Niagara Falls was absolutely breathtaking. The second day of their trip, they took a ferry ride to see them up close. Everyone on board had to wear yellow rain ponchos because the mist was so strong.
Robert, who had seen the waterfalls many years earlier, elected to stay inside the boat"s cabin with the babies (who were too little to be exposed to that much mist) and watch from there. He claimed that the lovebirds needed some time alone.
Keeley scoffed at the notion. Alone? There were dozens of people milling about the edges of the boat, trying to get a better look. She wouldn"t exactly call them lovebirds either.
Aaron undeniably was but she didn"t quite know where she fell. She had a certain degree of fondness for him and it wasn"t like kissing him was a ch.o.r.e either but…
The past couldn"t die as long as she had to continue living in fear of their enemies. When that happened—if it could happen at all—things might be different. After all, even though her life right now was pretty good, it wasn"t what she would have chosen if she hadn"t felt backed into a corner.
How could she be in love with someone she had been forced to be with by necessity? She couldn"t deny that she cared about him deeply and wanted him to be happy but that wasn"t the same as romantic love.
Keeley, like her husband, was still burdened with a certain degree of guilt about how everything went down. Guilt and obligation wasn"t love. Wasn"t that how she had talked herself out of believing he loved her for the longest time?
With how happy he had been with her lately she couldn"t deny that he loved her anymore but she knew his kindness was largely motivated by guilt. As was hers. Their relations.h.i.+p was a tangled web but she had to make it work for the twins" sake.
Her children deserved to grow up with the kind of parents she had. And they would. She might not love Aaron now but they had the same kind of best friend relations.h.i.+p they used to.
Just looking at the way the two of them interacted, no one would ever guess how conflicted her feelings were. The more time pa.s.sed, the more they seemed like any other couple.
Thinking about this now wouldn"t do any good. She was here to focus on the waterfalls. It would be better listening to the tour guide than letting her mind wander.
Aaron"s arm snaked around her waist and he pulled her closer to him. The action caused some of the water droplets clinging to his poncho to get onto her face.
She pouted up at him. "You"re getting me wet."
"You were standing too far away."
Keeley rolled her eyes. He was so clingy! If anybody from high society heard how much of a wife-slave the formidable Aaron Hale was they wouldn"t believe it.
Aiden and Cameron still didn"t seem to believe it now and then. She knew they still experienced Ice Devil mode quite frequently so it made sense. He was a completely different person around her and their family than he was around others.
The boat turned so everyone on their side could get a better view of the falls. The power and majesty behind that much water nearly took Keeley"s breath away. Nature was so amazing!
"Isn"t it beautiful?" she asked loudly so Aaron could hear her over the roar of the waterfall.
He shrugged. "It"s just water. I"d much rather look at you."
Oi vey, what was she going to do with this man?! She shook her head in disbelief even though there was a slight smile on her face. His cheesiness could be pretty cute.
And he did stare at her with the same awed look on his face that the other tourists had gaping at the falls now and then. How ridiculous. She b.u.mped him with her shoulder to hide her embarra.s.sment.
When the boat made it back to the dock, they took turns pus.h.i.+ng the babies" stroller as they walked around to get a better view of the falls from the top. The twins got fussy after a while so they took a break to feed them and change their diapers.
After that, neither of them wanted to go back in the stroller so Keeley and Aaron were forced to break out the baby slings as they walked around. Their spoiled children were much happier that way.
Robert insisted on taking lots of pictures. He wanted new ones to put up in his apartment and for his office at work. Keeley hadn"t been to his place in a while but was willing to bet it was plastered with pictures of his grandchildren considering how many he took every time he came over.
She smiled at the thought. Having Kaleb and Violet around seemed to be making a huge difference in his life. He wasn"t as sad or lonely anymore having more family members to love.
He directed her and Aaron to stand close together near the railing with the waterfall behind them to get a shot of their whole family. Aaron"s arm was around her shoulders while hers was around his waist because she was a lot shorter than him and both of the babies were strapped to their chests.
Looking the photo later, they seemed like any other tourist family. Aaron was actually wearing khaki shorts for once (he was normally a long pants person only) with a light blue t-s.h.i.+rt and had a warm smile on his face.
Keeley"s hair was in a ponytail and she wore a white s.h.i.+rt with pink shorts. Both had comfortable walking shoes on. Nothing in the photo indicated there was anything special about any of the people in it.
This was exactly the kind of life she had always wanted. As promised, Aaron had done everything he possibly could to give her the normal life she craved. Everything would be perfect if Lacy Knighton was out of the way for good.
Oh well. She shouldn"t get too greedy. It was better to be grateful for what she had than worry about what she didn"t. After all, she was on vacation.