“That’s nice, Stella,” Aaron said, sounding sincere with a warmth in his gaze that wrapped her in its glow.
“What about you, Aaron? Where will you spend Christmas? You know more about my family than I do about yours.”
For an instant he had a shuttered look that made her feel as if she had intruded with her question. Then he shrugged and looked at her. “My parents moved to Paris and I usually go see them during the holidays. My brother is in Dallas and I’ll be with him part of the time, although he’s going to Paris this year. I like to ski, and some years I ski. This year I’ll see if I can help out around here. You’re right. A holiday can hurt badly if someone has lost his home or a loved one. After losing his brother, Cole will need my support. So I’m going to spend the holidays in Royal.”
As he spoke quietly, there was a glacial look in his eyes that made her feel shut out. She wondered about his past. More and more she realized how little she knew about him.
Their waiter appeared to take their drink order, and Aaron looked at her, his brown eyes warm and friendly again. “The last time we were together you preferred a glass of red wine. Is that what you’d like now?”
She shook her head. “No, thank you. I would prefer a glass of ice water. Maybe later I’ll have something else,” she said, surprised that he remembered what she had ordered before. She didn’t want to drink anything alcoholic and she also didn’t care to do anything to cause him to talk about the last time they were together.
“Very well. Water for the lady, please, and I’ll have a beer,” he said to the waiter.
As soon as they were alone, Aaron turned to her. “Let’s dance at least one time and then we’ll come back to place our order. Do you already know what you want? I remember last time it was grilled trout, which is also on this menu here.”
“I don’t know what I want and I need to read the menu. I’ll select something and then we’ll dance,” she said, trying to postpone being in his arms. If she could gracefully skip dancing, she would, but he knew from the last time that she loved to dance. He was remembering that last time together with surprising clarity. She figured he had other women in his life and had forgotten all about her.
“Let’s see what we want. When he brings drinks, we can order dinner. I remember how much you like to dance.”
“You have a good memory.”
“For what interests me,” he said, studying her.
“What?” she asked, curious about the intent way he looked at her.
“You’re different from last time. Far more serious.”
Her breath caught in her throat. “You notice too much, Aaron. It’s the storm and all the problems. There are so many things to do. How can I look or feel or even be the same person after the event that has touched each person who lives here,” she said, realizing she needed to lighten the situation a bit so he would stop studying her and trying to guess what had changed and what was wrong.
“C’mon. One dance. You need to get your mind off Royal for just a few minutes at least. We can order dinner after a dance. You’re not going to faint on the dance floor from hunger. Let it go for a minute, Stella. You’ve got the burden of the world on your shoulders.”
She laughed and shook her head. “I don’t think it’s that bad. Very well, you win,” she said. By trying to stay remote and all-business, she was drawing more attention instead of less, which wasn’t what she wanted.