Mia shook her head. “I’ve been given a dispensation. I want to get Cora to bed on her usual schedule, because we’re going to Asheville tomorrow to find her a dress for the wedding.”
“Cutting it a little close, aren’t you?”
Mia shook her head. “Blame it on your brother. He’s the one who decided we had to get married ASAP.”
“Because?”
Dylan spoke up, his face a study in love and devotion as he eyed the two women in his house. “I’m adopting Cora,” he said. “The papers are going to be finalized the day after Christmas. I want us to be a family before the New Year.”
Conversation wandered in less serious directions after that. Dylan offered Aidan a beer while Mia sprawled on the floor to play with Cora. Aidan decided in that quiet half hour that he couldn’t go back to Emma’s. Not today. He had things to figure out, and he needed space and time to understand what her motives were.
When he and Dylan joined the two females on the floor, Aidan addressed Mia. “I need a favor, since you and Cora aren’t going up the mountain for dinner.”
She untangled Cora’s fingers from her hair. “Name it. I need to build up all the family points I can get.”
He chuckled. “It’s nothing bad, I swear. But did you hear about the accident in town on Friday afternoon?”
Mia nodded, pausing to blow a raspberry on Cora’s tummy. “Someone ran a red light and hit a pedestrian.”
“Yes. I happened to be there at the time and followed the ambulance to the hospital. The woman’s name is Emma Braithwaite. She says she’s friends with you.”
He felt a lick of shame at manipulating his sister-in-law. But he needed to know if Emma had disclosed the relationship she shared with Aidan.
Mia’s gaze was anxious. “Is she okay?”
He nodded. “Home resting now. A concussion and some stitches. She didn’t want to bother you because of the baby and the wedding. But it seems that she’s fairly new in town...right? And doesn’t know many people? I was hoping you and Cora could run over there and take her some dinner.”
Dylan’s eyes narrowed as though he sensed something was going on but wasn’t sure what. “Who died and made you Clara Barton?”
“I watched the accident happen. All I had in mind was heading to the hospital and making sure she was okay. But when I found out she didn’t have anyone to help out, I offered to get her home and settled when she was discharged.”
“How convenient.”
Hearing Dylan voice the same sarcastic response Aidan had used with Emma made him wince inwardly. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Give me a break, Aidan. I’ve seen Emma. She’s tall, blond and gorgeous...with a voice like an angel. You were smitten and decided to go all Galahad on her poor, helpless self.”
Mia looked up with a frown. “I’m sitting right here,” she said.
Dylan gave her a smoochy face. “Don’t worry, my love. You know I’m into short, dark and cuddly.”
“Oh, dear Lord,” Aidan groused. “You two are embarrassing little Cora.”
Cora, oblivious to the repartee, played with her toes.
Aidan weighed the facts. Clearly, Emma had made no mention to Mia of the fact that Emma and Aidan went way back. So if she wasn’t using her past relationship with Aidan to ingratiate herself into the Kavanagh family, what was her deal?
He wrestled with his suspicions all evening, in the midst of a loud, argumentative, completely normal dinner with his siblings and his mother. To be honest, he’d forgotten how much fun it could be when they were all together. Usually when he came home to visit, at least one or two of the crew were missing...spread out here, there and yonder. It was increasingly difficult to corral all the Kavanaghs in the same place at the same time.
Maeve hadn’t forgotten, though. It was at her insistence that they were all gathered under one roof tonight. And this was only the first of a series of holiday moments scripted by the matriarch of the family.
Liam’s wife, Zoe—still with a new bride’s glow—fit right in. Unlike the introverted Mia, Zoe loved a social gathering. She laughed and flirted and played the role of naive newcomer with verve, all under the indulgent eye of her besotted husband.
Aidan tipped a metaphorical hat to his mom. With Dylan’s wedding, the whole Christmas season and a brand-new, soon-to-be-adopted Kavanagh kiddo, Maeve had scored a trifecta.
He left the Silver Beeches Lodge with a smile on his face. Though his room was upstairs, he was too wired to sleep. Instead, he climbed into his car and drove toward town. The closer he came to Emma’s place of business, the less he smiled.
Parking at the curb below her windows, he stared up at the light. Why had she come to Silver Glen? He told himself he didn’t care, but that was a lie. The Emma he had known in college was neither devious nor vengeful. Though, that was a very long time ago. Had she somehow decided to blame him for the meltdown of their relationship?
Only the most naive of assessments could attribute anything positive to her unexpected appearance in Silver Glen. His immediate reaction to finding her was suspicion and wariness. None of this made sense.
But even knowing that she had made the acquaintance of at least of two of his family members and that she had never once mentioned to either of them her connection to Aidan, he didn’t want to believe the worst.
Truthfully, now that he had spent some time with her, it was impossible to hold back the flood of memories. Feelings he thought long dead pumped adrenaline into his bloodstream. She was like a drug in his system. He had detoxed after she nearly ruined his life. But the addiction was still there. Waiting to be resurrected.
If he had an ounce of self-preservation, he would stay the hell away. He’d crafted a decent life for himself—an even-keeled existence with no surprises, no regrets. No highs, no lows. It was safe...and financially remunerative. Even without his share of the family business, he had plenty of disposable income. And many friends of both sexes to help him fritter it away.
Emma’s unexpected incursion into his life shouldn’t even be a blip on his radar. Yet he had spent the night at her place. The same old Aidan, looking out for a woman who didn’t want or need his protection.
He knew better.
But did he have the guts to turn his back on the one person who had taught him both the incredible rush of desire entwined with new love and also the soul-crushing agony of betrayal?