The Good Mom (13 page)

He glanced back at her because she'd fallen behind. “Are you all right?” he asked.

She caught up to him. “Aidan,” she asked, “where will you go next, once you leave Boston?”

The question seemed to startle him. He looked into her eyes, as if searching them.

Then he looked toward the sandwich shop across the lobby. “Come have lunch with me.”

“Will you tell me then?”

He gave a slight smile. “It's not the usual thing, Ashley.”

“You're not the usual person,” she said honestly.

He liked that response. He laughed so that his eyes crinkled.

She itched to reach up and wipe a lock of hair from his brow.

“If I tell you what I'm planning,” he said, “you'll laugh.”

“I promise I won't!”

“Hmm.” He turned and scanned the other end of the lobby. “Do you want to go to a sandwich place or pizza place?”

She put her hands on her hips. “Why do I always feel like you're distracting me from what you don't want to talk about? Honestly, Aidan, I'd like to hear about it.”

“So you can talk me out of it?”

“No!” She rolled her eyes. “So I can understand you.”

“Let's get a sandwich,” he insisted.

“After you tell me your plans.”

He smiled at her. “I'm hiking the Appalachian Trail.”

“The...?”

“The Appalachian Trail. It's a hiking path two thousand miles long. It runs north to south, Maine to Georgia, along the East Coast. I'd like to hike it alone. It's something that's always been on my life list, and I've decided I want to do it now.”

She struggled to understand. “So...where do you sleep at night?”

“There are shelters—camps—along the way. Every day you hike to a new shelter. Ten, fifteen miles of hiking through the most beautiful, remote scenery. Lots of time to think.”

“To heal,” she whispered.

He glanced at her shyly. “Maybe.”

“Is it safe?” she asked.

He grinned. “Maybe not.”

“And you'll be by yourself!” She gaped at him.

“That's the point, Ashley. It'll just be
me
, the wilderness, the stars at night. Maybe I'll get a dog,” he mused.

“Aidan! I'll worry about you! You'll have to call me now and then to let me know you're okay.”

He threw back his head and laughed. “You've known me a little over a week. I'm sure you'll get over it,” he chided. “Come on inside. Let's eat.”

This time she did follow him inside the sandwich shop. His favorite one, he said. A server took them to a booth near a window in the back overlooking a park. She couldn't even look at the menu; all she could do was watch him. His shy expressions, as he glanced from her to the menu and back again. The cute dimple that formed in the corner of his cheek. The unruly hair that she was just itching to sift in her fingers again.

After the waitress brought their grilled cheese sandwiches, she just had to ask him.

“How long have you wanted to hike the Appalachian Trail?”

“Since I was a kid,” he admitted.

“But are you sure now is the right time?”

“It's the perfect time,” he said between bites. “There's never been a better time.”

She felt like weeping. Just when he'd met her and Brandon? Just when her son needed him?

He caught her expression and put his hand on hers. “I mean...it's the perfect time now—or next week when I'm finished with Brandon's sessions—because if I wait longer, then I'll have to break up my pace into a shorter section, and stop when the winter weather kicks in. If I leave sooner rather than later, I'll still have a couple of good months of autumn hiking.”

“Oh.” She gazed down at the bowl of tomato soup she'd ordered but wasn't eating.

The whole thing just made her feel...lonely. Lonelier than she'd been. She'd been missing something—the sweet feeling of a new partnership—that she hadn't even realized. Maybe something like the male role model she'd hoped for for her son.

Aidan's hand was still on top of hers. Warm and comforting. He clasped her hand and turned it over, as if pondering her palm. With a light caress, he drew his thumb gently across the lines in her palm.

His touch on her skin felt...nice. It gave her tingles across her breasts, but he didn't appear to notice that. He seemed to be thinking.

Finally he gazed at her, a lock of dark hair over his brow, and the look in his eyes took her breath away.

