Her Charming Secret (35 page)

She looked at him and smiled to herself. Just that was enough assurance that he had moved on; he was happy, and he didn’t need her like she needed him. When Jacob drove again, she saw Aiden for once last time and sighed, closing her eyes to keep that face in her mind. Gale had come back, but she had lost him once again. Maybe that was their destiny – to meet but to never actually be together. They were to be a happy memory for each other but nothing more.

They reached the restaurant where Ben was waiting outside with Abigail. Abby was close to him, too, and thought of him as a big brother; so here she was, waiting for Jo and Jake. She waved happily towards Jo.

“Happy Birthday, Benny!” Jo called and hugged him after saying hi to Abby.

“Thank you, kiddo! C’mon, let’s go in.” He smiled as they walked in. Jo sat next to Abigail, who was telling her about how Alex annoyed the hell out of Pierre, who ended up being so furious that he made his cat scratch Alex so bad that they actually had to go to the doctor.

Jo smiled but didn’t say anything. She was still not ready to talk about Aiden or his family, including Alex. Just thinking about the Reids made her heart ache. After they placed their orders, Ben spoke. “Did you hear about Jake’s book launch event? It’s going to be big!”

“Dude, I don’t care. It’s all the same! Those teen girls keep asking me if I’m still single and when I say no, they pout and run away.” Jacob sighed.

“Wow! Someone is popular!” Abigail grinned. Jacob shrugged, an unwilling grin blooming on his face.

Halfway through their lunch, Jo spoke. “I want to tell you guys something. It’s kinda important.”

Jake smiled. “Go ahead, Joey.”

“I’m . . . err . . . I’m moving to Vancouver,” she finally managed to say. While Abigail and Ben looked at her in surprise, Jacob’s face fell, his smile completely wiped off. He scowled, but didn’t say a word. He knew she needed space, but that didn’t mean he had to like it!

“I have it all planned. I spoke to Seth and he’s helping me find a good place, and—” Jo stopped when she saw Abigail’s jaw drop in horror.

“Seth?!” She looked away, not wanting anyone to see the pain in her eyes.

Ben looked at Jo, his face filled with confusion. It took Jacob and him almost one month to convince Jo to step out and move on, but it looked like she had plans for herself. Jacob frowned as he took the napkin from his lap, placed it on the table and got up. The other three watched him walk away silently.

“You should go after him,” Ben said to Jo. She nodded and walked out to see Jacob standing with his hands in his pocket. He gave a huge sigh when she touched his shoulder.

“I was going to tell you about this, but I was scared that you would stop me,” Jo murmured.

“No, I’m not gonna stop you. Not this time, because I’ve lost all the right to. Today you proved that you are Joseph’s daughter.”

Jo frowned but didn’t reply, so he continued, “He did the same thing. He ran away! And you are just following his footsteps. C’mon, you broke up with Aiden. It’s been almost a month. If you really love him, you won’t run away. You’ll meet him and sort this out! You know what? Even if I ask you to stay, you won’t. So go, live your life the way
you
want.”

With that, he walked away. Jo saw him get in the car and drive away, and she knew one thing: almost all her decisions hurt Jacob badly, but
this . . .
 this might have hurt him more than the others, because he had just told her that even though
he
had brought her up, she had still followed in her father’s footsteps.

Days passed as Aiden’s life finally got back on track. He loved his job, and it allowed him to spend more time with his family. It was a peaceful Saturday morning and he sat on the park bench watching Aubrey play with Nicholas. Pierre was trying out the seesaw, and he kept saying, “Thiz Zeezaw iz French!”

