Page 44 of Stained Hearts
I went to him and picked him up. He slumped, like he had no energy to argue anymore. I took him down the stairs, then put him in his chair. He immediately reached for the wheels.
“She’s in the kitchen. C’mon.”
He followed behind me. When Olivia saw him, she smiled. She’d already gotten herself a cup of coffee and put one out for Aiden.
“I wasn’t sure how you took yours, otherwise I’d have poured you one too.”
“I think I’m going to need black this morning.”
“Okay, good. Grab a cup, cop a squat, and let’s get this all out in the open.”
Aiden opened his mouth, but Olivia held up a hand.
“No, you don’t get to talk now. You called me, in tears, telling me you needed me to come and get you. I won’t deny I was scared, but when I get here, what do I find? You freaking out because Tom saw you at less than your best.” She pierced Aiden with a cold stare. “Does that sound about right?”
“But, Livvy—”
She slammed a hand down on the table, causing the coffee to slosh out of the cup. “Shutup, Aiden.” She stood and glared down at him. “You need to make up your mind right now. Do you want to be an adult, with all the problems that comes with it, or do you want to be the scared kid who’s too afraid of people seeing him with all his warts and scars to venture out into the grown-up world? You can’t have one foot in both places and think you can shift from one to the other. That’s not fair to you, to Tom, or to me. So what’s it going to be?”
And I think she and I held our breath as we waited for Aiden to answer.
Chapter Eleven
THERE WEREno sounds in the kitchen, beyond Olivia and me sipping our coffee and the cups being put back on the table. Aiden sat like a stone, his thin lips pressed together, his eyes crinkled. Finally I couldn’t take the silence anymore.
“Aiden—”
“No.”
My gaze shot to Olivia, who sat there glaring at me. “Excuse me?”
“Can we talk in the other room?” Without waiting for an answer, she got up and strode out the door.
I leaned in close to Aiden. “Think she’s going to ground me?”
He didn’t say or do anything.
I ground my teeth, angry with myself for not knowing what to do to make things better. I went out into the living room and found Olivia looking at the water feature. Without turning around, she spoke her mind.
“Whatever you’re thinking about saying to him, don’t. I’ve been quiet about this for way too long. Aiden claims he wants to be independent, but then he calls me when he needs help. He doesn’t seem to see that’s not the freedom he’s looking for, because he knows he’s always got a safety net in me.” She sighed, and turned to face me. “It’s going to kill me, but I have to let him fall this time.”
“What? Why would you—?”
Her lip quivered, much like Aiden’s did when he was upset. “Don’t you get it? I want him to live a happy and full life, just like he wants. But when things start to get hard for him, he comes running to me for a pep talk. If you get involved with him, that’ll become your job.”
I didn’t have a problem with that.
“And don’t give me that look.”
I startled when she put a hand on my chest and gave a light push.
“You want to protect him, just like I do, but we can’t. He’s a big boy, and he’s going to have to take some dings along the way, or he’s never going to earn the freedom he wants.”
That ran contrary to everything I knew. I never learned how to let go, because I always thought I needed to protect my family.
“Not sure I can do that.” I rubbed the back of my neck. “I’m not even sure I want to.”
“Then he’s never going to grow.”
