It takes another ten minutes before I see the ocean. Then fifteen more minutes until Aiden is parked, and we are walking hand-in-hand towards the water.
Aiden sets down the basket full of food and then pulls off his T-shirt. Even though it doesn’t really matter for me, I still remove my clothing until I am wearing only my underwear. Aiden shakes his head disapprovingly at me, but I simply poke my tongue out at him childishly and hightail it to the water.
My feet sink into the damp sand as the water washes over my feet and ankles. As I run, I kick water over up me. Despite the chill to the water, I don’t slow down, either. I feel Aiden behind me, gaining on me, so I run faster, laughter erupting from me as adrenaline and excitement race through me.
The water is over my bellybutton before Aiden’s arms encompass me, pulling me against him. I turn in his arms and notice how alone we are in this spot. There is no one anywhere near us in the water, and the closest people along the sand are much farther down, far enough away they wouldn’t be focusing on Aiden. As a result, I don’t hold back.
I wrap my arms around his shoulders, my legs around his middle, and kiss him as though this will be our last. As though I need it to last me a lifetime, and oxygen is not as important as being this close to him. He matches my ferocity, our kisses almost bruising yet still not enough.
Afterward, he walks us along the water, moving deeper until I’m almost covered to my neck.
“I want … I need … this.” His hand cups me under the water.
As I nod, he pulls my underwear aside, and a moment later, he enters me.
We both gasp, the sensation never growing old, and then we both still. I gaze into his eyes, and he looks back in a soul-searching stare. I barely blink, unwilling even for a split second to lose sight of him.
In the warmth of the sun, the reflection of the ocean in his eyes, I realize how beautiful Aiden is. He’s definitely attractive and strong. Sure, there may have been moments when I have been lost staring at his chiseled, strong jaw; his forgiving lips; his stunning blue eyes; his wide shoulders. I may have stared at his bulging muscles along his arms and legs; his solid chest where I love to listen to his heart beating as he holds me against him; his amazing ass—which would be the area I have always gotten lost staring at the most. I could possibly have reveled in his hands that hold me so gently, touch and caress me with love and care; and lastly, but definitely most favorite, his shaft that gives me so much pleasure and enables me to do the same for him. I love every part of Aiden’s body. However, as I gaze at him—his outer beauty right in front of my eyes—I see more.
I see his love, his kindness, his loyalty, compassion, gentleness as well as his dedication to me, his family, and his job. I see his strength and fearlessness. I feel amazed as I stare at him, connected to him as one. I have never felt something so powerful before.
When he rests his hands against each side of my face, bringing me closer before he smiles and kisses me sweetly, I think I melt.
I am head-over-heels in love with Aiden, and there will be no cure. There was never going to be anyone else for me. If I had never met Aiden and never died that fateful night, I would have lived an entire lifetime without this kind of connection, without this love.
“Ready?” he whispers as his eyes open and search mine again without his hands moving from me.
“Yes,” I whisper back, my utterly desperate and needy voice coming out strangled.
As he kisses me again, moving his hands down to my hips, I tighten my arms over his shoulders. My body remains flush against his as he moves me over him, my breasts rubbing against his chest, adding a delicious friction. I don’t hold back, moaning and groaning for him, calling out his name and trying to torture him by clenching myself around him.
He moans with me as our speed increases, and I find my release, tears falling down my face. He soon follows me, kissing my tears away as we come down from our high.
“Beautiful, you are so beautiful,” Aiden tells me.
I hug him tightly, never wanting to let go. Eventually, the area we are in becomes more popular, though. Aiden pulls out of me, shifting my underwear to cover me before readjusting himself. Then we swim.
Sometimes, we hold hands. Sometimes, we float next to each other, gazing up at the blue skies. We stay until Aiden’s fingers begin to wrinkle, and his stomach is playing the hunger song.
We move back over to where Aiden left our basket, and he grabs some sandwiches he has made. He offers me one, but I don’t feel any hunger. Plus, I’m too afraid to try to take it from him in case I can’t hold it, and it ruins this great day. Therefore, I shake my head, watching him consume three large sandwiches and an entire bottle of water.
“You know, before you, I didn’t make eating much of a priority. I’d be so lost inside a case it would be dark before I realized I hadn’t eaten. Now I can’t wake up without feeling starved.”
“Good. From now on, you eat three meals a day, Aiden. I mean it,” I say sternly. Eating properly is a touchy subject with me. Often, my kids at school skip meals, either because their parents can’t afford to feed them properly or because their parents are neglecting their needs. I often brought extra sandwiches for lunch time to give to any hungry kids. I was also in the process of trying to organize a breakfast scheme for kids before I died. We were hoping to implement it once school returned in the Fall. As a result, knowing how poorly Aiden treated his body before angers me. When I am gone, it will be up to him to keep his healthy eating habits going.
“I think, after you’ve stretched my stomach to capacity, I can’t survive skipping a meal. You’ve made me food obsessed!” he accuses, patting his stomach that is pushed out to give him a small, round paunch.
When I laugh at his antics, poking him in his food belly, he immediately sucks it back in.
“Hey, careful, you almost got my scar!” He rubs the wound.
