Brandon looked up at Aidan as if he wanted to say something else. Aidan waited, giving him the chance to gather his thoughts.
“Um, will you type your number into my phone?” Brandon mumbled.
Aidan blinked. Brandon had just given him the highest compliment an adult could get from an almost-teen.
“Sure,” he said, smiling.
Brandon pressed his finger on the phone’s screen a few times, and then awkwardly handed the phone over.
It occurred to Aidan that this act might put more pressure on his relationship with Ashley. She hadn’t agreed to spend the weekend with him yet. She said she was still thinking about it. He understood; it was a big decision for her. She might not have had another committed relationship before, other than with her son and her sister. Aidan knew he was asking for a lot from her. But he had faith that she loved him, too. That she was ready to figure out how to build a new life, and that she didn’t have to be a single mom forever if she didn’t want to be.
He finished typing in his phone number and then handed the phone back to the kid. Even if the worst happened—which he didn’t want to imagine—Ashley couldn’t be upset if Brandon wanted to call him now and then. That’s what a mentoring relationship was.
Yeah, but you’ve fallen in love with your mentee’s mother, a small voice said in his head.
“So, um, are you still going to tutor me?” Brandon asked.
Truthfully, he hadn’t been thinking beyond the short term much until now. He’d been drifting since he’d been home—healing, Ashley had called it—not really sure what he wanted or what he was going to do, beyond a vague plan of escaping from what his life had been before.
But now everything was changing. He wanted to stay closer to Ashley and Brandon—and besides, renovations were still ongoing at his condo. He had time to see what developed with Ashley. And he did like tutoring Brandon.
“Sure,” Aidan said. “If you want me to. And if your mom says it’s okay. I’m not, ah, committed to anything yet.”
Brandon nodded. “I’ll tell her I want you to still come after dinner and tutor me.”
“Okay.” It might be sticky if Ashley decided she wasn’t ready to be with him. But Aidan didn’t want to accept that happening. He decided to be optimistic, just as she’d taught Brandon to be. And him, too. “I’ll let you handle that conversation, then.”
“I’m going to be away this weekend,” Brandon said. “The Outdoor Club is having a hiking trip.”
“Your mom told me. Where are you going?” he asked.
“The White Mountains.”
That was a range in New Hampshire. Aidan nodded. “A part of the Appalachian Trail goes through that part of the state. I plan to hike that myself at some point.”
“Will you do a section-hike or a through-hike?”
“You know about the Appalachian Trail?” he asked, surprised.
“Yes. Our science teacher showed us pictures. He’s our Outdoor Club adviser, too. He’s done the through-hike twice. Once northbound, and once southbound.”
“I’ll have to talk to him sometime.”
“I can introduce you.” Brandon gave him a shy smile.
“That would be great.”
A buzz of teen voices sounded behind them, amplified by the echoing of St. Bart’s high-ceilinged corridors.
“I gotta go,” Brandon said. Then he got a big grin on his face. “I’m gonna find my friends Douglas and Cho and tell them my good news. See ya, Aidan. Thanks again for everything. I appreciate it.”
Outside, Aidan blinked in the bright sunlight. But he didn’t go home just yet, where his kitchen had been completely torn out and now resembled a construction zone. Instead he headed over to Perceptions on Newbury Street.
He walked right in, waving at Ilana as he breezed past her. Her brow lifted, but she didn’t say a word, probably thanks to his grandmother.
Ashley was at her station, cutting an elderly man’s hair. Aidan felt a stab of jealousy that he wasn’t the man in the chair with Ashley’s hands against his head.
When she saw him standing there, she blanched. The hand she held her scissors in fell to her side.
He just smiled and gave her a thumbs-up. “Brandon did it.”
Ashley clasped her hands together. Maybe her knees had weakened, because she leaned against her sink, using it for support.
“He passed,” she said to the gentleman in her stylist’s chair. “My son passed his exam!”
“Good for him,” the gentleman said.
Ashley hopped over and threw her arms around Aidan, laughing. He gave a bear hug in return, breathing in the comforting scent of her hair.
“I gave him his phone back like you asked me to,” he murmured into her ear. “And he said he wants to keep up the tutoring. He’s going to talk to you about it when he gets home.”
She turned her head and spoke beside his neck, tickling his skin. “Thank you,” she whispered. “Thank you for helping us.”
He kissed her, cognizant of the white-haired man watching his every move.
She leaned back in his arms and smiled up at him. “You and I are going camping this weekend, Aidan.”
“We’re—”
“Yes. You and I. And you know I don’t like to camp.” She raised her brows and then smiled shyly at him.
Before he could react, she stepped back to her job, resuming her clipping and humming to herself.
Aidan stepped back, happiness spreading through him. He hadn’t expected this today.
He had a lot to plan.
* * *
TWO EVENINGS LATER, Ashley stood at the clothes dryer, folding the socks and activewear that Brandon wanted to take on his hiking weekend. Brandon was leaving on the bus directly from school tomorrow afternoon—Friday—and she needed to make sure he had all of his things together before he left for school in the morning.
