I shoved my chair away from the table.
“Shiloh can still spend the night, as planned. I'll be back in the morning to get her.”
I kissed Shiloh and hugged her tightly. She had been playing with her dolls, but I was pretty sure she heard everything.
I didn’t wait for anyone to respond before I left. I had some work to do. I needed to find my best friend because I wasn’t going to lose him over my parents' cruelty.
I wanted to fix everything for my own sake, but mostly because I knew it was the only way Arya would even consider taking me back.
Chapter 29
Arya
Ihadjustsubmittedmy enrollment information for school, when the doorbell rang. I looked at the time, and saw it was late. Looking out the window, I saw Mason standing on the porch. It had been a few days since we had seen each other or spoken. I opened the door, and he stood there with his hands in his pockets.
We didn’t speak for a moment.
“I forgot my key,” he finally said. “I didn’t have plans to come by, but I was on the way home from the bar when I saw a car accident. It made me reflect on a few things. Life is too short for all this bullshit, Arya. I can’t be angry with you.”
He pulled me into a hug, and I was so happy to have my family back.
“I missed you, kiddo,” he chuckled, holding me tight.
We walked into the house and sat at the kitchen table.
“I’m sorry for everything,” I said.
“Listen, it’s water under the bridge,” he said, his smile warm and genuine. “I also realized that I didn’t want to be at the mercy of the Adlers anymore. So me being fired is really a blessing because, as much as I know I'm valuable to them, I've also been operating under their thumb. I'm never free to make my own decisions because I feel like I owe them something. I’ve worked too hard in my career to have my employment be at their messed-up whim. Now we can focus on something just for us.”
“Does that mean you’re going to join us at the bakery?” I said, smiling.
He nodded.
“If you and Mom will have me,” he said. “It might not be forever, as I’m thinking about what I want to do next, but it gives me time. And for that, I'd be grateful. So, I’d love to help you and Mom with the bakery.”
“Mason, that’s amazing.” I was really excited about the future for the first time in weeks.
“I wish I had put all my time, effort, and energy into something else instead of giving it to the distillery and making the Adlers even wealthier. I could have done that for our family instead.”
Mason’s voice was edged with regret, but I didn’t blame him for anything. We were all just learning as we grew. I also hated how much time I spent avoiding making real decisions in my life.
“I also wanted to apologize for what I said about you and Tristan,” he said. “I was just scared. I was scared of losing my best friend. I was scared of losing my job. And I was scared of losing you. I ended up losing all of that anyway. But truthfully, Tristan is great. And he’s going to be a really amazing father to your child. And I’m happy for you.”
"Huh," I said, "Grace said the same thing. We've lost everything we were afraid of losing anyway, so she challenged me to really do what I wanted now. But I’m not sure we can fix things,” I said sadly. Mason’s eyes snapped to mine, and he looked concerned. “I just don’t know how much longer I can keep dealing with the Adlers.”
“Arya,” Mason said quietly. “If you love him, you should be with him. We were all wrong. You deserve to be with the person you love. You, of all people, deserve to be happy. For us to keep you from that was, well, just plain selfish.”
He reached for my hand, and we sat quietly for a moment. This was all so much to take in; I was overwhelmed. We sat in silence for a few minutes. I needed time to process Mason's change of heart.
“So besides getting pregnant, what else have you been doing?” he asked, playfully changing the subject.
My mood brightened as I thought about the enrollment forms.
“Actually,” I said, smiling through my tears, “I just finished enrolling in culinary school in New York.”
Mason looked shocked and excited.
“That’s great news, Arya! You’re finally doing something you’re passionate about.”