Interesting wasn’t exactly the word he would have used.

“Are you ever sorry?” she asked.

“I can’t miss what I’ve never had. I don’t know what it’s like to create in the way Nick and the twins do.” He paused as he realized what he’d said. “Sorry, Mom. I still think of them as the twins.”

“I do, too,” she admitted. “They’ll always be that to me.”

“And Ronan will always be your favorite?”

She stopped. “He was never that.”

Aidan waited.

Elaine made a tsking sound. “It wasn’t like that.” She linked arms with him and they started walking again.

“When your father told me what he’d done, I was devastated. I had to forgive him, of course. Because if I didn’t, I couldn’t stay.”

“You wanted to be with him always.” Not a question. How could it be when he knew the answer?

“Of course. He told me about the baby and that she wanted to give it up. I knew what he was asking. What he expected. I couldn’t agree, but I did say I would go see the baby. That’s how I thought of him then. As the baby.”

Her expression turned wistful. “I knew I’d hate him on sight. That I’d have to refuse. Then I held him and in that moment my heart told me the truth. That I could love him as if he’d been one of my own. We took him home that day.”

“What happened to his birth mother?”

“She died a few years later. We were notified through a lawyer. I’d already adopted Ronan legally, so that wasn’t an issue. He’s your brother, Aidan. As much as if I’d given birth to him.”

He couldn’t imagine that level of love. To take in your partner’s bastard child and raise it as your own. Joyfully. He would bet his mother never once regretted what she’d done. Never had a moment’s doubt. He might not agree with her feelings about his father, but he couldn’t question the size of her heart.

He put his arm around her and drew her close. “You’re an extraordinary woman, Elaine Mitchell.”

“Don’t be silly. I’m just like everyone else.”

He knew that wasn’t true on so many levels. He supposed the character that kept her stuck with his father had been the reason she could love Ronan so deeply. The good with the bad.

Maybe there weren’t answers, he thought as they continued walking along the trail. Maybe there was only acceptance and the knowledge that most people did the best they could with what they had.

* * *

ONE OF THE things Shelby liked best about living in Fool’s Gold was the rhythm of the seasons. Festivals, banners, decorative flags and window art marked the passage of time in a charming and engaging way. There was a sense of community. Of belonging. Which meant when the call went out that help was needed to plant flower baskets, everyone volunteered.

So she wasn’t surprised when she showed up at the Plants for the Planet parking lot and found over a dozen people already there. She waved at several friends, then smiled when she saw Aidan had taken charge of things. He’d divided them into groups of three. Baskets and soil were being distributed, as were flowers. Shelby walked over to join him.

“Look at you, all in charge.”

He shrugged. “Felicia was here about fifteen minutes ago and passed the baton to me. It’s planting flowers. How hard could it be?”

“You should take more credit.”

“I will later. When I’m talking to my friends, I will have single-handedly done all this myself.”

She laughed and went to join a woman working by herself. She was in her midforties and Shelby thought maybe she’d seen her at one of the single’s group functions.