End of Story(89)

How had I ignored the signs? What had happened to me? Somewhere along the way I had gone from being kick-ass to wearing a sign that said Kick me.

“The problem is, Aaron, you’re not as good a liar as you think you are. It just took me a while to see.”

“That’s enough, Susie,” he hissed. “We’ll talk about this later.”

“No. I think we should discuss it now.”

He screwed up his handsome face and hit the table with the flat of his hand, making it shake. Making me jump in my chair. And hell, if everyone hadn’t known something was going on before, they sure did now. “That’s it,” he yelled. “I’ve had enough. We’re through.”

“Hey,” said Lars in his deep voice. “Calm down.”

“Yeah. We’re done here.” I placed the napkin on the table, stood tall, and squared my shoulders. No way would this asshole see me cry. I refused to give him the satisfaction. “Have a nice life, Aaron.”



Two


“I thought I heard someone out here.” Aunt Susan, my namesake, joined me on the front steps of her house. It was a little after nine, the night of Aaron’s going-away party.

She owned an old two-bedroom cottage in Ballard. The place had definitely seen better days. But for all intents and purposes, it was still my home. As a child, I only ever felt welcome here. Both of my parents were too busy getting on with their lives after the divorce to have time for their kids. Andrew just wanted to go to his friends’ houses. Aunt Susan, however, always had time for me. So of course this was where I ran when my life went to shit. This was my safe place. My refuge. Despite it becoming battered and crowded with junk over the years.

“Susie.” She tightly wrapped her pink fleece robe around her and tucked a strand of long silver hair behind an ear. “What are you doing sitting out here in the dark?”

“I was working my way up to coming inside. Just wanted to get myself under control first.” It was a damn cold night. I huddled down in my woolen coat with my black Alexander McQueen scarf wrapped tight around my neck and noisily blew my nose into a tissue. “Aaron and I broke up.”

“Oh, my love.” She wrapped an arm around my shoulders and gave me a squeeze. “I’m so sorry to hear that.”

“Neither you nor Cleo even liked him. Which should have been a major red flag yet somehow wasn’t. I don’t know what the hell I was thinking.”

“We can’t always help where our heart leads us.”

“Yeah.” I hiccupped and swiped the tears off my face. My makeup must have been a mess. I probably looked like an ugly clown-woman with a broken heart. It wasn’t too far from the truth. Aaron had treated me like a joke for long enough. And I let him—let’s not forget that damn salient detail. “I really did have feelings for him. I thought we could make it work. Now, though...”

She said nothing. Just patiently waited for me to pour out my woes. Just like she always had. She smelled of the lavender she picked off the bushes at the front of her house and slipped in among her clothes drawers. Some things never changed.

“He got up and announced at dinner that he couldn’t wait to experience everything London had to offer,” I explained in a husky voice, thanks to my sore throat from crying. “Then he laughed and winked. And then he actually had the audacity to act like it didn’t mean anything and accused me of causing a scene when I asked him about it.”

“What an idiot.” Aunt Susan clicked her tongue. “As I recall, your father used to try to pull the same trick on your mom. Gaslight her to control the story and make her doubt herself. Divorcing my brother was the smartest thing that woman ever did. Apart from letting you spend so much time with me, of course.”

“Oh, man.” I sniffled and gave her a look. “Are you not-so-subtly telling me I’ve been searching for my asshole of a father in the men I’ve been dating?”

“I think I was more subtly telling you that you succeeded.”

“Great.”

She pressed a kiss to my temple. “Live and learn.”

“But I’m thirty now. I should know better!”

“Excuse you. I am almost sixty and still learning new things about myself and my place in this world and whatever is beyond,” she chided softly. “Some lessons just take as long as they take. There’s no rushing them. And issues left over from childhood can be some of the hardest to grapple with.”

“I guess so.”

“I’m sorry your heart is hurting. But at least you know you only want him. You don’t need him.”

“I know.”

She nodded sagely and said, “It can be hard to be alone sometimes. To not have someone special. Though, he never exactly treated you like you were special, did he?”

I flinched and kept my mouth shut. Which was telling.

“You are wonderful, bright, and so beautiful you blind me. Don’t accept less than your due, my love.”

“Thank you.”

“Anytime,” she said. “You want to come in and have a cup of cocoa?”

I shook my head. “No, thanks. I’m going to head home and get some sleep. Give Cleo the good news.”

“Fair enough. I should get to bed. Things have been so busy lately, I could use a decent night’s sleep.” She yawned and gave my shoulder a squeeze. “How about breakfast tomorrow morning? We could make waffles?”