Always Aimee

Chapter Two

Chapter Two

“THAT SUCKS,” KARLA said before taking a sip of her lemonade.

When Aimee made it back home, Karla was already sitting on the balcony, drink in hand, enjoying the waves rolling in from the Atlantic. Aimee dumped her purse on the dining room table, fixed herself a drink, and joined her sister on the balcony. She didn’t take the other chair, though, but instead, leaned back on the railing, the ocean breeze tugging on her blond hair. She went all day without venting her frustration, not wanting Ginny to think she blamed her for what couldn’t be accomplished, but the moment Aimee saw Karla, she couldn’t hold it in any longer and just let her annoyance out. “I feel for Clint; I truly do,” Aimee said. “That woman ran out on him, left him with the responsibility of raising their daughter alone, and now she just gets to waltz back in and pick up as if she never left? It’s not right. To be honest, the whole thing is pretty f****d up.”

“But it’s not like she’s picking everything right back up where she left off,” Karla said, her head tilted a little as she studied her sister. “I mean, he’ll have to deal with Bonnie being around here and there, and in Abigail’s life, but she doesn’t get to play house again. At least, not with Clint. People do it all the time. It’s not fun, but it’s part of life. And part of being a parent.”

Aimee didn’t say anything, not wanting to hear anyone, even Karla, rationalize the horrible situation away. She turned her gaze out to the barreling waves. Two surfers paddled out, determined to catch some afternoon sets before darkness blanketed the ocean. Off in the distance, she noticed a family sitting out underneath a canopy, two kids playing in the small waves that broke upon the shore, while their parents ignored them and played on their phones. That wasn’t how Clint would be. He’d be out in the water with Abby or watching her dig a hole to build a castle. However, from everything she heard, she could picture Bonnie being that way. Still, that was supposed to be Clint down there, instead of in a broken marriage. It’s what he wanted when he first discovered Bonnie was pregnant, to be a family, doing family things, outings, dinner, vacations. Aimee stared at the couple under the tent. Now, Bonnie was back. They didn’t know what she wanted, but what if it was to be that family now? What if she wanted to make it all come true, everything Clint always dreamed? Could Aimee stand in the way of that?

“Stop,” Karla said, using her foot to nudge Aimee’s knee, pushing her out of her reverie.

“Stop what?”

“Stop overthinking. Stop being you. You’re always Aimee, always doing what you think everyone else needs, always giving up what you want out of life to do what you think is the right thing. Well, stop it. Stop always being you. Don’t give up on your man. Until Clint tells you he wants to be back with Bonnie, don’t assume that he does.”

“But Abby deserves her mother.”

“Perhaps, but that doesn’t mean Clint deserves that b***h for a wife. The two don’t necessarily go together. Wait it out and see what he does. Having watched him pant around you for the past couple of weeks, I can’t imagine him putting you to the side for her. It just wouldn’t make sense.”

Aimee nodded. She knew what Karla said made sense, but…

She took a deep breath. But it still confused the hell out of her. Then she looked at her sister, and the fact that Karla sat on their balcony finally struck her as odd. “Why aren’t you with Mitch?” Ever since Karla committed to Mitch Greenway and started working at his auto shop, she was barely at their condo. It wasn’t that Aimee hated being alone—that was the plan from the beginning, after all, when she moved back from Gainesville—she just found it odd, is all. Karla was never happier than Aimee saw her over the last couple of weeks.

“I needed clean clothes,” she said with a shrug. “Then when I got here, I heard the kids screaming down on the beach, and decided to take a short break and enjoy the scenery.” Karla turned her gaze back out to the ocean, just as a pelican skimmed the cresting waves. “It seems like forever since I’ve just sat here and enjoyed looking out at the water. I know why you insisted on the back bedroom.” She sighed. “Seems like forever since I’ve been at the beach. I miss it.”

Aimee turned and gazed back out at the curling waves. She missed the beach as well, and she wasn’t sleeping anywhere else like her sister. “We need a beach day soon.”

Karla sipped her lemonade after nodding. “That we do. That we do.” Aimee then felt her sister’s eyes on her again. “So, what are you up to tonight? As if I didn’t already know.”

Aimee took a deep breath. “Clint’s making lasagna with garlic bread. Extra garlic, he promised. To be honest, though, I have no idea. He wasn’t in the best mood when he left the office today. He may just want to be alone once he thinks it through.” She shrugged before lifting her glass to her lips.

