This Time Around: A Second Chance Romance (Finding Love in Scotland Series Book 2)

by Gina Azzi

My hands shake as I tuck strands of hair behind my ears. Looking around the room, my eyes settle on my phone and I resign myself to being truthful. “Corey and I didn’t really break up, not the way most people do.”

  “What? You’re —”

  “I ran away.”

  “Everly?”

  “Aaron, please. I’ve never told anyone, except Addison, about this before. Please just let me get it out.” I glance up at him and he nods, his expression equal parts horror and fury. His jaw ticks with tension, his hands balled into fists.

  “I met Corey at a party for my label when I was twenty-six. He was charismatic and charming. The kind of guy who walked into any room and owned it. At the time, I found him extremely impressive. He knew all the right people, said all the right things, and was always in high demand. He could make someone a country star. And he could tear them down just as easily. The first time we met, I don’t think I even landed on his radar. But as my career flourished and my songs became more popular, he began taking note of me at label events and different Nashville functions. He would comment on a new single or music video, compliment me on the lyrics of a song, offer tidbits of advice that I soaked up. Being noticed by him was a high. He was the guy every artist wanted to know, and he looked at me like he really saw me.” I pause, tears welling in my eyes. Aaron moves closer, his hand finding mine. God, how stupid and naïve I was. But back then, my life seemed so simple, so damn sunny.

  “He asked me out at my thirtieth birthday party. It was a huge event with a lavish cake and a celebrity-studded guest list. Addison had planned it and she spared no expense. When Corey asked me to dinner, I was giddy to say yes. Our relationship moved pretty quickly after our first date. Within a few months, we were living together, being photographed around town, blowing up on social media. My career soared; my album sales skyrocketed. Corey began advising on my new album, consulting with my team regarding my appearance, scheduling different media opportunities for me. In short, he began stepping on Addison’s toes and she hated it. It put a huge strain on our friendship, but I didn’t know what to do. I thought I was in love with Corey and it’s almost like I couldn’t hear anyone except him. For nearly two years, everything seemed great. Perfect, even. I hit the Billboard charts and performed a sold-out tour. I was on the cover of magazines and did big-name interviews. And I was on the arm of Corey Hughes.”

  Aaron’s hand tightens on my fingers, his jaw clenching. His eyes burn with anger, with a hate I’ve never witnessed in their depths before. “Go on.”

  “The first time he hit me, I was more shocked than angry. Isn’t that messed up? I instantly felt guilty for making him angry. He was furious about a dress I wore to an event and a man, a fellow country artist, who commented on how pretty I looked. It was stupid. But his reaction, to smack me across the face after we got home and I was pulling bobby pins from my hair, seemed irrational. The next morning, he was so apologetic. He cried as he held me against his chest and apologized over and over again, telling me about how stressed out he was, about how overwhelming things were at the moment. And I felt guilty. I felt bad for him. How fucked up is that?”

  Aaron looks away, hiding the expression on his face. But his body lurches in response to my words, his muscles coiled so tightly, he seems to vibrate in his fury. “The first time?”

  “Things deteriorated from there.”

  “How many times did he fucking hit you, Lee? How many times did that bastard put his fucking hands on you?” He turns, his expression violent, his eyes midnight blue, streaked with anger.

  “Too many.” I whisper.

  Aaron sighs, closing his eyes. His hand leaves mine as he buries his face in his palms, his shoulders shaking with emotion. “Why didn’t you tell anyone?”

  “Addison knows. She found me one night, crying in the bathroom. She took one look at me, cursed, turned around and ripped into Corey. I have no idea what she said to him but after that night, he eased off a bit and Addison slowly took back the ground she lost in managing my career.”

  “Why would he be intimidated by Addison?”

  “She’s probably the only person in Nashville with better connections and more financial backing then him. She comes from an Old Southern family with Old Southern money, the kind that not many people can boast these days.”

  “Lee, why didn’t you tell the police?”

  “I couldn’t tell the police.”

  “Why not?”

  “Are you crazy? It would destroy my career; it would ruin the only thing I have left.”

  “The only thing you have left?” Hurt causes Aaron’s voice to waver and I sigh, my stomach plunging to my toes.

