Page 54 of Stained Hearts
“Why? Tell me why? Is it because I’m crippled? Is that what it is? You had no problems with Olivia offering last weekend, so why now is it a problem for me?”
“That isnotwhat I said, and you damn well know it!”
“No, not in your words. Your gestures, your condescending attitude? Those spoke volumes.”
“Aiden, I—”
“Forget it.” He came crashing through the door, and his gaze landed on me. “Take me home. Now.” His cheeks were flushed, and his eyes narrowed.
Olivia got up, went to him, and wrapped an arm around his shoulder.
I stood and pinned them both with a glare. “No.”
He snarled. “What the fuck do you mean, no?”
“You’re going to turn around and apologize to my mother.”
“The hell I am! She didn’t want me to help because she only sees me as a cripple.”
Mom came out of the kitchen, her eyes filled with tears. My mom? She never,evercried, at least not where anyone could see her. “Aiden, I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
He glanced over his shoulder, and what he saw must have shocked him, because he stopped dead in his tracks.
I stepped forward, but Mom held up a hand. “This is between me and Aiden. Stay out of it, Tom.”
I stepped away. Funny how even as an adult, Mom could totally get me to back off.
“Aiden, you know that’s not what I said to you.” She moved closer.
Aiden turned to me, but I wasn’t about to step in on this one. He stared at me, though he was talking to Mom. “Then why wouldn’t you let me help?” His lower lip quivered. “Am I so broken?” With that, he turned to her and started sobbing.
Mom rushed to him and wrapped him in her arms. “You’re not broken, sweetheart.”
“My parents didn’t want me. I was the butt of all kinds ofhilariousjokes at school. Everyone looks at me with either disgust or sympathy. I hated seeing that on your face. I just hated it.”
“Stop. Look at me.”
He tilted his head up and peered into her eyes. Everyone else in the room seemed to find other interesting things to look at. Even Olivia was in the corner talking with Galen.
“What I said was you didn’t need to stand to help me. I was going to pull over the stool so you could sit beside me. Was it because of your legs? Yes, I won’t lie. I wanted you comfortable while we chatted. In no way was that meaning I thought you were unable to do the job or that I didn’t want you there. Quite the opposite, in fact. You and I are going to have a nice, long conversation, and we should both be comfortable while doing it.” She turned to me. “Tom, go wash dishes. Aiden and I are going to sit on the swing.”
“But—”
She stabbed a finger toward the kitchen. “Dishes, Thomas.”
“Yes, ma’am.” I headed for the kitchen but glanced over my shoulder. Mom was leading Aiden outside, and when he looked back and saw me, he turned away. Something was gnawing at my gut, and I wasn’t quite sure what it was. I went into the kitchen, grabbed the scrubber, and got elbow-deep in the wash water.
I stood there for over an hour, the dishes pretty much untouched, and each moment that passed had me wanting to go find out what was going on with Aiden. Fortunately Mom saved me by coming back into the house. She beckoned to me, and I hurried to where she stood.
“He needs you, Tom.”
“What’s wrong?”
She drew in a breath. “We talked, and he opened up some. I think he’s got serious abandonment issues. First his parents, then some guy at school. He wants to get out of the house so Olivia can be rid of him too.”
“What? That’s not true. She loves Aiden.”
“I know that. I can see how she jumped to him when he was upset. Go talk with him. Let him know he’s not alone in the world anymore.” She patted me on the arm, then found my father and took a seat beside him. She tucked her head onto his chest. Whatever Aiden told her must have hit her hard, because she didn’t usually do things like that.