“You’re serious? I’m fairly sure Clint Asher wants his precious Aimee around him all the time, especially after the day he’s suffered.” She c****d her head a little bit, narrowing her eyes at Aimee. “You’re not thinking of being silly again, are you?”

“What are you talking about?” She didn’t even convince herself with her tone.

“You know what I mean. Just a few days ago, you stood right where you are now contemplating breaking up with lover boy. There’s no reason for that. He needs you. Now more than ever.”

Aimee just nodded, her gaze focused on the wooden deck of her balcony. She remembered the evening Karla referred to, and it wasn’t a good night. Aimee’s insecurities had risen to strangle her, and she felt that suffocation once again. She wasn’t sure what to do or even think. If the laws had protected Clint and Abigail, that would be one thing. However, the law didn’t protect them. Instead, it allowed the woman who abandoned them, who walked out for another man and a looser lifestyle, to waltz right back in and pick up right where she left off. For better or worse, Bonnie Asher was back, and what that truly meant, Aimee had no idea. Clint didn’t say he wanted Bonnie back or that he would even consider it. Still, Aimee knew he had to be suffering an overwhelming bout of emotions surging through him, feelings that were once gone, faded with time as well as the responsibility of raising Abigail, filling his mind and pulling at him. How did she compete with that? How does anyone compete with their lover’s past when it shoved its way back through the door?

“I’m not going anywhere,” Aimee said. “I’ll stand by him for as long as he wants me.”

Karla took a long pull of her drink. She nodded as she licked the excess moisture from her lips. “That’s my girl.”

Aimee smiled. She would do it, stand by Clint, but she wasn’t sure whether it was the right thing or not for Abigail. How would the little girl act when she finally heard her mother had come back? Aimee couldn’t compete with that. Wouldn’t compete with that. Bonnie was a b***h, for sure, but she was also Abby’s mother. The girl had a right to her mother, didn’t she?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Clint shut Abigail’s bedroom door, making sure it didn’t make a sound, before returning to the living room and Aimee. Only she wasn’t sitting on the couch where he left her, but rather on the balcony with the sliding glass door still open. He stood just inside the door for a moment, staring at her, taking her in as she sat there, staring out at A1A and passing traffic. He could only imagine what went through her mind. She didn’t ask for any of this, for Bonnie to reappear and demand things. When he started hanging out with Aimee, she expected a normal dating relationship, not one dealing with Clint’s ex-wife. With the way the meeting went earlier, it was obvious that there would be more to endure. Bonnie was back in his life, just as fast as she left.

Clint stared out the window, waiting for Bonnie to return. She left right after supper, a supper he cooked, and she barely ate, saying she was going dancing. He tried to get her to stay home, watch a Disney movie with him and Abigail, but Bonnie only laughed at him as she snatched her purse off the table by the front door and left. She never even said goodnight.

He watched the movie with Abby, made sure she had a bath, and tucked her into bed, reading her One Fish, Two Fish twice before he was able to get her to lie still. He sat there, watching her sleep for a few minutes before he stood, left her room, and poured himself some scotch. He sat on the sofa, staring at the front door as he sipped his whiskey, waiting.

He heard the slam of a car door shortly after midnight, along with laughter. Clint pushed himself off the sofa to peek out the front window. He should have stayed seated. By the time he peered outside, Bonnie stood there, another man’s arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her tight against him as one hand slid up into her hair. Clint stood there, watching, as the two of them kissed, not even caring that they were in front of her home while her husband waited inside.

She laughed again when the kiss was over, her hand on the other man’s chest as she pushed away and turned toward the house. The other man—the stranger who just made out with Clint’s wife—watched as she walked away, a shitty grin on his face before he turned and slid back into his car. Clint felt a pain grip his chest, his heart aching, breaking really. He thought she would get enough of the wild nights, thought that once she held little Abigail in her arms, she’d be happy being a mother. Yet, she couldn’t care less about Abigail, Clint, or being a family. For two years, he put up with her behavior, watched as she left every night to do who knows what and with whom, while he took care of their little girl all by himself. He couldn’t take it anymore. As much as he loved Bonnie, he loved himself and his little girl more. He wouldn’t put up with Bonnie’s behavior another night.

As the front door opened, he downed the rest of his scotch, set the glass on the coffee table, and turned to face his wife.

