that was for her mother who’d passed away a year after that incident. And for his mother, who Rosa still had a soft spot for, despite what she’d seen Liana put him through over the years.
Aaron clenched his jaw. The emotion might have been misleading but her actions hadn’t been. She’d left him without a word. Without a phone call. Without a note. He’d got home from work one day to find her clothes gone. She’d taken nothing else, and he’d had to face living in the house they’d furnished together—the home they’d built together—alone.
‘I imagine my mother wanted this to be much the same,’ Aaron said curtly. ‘She forces us to be alone together but, instead of starting to date this time, we work things out.’
‘But it’s not like before,’ she denied. ‘There actually was a ball then. Sure, no one else was there, but there was food and drink, and the place had been decorated for a party. This—’ she gestured around them ‘—is so far away from that.’
‘But she sent you a dress again?’ He tried to keep what seeing her in that dress did to him out of his voice.
‘No. I designed this one.’
‘You’ve never made anything like this for yourself before.’
‘I know. It was...a special occasion. Your mom’s sixtieth birthday,’ she added quickly. But it was too late. He’d already figured out that she’d made the dress because of him.
He wasn’t sure if he was pleased or annoyed by the fact. He’d been trying to get her to make something for herself for years. Now, when they were...whatever they were, she’d chosen to listen to him.
Perhaps that was why she’d left. Because he’d been holding her back. He’d add it to the list of possibilities. A list that spoke loudly—accusingly—of his faults.
‘I’m sure she would have if you hadn’t told her you’d sort yourself out,’ he said to distract himself. ‘And she arranged the plane for you. And the car to get you here. She’s a regular old fairy godmother,’ he added dryly.
‘No. No,’ she said again. ‘That can’t be it. She wouldn’t have arranged all of this just to play at being a fairy godmother.’
‘She did it before. When we met.’
‘That was just as much my mom as it was yours.’
‘Somehow, I think my mother had more to do with it.’ His shoulders tightened. ‘She likes to think she doesn’t live in the real world. And now, with this, she gets to play the perfect role. The good guy. The fairy godmother. To orchestrate a happy ever after.’
‘For you and me?’
‘Who else?’ he asked sharply, hating the surprise in her voice. She winced, stepped back, brushed at her hair again. It spiralled around her face in that free and slightly wild way her curls dictated.
‘You’re saying your mother tricked us into being here together because she wants us to...reconcile?’ He nodded. ‘Why?’
‘I don’t know,’ he said sarcastically. ‘Maybe because we were happily married until I got home one day to find you’d disappeared?’ She blanched. ‘Or maybe I’d fooled myself into believing we were happy.’
She bit her lip, looked away. ‘Did she tell you that she wanted us to have a happy ever after?’
He gritted his teeth, then forced himself to relax. Control was key. ‘Not directly. But she’s been urging me to contact you for the last four months.’ He cocked his head. ‘How did she contact you?’
‘My...email. I’ve been checking my emails.’
Tension vibrated between them. As did the unspoken words.
I’ve been checking my emails. I just haven’t replied to yours.
‘I was always going to attend her birthday, Aaron,’ Rosa said softly. ‘You know this is about more than your mother. More than you and me.’
He did. Rosa’s mother had made his mother promise to celebrate each birthday with vigour. A reminder that they’d lived. That they’d had a life.
That had been a deathbed promise.
It angered him even more that his mother would use her birthday as an opportunity for her scheme. In all the years she’d manipulated situations—in all the years she’d blamed her ‘zest for life’ for interfering in other people’s lives—she’d never done anything this...conniving.
And in all the years since he’d taken responsibility for Liana since he’d realised she wouldn’t take responsibility herself, Aaron had never felt more betrayed.
Or perhaps the betrayal he felt about Rosa leaving was intensifying his reaction.
Whatever it was, he wouldn’t allow it to control him any more. He walked to the door...and cursed when he found it locked.
‘WHAT?’ ROSA ASKED, anxiety pounding with her heart. ‘What is it?’
‘It’s locked.’
‘It’s—what?’ She strode past him and tried the handle of the door. It turned, but no amount of pressure made it open. ‘No,’ she said, shaking her head. ‘This is not happening. We are not locked in here. There must be some mistake.’
Panic spurred her movements and she reached into the clutch she’d forgotten was in her hand. She took her phone out. ‘I have signal!’ she said triumphantly. ‘Only a few bars, but it should work. Who should I call?’
‘I suppose we could try the police.’ His calm voice was a stark contrast to the atmosphere around them.
‘Do you have the number?’
‘No.’
She stared at him. ‘How do you not have the number of the police?’
‘It’s on my phone. It’s dead,’ he said, nodding in the direction of the table where it lay.
‘You didn’t charge it,’ she said with a sigh. It was something he did—or didn’t do—regularly. Which had driven her crazy on good days. This day had been anything but good.
But if he was going to pretend to be calm—if he was going to pretend he wasn’t freaking out when she knew that he was—she could too.
‘Okay, so we don’t have the number for the police station. I’m assuming that covers all emergency services?’ He nodded. ‘I guess we better hope that nothing happens during this storm,’ she muttered, and scanned her contacts for the number she was looking for.
As if in response to her words, a streak of lightning whipped across the sky. It was closely followed by booms of thunder. Rosa closed her eyes and brought the phone to her ear.
‘Liana,