Aiden knew why; it got its name from the French ‘
ci-ça’
, which literally meant ‘
this-that’
. He guessed it was because of the back-and-forth motion. Next, Pierre tried the swing, and when no one pushed him, he pushed it himself and jumped on it like Tarzan, only to fall on his back. He cried out in pain, but got up and ran towards the slide, not letting the kids fuss over him. “Herez I comez, Aiden!” he shouted at top of his voice as he went down the slide. Nicholas frowned at his antics, but turned around to give his little angel his complete attention. On the other side of the park, Ashton stood talking to a girl. It looked more like flirting, though; he had made Alex his role model and did everything he did. That now included a keen interest in cars and a bigger interest in girls.

Feeling a presence behind him, Aiden turned around to see Alex grinning at Ashton. “I’m
awesome
enough to be his role model!” he stated and dropped onto the bench next to Aiden.

“You’re an awful Cupid,” Aiden said with a chuckle. After all, Alex was the one who had introduced him to Jo, basically bringing her back into his life again.

Alex smiled and pulled something out from his jacket and handed it to Aiden.

“What’s this?” Aiden asked before opening the cover. He opened to see the novel title: 
The Summer of Dreams. 
What surprised him, though, was the author’s name: 
Jo Winters
.

“She told me to give you that,” said Alex. “It’s the first copy, and it’s signed, too.”

Aiden flipped to the next page. There was a small message written there with the dedication.

To Aiden, with love.

You’re a storm in the sea, my Gale. Don’t stop being yourself.

Your memories clamor for my attention, but still, in my heart, I’m learning to live again. Every word I’ve written has been in your memory . . . Thoughts of you found me, and this novel is proof that you will never be forgotten.

Forever is longer than the time we meet again.

Until then, remember me.

“She dedicated it to me,” Aiden whispered to Alex.

“She said there’s a letter inside for you; you might wanna check it out,” Alex replied.

Aiden flipped the pages and finally found the letter. He placed the novel aside and opened it. He recognized her handwriting immediately.

Dear Aiden,

How are you? I hope everything is good at your end. I’m writing this letter as a final goodbye. That day when you walked away I wanted to stop you and tell you that I didn’t lie. Talking about my father and Richard always hurt me. I didn’t want anyone to interfere in our lives, and as at that point they weren’t really a part of my life and every second with you was breathtaking, I didn’t want anything coming between that.

That day at Paris, when they took me away to London, I begged them to let me speak to you just once, but they didn’t listen to me. I came back, Aiden. I came back searching for you, but you were gone. After all, when I finally forgot Gale and moved on, you came back into my life, making it better. Aiden, I fell in love with you all over again.

All the things I didn’t even know I wished for, you made them come true. I walk alone now, but I always feel your presence. Aiden, the day you left, you took away my reason to live.

We are bound to run into each other one day because of Abigail and Alex. I wonder what will happen that day. What if you don’t acknowledge my presence? I’m moving away, Aiden. I’m going to Vancouver. I’m not sure when you’ll read this letter, but I guess I would have gone away by that time.

Aiden, I love you, and I’ll always remember you.

Love,

Jo

“Alex, she’s leaving!” Aiden panicked as he placed the letter back in the novel and picked it up.

“Her flight doesn’t leave till noon; you can still stop her!”

“Yes! I have to stop her. I’ll regret it all my life if I let her go now. I still love her. 
I love Jo
,” he said as he stood up and looked around. “But there’s one problem!”

Alex asked in surprise, “What is it?”

“My car! It’s broken down!” Aiden groaned. Alex raised his eyebrow asking how and Aiden just said one word:
Ashton
.

“Hey, guys!” Ashton called as he walked towards them.

“Speak of the devil,” Alex muttered. “How many times do I tell you not to give your car to this brat?”

“Oh, wait! Al, your car! Let’s take yours!” Aiden said hopefully.

“Oh, yeah, my baby will take us! I forgot about it, let’s go,” Alex exclaimed before heading towards his car.

“Where are you going, bro?” Ashton followed Aiden.

“To the airport, to stop Jo!”

“Whoop! I’m coming along!” Ash yelled in excitement as they reached the car. Pierre was already seated in the back seat and he grinned widely.

