating, or I won’t be able to fit in that tiny elevator of ours.”

  Aaron gave me a wry smile and picked a chocolate macaroon out of the box, closing the lid. “I say eat the extra macaroons. Who cares if we fit in the elevator? There’s also the stairs we can take to our floor.”

  I took a bite of the macaroon and lemon melted in my mouth. Aaron was right. This was the best flavor out of the bunch. I eyed the box of treats as he slid it into the paper bag and wondered if I should stop him to get one more…

  “You’ve been pretty quiet,” Aaron said, dropping the box the rest of the way in the bag.

  I drew in a deep breath and glanced around the park packed full of couples and families wandering the grounds. The gardens were in full bloom, and the lawns so perfectly manicured there were chains to keep people off them. “I really like it over here. The people are so friendly, and it’s a million miles away from reality.”