She wouldn’t be seeing him until he returned on Sunday. And then one of his commuter friends from school was coming for dinner and staying with them until his grandparents could pick him up later in the evening.
“This trip will be the most awesome thing we’ve ever done,” Brandon said to her as he sat at the kitchen table. Ashley just smiled to herself. She didn’t think that Brandon’s feet had hit the ground since he’d received his official test scores yesterday at school.
“Douglas and Cho and I are sharing a three-person tent,” he said.
“Douglas—he’s the one who’s eating dinner with us on Sunday?” she clarified.
“Yes, Mom. He’s a commuter, like me. His grandparents are stopping by tonight because they want to meet you and give you their phone number. They’re the ones picking him up on Sunday.”
“Right.” She made a mental note to pick up something for dinner before she left. “Okay.”
“And did I tell you that we’re assigned an inflatable raft, too, so we can ride the river on Sunday? This is going to be the most epic trip we’ve ever taken.”
“Wait a minute. River rafting?” This was the first she’d heard of that.
“Yes, Mom. But don’t worry because I know how to take care of my cast.”
Ashley thought it strange that the school hesitated about casting him in a play because of his wrist, but river rafting apparently posed no problem.
“Dr. Lowe said it will be okay,” Brandon said, noticing the skeptical look on her face.
“Well then, I guess I can’t say no, can I?” Ashley had asked Aidan about Brandon’s cast care, too, during water activities. Aidan had advised her that Brandon’s fiberglass cast would be fine, thanks to its water-repellent liner, but that Brandon should still take care to wrap the cast in plastic. She’d bought supplies at the pharmacy, and now she grabbed them from her kitchen cabinet and tossed them into Bran
don’s backpack. She hoped she was remembering everything. Their lives were so hectic these days.
Beside her, Brandon scrolled through his phone again. She allowed him to use it for the few minutes before dinner. After dinner, he had his study session. Tonight, though, Aidan wasn’t coming. She had so much to do to prepare for Brandon’s trip tomorrow that she and Aidan had mutually agreed to suspend his lessons until he returned.
Ping! Brandon received a text message. Furiously he began typing with his thumbs.
“Is that your friend Cho?” Ashley asked, sliding Brandon’s freshly fluffed-and-folded gear into his backpack.
“Yes it is. My brother from another mother,” he said happily.
She had to smile at that, too. It felt fantastic to see Brandon happy again. Privately, she’d been worrying about the wisdom of working so hard, at such a young age, to the exclusion of much else.
It would be worth it, though, Aidan had explained to her, since Brandon had caught up to where he should be, skill wise. From here on out it would get easier for them.
Their buzzer rang, and Brandon opened the door to the other commuter student in his trio of besties. “You must be Douglas,” Ashley said to Brandon’s friend. “Pleased to meet you.” The boy was squat and blond, his hair cut in the same style as Brandon’s. Douglas’s grandparents came up to talk with Ashley, as well.
“His parents are out of town this week,” James, the grandfather, mentioned. “We’re driving Douglas to St. Bartholomew’s every day and picking him up in the evening. I hope you don’t mind that we wanted to stop by and meet you tonight, since our boys will be sharing a tent this weekend. And the dinner on Sunday, of course.”
“Anytime,” Ashley said. “It’s nice to meet you, too. If I can help out further, don’t hesitate to call. Here, let me give you my phone number.” She grabbed a pen and a slip of paper, and they exchanged numbers and addresses.
“Thanks,” James said. Ashley followed them back downstairs to the street, along with Brandon, to wave them off.
“Would you like us to give Brandon a lift to school tomorrow?” James asked her. “We could load his gear in the back along with Douglas’s.”
“Well...” She glanced at Brandon and he was nodding eagerly. “I was going to walk with him, but okay. Sure.”
She went upstairs, into the apartment and went to flop down on her bed. Her sense of optimism was starting to wear away. As she’d hectically prepared to send Brandon off, it was dawning on her that he would be away from her for the whole weekend—two nights out of her reach—having his own adventures with his new friends.
He loped past her down the hall, wearing his Captains hat backward. “Where’s the duct tape?” he called on his way to the kitchen. His voice seemed so much deeper lately. “I need it for my cast.”
“Didn’t I put it in your backpack with the plastic?” she called to him.
“Nope.”
“Then it’s in the junk drawer.”
“I can’t find it.”
She heard drawers opening and doors slamming. “It’s there.” She got up, intending to go help him, but her phone rang in her pocket and she checked who was calling. Aidan.
“Hey,” he said.
Relief stole over her, and she sat on the bed. Picking up an old afghan from the end of the bed, she draped it around herself. She needed the comfort of it. She’d been feeling so tired, with the weight of her decision, with the double shifts she’d been carrying so that she could take the weekend off...
“H-hey, Aidan.” Her voice sounded shaky, even to her.
“What’s wrong?”
He keyed into her moods so quickly. “Nothing. Just tell me I’m doing the right thing.”
“What do you mean?”
“Brandon passed his test, but I wonder if I’m failing mine.”
He laughed. “I didn’t know you had a test. But whatever it is, I’m pretty sure you’re not failing.”
