Selective/Memory: The "Depth of Emotion" Book 2 (The Depth of Emotion) Read Free Page A

through the bad times, right?
    Dr. Sumner told her that she wasn’t allowing him to heal. She was babying him on a daily basis, and in essence, emasculating him. He needed to find his own way back and he had to learn new ways to cope—physically and emotionally. They both were injured, just in different areas, and they weren’t able to help each other. They needed to heal individually before they could attempt to put their relationship back together. Declan felt that his trust had been betrayed just as much as Aria had. That thought hadn’t occurred to her before. It took someone to be objective, as Dr. Sumner had been with her, to help her see it.
    Standing here, facing the sun and inhaling the crispness, she could feel the healing taking place just as the cold invigorated her lungs. She was running her business once again and doing very well. Work was keeping her occupied on a daily basis. The baby boomers all seemed to want to retire to the beach, so she was busily rehabbing a few homes at a time. She loved her own little house. While it didn’t sit right on the beach like Declan’s, it was close enough that she could have her daily run on the Boardwalk. She loved all the quaint shops and lovely bistros and restaurants. All of her friends lived between here and where she lived with Declan. They could get together within an hour’s drive.
    Aria had gotten together with the girls twice for lunch and shopping. The first time, everyone except Aimee seemed to be walking on eggshells. It seemed they were afraid to talk about Declan, but he was the “elephant in the room,” so to speak…
     
    “So how are you feeling, sweetie?” Aimee said in Dos Locos, where they met for lunch. Aria had agreed to meet them after her run.
    “I’m good; really good,” she said as Aimee and Katherine took mental inventory of her physical appearance.
    Katherine placed her bag under the table. “You look like you’ve been working out.”
    “Not at a gym, per se. I’ve been running every day, and doing Yoga. I like them,” she said, deciding if she wanted to indulge in a chocolate martini since she’d be running off the calories tomorrow.
    “Have you been eating and sleeping okay?” Aimee asked, waiving over their waiter.
    “I have,” she confirmed. “Occasionally, I have a sleepless night, but I’ve been staying busy at work, which does build an appetite, as does the running. Between the two, they make me tired, so I sleep okay.”
    “I’ve been keeping an eye on her, you two. Do you think I’d let anything happen to her?” Paige attempted to make the situation a little more lighthearted by reaching her arm around her and squeezing her tight.
    “I think you look good, Aria. I do wish I could have helped more lately…” Katherine took on a helpless countenance.
    Aria reached over to pat her hand. “It’s okay, honey. Sometimes, you have to go through stuff, you know? There just isn’t any way around it. The rough stuff is what makes you grow. Besides, I’m sure I looked pretty rough too! You wouldn’t have wanted to see me. Mom and Paige suffered enough.”
    “No more rough than lover boy looks,” Aimee mumbled.
    Paige and Katherine glared at her.
    “What?” Aimee said. “You both know it’s true. It’s better that she knows on the chance that she sees him and would be shocked.”
    Aria wasn’t expecting her and Declan to be the topic of conversation, but she also didn’t want Paige and Katherine to stone Aimee for her comments.
    “Stop, all of you. I know how Declan is—I mean, his physical condition,” she said.
    All three of them turned to look at her in silence, waiting for an explanation. None was offered.
    “Let’s order,” Aria said, changing the subject. “I’d say martinis are in order; wouldn’t you? A little liquid diffusing of the tension—on me.”
    With that, she ordered chocolate martini’s for the four of them.
    As they settled in for a nice girl’s afternoon, three of them