05: Reunion

TARA

Eight Years Later…

Even before she voiced her question, I already connected the dots from the pride swirling in her eyes.

“So how do you feel?” Jenna asked, carrying way too many labeled boxes on one hand, and easily maneuvering me in the middle of my new diner. “Your dreams are finally coming together. Aren’t you proud?”

I rose to full height, abandoning the blue roses I was putting together for the front door, and stared at Jenna for a minute. It only took a second for my answer to take form.

Proud would be too much of an understatement. I was freaking ecstatic. I was beyond grateful for the last eight years plus of my life because if anyone had told me this would be my standing in Vermont pack, the place I found myself after everything, I would have hissed in their faces.

“Of course I’m proud, Jenna,” I said to my close friend and companion.

After Nadia’s birth, Jenna was one of the few people who took me as their responsibility. I was suspicious of her at first, rightfully so, with the circumstances around which I arrived here, but that didn’t deter her.

Jenna took my baby as hers and took me as her sister. She was patient and loving, and it didn’t take much time for me to name her Nadia’s godmother.

Speaking of Nadia, my pride and my joy, she was the foundation of everything. The journey was nowhere near easy, but if asked to do it again, I would go down the same route with a smile on my face, the same way one curled up my lips right now, just by thinking of my eight-year-old daughter.

“You should be,” Jenna replied, setting the boxes somewhere in the far corner of the room. “And you chose the perfect day to name it opening day. The traffic from the other packs coming would give you a big boost, and you’ll be sold out in no time.”

Seeing my love for anything and everything about the kitchen, I worked hard in Vermont pack to pay off my bills and save enough to open my own diner.

The multipack moon meet which happened once in a decade was holding in the next few days, and luckily for me, it was happening here in Vermont pack. It was the meeting of all northern packs to celebrate a decade of peace, the moon goddess’s kindness, and every added life to each pack.

As Jenna said, the traffic from the arriving guests would be exactly what I needed for my first day, and given the strategic location I acquired for Tara’s diner, I was good to go.

Jenna stayed behind for another hour, helping me set up some more tables, chairs, and the complementary cookie section, from which she stole a handful, and soon, she retired to her duty post as one of the pack’s fighters.

“Tell Nadia that she’s going down on game night tomorrow,” Jenna said as she bid me farewell, and I laughed heartily while shaking my head, knowing that my baby was a spitball of fire who always welcomed challenges from her aunt Jenna.

“Not without a fight,” I said in response, to which Jenna grinned.

Just as Jenna was exiting, Nadia was coming down from the school bus, and running headfirst into me with all teeth and smiles, warming me from inside out.

“Mummy!” She beamed, and I crouched low to allow her to hug me tightly by the entrance door. “I missed you today.”

I took her small round face in my hands, emotions clogging my throat as I studied her features for the millionth time. She was the exact picture of her father, Aidan.

My heart squeezed in that moment, and for a second, a thought crossed my mind. What if Aidan showed up here for the multipack moon meet?

I shook the thought off my mind just like I had for the last eight years. Attica Pack and Vermont Pack were like oil and water. Rivals from day one, so I knew for a fact that Aidan would never set foot here on his own accord. That was another reason why I chose to settle down here.

I swallowed thickly and kissed Nadia on the cheek. “I missed you too, Darling. Have a good day at school?” I asked, to which she nodded.

Leading her inside the new diner, I took her lunch bag from her, and before I could get her to settle down, her small legs were itching to run off again.

“Mummy, can I go out to play and watch the guests?” Nadia asked with a pout and large hazel eyes, just like Aidan’s.

I shook my head. “It’s not safe, Nadia. Guests are coming in today, and we don’t know who get are.”

Aside from that, I couldn’t forget the fact that Nadia wouldn’t hesitate to ask any good-looking male she saw to come to say hi to her mom in the hopes that we would get married. If only it were that simple.

After pleading with me for longer than necessary, I allowed her to go outside, but not without warning her to steer clear of the roads and any strangers. If there was any problem, Nadia knew to mind link me or Jenna.

Evening was fast approaching, so I spent a few more minutes making sure that the diner was presentable for opening, before heading to my office to set up my new table.

As I worked, thoughts of the man who left me for good all those years ago settled on my mind like a stubborn bug. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get him out, because as crazy and unbelievable as it sounded, Aidan was the only man I ever loved. The only man who showed me what it meant to be loved gently in such a short time.

Time flew by fast, and I didn’t realize it was getting late till I heard movement from the front door, and Nadia’s contagious laughter, as she approached my office.

I put two and two together and sighed out loud. She succeeded in bringing ‘a new husband’ for me.

My back was to the door, and boxes were all around me. As Nadia pushed the office door open, my apology came instantly. “I’m so sorry,” I breathed, turning around. “These damn boxes,” I muttered under my breath with my head still bent.

A thick laughter rumbled from his chest, and awareness trickled into my system. “Let me help you with that,” he said, reaching for the boxes.

My head snapped up, and my breath was caught in my throat.

This wasn’t possible.

No.

Him being here wasn’t possible. Right?

Aidan.

But he was. He was here in my office, smiling, hand in hand with my daughter. His daughter. Our daughter.

“Aidan,” I gasped, as all the air left my lungs and time stood still around us.

Aidan froze too. “Tara.”

For the next few seconds, I forgot how to breathe, and I didn’t realize that we were both staring until Nadia’s oblivious voice broke the thick and tense silence.

“Mommy! I found you this handsome man,” she said, tugging on Aidan’s sleeve. “He was nice to me, and I want you to have him.”

Aidan looked back and forth between me and my daughter, and realization settled in his eyes like molten lava. My chest heaved as different thoughts swarmed my mind like a storm.

After all this time, Aidan finally found us. What in the goddess’s name would it be?