Charlie paced the floor as she stared at the phone in her hand. Her stomach felt like a knotted rag being whirled around on a spin cycle as she willed the phone to ring. She had thought her world had crashed around her the moment Aiden had told her who he was, but that had only been a tremor in the quake that had brought her running out of her house faster than should have been possible, and racing to the dingy bed and breakfast, where she had rented a room for the night.

After fainting in the shop, Aiden had spent hours trying to convince her that he wanted...