Page 52 of Unsaid Things

She nodded, and he brushed a swift kiss on her lips before heading to the bedroom to change into his workout clothes. When he came back out, her head was once again bent over the documents she worked on. He stared at her for a long moment before grabbing his phone to see if Chris or Matt were available to meet him at the gym where they liked to work out. Maybe they could help him figure this shit out.

Lance came back from working out after their conversation seeming less angry. But Abby still felt awful, frustrated with herself for being unable to accept Lance taking care of her and guilt over her lie eating at her constantly. He stopped asking about her mom, though, which made it easier to pretend that everything was fine.

The next week was Spring Break, and Abby spent it mostly bored. She had a few extra translation jobs that she’d picked up, but they only took a few hours. Megan was gone with Chris to visit his family in Port Orchard, and Lance had to work.

She was so bored that she visited her mom on Wednesday. She hadn’t been since she’d come to give Aaron the money weeks ago. And to her dismay, he didn’t appear to be leaving any time soon.

As usual, her mom was happy to see her, and still seemed to be clueless about Aaron taking all Abby’s money. After exchanging pleasantries, they sat down in the living room, her mom in her usual spot on the end of the sofa. Abby glanced around, surprised her brother hadn't come out yet. "Is Aaron home?" It was almost two in the afternoon. Was he still in bed?

"Oh, no. He left this morning. He's gone for a while most days. Off making money."

Abby raised an eyebrow. "He's got a job?"

"I guess so. He leaves in the mornings and is gone all day. And he has money. He's been paying for the groceries lately."

That was even more surprising. "Really?" Huh. Maybe Aaron staying with her mom wasn't as bad as she thought. And if he'd gotten a job, then maybe he could move into his own place soon like she'd made him promise to do when she gave him her money. "So it's been good for you? Having him here?"

Her mom nodded, her pinched expression smoothing into a small smile. "He helps with stuff around the house, fixing the little things that are hard for me to do. I get so tired."

"Mom, if you need things fixed you can always call me. Lance is happy to help too."

Her mom waved a hand. "Oh, but you're so busy, and you live all the way in Spokane. I don't want to bother you." It went unspoken that she still wasn't comfortable having Lance in her house, even though he'd mowed her yard every week into late October and helped with other things too. Since Aaron was here, would he take care of their mom's yard now that it was early spring? Soon it would need watering and mowing on a regular basis. If they could at least keep the weeds back to the edges, that would be a big improvement.

Abby didn't agree or disagree, not wanting to start a fight or upset her mom. And now that she knew her mom spent more time alone than she realized, Abby went back to visit her on Thursday and Friday as well.

Except on Friday, Aaron was there. Abby froze for a second when she saw him lounging on the couch. He gave her a nod—one of those guy gestures that’s just an upward jerk of the chin. "Hey, Abs. How's it going?"

She clenched her fists at her sides at his use of her nickname but didn't call him on it. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of knowing he got under her skin. "Hey, Aaron. I hear you got a job?"

He scratched the blond beard on his chin and looked away. "Uh, yeah."

Hmm. That wasn't the most positive thing he could've said. "Well, thanks for helping mom out with the groceries and stuff."

All she got in response was a shrug, his attention focused on the TV again. He turned up the volume a couple of notches, sending a clear signal that he didn’t want to talk. Abby rolled her eyes at his asshole behavior and turned to chat with her mom in the kitchen.

After spending a couple of hours talking to her mom, Abby stood to go. “I’ll try to come visit during the day again soon. The semester always gets busiest after Spring Break, so I don’t know how much time I’ll have, especially taking on the extra translation projects. But I’ll do my best.”

Her mom gave her her usual wan smile and a gentle hug that was more placing her arms around Abby’s shoulders than anything. “Okay. I always love it when you visit. See you soon.”

Abby patted her mom’s back once before she broke off the hug and moved toward the door. Aaron stood, his hands in his pockets, following behind her. She gave him a look, trying to determine what he was up to, but he just gave her a bland expression in response. He obviously wanted something from her, so, with a sigh, she led the way out the front door.

Once outside, she stood next to her car, arms crossed, waiting to hear what he had to say. Past experience told her it wouldn’t be good.

He stood in front of her, his hands still in his pockets, his eyes taking in her posture, that calculating gleam she was all too familiar with in place.

When he didn’t say anything, she decided to give in and break the silence first. The sooner he spit out whatever he wanted, the sooner she could go home. “What do you want, Aaron?” She didn’t bother to keep the irritation out of her voice.

That smirk that she always wanted to slap off his face appeared. “Who says I don’t just wanna walk you to your car?”

“When has that ever been the case with you?”

“Aw, come on, Abs. I took care of you a lot when we were kids.”

She huffed out a laugh, though she didn’t find this conversation all that amusing. “Yeah. That was a long time ago. Lately it seems like the opposite is true.” She arched an eyebrow at him.

He had the grace to look abashed, dropping his gaze to the ground and running a hand over his jaw. “Yeah, about that …”

She waited for him to continue, but he didn’t. Why was every conversation with him like pulling teeth? “About what? Just spit it out, Aaron. I don’t have time for this.”

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