“You're right,” he said finally. “I've been teaching Brandon to be responsible, and yet here I am neglecting my responsibilities.”

Was
she
a responsibility? She didn't want to be that to him.

“I'll stay until Brandon's test,” he decided. “That's in three and a half more weeks. That will also give me the opportunity to go to the memorial service. Then I'll be free to hike the Appalachian Trail for at least a month.” He smiled at her. “My staying for Brandon's test—that's what you're most concerned about, isn't it?”

She nodded. It had been, but...

He must have felt her mood, because he gazed at her hand in his. Stroking it absently. Making those shivers run through her...

“It's been almost a year,” he said softly. “I'm ready to sell my place and move on now. I don't want to be caught in the past.”

He glanced up at her, and she swallowed. “I'm glad to hear that,” she whispered. It helped, hearing what he was saying. Getting a deeper insight into who he was. She didn't often talk with men one-on-one, because she couldn't afford to indulge in romantic relationships. She had a son. Usually she didn't want to be tempted—she'd made a mistake in judgment once, with Brandon's father. Ever since then she supposed that she'd convinced herself that she wasn't any good at dating. That she had bad instincts when it came to men.

Like her mom.

“You should eat your sandwich,” he said, smiling at her.

She kept her right hand in his. With her left hand, she took a big bite of the warm, gooey cheese. He laughed at her, and she felt warm all over.

Aidan ate his sandwich the same way. She watched his left hand go to his mouth, his tanned skin smooth. The secret smile he gave her lit up his soft brown eyes.

No, I'm not tempted
, she told herself. A lie, of course.

Swallowing her bite of sandwich, she asked him a question. “What kind of doctor are you, anyway?”

“Orthopedics,” he said, then lowered his gaze and took another bite.

She felt like a dummy, but she had to ask to be sure. “That's broken bones, right?”

He nodded. “Right. Broken bones. Sprains.”

“Wow. You're accomplished.” And then she thought for a moment. “Thank you for your service,” she said.

Aidan tilted his head as if he didn't understand.

She laughed self-consciously. “When I meet a veteran or an active-duty soldier, that's what I say. But you put yourself in harm's way, too.”

“Oh, Ashley. I am no hero.” He laughed at the thought.

To her, he was. She just smiled and drank her iced tea.

And then she noticed someone staring at them from two booths down. A woman, with long brown hair and a tight blue shirt. She looked a lot like the woman who'd been at his condo earlier.

“What is it?” he asked her, immediately noticing her expression.

“Don't turn around,” she said in a low voice, looking away from the woman.

“Who's there?” They were doing a good job at communicating without saying too much. He was a good reader of her body language, and that made her feel more comfortable.

“The woman from your apartment.” She took another sip of iced tea. “The real estate agent.”

He frowned. “My cousin Jamison sent her over.” He paused. “Is she gone yet?” he asked, as Ashley took another covert glance.

“Nope. She's approaching. Twelve o' clock.”

“In that case...” He leaned forward, took her hand in his, and pressed her knuckles to his lips.

She jumped. She couldn't help gasping.

And then he smiled and winked at her. “Do we look like we're in love?” he whispered.

“I'm...not the best one to ask,” she admitted, as the woman stalked past them and left. “Though we did chase her away, it seems.”

“Why aren't you the best one to ask? You mean you don't date?”

She shook her head, her cheeks warm.

“Ah, because you have a twelve-year-old son?” He stirred his drink thoughtfully. “Then what do you do for fun?”

“Well, I go on outings with my son.” Every weekend since Brandon was little, they'd had a habit of doing something special together, usually an outing or an activity. They called it “family fun day.” Since their new life in Boston had started, however, their fun days had been few and far between. “Or at least, I did,” she clarified. “The intensity of St. Bart's seems to be getting in the way of that old life.”

“Hmm,” Aidan said. “Do you still have those two tickets to the Captains game this weekend?”

“Yes. Brandon will be serving as a ball boy.”

“May I have
one
of those tickets you offered?” He smiled at her.