I know he’s only teasing, but I feel my smile fading.
“I wish this never happened to you.” Leaning over, I gently graze the place where he was shot with my fingers. The one in his front is worse than his back, since the bullet exited his chest.
“I can’t say I would want a repeat, especially the dying part, but I’m glad it meant I was able to spend so much extra time with you.” He pulls me forward, and I sit between his legs, my back against his front.
I stare out at the ocean as tiredness pulls at me again. I close my eyes, feeling the sun’s glare behind my eyelids. When I open them back up, I’m no longer at the beach, no longer with Aiden.
I see Aiden’s grandma as she sits down on a chair in a room too white and open to be anywhere with the living. I know this room.
As I stare at Aiden’s Grandma, she opens her eyes and sees me, smiling peacefully.
“You must be Thea. I’m sorry to know you’re going to be coming with me, but I’m happy to finally meet you,” she says gently, her smile genuine.
“Coming with you? Where are we going?” I move closer to her, kneeling before her, finding my legs too weak to pick me up yet.
“I’m going to finally see my husband again. I can’t wait, but I will. You have one last chance to go back. Tell Aiden I love him. Tell him I am proud of what he has achieved and the man he has turned into. And make sure we don’t see him here for a long, long time.”
“I’m leaving him?” Tears well in my eyes, blurring his grandma, but I quickly wipe them away.
“I’m sorry, dear, but yes. Your place is here. You did what you were meant to do. You saw justice for yourself and many victims. You got to experience life changing love with my grandson, and that won’t ever leave either of you.”
“But we haven’t had enough time. I need more!” I whine, somewhere knowing it was always going to happen this way, and I should be grateful for what time I did have. However, I’m angry, as well, and the anger is clouding everything else.
“I know, dear, and you’ll have it. You just need to wait until he is ready to cross over, to
o. My husband has waited for me for twenty years, just as I have waited, too.”
I don’t know if I can wait. I don’t know that I have the patience to stay here and not go insane.
“He deserves to live his life, be part of Max and Abby’s lives as they get married and have babies. He needs to be there for Flynn and his mother. He does important work that he loves.”
She is right. I would feel devastated to know Aiden missed out on any of those things. He should have a full and happy life, and I am selfish to wish for anything else.
I finally nod, my throat closed over by emotion.
“Good girl. I knew you were special right from the beginning. Now go say goodbye to him and give him one hell of a smooch!” She pats my hand before her head leans back against the white wall, and she closes her eyes, apparently content to wait for me.
I close my eyes, tears falling down my cheeks. I don’t know how to even get back to him, how to say goodbye, or tell him I just saw his grandma.
However, when I open my eyes, I find myself facing the ocean again while still surrounded by Aiden. I look up at him to find him smiling down at me.
“You fell asleep for a minute there.”
“Aiden…” My voice cracks, and I can’t stop the sob from erupting from me.
“Thea, what is it?” He moves me around so my legs wrap around him, and his arms surround me, holding me close enough to feel completely enveloped in his embrace.
“I’m leaving,” I tell him, and the smile I have admired all day leaves him completely.
If I couldn’t feel the sun still over me, I would have thought storm clouds just erupted over us.
“You’re not leaving me. I won’t let you go.” His arms lock around me now, becoming unmoving, and my heart breaks further at seeing his pain match my own.
“I don’t want to leave you, but I’ve already been here on borrowed time. I’m sorry, but neither of us have a choice in this.”
“Just don’t go. Stay here, or let me go with you.”
“No!” I practically shout, and he winces most likely for his eardrums I just blasted unexpectedly. “You need to be here for Max and your mom. I saw … your grandma. She wants me to tell you how much she loves you and how proud she is of you. She’s proud you are a detective and of the man you have grown to become. I’m so proud of you, too.”
“What are you saying?” Tears trickle down his face.
I lift my hands up, wiping them away, hating to see him upset. “I’m saying your family will need you, and I can wait a lifetime for you. I will always wait for you, and I will be furious if you try to speed up your coming to me. You live a full life, Aiden, and see if you can get a safer job. Don’t take stupid risks, and please, be happy.”
“How can I live a full life without you? How can you expect me to be happy?”
“Aiden, this won’t always hurt so much. It will get better, and so will life.”
“No, I refuse.” His arms around me tighten again.
I take our forced closeness and hug him back harder, my own arms locked around his neck. “I love you, Aiden Mercer. Thank you for everything you have done for me and for Flynn. Thank you for giving me the most perfect day. Thank you for trusting me with your heart and know you will always carry mine with you.”
“No, Thea!” Aiden’s arms move through me.
I no longer feel his touch, and I sob, realizing I most likely look like a blubbering mess, but I can’t stop the tears from falling. My heart aches painfully in my chest as I feel myself drifting.
Just as the bright light surrounds me, I hear Aiden’s shout that he loves me, too.
Then I am gone.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Aiden
Twenty-two years later.
I pull up outside Max’s house, noticing the balloons tied to the letterbox and a giant fairy sticker stuck to the front door.
