Ian slapped a hand on his back. He was smiling, too. “Sorry, bro. She has a point.”
The bond between the three of them was strong, forged by a series of events that had brought them together. There was nothing they wouldn’t do for each other, Mary realized. And for some reason, they seemed to be extending that bond to include her as well.
Ian helped Lexi with her jacket, then slipped into his own. “You’re good to go, man. If you have any problems, just give me a call.” He winked at Mary. “His proficiency with electronics is only marginally better than his culinary skills.”
She blinked, not really sure what he was talking about. “I’ll let Aidan fill you in,” Ian added when he saw her confusion.
“You have such a beautiful assortment of plants, Mary,” Lexi said, looking around the kitchen. “When you’re feeling up to it, I’d love to have you over to our place. I bet you’d have some great ideas on how to spiff it up.”
It was Aidan’s turn to laugh. “Yeah, this from the only woman who could kill an air fern.”
Lexi looked wounded. “How was I supposed to know you weren’t supposed to repot it in soil?”
“Air. Fern.”
Even Mary had trouble hiding a smile at that. “Don’t worry, Lexi,” Mary said, “I’m sure we can find something that’ll work for you.”
Lexi shot Aidan an ‘I told you so’ look. “See? Mary has faith in me.”
Chapter Fifteen
Aidan saw them to the door, then came back and picked up Mary’s now-empty bowl. “Would you like a little more?”
Mary nodded. It was delicious. Her nausea was completely gone, and she was still hungry. Aidan went to the counter and refilled her bowl, then ladled some for himself as well. He sat down at the table as if he belonged there. “Mmmm. No one makes chicken soup like Lex.”
“It was really nice of her to come all the way out here and do this,” Mary said carefully.
“She wanted to,” Aidan answered. “As soon as I told her I’d be staying here, she insisted.”
“Why did you tell her you’d be staying here?”
Aidan regarded her carefully. “Because I will be.”
Mary swirled the spoon in her soup. “Did you ever consider asking what I thought?”
“Yes,” he answered. “But I wasn’t too sure I wanted to hear it.”
“Better to beg forgiveness than ask permission?”
“Something like that,” he admitted. “I figured if I had a couple of days to pamper and care for you, you might be able to forgive me for being an idiot.”
She continued to stare into her soup, as if the answers she sought could be found there. What exactly was she supposed to say to that? He probably had no idea how completely devastated she’d been when he’d walked out. How could he? She hadn’t realized how deeply she’d fallen for him herself until that point. She wasn’t sure she should admit that to him, though. Especially when she had no idea how he felt about her.
“I’m so sorry, Mary.”
“Why, Aidan?” she asked quietly, lifting her eyes to his. “Why did you get so angry with me? Because I didn’t tell you I was married once? I wasn’t trying to hide anything from you, you know. I would have told you, eventually. Let’s face it, though. The few times we were together we didn’t do a whole lot of talking.”
Aidan sat back and ran his hand through his hair. “I know. It’s just... I’ve never felt this way about a woman before, Mary. This is uncharted territory for me.”
She could say the same. The sheer intensity of her feelings for him scared her, quite frankly.
“How do you feel about me, Aidan?”
His eyes met hers, intense and glowing with an inner light. “Like you are the other half of my soul.”
Mary inhaled sharply. Whatever she’d expected him to say, it hadn’t been that.
“Mary, I know it sounds crazy, but from the very first time I saw you at Tommy’s, something about you called to something in me. And every moment I’ve spent in your presence, that connection has only grown stronger. I hoped you were feeling it, too, but then when I found out you had been married to someone else, I thought maybe I had been wrong...”
Mary covered his hand with hers. “You weren’t wrong, Aidan. I was feeling it, too. But know this – I did love Cam. I never could have married him otherwise.”
*
Aidan took her hand and gently tugged her onto his lap, careful not to hurt her. Hearing her say she loved another man was difficult, but then he thought about Lexi and how he felt about her and could at least understand. It was possible to love more than one person in your lifetime, possibly even be happy.
But you only ever had one soul mate, and Mary was his.
“Mary, do you know what a croie is?”
“Of course I do,” she said, surprising him. “It’s that one person who is your perfect match. They become your heart, your very soul. They offer a love so pure and rare that they’ve been writing fairy tales about it forever.”