Once Upon a Second Chance (Once Upon a Holiday Story #1)

Chapter 13

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Daniel

I’d thought that after Aaron had showered and I’d had some time to compose myself, I’d be okay…I was wrong. When Aaron took his first bite of Eleanor’s chicken pot pie and moaned like he’d had the best fuck of his life, I was, in fact, not okay.

“Damn, Daniel, this is legendary. She could make millions off this.”

“ Mmhmm .” I was afraid to speak, so I kept shoveling food into my mouth, trying desperately to focus on my plate.

“ Uhhhhhg . I’m sorry if I sound like an idiot, but this is the best thing I’ve ever had in my mouth.”

I closed my eyes and breathed deeply. Does he realize how he sounds? What he’s saying?

“I’m glad I saved it to have with you, then.” I smiled and dared to meet his eyes. Another mistake because that was the moment he licked his lips clean of gravy.

“And I’m appreciative.”

I was a creepy old man; I had to be. He was a lot younger, and I was…well, okay, I wasn’t ancient, and I was in great shape. Many times I acted way younger than I was, and I knew my sister would tell me that age was just a number…What the fuck was I talking about? Was I even sure he felt the same way? And another thing, he’d be leaving…which, maybe that was a good thing? We could enjoy each other for a bit and afterward go about our lives.

“You look like you’re thinking real hard there.” Aaron tapped my hand to pull my attention away from my rambling thoughts.

“Oh, sorry. Just going over in my head what needs to be done tomorrow.”

He nodded and began eating again. “A lot was done today. I’ve never seen so many people come together like that.”

“It’s the magic of Everlasting Springs.”

He hummed. “I can see why you’d never want to leave.”

Did Aaron mean he didn’t want to leave? “This place gets in your blood—that’s for sure.”

He put his silverware onto his empty plate and sat back. “I’ve passed through a lot of small towns, but never one like this. When your family chose to make roots here however many years ago, they made them strong. You should be proud.”

I couldn’t pinpoint why that meant so much coming from Aaron, but it did. I swallowed the bite I had before speaking.

“Thank you. I am proud not just of me, but of the Laverton family. We’ve kept to our morals, and I’ve loved seeing this town flourish.”

“I bet if I were born in Everlasting Springs, my whole life would have turned out differently.” Aaron chuckled lightly. “I’m just sure glad I got to see it.”

I didn’t want Aaron being pulled into melancholy feelings, so I patted his shoulder. “Wait until the festival is all put together. Talk about magic.”

His smile washed away the cobwebs of sadness lingering in his eyes. “I can’t wait.”

That night as I lay in bed, utterly exhausted from a bad night of sleep a day earlier and a full day of physical activity, I couldn’t sleep.

My mind kept traveling to Aaron and how he was helping anyone and everyone today like he’d been here his whole life. Hank had come up to me once we were readying to head home.

“He’s a hard worker—nice, to boot.”

“I get the feeling he’s been working hard his whole life.”

Hank nodded. “He could probably use a break…and a little luck?”

“Why are you phrasing that as a question?”

He shrugged. “Just saying, maybe what he thought was bad luck with his car breaking down where it did, is actually some good luck instead.”

I couldn’t stop thinking about that. I wasn’t a person who really believed in magic and karma and all that, but my mother was. She said fate intervened when it had to.

I sighed and rolled over, fluffing my pillow under my head. “He’s too young for me,” I whispered to nobody but my own brain.

Closing my eyes, I willed myself to sleep. I don’t know how it worked, but the next thing I knew, it was morning and my phone was vibrating across my nightstand.

If that phone call was a foreshadowing of how the day was going to go, I was fucked.

“Morning,” Aaron greeted me as I entered the kitchen. He’d never beaten me awake, and I couldn’t remember the last time someone had made breakfast for me.

“Good morning.”

“I hope you don’t mind. I made breakfast. I wanted to do something nice for you, seeing as you have gone out of your way for me.”

Smiling, I walked to the coffeepot, trying to figure out how I was going to tell Aaron the bad news.

“I’ll never be upset if someone wants to cook for me.”

“Oh! And I fed Mayhem. I saw how you fed her half a can in the morning and half at night so…I hope that was okay too.”

I wanted to hug him; it was almost overpowering. “It’s very okay, and I’m sure Mayhem is grateful.”

He snorted. “She inhaled her food like a vacuum.”

I chuckled. “Sounds about right. Look, Aaron, I need to talk to you about something.”

Aaron’s expression fell, and I immediately missed the light in his eyes. “Oh, this can’t be good. Let me just take breakfast out of the oven so it doesn’t burn. I made a casserole. I worked in a diner for a summer a few years back, and the chef taught it to me. Real good.”

I set the table, and Aaron served both of us. His knee was bobbing, likely because he was nervous and while I didn’t want to tell him, I had to.

“They found your car.”

Aaron’s eyes widened. “Really? That’s awesome, I thought you were gonna tell me something bad with your whole, ‘We gotta talk’ seriousness.”

There was no hiding my wince, and Aaron noticed.

“Oh, no…what is it?”

“I don’t know how to say this…They can’t fix your car. No one can.”

He cocked his head. “I don’t understand. Why?”

“You’d been able to get your car off to the side of the road, which was great for plows and emergency vehicles. The only thing was, it was somewhat in the woods since where you were was narrow.”

“Okaaaay, and?”

“The snow must have weighed a tree down and, ugh , I’m sorry, Aaron, it fell on your car, completely totaling it.”

Aaron’s face turned ashen, his mouth hung open, and he was unblinking. That was more than a car for him; it was his home, his life, and in one fell swoop it was gone.

“I…” He cleared his throat. “My stuff.”

“I ordered the car to be towed to the shop in town regardless. Once it’s there, we can go over and you can go through it.”

He dropped his fork, never even touching his breakfast. “Shit. What the hell am I going to do?”

“Aaron, look at me.” He reluctantly did. “You’re going to eat your breakfast, then get ready for the day. We’ll continue to work on the festival preparations. After that we’ll come here, have dinner, watch a movie, and relax.”

He blinked, his brow dipping. “What? I can’t do that. I need to make arrangements. I have to get my stuff. Maybe I can sell some of it for a bus ticket or?—”

“A bus ticket?” I interrupted. “Why do you need that?”

“The deal was, you fix my car and I pay for it by helping with the festival. Well, there’s no car now, Daniel. Everything’s changed. I have to keep moving, working.”

Aaron’s fingers were tapping on the table, his knee was bobbing even faster, and the look in his eyes was wild.

“Aaron, stop. Breathe.”

“Daniel, I can’t, I have to?—”

“You have to listen to me, Aaron.” I raised my voice but only to help him snap out of this spiral he found himself in.

He shut his mouth, his body visibly shaking, but he met my gaze.

“Work to rebuild the festival. Stay until it’s done as there will be jobs during it, and in return, I’ll pay you for your work. Then and only then, you can entertain what you’ll do next. You act like I’m getting ready to kick you out, and I have no intention of doing that. I’ve enjoyed your company, and you’re helping the town I love so much. The deal we made has merely shifted but not changed.”

He stared at me, frozen. I waited patiently, hoping he’d speak, but he did something I didn’t expect. He cried.