Page 8 of Stained Hearts
Olivia nudged him with her shoulder. “Tell him why so he doesn’t think you’re a filthy slob.” She pursed her lips. “Not that that’s too far from the truth.”
Aiden grinned at her. “Bitch.” When he turned back to me, I got the first good look at him. He favored his sister. His blue-blue eyes were framed by long, dark, soft lashes. He had a bit of a pug nose, turned up slightly. His ears jutted out a tad. It took me a moment, but I figured out who he reminded me of—the adorable Russell Tovey.
“I work with stained glass.” Aiden pointed to his nail. “This? Probably from scraping the solder to smooth the edge.”
“You work in glass? How cool is that?”
Olivia groaned. “Oh, damn. You shouldn’t have said anything. Hope you don’t have anywhere to be in the next hour or so.”
Aiden reached into his pocket and extracted a phone. He tapped a few buttons, then proudly turned it so I could see the screen. “These are some of my current projects. I’ve been taking classes for a few years to, you know, hone my craft.” He swiped the screen, and up popped images of stained-glass flowers, superheroes, a deer, a hot air balloon, and something that actually made me laugh.
“Is that the droid I’m looking for?”
He pulled the phone back and snickered. “I did this one for a friend of mine. She wanted something for her birthday, and I knew how much she loved BB-8, so I did this one up for her.”
“You’re very talented.”
He blushed. “Thank you.”
“And cue the swelled head.”
The flush on his cheeks deepened to crimson. “Shut up.” Then he turned back to me. “Would you like to see some more?” He was like an overexcited puppy, and it worked for him.
Olivia held her hands up. “Say no if you value your sanity. He’s got thousands of pictures, not including his works in progress.”
I knew I should go, but Noel was standing behind them, giving me pleading eyes. He pointed toward Aiden and then wrapped his arms around himself. I got the point. Aiden was precious to Noel, and he wanted me to be nice to the kid.
“Sure, I have plenty of time.”
“Oh God.” She tilted her head back. “Noel, can I get something to go? If Aiden’s going to be talking Tom’s ear off, I should get back to work.” She elbowed Aiden. “Thanks for having lunch with me.”
He waved her off, then nudged her until she got out of the booth. Once she was, he slid out of their side of the booth and in next to me.
Olivia sighed and ruffled Aiden’s hair. “Call me later?”
He didn’t even look at her as she stopped at the counter, grabbed a bag, then headed out the door. “Yeah, sure,” he murmured after she was already gone. Aiden’s thumb flew over the screen as page after page of pictures went by, until he stopped on a tree in various shades of blue and white, against a backdrop of purple waves. “This one’s my favorite.”
It was a burst of color on the screen, and I could see how much it meant to Aiden that I like it too.
“It’s beautiful. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything remotely similar.”
He sat up a bit straighter. “I always loved looking at stained glass and wondered if I could make something. Livvy found me a place that would teach me to make it. I fell in love, and it got me thinking that maybe I could do something like this for a living.”
“With something like that, I’ve no doubt you could.”
He chuckled. “I’ve been selling things on Etsy for a few months. It’s okay so far. Not enough to get a place of my own, though.”
“Where do you live?”
“With Olivia. She’s….” His gaze dropped and his voice softened. “She’s been my mom, dad, and sister all rolled into one since I was told I can’t go home again.”
Can’t go home again. Can’t go home again. Can’t go home again.
My stomach rebelled, and I got up, crawled over Aiden, and rushed to the bathroom, where I dropped to my knees and barfed my guts out. Soft, tentative footsteps told me someone had followed me in.
“I’m sorry, really. I’ll be out in a minute.”
Then there was the sound of paper tearing and a soft hand on my shoulder. I turned my head slightly, and there stood Aiden, leaning against the sink, paper towel in his hand. He held it out to me. “Are you okay?”
