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

He changed into old jeans and paused before the mirrored wardrobe. His blue eyes blinked back at him under his pale bangs. His cheeks were thinner and his rib cage stood out more prominently than before. Too damn skinny. He should eat something. Thoughts of breakfast at the diner that morning made his stomach churn, and he swallowed against the taste of bile as he pulled a red tank top over his head. He had an afternoon of work ahead and needed to eat whether he had an appetite or not. Father had taught him that.


Grabbing a flannel shirt, he hurried down the hall and crossed the comfortably furnished living room to the kitchen. He stopped for a second in the doorway, then sighed and went in. Daren sat at the kitchen table with Katherine, Candice’s private nurse.


Tris took the chair between them at the round table. “Hey.” Daren glanced at him then looked away, his eyes red-rimmed.


Chapter 8