Touched (The Untouched Trilogy #2)(32)

“Neither one of them said a thing to me,” I said, in disbelief.

“Well that took some convincing on my part. They were both extremely worried about you. You – in a relationship, that was something as foreign for you as being in someone else’s skin. They wanted to be there but they didn’t want to be in your face about it.”

They had both been great, checking on me every day. Mom even sent chocolates … more than once. She also had some for herself and we ate them together as we Skyped.

“I’m not upset. I’m touched by all of it actually. Even you, going as far as you did to make sure I was okay.”

“Your mother was very nice and I was looking forward to getting to know her better. She loved you so much Aria.”

“But I was so horrible to her,” I said, ashamedly.

“She didn’t blame you for any of that. She was so proud of you.”

“I’m sure I’ll be angry at you later, but for now I’m so happy that you had the chance to meet her and give me another piece of her, another memory.”

“I’m pretty sure you’ll be angry later but that’s okay. I’m not going anywhere. And that’s exactly what I told your mother.”

“Oh did you? And how did she respond to that?”

“She liked me and as a matter of fact, she said I was quite handsome,” he said.

“Did she?” I asked. Only he could make me smile at a time as dismal as this.

“She sure did,” he said, smiling. “It made my day. She told me not to give up on you and that you were very stubborn. But I already knew that.”

“Thank you Aiden.”

“For what?”

“For being here now, for being overzealous enough in your pursuit of me to meet my mom behind my back.”

“What can I say? I’m a man who knows what he wants.”

I reached up to hug him. He pulled me close, enveloping me. It felt good to be in his arms. It felt like home. This is where I wanted to be. This is where I needed to be.

“Come. Let’s get you home,” he said.

The ride home was quiet. I rested my head on Aiden’s chest as he stroked my hair … a tear falling ever so often. When we arrived at the house, we were greeted by my sisters and April. They all rushed over to hug me.

“Where is everyone?” I asked.

“The last of them left a few minutes ago,” Lia said.

“Oh. What time is it?” I asked.

“It’s almost 5 o’clock,” said April.

I hadn’t realized how long I’d been at the cemetery. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here for you guys,” I said, looking at Bianca and Lia.

“It’s fine Aria. We knew where you were. Aiden called us and explained,” Bianca said.

“So it would seem you already know this guy.” I said, looking at him.

“Yes, we do. Thank you for coming Aiden,” said Lia.

“I’m going to get out of these clothes. Aiden, have a seat,” I said.

“Do you need me to come with you?” he asked.

“Thanks but I’m okay.” I said, smiling. He was really worried about me. I saw it in his eyes and in the way he was still holding me, almost as if he thought I would fall without him there to support me.

“She’ll be fine Aiden. Are you hungry? We have tons of food,” April said.

“Sure, that would be great,” Aiden said, as he slowly released my hand and followed April to the kitchen.

I walked upstairs and stopped at Mom’s bedroom. I stood at the door for several moments and looked inside. Everything was neat and in place. It didn’t look to be a room of someone who was no longer in this world. I took a step inside and closed my eyes. I willed myself to take a few more steps and looked around her room.

The picture of the four of us in Disney World was on her nightstand. I walked over and picked it up. She was a beautiful woman. She looked so unlike the mother I had grown to resent. There was light in her dark brown eyes and a happiness that had been absent since Dad left. I looked at my goofy smile and the silly expressions on the faces of my sisters. We looked so happy. We all shared the same rich shade of mahogany hair; ours was slightly darker than Mom’s though. Mom typically wore her hair in a ponytail but not in this picture. Lia and Bianca could have easily passed for college students. They were still running around with pigtails when I left for college. I was still getting reacquainted with the maturity of the two sisters I’d left behind. They were so much alike, yet they weren’t the carbon copies of each other that I’d thought them to be as children. They were both petite and wore the same hair style, flowing in waves adorning their glowing café au lait skin. Although you couldn’t discern from this picture, they both had bright amber eyes. Bianca was gregarious and more apt to surround herself with friends while Lia, much like me, enjoyed her moments of solitude. I had noticed that hadn’t changed at all. I was surprised when I met Lia’s boyfriend. I would have expected Bianca to have a guy but she insisted she liked to date rather than have one guy who would inevitably bore her to tears. I suspected there was more to it than that. I briefly entertained the thought of her having some of the same issues with men and relationships as I had. I could understand if she did, but I certainly hoped she didn’t.