“I lovez ze aéroport! I comez zere!” he declared happily. Knowing there was no time left, they sat and Alex started driving, accelerating quickly.

“Fazter! Fazter!” Pierre kept yelling at him.

“Be quiet, old man! I’m trying to concentrate,” Alex yelled right back at him.

“Eyes on the road, Alex!” Aiden shouted, but Alex expertly guided his car without running a red light.

“I zing a zong pour vous!” Pierre called again.
“We goinz toh ze aéroport . . . becuz we lovez itz zere andz Jo willz be waitzing pour mi grandzon! Andz zen zhey go toh France and zen Alex bouys Auby et moi en ize creamz!”
he sang to the tune of ‘Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer’. While Aiden sat there tensed and not exactly listening to his song, Ashton burst out laughing. He clutched his stomach as he laughed, causing Pierre to sing much louder.

“Shut up, old man! Just shut up,” Alex said furiously as he hit the steering wheel. They were almost at the airport entrance when he saw all the cars held up. A car had broken down ahead, causing a traffic jam.

“Aiden, it’s gonna take time for them to clear this; you better run, buddy!”

Aiden looked at him in shock. “Run?”

“Yeah, run, like you used to when we played soccer. Go, get your girl!” Alex grinned. Not wasting another minute, Aiden jumped out of the car and ran towards the airport. One thing he learnt about love was that it made sane people do insane things.
 
It lands you in trouble; it makes you do weird stuff. It also makes you the victim and gets its job done any way it wants to
. Like now, for instance, he was running like a madman, but no one chased him and no one was ahead of him. Yet, he ran. Towards her, towards his life.

Aiden reached the entrance and saw Jo and Abigail walk in. “Jo, stop!” he shouted.

He got her attention, alright. Poor Jo was shocked to see him there, a little tired from his run.

Panting, he walked towards her, saying, “People fall in love at the most unexpected time. When it happens, you can’t stop it even if you want to. But Jo, think why we met once and parted ways, even though we didn’t want to. We met again, and you are going away? Destiny brought us together again, gave us another chance. Why waste that?”

“But you don’t love me!” she muttered.

Aiden stood in front of her, unaware of all the weird looks people were giving them. He cupped her cheek and said, “Did I ever tell you that I didn’t love you?”

“You love me?” she asked in a mere whisper. He nodded.

“Wait, I must be dreaming again,” Jo said. “Pinch me!”

Aiden chuckled. “I can do better!” He smiled before brushing his lips against hers. He kissed her soft lips as she sighed lightly, her hands going around his neck, pulling him deeper into the kiss.

When he pulled away, she opened her eyes and muttered, “Definitely a dream!”

Aiden chuckled as he pinched her cheeks lightly and pulled her into a big hug.

“Oh! You
are
real! I’m so sorry, Aiden. I should have told you about them.”

“Yeah, would have been better if you had, but I don’t care now. You are here with me, and I’m never letting you go. You are the best thing that ever happened to me, Jo.”

When they heard someone sob, they turned around to see Pierre wiping his tears. “Thiz iz wonzerful, but mi propozal toh mi dear Danielle iz ze bezt!”

Ashton was there, too. He smiled at his brother and hugged Jo. “We are gonna be best buddies, Jo!”

She hugged him back and smiled at Alex and Abigail. She mouthed a ‘thank you’ to them.

“You’re welcome!” Abby grinned and hugged her.

“Jo, I hope you won’t go to Vancouver now. I found my dream job here, and moving would be a little inconvenient.” Aiden grinned, raking his hand through his hair.

“Nah! I’m gonna be here for as long as you want!”

“Okay, sounds good. But, you know, forever is a really long time.” He winked. “It’s a good thing I stopped you before you checked-in, or it would have been a clichéd airport scene like the ones in the novels these days.”

Jo burst out laughing, “Right! As though
this
isn’t a clichéd airport scene! Since when did you get interest in romantic novels?” She raised her eyebrow.