“It’s okay. I shouldn’t have said anything this morning. Just forget it.” She rushed over to Oliver and crouched down, raising his face with the tip of her finger. “Goodbye, sweet...” her voice cracked into a million pieces. Her lip shook. Her chest convulsed. She couldn’t say it. Her heart wouldn’t let her. She leaned down and placed a single kiss on the top of his head, committing to memory his smell and the feel of his soft curls against her lips. She would miss that so much. Forever.
She straightened and turned away from Aiden. The tears were streaming down her face in a deluge and she couldn’t let him know that he’d gotten to her like this. “I have to go. I’ll miss my train.”
“Are you sure about this?” he asked, doing the thing she’d dreaded—grasping her arm.
She didn’t look back. She hid. “I’m sure.”
“At least let me call down to John and have him take you to the station. Let me do that much. Just to say thank you for everything.”
Don’t fight him. Just go. Just walk out. Save yourself. She nodded. “Okay. Great. Thanks.”
With that, she rushed to the elevator, jabbed the button and walked on board. She dropped her head as the door closed, her tears dotting the floor. She couldn’t look up. She couldn’t watch everything she’d ever wanted disappear.
Sarah went immediately into autopilot, putting on her sunglasses to hide her eyes and marching through the lobby outside. Luckily, John was always waiting for Aiden—this time it paid off for her.
“Ms. Daltrey. Penn Station?”
“Yes. John. Thanks.” She climbed into the backseat, sucking in a trembling breath. Just get me to the train. Then I’ll be okay.
Her phone beeped with a text from Aiden.
This is stupid. Come back. We should talk.
Words weren’t enough this morning. Not sure what’s different now.
I need time. I’m sorry.
It’s okay.
She stopped herself from typing the words she wanted to. I still love you even though you don’t love me.
“Ms. Daltrey?” John asked from the front seat. “I have a message from Mr. Langford. He’s asking me to bring you back to the house.”
She blew out a breath. It was just like Aiden to snap his fingers and expect the world to conform to his wishes. “No. Please don’t do that. Just pull over and drop me off and I’ll get in a cab.”
“Ma’am? I don’t want to leave you, either.”
Every sad feeling she’d had a few minutes ago was turning to frustration. “I’ll text Mr. Langford. Please just keep driving.”
She tapped out a message to Aiden.
Please don’t put John in the middle of this. Let me go.
Waiting for Aiden’s response was agony. She didn’t want to argue. But she wasn’t ready for the end, again.
Ok.
She tucked her phone into her bag. “All straightened out, John. It was just a misunderstanding.”
“Oh, good. Okay. I’ll have you at the station in no time.”
“Great. The sooner, the better.”
Seventeen
Day ten arrived with sunshine streaming through the windows and a giddy Oliver, full of energy and ready to take on the day. Right after breakfast, they’d started doing laps in the house. From the kitchen to the library to his office and back, Oliver walked while Daddy followed, holding his little hands to steady him. Oliver had discovered this new routine while they’d been playing last night before bed. Judging by the way he took to it and the enthusiasm with which he cruised along furniture, he’d be walking and running in a matter of days.
Aiden, however happy he was to share this milestone with Oliver, was dragging—no sleep and a gaping hole in your heart will do that to a guy.
Sarah was gone. And her absence was much more noticeable than Aiden had expected. The house felt strange and incomplete. Had it felt like this before she came along? He couldn’t recall, exactly. It was quite different with Oliver there, but still, it wasn’t the same without Sarah.
He missed everything about her—the way she hummed when she puttered around in the kitchen and her sweet smell when she walked past him. The way her face lit up when she laughed and the way she wouldn’t let him get away with anything when she was mad. Memories shuffled through his mind—the day she managed to talk her way into one of the most secure office buildings in the world. She’d made his entire life turn on a dime that day, and done it in unflappable fashion. That night in the bathtub, when he’d first bonded with Oliver and Sarah had made it happen. That was also the night he’d caught her staring at him, the night he’d foolishly thought that seducing her would be like taking any other woman to bed. He’d relied on their ten-day deadline then. It made it easier for him to get what he wanted, no strings attached. Little did he know that Sarah was capable of tying up his heart and his head with those strings...and tugging them all the way back to Boston.