Positive/Negativity (22 page)

“What I’m saying, Dec, is that you screwed up. We all know it. So does Aria. It may be the first time you have with her, but it won’t be the last. For this particular situation, I don’t know how you’re going to make it right. Only you know her heart. Carter’s right about groveling and gifts, but it’s about so much more than that. That building had to be one big, if not huge, chance for her to take—
and she took it for you
. Don’t you ever forget it. You’re right; her business is in residential. Houses don’t cost as much as commercial buildings, so think of just that fact alone. She probably put up most of the capital she has invested in her business for you to have a chance at yours.”

Every word that Lacey was saying was ringing true with me. Seeing things from a woman’s perspective can bring a man to his knees. My mom used to say that “women think with their hearts, and men think with their heads”.

I couldn’t think of a more appropriate application. I was only thinking of money, my pride, business, and what
I
wanted. Aria, however, was only thinking of
me
. In every action she took in this endeavor, her bottom line was about me. I could see that now. If I wanted to keep her in my life, I needed to attempt to repair the damage I had done. I could think of several ways to do that.

“You’re right, Lacey…and I’m an ass.”

That broke the silence as Carter, Lacey, and I began to laugh.

Still laughing, she said, “Yes, you are, baby brother!” Cody began to bark wildly in agreement and went around in circles. “Now, enough with this FaceTime. Nothing beats the real thing, so when you get back to the beach, and work this out with Aria—and you’d better work this out with her—we want you both to come up here for a long weekend. We’ve talked to her on the phone and FaceTimed her. She’s beautiful and sweet, Declan, and from what we know of her we genuinely adore her, but we want to meet her in person.”

Carter chimed in, “I second that!”

I promised that I’d pour on every ounce of sincerity and charm I had to do everything possible to work this out with Aria. Once I had that matter in hand, I also promised to do as Lacey ordered and bring Aria to the mountains. I knew that she’d love the lake. I couldn’t wait for Carter, Lacey, and Cody to meet her. It was the first time I could remember ever wanting them to meet someone important to me, and Aria was
very
important to me.

After a few more minutes of mindless chatter, we said our goodbyes, and I placed my cell phone in my pocket. It was going to be a long flight, but I had time to carry out my plan. Aria would forgive me. She’d have to. I’d continue relentlessly until she did. I had several things in mind to secure her forgiveness, and I had key people in place to help me in my endeavor. E-mail was a wonderful thing, but I had time to text a message:
TT

Declan:
Aria, I know that sorry isn’t enough, but I am.

Aria:
They’re just words, Declan.

Declan:
You know I’m not a man for words, but I’m truly sorry.

Aria:
I don’t know what to say
…

Declan:
I’m on my way home. Let me send you and the girls to the spa; then let me take you to dinner.

Aria:
I don’t know…

Declan:
Please, Aria
…
h

Aria:
You’re crazy.

Declan:
Only for you, baby.
A

Aria:
Crazy man! This doesn’t get u off the hook. We need to talk.

Declan:
Yes, we do. I’m sorry.
h

Aria:
The spa sounds nice.
A

Declan:
It’s all arranged. Just take the girls. How about dinner at Fresco’s afterward? We never had our dinner there yet.

Aria:
The talk, Declan, we need to talk.

Declan:
We can talk at dinner. Ok?

Aria:
Ok…

Declan:
We’ll make a celebration out of dinner. Make sure to really dress up. Again, I’m sorry…I love you.

Aria:
Love you too, Declan…but u still aren’t off the hook. LOL!

Declan:
You can punish me however you see fit. *wink, wink*

Aria:
Crazy man…
A

We were getting ready to take off. It eased my mind to know that the argument between Aria and I wasn’t beyond repair. Now I just needed to contact Harris Michaels and Katherine once more. My attempts at sincerest, heartfelt groveling had begun.

“I think he made a mistake. People have been known to do that, Aria,” Jeannie said.

“I know, Mom, but insinuating that my business was a result of someone else’s work was insulting. He sees how much of a perfectionist I am. How could he possibly think that I’d ride anyone’s coattails, especially Dad’s?” I asked.