  “Aaron, please. I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just, I’ve worked really, really hard for my career. For my success. And Corey manipulates it all. He always has. If I go to the authorities, he’ll try to ruin me. The scandal of it all will ruin me. I’ll no longer be ‘Everly Pierce, country sweetheart.’ I’ll be ‘Everly Pierce, battered victim, stupid girl who stayed with the wrong guy when she knew better.’ People will pity me, and I can’t stand that judgement. I can’t live through it. No one understand what my life was like. And I don’t want anyone to.”

  “Everly, he hit you.”

  “It’s my fault.” I respond automatically.

  “Baby, no.” Pain blooms in Aaron’s expression, his eyes taking on a new shade of agony.

  “You don’t know him like I do. You don’t know what he’s capable of. The last time he beat me, I thought it was the end. I thought he was going to kill me. And instead of confronting him or asking for help, I ran away. I hid out and healed and then I came here. And now, he knows. He sent me this.” I swipe my phone off the table and hand it out to Aaron.

  He glances down at the photo of Olivia, his eyes snapping up to mine. “What the fuck, Lee? Is he here?” Aaron pulls his cell out of his pocket, pressing a button and holding it to his ear. “Aunt Jenni? You have Liv? Is she okay?” His words trip over each other before he exhales, his body slumping forward. “Aye. Please, just keep her inside with you and Uncle James. I’ll be by to pick her up in a bit and we’ll talk then. Thank you. ‘Bye.” He ends the call, his eyes latching onto mine once more. “Why the fuck does he know who my daughter is?”

  Tears prick my eyes, gathering in the corners no matter how quickly I blink. “It’s a threat.”

  Aaron stands, springing from the couch and walking toward the closed blinds on my windows. “Everly —”

  “I’m going back to Nashville, Aaron.”

  Aaron turns, stumbling back as though I physically shoved him. “Not to him, you’re not.”

  “He won’t touch Olivia. Or you.”

  Chuckling humorlessly, Aaron’s eyes swing wildly around my apartment. “You’re damn right he won’t. But not because you’re sacrificing yourself to him. Stop with the fucking martyr shit. Me and you, we’re in every goddamn thing together. I’m sorry if I didn’t make that clear before but I’m not giving up on us, Everly. I’m not letting you go again. And I’m definitely not going to sit back and watch while you run back to him.” Aaron’s voice drops, deceptively soft while his body vibrates with outrage.

  “It’s a game. And I have to play by the rules.” I squeeze my palms between my thighs and close my eyes. You know the rules, Everly. You know what you need to do. Corey’s voice breathes in my mind. There are always consequences when you break the rules.

  “What? You’re not making any goddamn sense.” Aaron grips at his hair.

  “You don’t know him like I do. I need to go back. I need to end things between us for real. I can’t hide away forever, always scared he’s going to appear, worried about every text and email I get. I can’t keep living this half-life. I need to do what I should have done years ago. And I need you and Olivia safe.”

  “Everly, I can take care of myself and Olivia. And you. This guy —”

  “Is my problem to handle.”

  “Like you’ve been handling it the pas
t four years?” Aaron spews, shaking his head and pinching the bridge of his nose. “Fuck. Fuck, Everly, I’m sorry. I’m so fucking —”

  “I know.” I breathe out, wiping a hand over my cheek. “You’re scared.”

  “I’m livid.”

  “With me?” I whisper.

  Immediately, Aaron’s eyes soften, and he closes the space between us in three strides. Dropping to his knees in front of the couch, he takes my hands in his and tugs me forward. “God, baby, never with you. With him. With myself. How did I miss this, Lee? How did I miss all the signs? You dropped hints baby, and I brushed them aside. And this whole damn time you’ve been suffering in silence. I haven’t been here for you the way I should have. But I am now. And I’m not letting you walk out of here and go back to him. I’ve got us, and I’ve got Olivia. Do you understand me? We will figure this out.”

  “We can’t involve the police.” I shudder at the thought, imagining the headlines and social media memes. Picturing my ruined career, the mud Corey would drag my reputation through, colors my reality even bleaker than it is.

