of words still unspoken were beginning to weigh heavy on Aiden. Betty was oblivious to the fact that Brandy was now living with him. It had been three weeks and she’d yet to step foot beyond his house. He knew he couldn’t keep her a secret forever. And once one person knew, the whole of Avalon would know. Gossip spread faster than any virus ever could.
Aiden was just starting to feel like he belonged. In the morning people would greet him with a smile. In bequeathing his firm to Aiden, his late colleague Edmond had publically placed a seal of approval upon the younger man and Avalon had responded. He wasn’t a pariah; he was almost one of them. If the town learned that Brandy was now in his life all that would change, he’d go back to being demonized. As loath as he was to admit it, Aiden quite liked being in people’s good graces. It certainly made working in Avalon much easier.
“Here you go.” Aiden placed a Styrofoam cup of earl grey tea and a croissant upon Betty’s desk. She nodded politely at Aiden and then returned her attention to her computer screen where she was already busily managing emails which had come in.
Aiden moved beyond her towards his own office. It was a sleek, modern space with hard wood floors and a grand desk boasting two computer monitors. Cooled air was already circulating thanks to the air conditioning system. Aiden dropped his briefcase by his desk and sat down in his leather chair. With a sigh he recalled that it hadn’t always been like this. When he first worked at Copes and May, the offices were shabby and he hadn’t been alone. His graze drifted, as it always did, to the part of the room where Edmond Copes’ desk had once stood.
A hole opened up in Aiden’s chest as he recalled the older man who had brought him to Avalon in the first place. Aiden lifted his cup of fresh coffee and toasted the emptiness.
“Here’s to you, Edmond.”
Aiden felt his shoulders slump as he considered that Edmond would have been the one person in Avalon who would have welcomed Brandy’s return, the one person who would have embraced Aiden’s new-found happiness.
Rubbing his hand across his eyes, Aiden did his best to banish his sorrow and focus on the working day ahead.
*
Aiden was about to leave the office for the day when his phone started vibrating in his pocket. With a slight groan he retrieved it, assuming it was a work call which would delay his departure. His heart seized in his chest when he saw a Chicago number flashing on the screen. Quickly he dragged his finger across the digital screen and answered the call.
“Hello?” His tone was curt and formal.
“Daddy?” came a light voice from the other end of the line.
Aiden felt his entire body sag with surprised delight.
“Meegan!” He gripped the phone, pressing it tightly against his ear. He didn’t want to miss a single sound his daughter made.
“How are you, sweetheart?”
“I have three new Barbies!” Meegan told her father proudly.
“Three?” Aiden smiled to himself. “That’s a lot.”
Two of them he’d sent to her by courier delivery. He felt relieved to know that they had arrived safely.
“Bonnie, Mindy and…” Meegan prolonged the ‘and’ as she struggled to remember the name of her third new doll. Aiden heard someone whisper a name in the background.
“Blue!” Meegan squealed excitedly, delighted to have remembered all their names.
“Those are lovely names,” Aiden told her warmly.
“Me choose!”
“You’re a clever girl.”
“Give Mommy the phone.” He heard Isla’s voice and Aiden straightened in his seat. Seconds later she had replaced Meegan on the call.
“Aid, hey.” Her tone wasn’t cold but it wasn’t warm either.
“Isla, hi.” Aiden tried to sound equally neutral as he nervously unbuttoned the top of his shirt.
“She really wanted to call you,” Isla explained, sounding almost apologetic.
“That’s fine!” Aiden insisted a little too enthusiastically. “I love hearing from her! From you both,” he added diplomatically.
“Thanks for the dolls, she loved them.”
“I’m glad they got there okay.”
“So what’s new with you?” Isla brightened slightly as she asked the question. Aiden felt his airwaves begin to constrict as he nervously floundered on the other end of the line. Isla, like the rest of Avalon, had yet to find out that he was now living with Brandy. He feared that if he invoked his estranged wife’s jealousy she could keep Meegan from him to be cruel. He liked to think that Isla wouldn’t sink to such levels but he also didn’t want to test her capacity for petty revenge.
“Not much.” Aiden shrugged as he sat at his desk. “I’ve been busy with work, just trying to get everything straight since—” His voice broke off. Since Edmond’s death. But he couldn’t bring himself to say the words, they still felt too final.
“I bet it has been busy…adjusting,” Isla replied carefully.
“What about you? What’s new with you?”
“I should really go,” Isla announced a little too quickly. For a moment Aiden wondered if it was just his imagination as she suddenly seemed extremely worked up.
“Isla, is everything alright?”
“Yeah, yeah, everything is fine, I’m just late for a yoga class. Maybe next time call a bit later.”
Aiden was about to point out that he hadn’t been the one to make the call but the line went dead before he could speak. Bemused, he pulled the cell phone from his ear and regarded it suspiciously. Isla was definitely acting strangely. Was she hiding something? The thought made his pulse quicken.
Or was it someone? His mind darkened as he imagined a new man in both his wife and daughter’s life. He was about to call them back when the door to his office creaked open and Betty peered round to look at him.
“I’m heading home if that’s alright with you Mr— Sorry, Aiden?” Her glasses were perched precariously on the end of her nose as she looked down through them to regard him.
“That’s fine, Betty. I’m clocking off now too.” Aiden smiled and stood up and began rummaging in his pocket for the keys to both the office and his car.
“The sun hasn’t stopped shining today,” Betty commented by the door.
“It’s been a beautiful day,” Aiden agreed.
“He always loved sunny days,” Betty said with a bittersweet smile as her gaze dropped to the ground.
“Yes.” Aiden nodded and shrugged on his jacket. “He did.”
*
Brandy was standing in the
