Page 22 of Stained Hearts
I pasted on a smile. “I’m fine. How about you?”
She frowned. “You’re not fine. Do you want to talk about it?”
“No, I—”
“Good, so do I.” She took my hand and led me to the backyard, where we sat under the big sawtooth oak Dad had planted on their wedding day. It was maybe twenty feet tall and had provided Robert and me places to climb when we were kids. Now it gave shade and shelter to me and Mom.
“Okay, what’s on your mind?”
I bit back a sigh. There was no way I was getting out of this conversation. “I’m sure Galen’s filled you in already.”
“It might surprise you, but Galen didn’t say anything.”
Okay, thatdidsurprise me. “Really?”
She laughed and waved a hand at me. “Hell no. He was on the phone thirty seconds after you talked.” Then she sobered. “But, and you need to keep this in mind, he was calling because you sounded unhappy and he didn’t like it.” She took my hand. “You might not believe it, but Galen cares for you too.”
I knew he did. After all the shit with his father, not to mention his own attempts to reconnect with Lincoln and Noel, Galen was a completely different person than the backstabbing ass I’d heard about. He was gentler, more caring. Robert was constantly telling us about Galen and the stories he’d tell to the kids at the shelter. They adored him, Robert said. And, Robert said, one girl in particular, Cassie, told him every day how much she loved him, and how Galen always melted when she did.
“I know he does.”
“He’s right too. You do seem unhappy.”
I shrugged a shoulder. “I’m okay, I guess.”
“Yeah, that right there tells me you’re not. Now, we can sit here and I won’t be able to finish making the pie or the ice cream, or you can tell me what’s wrong. If we cut through the crap now, you’ll get your dessert.”
Damn it, the woman played dirty.
“It’s Aiden. When we met him at the diner, he showed me the stained-glass windows he sells. I found one design that I liked and ordered it from him. Somehow we became friends. Or at least I thought we did. Now I’m thinking Aiden believed there was something more between us and I hurt his feelings when I told him there wasn’t.”
“Hm.”
I tried to pull away, but the woman had a grip of iron. “Oh my God. Galen did the same thing. What is it this time?”
She squeezed my arm. “Nothing. It’s just…. Why are you so upset about it?”
Thatwas a question I’d been asking myself the past two weeks.
“He’s…. He’s a good guy, Mom. I don’t like the idea that I’ve hurt him. It gnaws at me and makes me think how I used to be a better person.”
“Okay, that’s the last time I want to hear you say something so stupid.” She shifted over until she was right next to me. “You’ve always been a good guy, Tom. You and Robert? The phrase ‘pride and joy’ was invented because of you two. Don’t think I don’t know about the anonymous donations you make to the shelter, and that’s on top of the money you give Robert outright.”
“I don’t know what—”
“Don’t lie. It’s beneath you.” She huffed out a breath. “Robert’s finally getting a handle on the finances of the shelter. He and Galen have been busting their asses to get it fixed up and operational. I know you were sending sizable donations in to help keep them afloat.”
It was scary how well she knew me. “Well, don’t tell him that. Brian and I had a fund set up so we could send money that Robert wouldn’t know about. I love Robert, and seeing how he panicked over money bothered me.”
“And that, my dear, is why you’re a good guy, and why you’re upset that Aiden isn’t talking to you. If you weren’t decent, you wouldn’t care. Unless….”
I snapped my gaze in her direction. “Unless what?”
“Do you think maybe there’s another reason it bothers you so much?”
One thing about my mom was she was one of those annoyingly intuitive, eyes-in-the-back-of-her-head type of mothers. Robert and I learned early on that it did no good to lie to her, because she always—and I meanalways—knew the truth, usually even before we did.
I scrubbed a hand over my face and leaned back against the tree, looking into the high branches. Life had been so much simpler when I was a kid. Robert and I could climb the tree for hours and never have to worry about what was going on down on the ground. We were squirrels, darting among the branches, looking down on the poor earthbound humans. Then we had to go and grow up, where things like responsibility, compassion, love were all ideals we had to learn.