“I am. It just dawned on me that I haven’t been separated from Brandon for more than a night since he was eight years old.”
He paused. “Do you want me to come over?”
“I wish. But, no, Brandon’s packing tonight. Tomorrow he has the day off because of his Outdoor Club activity. His bus is leaving at ten.”
“He’ll be okay, Ash. He’s just growing up.”
Yes, but that didn’t mean it sat well with her.
“He will always be your son,” Aidan said. “You don’t have to worry about him loving you. He just will.”
She chewed that over. He was right. “Thank you,” she whispered into her phone. “You always know what I need to hear.”
“Do you like doughnuts?” he asked.
She giggled at the non sequitur. “I love them, but I haven’t had one in forever.”
“Why not?”
“They’re hard to find gluten-free. And, you know me, I eat gluten-free, because I don’t want Brandon to feel left out.”
“Well, these are for you. Do you like jelly, sugar or chocolate covered best?”
“Oh, chocolate covered!” she said, stretching her toes.
“And coffee, mocha or white mocha?”
“What, no tea?”
“We’re gonna be decadent tomorrow, and the rest of the weekend, too. And there’s nothing you can do for Brandon, because he’s going on his trip. Think of it as a holiday from worrying. I’ll bring you breakfast tomorrow, all right?”
Oh, she liked the idea of a holiday from worrying. And logically Aidan was right. Brandon had his trip this weekend and she had her...fun.
“Okay, I’ll take a white mocha,” she said. She’d never had one of those, but she loved the sound of it. In fact, she was starting to feel a wonderful sense of adventure.
Thank you, Aidan.
By the time she got off the phone with him, talking just to talk, just to hear his deep voice and the laughter just for her, she felt better. He had a talent for that.
She got up to check on Brandon, but his lights were off and he had gone to bed. She went out to the kitchen and cleaned up the dishes from dinner, and then sat and made herself a cup of tea. Alone at the table.
She wanted both of them, she realized. She wanted her son to stay safe within her orbit. And she wanted Aidan to continue to be a special part of their lives. But for right now, she wanted private time with him. Adult time.
Naughty time.
If that made her a bad mom, then she would be bad.
It was just for the weekend, and Brandon was safe with his school and his friends.
She went to bed with a feeling that she would be okay with Aidan.
* * *
“BYE, MOM. SEE you Sunday.”
Ashley watched Brandon load his gear into the back of Maria and James’s truck. She stood on the sidewalk for as long as the truck was within view.
Then she went back into the apartment. She was still sitting on the couch contemplating her open suitcase when Aidan rang her buzzer.
She didn’t know how to tell him this, but when she’d finally gotten around to focusing on her weekend instead of her son’s, she’d realized that she hadn’t done any planning until it was too late.
So much for her own needs. She had no hiking boots. No sleeping bag. No tent.
And what did women wear camping?
She got up to let Aidan in. As always, her heart sang to see him. He wore a green jacket that made his eyes stand out, and his dimples were on full display. And the smile he gave her made her feel as if she was the most important woman on earth to him.
He put down the bag of delicious-smelling doughnuts and the twin cups of white mocha he’d brought, and then went to her, lightly cupping her cheeks with one hand. “Are you ready to go camping?”
She nuz
zled against him and sighed. “Help! I don’t know what to pack. I took care of Brandon, but I forgot to take care of me. Will you help me? What should I pack? What do I need?”
He crossed his arms, grinning, his hip against the back of a chair. “Um, nothing,” he said. “I don’t know, a toothbrush? Even then, I’d lend you mine.”
That made her laugh. “Won’t we have a tent?” She’d just been watching Douglas and Brandon with their gear in his grandparents’ backseat. “You and I are going to be outside, aren’t we?”
“Actually, I cheated. I rented a luxury cabin.”
“You did?”
“Oh, yeah. I’m not stupid.” He grinned.
“Did you do that for me?” she asked.
“Yes, I did,” he said sheepishly. “But it is on a lake, and I’m partial to lake houses. The place looks amazing.”
“Perfect!” That did make her feel so much better. “In case you didn’t realize, I’m not the nature girl you might have wanted.”
He laughed. “I promise you we’ll have electricity, heat and running water. Just the thing for a city girl.”
“Better by the minute.”
“We can stop for groceries on the way up. The only other thing I can think we’ll need is towels and, uh, sheets.”
Sheets. For a bed.
She rubbed her arms again. Getting Dr. Lowe into bed with her was something that was very appealing. She’d been dreaming about it for nights and nights now. She fell asleep with visions of him on her mind.
“Is it a big bed,” she asked in a small voice, “or a little bed?”
He raised an eyebrow at her. “I think it’s a good size.”
She snickered. He winked at her.
“The only sheets I have are for a double bed,” she said once she’d finished laughing.
He looked relieved. “That will work.”
“Great. Then we’re all set.” She went to her linen closet and tossed out a set of sheets and some bath towels. He caught them deftly and loaded them into a bag.
“What else?” Aidan asked her.
“Condoms.” She looked at him. “Do we have any?”
He paused, gazing directly at her. “We soon will,” he said.
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