Forever Yours Read online

  Copyright © 2019 by Marci Bolden

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Cover design by Okay Creations

  ebook layout by Lori Colbeck

  mobi ISBN-13: 978-1-950348-17-6

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Epilogue

  New From Marci Bolden

  A Life Without Water

  Also by Marci Bolden

  About the Author

  Chapter One

  Aiden Howard’s stomach clenched into a bundle of nerves as he parked in front of the O’Connell Realty office. He had sworn that once he spread his wings in “the real world,” he’d never come back to this sleepy little suburb. Yet, here he was. Not only had he returned to the small town where he grew up, but he was committing to staying for the long-term by purchasing a home.

  Part of him wanted to run before it was too late. But it was already too late. He’d accepted a job at Stonehill Hospital. He’d already crammed what he’d brought back from New York City into his parents’ garage. He had told people he was coming home. His cousin Phil and his wife were expecting a new baby in just over a month, and Aiden had promised to be here to help them out.

  He had broken a lot of promises in the past. But he had come home to change. His mom liked to talk about how they were a tight-knit family, but the truth was the rifts ran deep and wide.

  Living away from home, moving to the city, had taken a toll on Aiden that he hadn’t even begun to process yet. He just knew he needed time to heal his soul after the horrors he’d seen. He wasn’t soft by any means, but he sure as hell hadn’t been prepared to deal with the level of inhumanity he’d faced on a near-daily basis.

  So, despite years of swearing he never would, he’d come back to the security of suburban life. Not only was he back, but he was taking steps to settle in for the long haul. After taking a deep breath to firm up his resolve, Aiden climbed out of his SUV and walked into the office. He smiled warmly at the receptionist and let her know he had an appointment with Mallory Martinson-Canton. Within moments, she came out of her office, pregnant belly first, and beckoned for him to join her.

  Aiden tried to keep his physician’s mind turned off when he wasn’t in the emergency room, but he couldn’t help noticing Mallory’s slow movements. He’d only been back in town for a week and didn’t know Mallory well, but he was uneasy with the obvious toll this pregnancy was taking on her. “You look tired.”

  She turned her lips down in an exaggerated frown as she sat behind her desk. “Nice to see you too.”

  “Sorry.” He wasn’t really. “How are you feeling?”

  She shifted in her chair. “Have you ever seen one of those stores where you make your own stuffed animals?”

  Aiden blinked. “Sure.”

  “Have you ever seen one of those stuffed animal skins get filled to the point of bursting?”

  He grinned, finally following her train of thought. “You’re only eight months along, Mal. You’ve got a bit more filling out to do.”

  Even though she insisted she was miserable, she smiled and happiness lit her eyes. “I’m going to explode. I swear it.” She rolled her head back and sighed dramatically. “How are you doing?”

  He blew out a breath to release some of his stress. He’d been home a week. A very long week. “I love my mom.”

  Mallory’s grin widened. “But?”

  “But we need to get moving on this house search.”

  Aiden knew Mallory understood and wasn’t judging him. His mom and Mallory’s mother-in-law Kara were cousins, and they weren’t on the best of terms. Whenever Aiden mentioned Phil, Becca would mutter under her breath about how Kara had torn their family apart. Mending those familial rifts wasn’t going to be easy. Becca Howard was almost as good at holding a grudge as Kara Canton.

  Almost.

  The cousins were more alike than they wanted to admit. Both were fiercely protective of their kids and would do anything to help them, but both seemed to be a little put out that Aiden and Phil were trying to help them let go of past grievances and move on.

  “First things first.” Mallory slid a clipboard and pen across to him. “All of our clients have to have a background check. Even family.”

  Aiden didn’t protest. Mallory’s mom had been hurt in an attempted mugging a few years ago and still suffered side effects from the injury. He was happy that the company was enforcing rules to protect their agents. As he filled out the form, she tossed questions at him.

  How many bedrooms? How many bathrooms? Was location important?

  He knew the answers to all of those without thinking about them. As soon as he had started to realize city living wasn’t for him, he found himself dreaming of the home he’d have some day. Three bedrooms. At least two full bathrooms. A big fenced yard. Preferably a two-story home with an open layout downstairs to make entertaining easier.

  He wasn’t a great cook, but he loved the idea of having big family dinners or lots of friends over. During his time in New York, he’d become a bit of a hermit. The stresses of working in an ER hadn’t left him with enough energy to socialize. He’d always been active and involved, but leaving Stonehill had changed him in more ways than one. He needed to get back to living his life instead of just getting through each day.

  He hadn’t quite determined what that life was going to look like. When he’d left Stonehill, he’d still been too immature to thoroughly understand what his future should be. While in New York, he had become too isolated to care. He was determined to do better now, and that meant having room for big gatherings. Even if he couldn’t cook a proper meal for them.