  “Everly —”

  “Aaron, please —”

  The ringing of his phone cuts through the air, silencing us both. He answers it quickly, anxiety stamped into his expression. “Aunt Jenni? What’s wrong?” Aaron’s face drops, his mouth twisting as he listens to his aunt. “How high? Did you give her paracetamol? Aye, of course. I’m on my way.” He hangs up the phone and exhales. “Olivia spiked a fever. Aunt Jenni is worried and Liv’s asking for me.”

  “Go.”

  He eyes me warily. “I hate leaving you like this, Lee. Come with me.”

  “No,” I shake my head, my mind shutting down from the emotionally overwhelming day. “Liv needs you, Aaron. Go be with your daughter.”

  “We’re not done with this conversation, Everly. I’ll come by tomorrow before work. We’ll get breakfast and finish talking this through, okay, baby?”

  I nod.

  “We’re in this together, Lee. I’m here for you.” He cups my cheek, his hand warm even though it feels like my face is on fire. “I love you, baby. I’ll always love you and nothing will ever change that. You’re a goddamn warrior, so don’t think of yourself as anything less.”

  “Okay.”

  “See you in the morning.”

  I nod, brushing my lips across his when he leans forward. Walking Aaron to the door, I fall into his arms for one last hug. Once he’s gone and the chain link is intact, I pull out my suitcases and dial my lifeline. She answers on the third ring. “Addi, it’s me.”

  19

  Aaron

  “Daddy’s here, little love.” I trail my hand over Liv’s sweaty hair as she groans in her sleep. My baby’s fever is too high, and a different kind of fear grips my chest.

  “I gave her paracetamol an hour ago.” Aunt Jenni fusses at the foot of Olivia’s bed. “Her fever should be coming down by now.” She turns to the dresser and opens a drawer, pulling out a fresh set of sheets. “She’s sweating and not drinking nearly enough water.”

  “Jesus.” Taking in Olivia’s tiny frame, I reach for her water cup on the bedside table when her body begins to shake. Uncontrollably. “Olivia.” I lurch forward, grabbing onto one of her legs while my daughter’s body convulses, her eyes rolling back in her head. “Olivia!”

  “She’s having a seizure.” Aunt Jenni rushes to the bedroom door and flings it open. “James! Call 9-9-9!” She calls out the UK’s emergency services number. “Don’t move her, Aaron. It should stop in a few moments.”

  Dropping to my knees, I turn Liv onto her side and cling to her, feeling helpless. “Daddy’s here, baby. You’re okay, Liv. Stay with me. Daddy’s here.” I murmur nonsensical nothings, mentally pleading for the seizure to stop.

  “Ambulance is on its way.” Uncle James barrels into the room.

  “It’s stopped.” I say, tears falling over my eyelids as Olivia’s body stills and then stirs awake.

  “Daddy?”

  “I’m right here, little love. Right here.”

  “It was just over two minutes long.” Aunt Jenni whispers to Uncle James, shouldering Olivia’s overnight bag.

  Sirens sound in the distance.

  “Lift her gently, Aaron, and bundle her in the comforter. We need to go to the hospital.” Aunt Jenni’s voice is quiet but strong.

  Tucking the blanket around Olivia, I cradle her against my chest, breathing in her sweet scent and watching her eyelashes flutter.

  “I’ll follow you in the car.” Uncle James says, holding the bedroom door for us.

  “Thank you. Aunt Jenni, would you ride with us?”

  “Of course, dear.”

  “Uncle James, please, call Kate?”

  “I will. See you at the hospital.” My uncle is already pressing buttons on his phone.

  “It’s okay, little love. Daddy’s got you. We’re just going to make sure you’re okay now.”

  “Love you, Daddy.” Liv’s voice breathes out, sweet and soft.

  “I love you all the world, Livvy.”

  “I didn’t know she missed a vaccine. Of course I would have taken her.” The excuses fall from Kate’s mouth like raindrops. Effortlessly and without care for who they affect.

  Right now, they’re falling on deaf ears.

  Because I don’t care. I don’t care about her excuses. I don’t care about her reasoning.

  “Kate, we fucked up.”

  “Aaron, please, it was an honest mistake. Olivia —”

  “Is lying in a hospital bed with meningitis.”

