Is a gift of love enough to open Aiden’s heart and let Tris back in?<br><br>After the car accident that killed his parents and left his sister paralyzed, Tris is left with nothing. His family is destroyed. His reputation is shot. And all he has is the guilt of knowing it was all his fault. People in town know he’d been drinking that night, and know he should never have gotten behind the wheel. And even Aiden, the man he thought he’d be with forever, blames him too much to stay.<br><br>But Tris can’t let him just disappear. After months of loneliness and isolation, Tris brings Aiden a gift on his birthday, a hawk he’s carved from a chunk of wood they’d found in the forest during an afternoon of love. A small chink seems to open in Aiden’s heart, the first sign of forgiveness. With renewed hope, Tris takes a job renovating one of the older homes in town and tries to rebuild his life. But the townspeople have long memories, and when his sister’s condition worsens, forgiveness -- and Aiden -- seem to slip even further out of reach ...

Without Aiden

And Candice. He climbed the porch steps with heavy feet. He’d sugarcoated it for Aiden and Daren, but the doctor told him weeks ago it was only a matter of time. The shock of the accident and subsequent injuries proved too much for her.


Tris dodged the front door and followed the porch around to the back of the house. What a coward. But he couldn’t face the doctor. And he certainly didn’t have a smile for his dear sister at the moment. He trotted down the steps and crossed the grass to the bench he’d built last fall. The rhododendron behind him had begun to bloom and he took a deep breath of the fresh, heady scent.


He thought of Aiden and the last time they’d sat together on the bench, a sunny December day instead of the usual rain. Aiden’s nibbles tickled his ear while he scrunched his shoulder, denying those amazing lips access to his neck.


Chapter 6