  “Hey, Mal,” a familiar voice called.

  Aiden froze. He knew that voice. The melodic tone had haunted his dreams ever since he left Stonehill. Whenever he’d had a particularly bad day, he’d close his eyes and dig into the depths of his memory just to hear that voice.

  “Marcus has left for the day. Can you— Oh.” The sound of her approaching footsteps stopped as abruptly as the woman’s words. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you had a client.”

  With his breath lodged in his chest like wet cement, Aiden spun in his chair. He couldn’t stop himself. Just as he suspected, Megumi Tanaka had stopped in her tracks and was staring at him. She still had the long black hair he remembered, but her glasses were gone. She’d planned on getting surgery to correct her vision because she couldn’t stand to wear contacts and hated wearing glasses. She must have followed through.

  She was slimmer now too, more fit. He had tried to get her to go to the gym with him for the two years they had dated in college, but she was committed to her studies. Studies that were supposed to lead her to being an obstetrician. Why was she here? At a realty office?

  She stared at him,
her thin lips parted, as she widened her eyes. She was obviously just as stunned to see him.

  “It’s not problem,” Mallory said. “This is Phil’s cousin—”

  “Aiden,” Meg said.

  The last time he’d heard her say his name was when he ended their relationship without warning. He hadn’t told her that he’d applied for a residency in New York because he hadn’t expected to get it. When he had, he couldn’t turn it down and he couldn’t expect Meg to give up her life to go with him. At least that was the reasoning he’d used for leaving her behind.

  He’d insisted ending their relationship had been the best thing for both of them. Only later had he realized that they could have worked around their separation, like she’d told him they could, if he’d been willing to put in the effort. Maybe he wouldn’t have felt so overwhelmed by his residency if he’d let Meg be there for him. When his life had started falling apart, she was the first person he’d wanted to reach out to. She’d always been able to talk him through his problems. But he’d burned that bridge—and blown it up for good measure—before he left.

  Four years later, she stood before him, and even though he had no right, his first instinct was to wrap her in his arms and hug her tight. He stood and took a step toward her before realizing that was a terrible idea.

  “Hi, Meg,” he said hesitantly when she lifted one brow at him in what appeared to be a silent warning for him to keep his distance.

  “You’re Phil’s cousin?”

  “Well. We’re second cousins if we’re getting technical about it.” He smiled.

  She didn’t. “The one moving back from…”

  He shoved his hands in his pockets. He didn’t know why he was surprised that she was less than happy to see him. “New York. The city just didn’t work out like I’d planned.”

  Meg stared at him as if she didn’t know what to say next. She could say she told him so. Because she had. When she’d asked him not to break up with her, she’d told him that he wasn’t being realistic about what the city was like. She’d told him he wasn’t going to be living out some sitcom where he and his closest friends would hang out sipping coffee between grand efforts to save a life. The city was brutal and cold and real. She’d told him he wasn’t ready for that.

  She had been right. He hadn’t been ready, and the reality had nearly destroyed his sanity.

  Mallory broke the tense silence. “You two know each other?”

  The hard edge that filled Meg’s eyes was like a knife to Aiden’s heart. Four years may have passed, but she looked as angry now as she had when he’d told her he was leaving Stonehill without her.

  “No. Not really,” Meg said coolly. “I didn’t mean to interrupt your meeting.”

  “Meg,” Mallory called. “You needed something?”

  “I’ll catch you later,” she stated and disappeared.

  Aiden watched her leave, his spirit sinking with every step she took. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he’d thought he might run into his ex-girlfriend, but he hadn’t expected that to happen here. Or so soon after his return. He’d thought he’d have time to brace himself for that moment.

  “You want to tell me what that was about?” Mallory asked.

  Aiden’s gut twisted with guilt. “We dated in med school. It didn’t end well. Obviously.”

  Mallory started at him, her eyes widening much the way Meg’s had done when she’d spotted him. “Oh. My. God. You’re the one… You left to do your residency without her?”

  He didn’t have to answer. The horror on her face made it clear she understood exactly why Meg had such a bad reaction to seeing him.

  By the time Meg reached her office, she was trembling like a scared child. In a way, she guessed she was. Aiden Howard had been her first real relationship and her first real heartbreak. She had foolishly believed they would spend the rest of their lives together, right up to the moment he said they wouldn’t. She hadn’t seen that coming.

  Admittedly, she’d been naïve in the ways of men and romance before she somehow ended up in a relationship with Aiden. They’d both been students. They’d understood the stress they were both under. They both had parents pressuring them to succeed. They had shared a strong connection that Meg had thought was unbreakable.

  Until he broke it.