  “I know.” Kate sighs, her mouth falling slack. “I had no idea missing the polio vaccine could—”

  “I don’t care.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “I don’t fucking care what the reasons are. We failed our daughter. Don’t you understand? We messed up. For the past however many months you’ve been gallivanting around, she hasn’t been our number one priority.”

  “I’ve been gallivanting around? What about you, Dad of the Year? What about all of those months where you barely made it home in time to kiss her goodnight?”

  “Aye, I wasn’t always the best father. I’ll admit it. But you’ve barely been a mother at all lately. It’s bad enough you had to ruin our family, but to put our daughter’s health in jeopardy —”

  “Why haven’t you been following the immunization schedule?” Kate jabs a finger into my chest, and I glance down, sneering at the bright red varnish on her nails.

  “It’s been a lot lately, Kate. Changing my work schedule, picking up your slack—”

  “Slack! Is that what you call the first six years of Livvy’s life when you were too busy being a workaholic to remember you had a family?”

  “I was providing—”

  “Save it. You’re as much to blame as I am for this.”

  “Fine. Do you feel better now, appropriating blame? Poor Kate, the martyr, the victim, the bored housewife that needed her career back to define her. You —”

  “Fuck you, Aaron.”

  Groaning, I drop my head back. Why am I allowing this to spin out of control? Why am I engaging in conversation at all with Kate that isn’t centered on Olivia? “We failed her, Kate.”

  Kate sighs, dropping back into her hospital chair. “I know.”

  “What do you want to do?” I sit in the chair next to her. Taking in her profile, the column of her neck, the beauty mark next to her right eyebrow, the diamond earrings I bought her for our five-year anniversary, I hardly recognize her. I can draw every detail of Kate’s face with my eyes closed, and yet staring at her now is like looking at a stranger. A wariness I don’t recognize ripples over her features, a desperation I don’t understand flashes in her eyes when she meets my gaze.

  “I’d like to sign over full custody to you.”

  “What?”

  Tears twist Kate’s features, as she swipes a hand across her face. “You’re right, I messed up and—”

  “Kate, s
top. We both made mistakes. But you’re Olivia’s mother. You’ll always be her mother.”

  “I know. You’re right. But right now, I don’t think I can give her everything she needs. Not like you can. I don’t want to keep lying to her Aaron or to myself. Right now, the best place for me is in Spain with Paul.”

  The flicker of empathy I felt toward Kate moments ago dies a sudden death. In its place, a burning anger, borderline rage, consumes me. “Are you fucking kidding me? You’re going to sign your parental rights over to me, just like that? We’re not talking about a puppy. Olivia is our daughter.”

  “This is hard enough of a decision for me without you piling on the guilt.” Kate looks up, her eyes glinting with an edge that aches more than it cuts.

  “It doesn’t seem that way,” I say quietly. If I speak louder, the rage eating at me may come roaring out, decimating the entire hospital. “Do you know how this is going to hurt Olivia? How this will affect her?”

  “Then don’t tell her. Just tell her I’ll see her for Christmas.” Kate stands from her hospital chair. “I’m going to get a coffee.”

  I stare, literally gaping at the woman I once called my wife. I don’t even recognize Kate which isn’t a surprise since I haven’t seen the woman I fell in love with in a long, long time. Kate’s re-entrance into the workforce eighteen months ago changed everything in our marriage, in our family. She “found herself” again. And apparently that trumped parenting.

  “She’s always been a piece of work.” Finn comments, handing me a cup of coffee. He places a third down by the leg of his chair. “I grabbed her one, but I think she needed a moment.”

  “She was never like this.”

  “Aye. She’s changed. Mid-life crises?”

  “Fuck if I know. Olivia used to be her world but now, everything is about Paul. She wants to sign over parental rights.”

  “What?” Finn’s mouth drops open. “Are you sure?”

  Shrugging, I sip the coffee. “I just want my daughter to be okay, Finn. I don’t have the energy to try to figure out where Kate’s head is at. Or Everly’s. I can’t, I can’t even think about where I think she is right now because I’ll spiral. And right now, I need to be here, show up, for my daughter.”