Page 62 of Fractured Fate

“I’m struggling.” She pulled against his hold, and he released her without hesitation. Her arms circled her stomach. “I thought I could handle this, but with the added problem of him, I feel like I’m drowning.” Her shoulders lifted; her eyes locked on the glass of juice like it was the most fascinating thing ever. “I took antidepressants when I was a young teen, when the transition into high school was hard on me. Then I met Blaire, and it got easier until I didn’t need them. It was a little hard when she transferred into Magnolia Heights her senior year, but I still saw her at the diner, and we still hung out, so it helped.”

She cringed. Codependent, much?

When a long silence stretched after her words, she chanced a glance up at his face.

The understanding on his face surprised her. She couldn’t explain how she knew he understood, but something in the softness of his eyes and relaxed set of his mouth eased her discomfort. He wasn’t judging her.

“It was hard for me when my brothers and sisters all moved away,” he started, shifting to lean against the counter again, giving her space she wasn’t sure she wanted now. “I was thirteen when Brandon moved to Seoul to become an international chef at twenty-three. Heather’s the oldest, and as soon as she found her Kor—her partner,” he said, pausing to clear his throat, “and got married, she left home. I think I was around three? Something like that.”

“Wow. How old is she?”

“Thirty-five.”

“So she left home as a teen?” At his nod, she shook her head. “I couldn’t imagine leaving home for marriage at this age. College is one thing, but marriage?” She laughed. Marriage sounded nice, but she wasn’t thinking about things like permanent commitments to anyone. She still had to sort out her own life.

“When you know, you know,” he said simply. “But yeah, Brandon leaving was hard on me. Mom says I had trouble with Heather leaving, but I don’t remember that young. I think if Riley wasn’t around, I’d likely struggle with depression too. Especially with Dad living in New York.”

“Wait. Your parents aren’t together?”

“They are. Dad’s job requires him to be there.”

“Why doesn’t your mom move north?”

“She teaches at the high school branch for Blackthorn. She loves her job, and Dad didn’t want to take her away from that. Plus, Riley and I were in elementary school when Dad got the job and she didn’t want to leave us.”

“Why didn’t she transfer y’all?”

He shifted, hooking his hands over the edge of the counter behind him. “Our family has all attended Blackthorn Academy’s school system for generations. Kind of a family legacy thing. It was important to the family that we continue that tradition.”

Huh.

Charlotte wondered if it embarrassed him that his family followed traditions like that because he looked incredibly uncomfortable. Southern families often held onto old traditions and obligations to preserve their family legacies in terms of school, work, and marriages in order to maintain connections with other legacy families and preserve their wealth. Her family had nothing like that, but she understood the concept.

Taking the hint that he didn’t want to delve deeper, she said, “It must have been rough losing your siblings like that. Especially going so far away. Did Heather stay in Rosebrook?”

“Nah. She moved to New York too. She works for a pharmaceutical company in the city.”

She turned to the counter and gathered up the trash from her late breakfast and opened the cabinet beneath the sink, tossing it in the garbage can. She made a mental note to take the trash to the chute later before it got too full.

Relating to his situation proved challenging, but at the same time, remarkably easy.

She didn’t want to diminish his loss of family or insult him by comparing her situation to his, but losing Blaire to Blackthorn Academy felt like losing a sibling. In reality, she had no siblings. Part of her wanted to associate the fact that she didn’t even know her father with the absence of Aiden’s, but again, it didn’t seem right.

Maybe it hurt more to have something and lose it than to never know it? She’d never know the answer to that question.

Turning to him after rinsing her glass and putting her medicine away, she huffed. “I need to change, then leave a message with management about the air and water.”

He cursed. “I forgot you needed to be up early to go down there. I would have woken you up. I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine. After the start to the day I’ve had, I can suffer another night of heat. I’ll be glad when this heatwave passes.”

After gathering her clothes for the day, she disappeared into the bathroom. Trying not to take too long, she shucked off her pajamas and slipped on the high-waisted white shorts and off-the-shoulder, short-sleeved, purple peasant blouse, tugging down the bottom so it didn’t show off her stomach with its shorter, fitted bodice.

Once satisfied with her appearance, she left the bathroom and dropped her sweaty pajamas in the laundry basket.

When she entered the living room, she stopped short. Aiden sat unmoving, staring at her with lowered lids and a blank expression.

“Everything okay?”