“Of course.” She reached for her purse but then paused. “What about the other ticket? Aren't you going to bring a friend with you?”

“Yeah. You.”

“Me? But I have to work!”

He shrugged. “So, meet me when you get out of work. You were going to pick up Brandon at the game, I assume?”

She was. But suddenly this seemed more complicated. She felt shy all of a sudden. Something had changed between them this afternoon, and it surprised her.

And then he put his head close to hers. And threaded his hands through hers. He had large, strong hands. He was a surgeon after all. He set people's bones. He healed them.

She swallowed. She was actually going to spend family fun day with Aidan.

She hoped Brandon was okay with that.

* * *

L
ATER
THAT
NIGHT
, Ashley stood at the stove making gluten-free pasta for the meatballs she'd cooked and frozen last weekend. She glanced at the clock. Twenty minutes until Aidan was due to arrive.

“I can't believe I have to study on a Saturday night,” Brandon grumbled from where he sat at the table.

“Once you're caught up with your math, it won't be so bad.” She tried to keep a hopeful tone.

“I don't like him, Mom.”

“You...don't?” She swallowed. “I'm sorry, I thought you did.”

“He took my phone away. That's crazy. Can't you give it back?”

She drained the hot water from the cooked pasta, and then with a large fork, served a generous portion to Brandon.

“What will you do when you get your phone back?” she asked mildly.

“Nothing.”

She couldn't help smiling.

“My friends from school can't even text me. It's ridiculous,” he complained.

“Your friends from your old school?”

“No, my new friends.” He picked up his fork and began to dig in. “I miss a lot of what's going on, you know. It's totally stupid.”

“Is everybody so social?” Ashley asked.

He looked at her pleadingly. “Please, Mom.”

In the old days, pre-Aidan, she probably would have relented. Maybe she wasn't relenting now because she trusted Aidan. She wanted to trust him. She wanted to believe that he knew better than her how to handle St. Bart's, as Brandon was calling his new school.

“Plus, without my phone I can't even text Uncle Jon to wish him a good game!”

“We'll call him before we leave for the park tomorrow,” Ashley promised.

“At least Aidan's letting me be ball boy,” Brandon grumbled.

“
I'm
letting you be ball boy.”

“Good.” He rolled his eyes. “He's not my father.”

No, he wasn't. And it gave her a chill to hear Brandon speak the word aloud. First there had been that conversation with Lisbeth back in August. Then Ashley had heard him angrily tell Aidan one night that same thing he'd just said, that Aidan wasn't his father.

Her hands shook. She didn't want to think about this now.

“Brandon, why don't we go out tomorrow, you and me? We could grab dinner and a movie together.”

“No, Mom. I have stuff at school.”

“You do? Like what?”

“We're doing a play in English class. The girls' school down the street are taking the girl parts.”

She put down her fork. “You didn't tell me that.”

“Maybe if I had my phone, I could keep you posted.”

Oh, great.
She was weakening already. Maybe she should just give Brandon his darn phone back.

“What play?” she asked her son.

“Romeo and Juliet.”

Ashley almost choked. “Isn't that old for you?”

“I'm thirteen in December.”

“Um.”
Oh, God.

Suddenly
she
felt old. Unprepared for that. “Dare I ask what part you have?”

He gave her one of his old grins. “Romeo, of course.”

Of course?
Ashley tried not to choke again. “Um, who is Juliet?”

He smiled slyly. “Some girl named Julia. Get it? Julia is playing Juliet.”

She thought she might faint.

But then Aidan's familiar knock sounded on the door. Brandon rose to let him in. Aidan came in with a nod, smelling of fresh air. He put down the knapsack he carried. A copy of her son's textbook would be inside, she knew.

He gave her a private smile. Oh, she wished she could talk to him alone...

“What is it?” he asked, concerned by her expression.

“Brandon is playing Romeo. As in
Romeo and Juliet
.”