of guilt crept up his spine and pinched at the back of his neck. It was his fault they were here, his fault that Isla was so miserable.
‘Daddy, look!’ Meegan called for her father and then began to proudly blow bubbles. Aiden looked at her fondly, and then up at Isla who was now smiling at her daughter.
‘I guess she’s why I do it,’ Isla admitted. ‘It’s just so hard sometimes.’
‘I know.’ Aiden himself was still treated like an outcast who could potentially be harbouring the plague and he knew it wasn’t a nice feeling. For a town which outwardly seemed so loving and community based, the people could be very standoffish.
‘Anyway, how was your day?’ Isla changed the topic and continued to prepare dinner. She handed Meegan a bowl of baby food which the little girl promptly dunked both hands into.
‘Meegan!’
‘Don’t worry, I’ve got it,’ Aiden offered, already wetting a flannel to clean Meegan up. ‘My day was good,’ he spoke as he mopped the contents of the bowel off Meegan’s little hands. ‘I started working on my next case.’
‘Oh?’
‘You’ll never guess who it’s for.’
‘Who?’ Isla asked, intrigued.
‘Buck Fern’s brother.’
‘You’re joking!’ Aiden’s wife scoffed as she stirred the pasta. ‘Is he as much of an ass as Buck is?’
‘I’ve not met him yet but by all accounts, yes, he is.’
‘Sounds like you’re in for a good time at work then.’
‘Yeah,’ Aiden sighed, picking up his beer now that Meegan was clean and finally eating her dinner rather than trying to wear it.
‘What’s the case?’
‘Paternity suit, I think.’
‘Ooh,’ Isla’s eyes lit up at the prospect of a scandal. ‘Those are always interesting.’
‘I guess.’
‘What’s the wife like? I’m guessing he’s married?’
‘Yeah he is. I’ve not met her yet either. Apparently she was Miss September one year for Playboy.’
This last piece of information got Isla’s full attention. She turned away from dinner to face Aiden, a wooden spoon held within her hands forcefully, like a weapon.
‘She’s a Playmate?’ there was something accusing in her tone and Aiden instantly wished he’d not revealed that particular piece of information to his wife.
‘She was. Years ago.’ Aiden tried to sound dismissive, didn’t want to dwell on the topic for too long. He’d forgotten that during college, Isla had applied to be a Playmate, seeing it as a fun way to make a load of extra cash. She hadn’t been accepted and it had remained a sore point for her ever since.
‘She must look cheap as that’s what they go for there.’ Isla said bitterly, watching Aiden intently, her eyes narrowed.
‘Exactly!’ Aiden agreed. ‘Can we eat yet?’
*
‘You used to hate paternity cases,’ Isla said suddenly as they lay in bed that night, bringing Aiden back from the brink of sleep. It was only just past ten but his body was now conditioned to early nights and early mornings and so it felt much later to him.
‘Huh?’ he asked sleepily.
‘Back in Chicago, you used to hate paternity cases. You said they made you feel uneasy because you worried about the kids involved. Which I thought was noble of you.’ From the tone of Isla’s voice it was clear that she’d been lying in bed thinking, rather than trying to sleep.
‘I did hate them, still do. They’re messy,’ Aiden admitted.
‘How old is the child?’
‘Two.’
‘That sucks.’
‘Can I go back to sleep now?’ Aiden asked, his eyes feeling heavy.
‘I didn’t even know we had an ex-playmate living here,’ Isla mused half to herself, half to her tired husband.
‘Maybe you two could be friends,’ Aiden muttered dreamily.
‘What?’ Isla screeched, instantly outraged.
Sighing, Aiden pulled himself up so that he was sitting and looked at his wife. His body groaned from being pulled from the sweet release of sleep so abruptly.
‘She’s an ex-playmate. I imagine she is glamorous. I know they used to live in the city so you two would have a lot in common, that’s all.’ He planted a kiss on Isla’s forehead to further placate her.
‘She might know decent places locally to get hair and nails done,’ he added, knowing that Isla was constantly aggrieved by the lack of professional beauticians close by. Or at least ones she deemed competent.
‘Hmm,’ Isla mulled on the thought. She had to admit it wasn’t the worst idea she’d ever heard.
‘I need to get to sleep,’ Aiden pleaded.
‘Okay, fine.’
They both lay back down and settled themselves in the darkness. Isla’s mind continued to flutter ideas around her head, preventing her from sleeping, but Aiden immediately dropped off and a lazy smile pulled across his lips.
He was dreaming, as he often did, of Brandy. She was on the beach, by the edge of the sea, playfully dipping her toes into the water. Each time she did, she would squeal girlishly at the cold. Aiden was watching her from afar.
The wind caught her blonde hair and whipped it around her head. She looked messy and carefree and devastatingly beautiful. Turning, she looked over to Aiden, a sweet smile on her face, and she beckoned him to join her in the water.
‘Come on in!’ her voice still held its soft, Southern lilt. She bit her lip playfully as she watched him which set his pulse racing.
Aiden moved to oblige, his eyes taking in the curves of her petite body in the green bikini she was wearing which glistened with an ethereal glow, as though she were a mermaid.
As he walked towards her, he was enticed by her gaze, by the sound of her soft laughter. He didn’t want to just play in the ocean with her. He wanted to kiss her, to hold her, to run his hands down her almost bare body. He wanted…
Aiden woke up suddenly, his breath catching in his throat. As his senses slowly returned, he realized that he was in a full state of arousal and beside him Isla was now fast asleep. He considered waking her and then sighed to himself. He was definitely too tired for that. Shaking off the residues of the dream, Aiden headed for the bathroom, wishing that he had not woken from such a pleasant fantasy.
*
