AllFreeNovel
Share Us
This wasn’t just about second chances. It was about seeing clearly for the first time.
Chapter Thirty-One
Aiden
The sun was a molten smear across the horizon as I pulled my Ranger into the marina parking lot, the sky painted with the kind of vibrant oranges and pinks that only seemed to exist in this part of the world. Even at the end of the day, my hands still felt the fatigue from my morning’s work on the boat. My labor of love that doubled as a grand gesture for Stella now concerned me as being trite, too whimsical.
But it would have to be enough. I wasn’t Casanova, dammit.
My mind briefly turned away from Stella as I remembered this afternoon’s small victory. Kayla had returned to my clinic for a final goodbye appointment before transferring to an obstetrician. And she’d arrived alone, without her mother. She had thanked me for helping her decide to accept her boyfriend’s marriage proposal and form her own family. Maybe it wasn’t the biggest victory I’d have, but helping a young patient find her own voice had felt pretty damn good. I sighed.
Now if I can just capture some of that magic with Stella.
My anxiety had been building all day. Now, with every task crossed off my list, I was ready to call her. As much as I wanted her to reach out, I needed to bridge the gap between us—I couldn’t stand the silence anymore. As I approached the dock, the soft clatter of halyards hitting masts created a familiar rhythm in the warm air.
Then I skidded to a halt as my heart thundered in my chest.
Stella stood stiffly on the deck of my boat, silhouetted against the fading light. For a moment, I could only stand there, the wish blooming in my chest a fierce contrast to the worry that had been nesting there all day.
“Stella?” As my feet stumbled forward once more, my voice barely carried over the gentle lap of water against hulls.
Her head swiveled toward me, and even from a distance, I could see how her brow furrowed and her lips pressed into a tight line as apprehension clouded her delicate features. She held a box about a foot long in both hands. What was she doing here? All this time, all this effort—it had been for her. Yet part of me feared she might retreat once more, leaving me with shadows of what could have been.
“Hi.” Her voice was soft and held a hint of hesitation that was so unlike her.
I stepped onto the deck and felt the slight sway beneath my feet, an echo of the turmoil inside me. “I didn’t expect to find you here.” My words held more surprise than I intended but also an undercurrent of something else. Relief, maybe.
Or the first budding hints of hope.
“I needed to see you… to explain.”
“Explain what?” I stopped myself from saying more, swallowing the rush of emotions threatening to spill over.
Her eyes searched mine, and resolve flickered within them. We both stood on a precipice, each needing the other to take that final step closer.
She wet her lips. “How sorry I am. For everything.”
“Sorry?” I asked, apparently unable to do anything but parrot back her words. I watched as she clutched the box tighter in her hands, and a part of me—the doctor trained to observe—registered the tremor in her grip.
“Can we sit?” Stella gestured toward the built-in bench near the stern, and I nodded, unable to find words just yet. We settled onto the cushioned surface, the setting sun casting an amber glow over us and enhancing the gravity of the moment.
“Today,” she said, then stopped to swallow, her throat moving. “This morning. Hunter came down and caught the thief who’s been stealing from the resort. The police took him away to be charged.” She paused to bite her lip, as if gathering the courage to continue. “Aiden, I was so incredibly wrong about all of it.”
“The thief wasn’t Ben Coleridge?”
She shook her head, the movement more like a jerk from side to side. “No. It was a prep worker from my restaurant—one I’ve been working with for months! I’ve been completely blinded to the truth. I just assumed I understood what was happening. Except I didn’t have a clue.”
The weight of her gaze held me captive, the intensity unlike any I’d seen on her face before. “And Nona gave me some advice. She made me realize how terrified I’ve been. How I let my career ambitions shield me from fear… from really living. To become an excuse to avoid taking any risks.”
Inside, my heart began to mend with each word she spoke. After all the risks I’d avoided, all the past failures that still haunted me, this woman was the one risk that mattered most—and it was worth everything.
“Stella,” I said gently, reaching out to take her trembling hands in mine. “It’s okay. You built those walls for a reason. And there’s nothing wrong with being ambitious.”
She looked down at our joined hands, a smile touching her lips, but her eyes shimmered with unshed tears. “I know. But what I missed is that… I wasn’t the only one trying to avoid pain. You were too, and yet you reached out over and over. Took what I was willing to give, even when I hid behind my walls. I was so wrapped up in myself I didn’t see it.”
“Hey.” I tilted her chin up so she’d meet my eyes again. “We both have our scars. It doesn’t mean we can’t heal together.”
“Really?” Her voice was a whisper, fragile as sea foam on the tide. “Will you forgive me? It isn’t too late?”
