Love Survives (BWWM)

Family Dinner

"Mrs. Bradley, thank you for coming. I really just—"

"Please, dear, call me Evelyn."

I hesitated but finally said, "Okay, Evelyn, I just wanted to ask you some questions."

She nodded as if she expected me to say that. "I assumed it was about Aaron."

"Yes, um, I ran into his dad as I was leaving work, and he kind of scared me. I wasn't expecting him to show up." I watched her expression carefully, and she didn't seem surprised.

"Yes, Warren told me about that. He wanted to apologize, but he doesn't want to upset you or Aaron anymore than he already has."

"What did he want to say?"

She shifted on the couch and sighed. "He was hoping to get through to you so then he would get through to Aaron."

I couldn't help but to wonder what he would've said. "I don't think I would ever convince him to talk to him. He's still angry and hurt."

She looked at her lap. "Viviana tried to get through to him, and she couldn't. He would go places to vent and blow off steam. She started to suspect he was cheating. That's how bad it was."

Of course, Viviana couldn't get to him. All she did was nag him about where he'd been, and he probably never felt comfortable enough to tell her.

"He felt trapped," I concluded.

She nodded. "Yes, he was trapped, and he stayed because of the girls."

"Have they ever met Warren?"

"No, Aaron won't let them. He was very adamant about it."

"What did he do exactly?"

A look of surprise replaced her calm expression. "He didn't tell you?"

"He told me he was abused."

"Warren didn't know what to do, Kyra. And when he told me, I was furious." Her voice broke as she spoke. "But I was weak, and I forgave him. I loved him."

How could she love him more than her own son? I felt terrible just thinking about how Aaron must've felt. What he was going through at such a young age.

"I see," I muttered.

"If you ever want to talk to Warren," she went through her purse and pulled out a pen and a piece of paper, "you can just call him. He'd be willing to talk to you."

"Thank you."

***

Right after Evelyn left my apartment, Aaron called me saying he wanted me to get dressed, and he was going to pick me up at six o'clock.

I got dressed, and he came and picked me up and wouldn't tell me where we were going.

"You seem nervous," Aaron commented.

"No shit," I muttered. "You won't tell me where we're going."

Sighing, he signaled then made a right turn onto a street I'd never seen before. "Viviana invited me over for dinner."

My head snapped to the side so fast I was surprised it didn't fall off. "Say you're joking, Aaron."

He shook his head. "Brielle begged me to say yes."

Of course.

"I don't know about this."

"It won't be so bad."