Keeley"s idea hung off into s.p.a.ce for a minute while Aaron thought it over.
"You know, Cameron actually suggested something similar. He thinks that the target might be my father, not me. Since he knows about my plan and gave me something that will move it along faster," he said finally.
"That would totally make sense! I mean, it doesn"t explain what happened in our first life but it would explain why he"s kept our secret."
Aaron was a high profile person within the city. Everybody knew his name but not his face. News of his marriage had been a huge deal the first time around. The fact that it hadn"t leaked out yet probably meant that Graydon Meyer had no intention of saying anything.
If Alistair Hale was his enemy rather than Aaron, discovering the plot to overthrow his father must have been a pleasant surprise. Helping Aaron instead of hurting him would be a simple thing to do if they were working against the same person.
Was this why he wasn"t coming after them in this life? He knew Aaron was working against his father from the start? But how would he even know that? Aaron had been extra meticulous about covering all of his bases.
A thought occurred to her. Even though it was more to worry about, she was really glad his first reaction upon coming home was to tell her what was going on. If he had done this in their first life they wouldn"t have fallen apart.
Aaron trusted her. He saw her as a partner.
Keeley was reminded of what her father had said the day of her wedding. They needed to support each other. Being a sounding board for things like this was a way she could support him.
He was practically oozing stress. She scooted closer to him and put her hands on both sides of his face before planting a quick kiss on his lips. His eyes widened at the first display of affection she had initiated since their remarriage.
"No matter what"s going on, it"s going to be okay. You told me the truth so I know what to expect. I can help you if you let me. I"ve got your back, alright?"
Aaron nodded and pulled her onto his lap, holding her closely until she felt him relax. It was as if she was his lifeline.
All those years together and she never realized how much he relied on her simply being near him. Well, she could do much more than that this time. He didn"t have to shoulder his burdens alone anymore. They were a team.
===
The first month and a half of being married again pa.s.sed without further incident. They did not hear from Graydon Meyer again, Alistair still didn"t know his son had a wife, and Keeley had done all of her name change paperwork.
Her social security card, bank accounts, health insurance, and driver"s license all read "Keeley Marie Hale" instead of "Keeley Marie Hall" once again. Aaron had added her to his bank accounts as well and insisted she become an authorized user on all of his high-spending credit cards.
She tried to protest that she didn"t need all of that but he insisted. "What"s mine is yours. If you don"t feel comfortable buying whatever you want, at the very least use them for groceries and other household purchases."
He continued with a soft smile on his face. "I know you"re a simple person but please feel free to do what you would normally do if you didn"t have to worry about budgeting."
Keeley cracked a smile at that point. "So I can buy myself any sort of treat I want at the movies instead of agonizing over whether or not I can afford popcorn?"
"Exactly."
Aaron won her over with that argument. She really wasn"t the type to spend to excess. In fact, in the weeks since she had been added to his cards the only unnecessary things she spent money on were constant snacks to satisfy the pregnancy cravings that finally kicked in.
One day she suddenly woke up ravenous and couldn"t stop thinking about Cherry Garcia ice cream. It slowly and torturously consumed her thoughts until she had to run downstairs to buy it in her pajamas. She bought three containers and it only got worse from there.
Thankfully that was her only sweet craving. The rest of the time she typically wanted pickles (endless amounts of pickles!), peanut b.u.t.ter, or hamburgers. She had the driver stop at the Burger Barn drive thru on the way home from school far more often than she was willing to admit.
Aaron was very patient about her cravings. If they ran out of something when he was home, he would run out and get it immediately. He picked things up on his way home from work all the time too.
Keeley"s stomach had finally started to show and she was surprised when it doubled in size nearly overnight. She definitely wasn"t eating enough to warrant that much of a change!
But she ended up using Aaron"s card to buy an entire maternity wardrobe from one of the retail chain stores she normally shopped anyway. Nothing fit anymore. Now that it was fairly cold out, she wore a lot of maternity leggings and long sweaters.
The funny thing was that if you looked at her from the back she didn"t look pregnant at all. She hadn"t actually gained all that much weight despite her growing belly. Dr. Chapman had been a bit concerned at her last visit and told her to eat more.
Aaron loved rubbing her belly and feeling the proof of the life growing inside her. He had never shown such visible excitement about something in either of their lives. It made her smile; he was pretty cute when got like that.
He was pretty cute period. Aaron had always been a very attractive person but it was a cold, distant sort of handsomeness. Sort of like a model giving off a disinterested look that only drew people in more.
Ever since he started smiling more she realized that when his eyes lit up they looked a lot more blue. To the casual eye they were so dark that they appeared almost black. But they were definitely blue. A beautiful blue.