  Since Meg was a year behind him, they had talked many times about what would happen when it was time for him to do his residency. Not once had they talked about him breaking up with her so he could go boldly into the future alone. She’d been shocked. She hadn’t known he’d even applied to New York. He’d given her a long list of excuses: he thought it was best if they ended things so he could start fresh when he got there, long-distance relationships didn’t work, they weren’t ready for the long-term commitment they’d talked about. And a dozen other reasons she hadn’t expected to hear.

  They all had boiled down to one thing: Aiden had turned his back on the future they had planned.

  She had done her best to forget him, but he was always there, lingering in the back of her mind. Now he was back. And related to Mallory—Meg’s best friend and coworker. Perfect.

  Sinking into her chair, Meg tightened her hands into fists, trying to stop them from shaking. That hadn’t eased her nerves a bit when her office door opened. She knew it was Mallory before her friend squeezed into the small space that was Meg’s office.

  “I didn’t know,” Mallory said, closing the door behind her. “I swear, I didn’t know.”

  “It’s not your fault.” Meg forced herself to swallow when her voice quivered.

  “I didn’t put the pieces together, Meg. I’m just…” She waved her had. “My head is a million miles away right now. I’m so sorry.” Mallory wriggled her way into the straight-back chair across from Meg, her eyes filled with what looked like guilt. “I know how much he hurt you.”

  “You couldn’t have known. You and I met after Aiden left. I probably never even said his name after what happened.”

  “Are you okay?”

  Meg looked at her hands. They were still trembling. “I will be. I just need a few minutes.” She inhaled deeply before the tears threatening to fill her eyes could take hold. “He’s moving back?”

  Mallory nodded but then was quiet for too long before saying, “You know how Phil grew up without knowing his family?”

  Meg braced herself. “Yes.”

  “It’s really important to him that he reconnect with them,” Mal said with sympathetic undertones. “But you’re family too,” she quickly added. “You’re like the sister I never had. You know that.”

  Meg felt the same about Mallory. Except Meg had an older sister. She and Aya had never been close, though. Meg was the black sheep of the Tanaka clan. She’d been so young when they left Japan and had become the most Westernized of them. Even though her parents had tried, their traditions had never taken root with Meg. She felt a closer bond to Mallory than she ever had to Aya. Because of that close bond, she knew where this conversation was going and decided to save Mallory some stress and tears.

  “So. Aiden will be around quite a bit, then,” Meg said.

  Mallory nodded, and Meg wanted to cry from the sense of betrayal she felt. Not at Mallory or Phil. More at life in general. At the universe. At the cruelty of the fates. She’d never gotten over the hurt Aiden had caused her. She’d buried it, denied it, ignored it. But she’d never gotten over it. Now she had no choice but to face it. She dug in, tapping into that false bravado she used so often.

  “I was shocked to see him,” she said. “But now that I know he’s in town and that we might run into each other, I won’t have such a bad reaction next time.”

  “I don’t want to add salt to your wounds, Meg.”

  Meg shrugged. “Aiden and I broke up a long time ago. My wounds are healed.”

  Mallory stared at her. If anyone could know how much of a lie that was, it would be Mallory. Meg had moved in with Mallory not long after Aiden left Stonehill. They’d gone through a
lot of wine and even more tissues their first few months of living together. Just a few years later and Mallory was happily married, while Meg kept men as far away from her as possible. She had no intention of going through that kind of heartache again. She took in Mallory’s expression of obvious disbelief.

  “Okay,” Meg amended. “My wounds aren’t healed, but they are old enough that I have to get over it. And I will. Aiden is part of your family now. I’ll have to see him from time to time. I can do that.”

  “I would never ask—”

  “Hey,” Meg interjected with a forced smile. “I’m a big girl. I can tolerate running into him at the occasional gathering.”

  Mallory wrung her hands, obviously still unsettled. She wasn’t the only one, but as she always did, Meg set her feelings aside.

  “What happened with Aiden and me was a long time ago, Mal. Maybe this is the kick in the ass I needed to finally move on.” She shrugged. “It’ll be fine. Really.”

  Chapter Two

  Meg tried to keep her balance on the ice-covered sidewalk leading to Mallory’s front porch. When she reached the stairs, she clung to the handrail, easing her way to the front door. Finally, she reached her goal and pressed the doorbell several times, conveying her urgent need to get inside the warmth of their home.

  Phil looked confused as he opened the door, and she suspected Mallory forgot to tell him Meg was coming for dinner. Mallory was forgetting a lot of things these days. Although Meg hadn’t become an obstetrician like she’d planned, she knew Mallory’s changing hormones impacted her hippocampus, resulting in lapses of memory. Understanding the cause did little to ease Mallory’s frustrations, but Meg appreciated the opportunity to utilize the education she’d cut short.