How was I going to explain that to Aaron? He just confessed his love for me—a married woman. I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn’t realize we had arrived at our destination until I felt Aaron’s chuckle vibrate through his torso as he gently patted my thigh. In response, I climbed off his bike without taking my eyes off of Aaron.
He reached out and placed his hands on my shoulders, gently turning my back to his front. “Well?” he asked.
I looked up and froze. My legs started to weaken, and I pressed back against Aaron’s chest to stabilize myself.
“Macy? You okay?”
I sucked in a sharp breath. I knew, but I needed to hear him say it. “Why did you bring me here?”
“Because this is where I live,” he answered without hesitation.
“You bought our house?” I whispered.
“Yeah, I did. I waited for years for it to go on the market. A few years ago, I knocked on the front door and made an offer. Turns out, my timing was perfect, and they accepted my offer.”
“Aaron, I—”
He grabbed my hand and pulled me along behind him. “Come on; I want you to see the inside.”
I followed him through the house we had only dreamed of owning when we were together as teenagers. Room by room, he showed me each and every dream he had fulfilled. Everything we talked about—fantasized about—years ago, he had turned into a reality.
“I don’t understand. Why did you do this?”
“Because the life I dreamed up with you when we were teenagers is the only one I’ve ever wanted to live. The only thing missing was you.”
I held his eyes as I searched for a lie or some form of deceit. Instead, I found nothing but the sincerest of truths, and I had no idea what to say.
As if he could read my mind, he said, “We can talk about it tomorrow, after we’ve had some rest. Come on; the only room left to show you is my bedroom.”
“Wait!” I shouted shrilly. Softening my voice, I continued, “I have to tell you something.”
“Okay,” he said slowly while searching my eyes.
I couldn’t hold back the tears as I told him what I feared would tear us apart for good. “Robert came to the office today to tell me we’re still married. Our paperwork was lost, so there’s no official record of the divorce. I’m so sorry, Aaron. I didn’t know. I would never—”
“Hey, shh, it’s okay. It was just a clerical error. Should be easy enough to fix.” As if something suddenly occurred to him, he released me from his arms and took a step back. “Unless you still want to be married to him.”
I gasped in horror. “No! I don’t want anything to do with him. I just didn’t want you to think I was lying to you this whole time or that I was a cheater. Oh, gosh, that’s exactly what I am!” I sobbed.
“Macy, you’re not a cheater. This all boils down to a few pieces of paper being misplaced. Do you have copies of the divorce decree?”
“Yes, but Robert said the copies wouldn’t do any good because it’s the originals that have to be filed,” I explained.
“I’m not sure about that. Tell you what. We’ll call Pop first thing in the morning. He’ll know exactly how to handle this mess.”
I nodded against his chest and sniffled. “Okay. You’re not mad?”
“At you? No. At the situation? Eh, not mad, but I’m not happy about it either. Now, time for bed.”
I followed him to his bedroom, and, once again, I was floored when I stepped into the room. “How did you—? We never talked about the bedroom,” I blurted.
He chuckled. “No, we didn’t. But I knew you, Macy. You didn’t have to tell me for me to know what you wanted.”
And that was it. No longer able to contain myself, I turned and launched myself into his arms. With his much larger frame, he easily caught me and carried me to his massive bed.
“I do love you,” I told him.
“Yeah, babe, I love you, too.”