Max and Abby had three boys close together, and they were done. Then, nine years after their youngest son Jacob, along came Callie. As soon as she was born, she managed to have her brothers and dad wrapped around her cute, pink, tiny finger. Seven years later, nothing has changed.
I will admit I have a soft spot for her, too. A couple of months ago, Abby called me, worried about Max since he stormed off to Callie’s school after she came home crying. She was worried he would do something stupid.
I immediately went after him, ready to defuse any situation I found. Then, when I saw Max cornering three boys, easily a couple grades older than Callie, I realized from his shouted words they had been teasing Callie.
I saw red, and before I knew it, Max was holding me back as I threatened to arrest them and throw them all in jail. That was the day I was banned from going near her school.
So, yes, I have a soft spot for Callie.
I walk up the steps towards the front door. The house has been renovated since Max officially moved in with Abby, but I can still see the old house Grandma refused to leave. The garden has been kept the same, the broken first step by the letterbox remains, and the bright orange gutters haven’t been repainted. Many things are the same, but again, completely different.
I enter the house, finding the door unlocked and as soon as I step inside, I am bombarded by countless children running at my feet, chasing each other inside while Abby fruitlessly calls for them to take it outside.
I walk over to her, giving her a kiss on the cheek as she distractedly finishes icing easily fifty bright pink cupcakes.
“Need any help?”
“I think Max could use some at the grill,” she tells me, immediately going back to yelling at the kids who are threatening every object within crashing reach of them.
I leave her to it, only making it three steps outside, where more children reside, before Callie crashes into my legs. I almost lose my balance yet manage to grab ahold of the wall behind me.
“Uncle Aiden!” she screams loudly, making my entrance known to not only everyone outside, but also in the neighborhood.
“Hi, little Callie.” I reach down and pick her up, feeling my back protest. I used to be able to do this with ease when Max’s boys were young, but since I have entered my fifties, this isn’t so simple, despite Callie weighing barely anything at all. “Happy birthday!” I tell her, giving her a kiss that causes her to giggle. I’m not sure I have ever seen Callie without her giggling at some point.
“Did you see what I got? Did you see?” She remains screaming, unable to speak at a different volume apparently.
“What did you get?”
“A pool!” she screams even louder if possible then kicks to be let down, just missing getting me in the balls.
As soon as her feet are on the ground, she grabs my hand and pulls me along, heading towards the back of the yard without caring about the people she pushes through or the fact that, since I am much larger, I knock several more people around.
After creating maximum disturbance, I find the pool she received. It is of the blowup variety and bright pink, perhaps only big enough for four children while not deep enough for them to stand and be covered in water.
“Wow, that is fantastic, Callie!” I try to sound extra enthusiastic, but I get an eye roll for my trouble.
“You are so old, Uncle Aiden.”
I don’t know what I said or did to get her to that conclusion, even if it is true, but she is quickly distracted as three young girls race around her, one tapping her on the shoulder and telling her she is it. After that, she races away, forgetting to be careful again of whom she crashes into.
“She has been going like that all day. I don’t know where she finds all that energy,” Max tells me as his hand reaches for mine, and we shake in greeting.
“I see your house has been overrun by seven-year-olds. Shall I call in swat to control the situation?” I joke, grateful when Flynn comes over and hands me a beer.
“I could have used them two hours ago,” Max complains, his eyes narrowing on Flynn. “I hope your kid is keeping his
distance from my daughter. Remember, she is off limits.”
“Max, Jeremy doesn’t even know what girls are. He just thinks Callie has cooties, and he hasn’t been near her. Leave him alone.” Flynn sighs.
“I see where this is going. Callie has a crush on him, and I won’t stand for anything happening between them … well, until Callie is forty. Then I might reconsider … maybe.”
Flynn rolls his eyes, sipping from his beer before he answers Max. “Maybe I should be telling your little princess to stay away from my son. He always starts off sweet and calm. Then he comes here, and by the time we get him home, he’s hypoactive and unmanageable. I think Callie is a bad influence on him.”
I shake my head, knowing I’m about to hear the same argument I have been hearing for years. Before they focused on Jeremy and Callie, it was Flynn warning Max to keep his three boys away from his oldest daughter, Thea. I, however, happen to know that Thea is dating Max’s oldest son, Ronnie, and they are able to get away with it since they are both away for college.
Both fathers are still clueless, but Abby and Flynn’s wife, Gemma, are aware.
I can only imagine the arguments that will cause.
It’s all good natured, though. Flynn has become part of our family, and we haven’t spent a Christmas apart from each other since we lost Thea. He had his moments in the beginning when he didn’t feel like he belonged, but then Mom started getting on his case about who he was dating, and I think that sealed the deal that he was one of her sons.
I have never stopped receiving that discussion from her. Usually, after the boys finish their argument with each other over their kids, it always turns back on me and how I don’t have any kids to worry about. They don’t understand why I never settled down, why I have had no interest in finding someone or having any kids of my own. I never felt any inclination for it.
In my heart, I still love Thea and am happy with the life I have now. Max’s kids are a handful for him and Abby, and I often help out. I am part of their lives and don’t feel as though I’m missing out on anything.
Haunted Love Page 30