Summer I Found You (22 page)

Weird.

“Sure.” I step around the couch and pull open the door to see Aidan. In a button-up shirt, khakis, and a tie.

“Holy shit,” he whispers. “You look amazing.”

I spin to see if anyone’s staring (everyone is), so I step onto the porch and close the door behind me. Aidan is here. I swallow, trying to push some of my nervousness away. “What are you doing here?”

“I…” He shakes his head, making me feel again how much I’ve missed him. “I had it all worked out what I was going to say.”

I want to hug him, throw my arms around him, but he’s still thinking, and I’m still a bit unsure if he’ll let me touch him again.

Aidan’s here. And he looks hot. A button-up and tie suits him. “So, let’s hear it.” I fold my arms, but still can’t hide my smile. I’m just relieved.
So
relieved. And it should be me chasing after him, but I already tried that, and maybe he got the message, bringing him to my doorstep.

“Okay. Here it is. I know that pulling a disappearing act was a shitty thing to do. Really shitty. But I got to the bottom of my list. I even went and visited Pilot’s wife. I think I know what I’m doing in school. I feel good. Better than good. Better than I thought I’d ever feel again when I first came home. And so much of that had to do with you, Kate. So much of it.” His eyes don’t waver from mine, and he is less broken. I can see it. Feel it in his words. Whatever it is between us suddenly feels so real it takes my breath away. And maybe at this point in my life, or after my split with Shelton, my feelings should scare me, but they don’t.

“I’m staying here for school,” I say. “To stay with the same doctor for a bit longer. And I have one of those insulin pump things. I’m not measuring and doing shots all the time, but…” I lean closer to whisper. “I’m attached to this thing, so if you think we’re going to have sex, I need a head’s up.”

He shakes his head again in a sort of embarrassed way and stares at the ground, his dimples showing that he’s trying not to smile. “And here I was coming to tell you that I want to start all over. Do things right.”

“
Really?
” I’m getting a do-over with Aidan, and it’s a good thing because I can’t believe I just made that sex comment.

“Yes, really.” He grins. “I spent like thirty minutes buttoning this damn shirt to take you out, and Uncle Foster had to do my tie. Do you have any idea how much it sucks to have a guy do your tie?”

I try not to laugh and take a step closer.

“Well, it sucks.”

“Sorry.” And then I remember something. “Sorry. It’s my birthday, and we always do a family thing, and…” And
I can’t go out with you
. No no no no no.

“I know. Your dad invited me.” He reaches out and touches the ends of my hair sending a thrill of shivers through my body.

What?

The door opens behind me, and I jump back, realizing how close Aidan and I are standing.

“We ready?” Dad asks as he gives him a nod.

“Um…” My eyes go from Aidan to my parents, and then to Deena, who’s doing a lousy job of holding in her smile.

Oh. I see. “Everyone knew but me?”

Deena giggles in affirmation.

“What if I screamed and yelled and told him to go away?”

“Then we would’ve uninvited him,” Mom says.

“Or left you at home,” Dad teases as he rubs his hand across my shoulders. “Why don’t you jump in with Aidan, and we’ll see you two there.”

Whoa. “Okay.”

My parents climb into their car as Aidan takes my hand. Even this feels significant.

I follow Aidan to his car in a bit of a daze and sit. As soon as he gets in his side of the car, there’s something I have to say. “I like you, and I sort of lose my head when we’re together, and I expected too much of you, and jumped in too fast, but I really, really like you.”

“Kate.” He smirks.

“What?”

“You’re about to say something crazy.”

I laugh. “Probably.”

“Go ahead.” He twists his body and runs his fingers up my arm, stealing my thoughts for a moment.

“I’m sorry I didn’t say anything. Sometimes I feel like it would be easier if I was missing an arm, and hiding the truth wasn’t an option. I should have trusted you with everything.”

“I had stuff to sort out too, Kate. And I did. Better we ran into this mess sooner and not later, right?” He inches closer.

Sooner instead of later. Because he wants us to have a later. “You’re sorted?”

“More of a work in progress.”

“Perfect, so am I.”

We sit in silence for a moment. His blue eyes locked with mine. This is it. He’s it. My heart’s wild, but in a way that makes me feel like this is real. And I’m still the girl I used to be, but I’m also so much more.

Aidan leans in, and his soft kiss melts every part of me, and this is nothing of what we were a couple weeks ago. This is who we are now. And who we will be. Together.

I have to thank my husband first because the moment I told him about Aidan’s backstory, he looked at me and said, “Yes. You have to write this book.” Even more props to him because I’m pretty sure I woke him up to tell him about it…

A huge thanks to Nyrae Dawn for tweeting about her favorite part, which may have involved a particular night between my two main characters, creating a stream of tweets begging to read the scene. And to my fab friends—Christa and Rhiannon—for reading the scene and also saying, “Yes. Finish this book. Get it into the world. And can I read it when you’re done?”

For my other awesome readers, authors Cassie Mae and Morgan Shamy, you boost my ego and I love you for it. And to Heidi Willis, my diabetic expert, you rock. My grandma didn’t live to tell me about her life with the disease, so I’m glad I had you.

Major thank-yous to the lovely people at Albert Whitman. They created a cover that captured the feeling of the book perfectly and have been nothing but delightful to work with. Also to my editor, Wendy McClure, I bow to your awesomeness. Editing made me love this story more, not less, and that’s a fabulous thing.

After my husband’s time in the military, I have such a huge appreciation for what our servicemen and -women do. We are truly in your debt. And thank you to the Wounded Warrior Project, an organization that moves mountains for people—or gives them the tools to move mountains on their own. Without your existence, I would not have finished this book.

All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2014 by Jolene Perry

978-1-4804-7559-5

Published in 2014 by Albert Whitman & Company

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Park Ridge, Illinois 60068

www.albertwhitman.com

Distributed by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.

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