My feelings and my ego were still battered and bruised. Declan had unleashed an ugly side of himself, and although I did speak with him through text-messaging, that type of hurt didn’t just disappear for me.

“Have you ever known Declan to be an unkind man? Put yourself in his place. When you first made the change from hairstyling to residential renovations, you had the support of Dad and me. You had your own finances, true, but you had the two of us as your cheerleaders reinforcing you constantly that your business was going to be great, because you were gifted at what you were attempting to achieve. He’s a man, and he doesn’t have anyone cheering for him except you. True, his brother and sister-in-law would wish him well, but it isn’t the same as Dad and I did for you. We were there every day, and we spoke with you constantly about the business. You bounced ideas off of us. We gave you our opinions, good and bad. In us, you had good counsel,” Mom insisted.

“But he has me, and I’d help him, just like you and Dad helped me.”

“It isn’t the same, honey. Men want to take responsibility for their work. They want to achieve on their own. They want to have something that they’ve built to
present
to a woman.”

“Sorry, Mom, but that just sounds like a load of crap. If I
can
help him, then I
want
to help him because I love him. If he can’t accept that because of some stupid macho feelings, then maybe he isn’t the man I thought he was.”

“All I’m saying, Aria, is to give the man a chance to explain himself. You love him, and he loves you. He deserves that chance,” Mom said, sighing into the phone.

“He sent me a text, saying that he’s sending me and all the girls to the spa. When he gets back, he wants to go to dinner.”

“Then give him a chance. It sounds like he’s already trying to make an effort to rectify the situation.”

After a few more minutes, we said our goodbyes. My mom was pretty intuitive about people, especially those that were close to her. I agreed with her that Declan needed to have an opportunity to explain himself. I’d at least give him that. For now, I was grabbing my purse, meeting my girls, and going to attempt to release the stress.

…and as Aria and Declan thought of their reunion, stress levels were varying…for a variety of reasons…

T
Doin’ What She Likes – Blake Shelton

“To Men! You can’t live with them, you can’t live without them, but they make it easier to live with them when they send you and your girls to the spa!” I said, and we all laughed and raised our glasses.
T

Since deciding to live at the beach, I had built a small, but close, circle of friends. Aimee was a friend of Declan’s, but we had become very close. She also lived at the beach, but at the resort town north of us. She was a model and gorgeous, though her personality and Marisol’s were as different as night and day. Declan had also hired an assistant, Katherine. She was a real sweetheart. She handled everything for him, which enabled him to live a more peaceful life when he was at the beach. I had introduced both girls to Paige, and the four of us enjoyed the company of one another whenever we could get together. Today, our outing was on him.

“So what did Declan do to warrant us this lovely treatment, Aria? You can spill the details. He must have been
very
bad,” Aimee pried.

“No, he was just feeling generous,” I said.

“Sure, and I’m the Duchess of Cambridge!” Aimee laughed.

“C’mon, Katherine, you’re his assistant, so you must have an idea of what crime he committed. I’ve known him a long time, and I’ve never known him to do this for any woman, much less for her friends. What did he do to get himself in hot water?” Aimee was now trying to interrogate Katherine.

“I really don’t know, Aimee. I was as surprised as you when Aria called.” Aimee tilted her head and cocked her eyebrow in disbelief at Katherine. “I’m being serious, Aimee! Stop looking at me like that. I don’t know any more than you do, but I’m not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. I’m just going to enjoy the pampering! Now hush up and stop badgering me!” She laughed back at Aimee and threw a small pillow at her.

“Well, I don’t know about you girls, but I don’t care what he did or didn’t do that inspired him to send Aria to the spa and include us, but I’m going to enjoy every minute of it,” Paige said.

Aimee then threw the little pillow at Paige.

“You know I’m just teasing her! She knows I love her, don’t you, Aria?” Aimee blew me a kiss.

“Yes, I do. Not all supermodels hate me because I’m beautiful!” I laughed and dramatically placed the back of my hand at my forehead.

Aimee stopped laughing, her tone more serious, “Aria, you aren’t concerned about Declan and Marisol, are you? That’s not what prompted this spa day, is it?”

“Oh, gosh, no!” I said; then I looked at Aimee. “Should I be?” I was immediately sorry that I asked the question.