“But I do have to do those things. I have to make it up to you. And I have to tell you the truth.” He loosened his grip, to see her better. “I’ve been falling in love with you since the first night, when you put me in the bathtub with this little guy. It’s grown so fast that I didn’t know what it was. I couldn’t see it. I don’t know if I was afraid or confused or what, but the minute you left, I knew it wasn’t right.”
She nodded eagerly, feeling as though a weight had been lifted. Her hunch had been right. And it hadn’t taken long for Aiden to see it, too. “I know it happened fast. I thought I was crazy to say that to you yesterday, but I had to. Especially after everything with your family.” She studied his face, his blue eyes nearly taking her breath away. “I couldn’t not tell you that I love you. You deserved to know.”
He sighed and looped her hair behind her ear, caressing her cheek. “I’ve spent my whole life homesick for a home I never even knew. And you showed up out of nowhere, and made that home for me in ten days.”
“Technically, it was nine.”
A breathy laugh left his lips. “You showed me what love is. You opened up my closed-up heart. And that heart is going to shrivel up and die without you. The home you built isn’t going to work without you.”
“What are you saying, Aiden?”
“I’m saying that I love you and we have to find a way to make this work.”
“But you’re in New York. I’m here. How are we going to manage that? You don’t even have a permanent nanny.”
“I called Lily from the plane and convinced her to take the job. She’s flying up here tomorrow morning to take care of Oliver while I go into the LangTel regional office downtown for a few hours.”
Sarah wasn’t sure she was hearing him correctly. “You’re going to hang out in Boston? For how long?”
He shrugged. “Depends on what Sylvia Hodge tells you tomorrow. Then we’ll figure it out. Anna said that if Sylvia acquires Kama, she’ll probably ask you to work out of New York so you’re available for meetings and are more plugged in to the industry.”
Sarah hadn’t considered that. It was all still so new. “So we wait and see what happens tomorrow?”
“I was hoping Oliver and I can move in with you for a few days. I figure we’ll put Lily in a hotel.”
“I don’t know. I need my space.”
Aiden laughed and kissed the top of her head. “Darling, as long as you come back to me, you can have all the space you need.”
Eighteen
For the third weekend in a row, Sarah was back in New York with Aiden and Oliver. She looked forward to these days more than anything, even when the back and forth was tiresome. Only one more week and the Kama office would move to Sylvia Hodge’s Manhattan headquarters. She’d be in the city full-time. She, Aiden and Oliver would be together. Even though she and Aiden hadn’t discussed their future, Sarah was more than content. It hadn’t seemed necessary and her forcing of I love you had flopped—at least at first. Plus, Aiden was a complicated guy. Commitment wasn’t easy for him. Just knowing that he loved her and wanted to be with her was enough for now.
Everything else workwise was already in place—when Sylvia decided to acquire Kama, it came together very fast. Last week, they’d moved everything into a new manufacturing space outside Boston. It was ten times bigger than the original facility and the air-conditioning worked—no small matter now that it was the middle of June. They’d hired ten new assembly people, three more employees to manage the warehouse. Tessa was overseeing the production facility, and she’d received a big fat raise for taking on her new responsibilities. Sarah couldn’t have been any happier about being able to reward her for a job well done. The change also left much more time for Sarah to spend on designing, selecting fabrics and planning out the next several seasons. It was hard to believe, but everything on the work front was really coming together.
Saturdays at Aiden’s were pretty low-key. Today had been no different, although they were anxiously awaiting a call from Jacob since Anna had gone into labor that morning. To pass the time, Sarah and Aiden had taken Oliver for a long walk, then grabbed some lunch. The baby had his nap after that, and they turned their dinner into a picnic up on the rooftop terrace. Now that it was nearly eight, Sarah was getting a bit of work done in Aiden’s home office. Oliver was already in bed and Aiden had camped out with a book in the library.
Aiden’s phone, which he’d left on the desk, rang. She glanced at the screen and grabbed it. “Oh my God. Aiden!” she yelled out. “It’s Jacob. Get in here!” She answered the call. “Jacob? Aiden’s in the other room. I figured I should answer. Is there news?”