“You’re up,” she said, as she staggered through the door. Clint could smell the alcohol on her breath. “I thought for sure you would have gone to bed hours ago. I know how you like to get a good night’s sleep before working all day in that mundane job of yours.”

He took a deep breath, refusing to allow her to bait him into a fight. Not yet, anyway. “Who was that who dropped you off? I didn’t recognize the car.”

She arched an eyebrow at him as she slammed a fist against her hip. “Are you spying on me from the window? That’s kind of creepy, isn’t it?”

“You’re my wife. I have a right to know where you were all night and with whom.” He felt his temper rising, but there was nothing he could do to stop it. “For Christ’s sake, Bonnie, I watched the two of you making out right in front of our house. What if the neighbors saw you?”

“What if they did? Big deal. I don’t care what our neighbors think. I don’t care what anyone thinks. I don’t even care what you think, to be honest. I told you, Clint. I don’t plan on staying home every damn night. I’m young. Hell, I’m barely twenty-five years old. I plan on enjoying my life.”

“We have a daughter,” he hissed at Bonnie.

She rolled her eyes as she started toward the kitchen. “And whose fault is that? I told you I didn’t want kids. I never hid that from you. You talked me into this, into motherhood and family life. I’ve stayed and played house, but I’m not going to allow it to ruin my life, a life I deserve.”

“And what about Abigail? What does she deserve? Doesn’t she deserve a mother? A family?”

“She deserves you. And, lucky for her, she has you. You’re such a good daddy.”

Clint sighed, as he turned to the hallway, making sure Abby was still asleep. With a deep breath, he turned back to Bonnie. He loved her. He was willing to do anything for her. Did everything for her. Now, however, he needed to do everything for Abigail, their daughter, his daughter. “It needs to end, Bonnie. Now. Tonight. No more going out at night. No more drunken nights with strangers bringing you home. We’re a family, and we need to act like it. You need to act like it.”

She laughed. She just stood there and laughed, a sound that shattered his heart. “Are you seriously giving me orders? You really think you have the balls to make stipulations about our marriage? Clint, dear, I told you, over and over again, I will not shackle myself to a child. There is too much life to explore and I’m not going to miss a moment of it.”

“This is not a stipulation,” he said. “This is our life. You’re needed here. We need you here.”

“Forget it. Never going to happen.”

“Yes, it is. I’m tired of living this way. It’s not a good environment for raising our daughter.”

“Well, then, far be it from me to cause you to live in a way that makes you tired.” She pushed past him, punching something into her phone as she made her way to their bedroom, a room he slept in alone most nights. “I can make it all better for you.”

He followed her into the room, watched as she pulled a bag out of the closet, and began to stuff her clothes into it haphazardly. “What are you doing?” he asked.

“What I should have done over a year ago. I’m leaving you and Abigail to get on with your lives.” She stopped and glanced up at him. “I warned you, Clint. You know I did. I told you I didn’t want kids. I’m not the motherly type.” She went back to packing her clothes. “You, however, are the fatherly type. You’ll do great.” She zipped the bag and grabbed its handles as she straightened up. Her phone dinged as she did. She read the text, nodded, and then started toward the front door.

He followed her. “Where are you going? When will you be back?” He could feel the panic gripping his chest, the anxiety stirring nausea in his throat.

“I’m leaving,” she said as she turned around at the door. She stared at Clint, her eyes cold, distant. “And I won’t be coming back. Ever.” She jerked the door open. “Goodbye, Clint. Have fun playing Daddy.” She left, slamming the door behind her.

He stood there, staring for a moment before forcing himself to go to the front window. He watched as Bonnie—as his wife—climbed into a red convertible, laughing with the man behind the wheel. Clint could only stand there and watch as the man chauffeured her away from him, away from Abigail, and out of their lives. The only thought in his head being what he would tell Abigail in the morning.

Clint stepped out onto the balcony, running his hand over Aimee’s shoulder as he shook the memory out of his mind. Taking a deep breath of the night air, he allowed it to soothe his troubled soul as he walked around Aimee and took the seat on the other side of her. Two cups of hot tea sat on the table between the chairs, and it brought a smile to his face. She always took care of him, even in the midst of the chaos that was his life right then. That was what a relationship was, what family did for each other. He reached out and took her hand in his, squeezing it as he gave her his most reassuring smile.

She returned the smile, her head tilted to the side. “You okay?”

He nodded. “We’re together. Everything’s great.” He squeezed her hand again. “Really great.