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"I'll be the judge of that! He doesn't know what's best for him."
"Aiden's not a child, Barbara," Seth said calmly. "He doesn't need you to know what's good for him."
"He needs you, I suppose?"
Seth didn't reply. He stood his ground, an immovable rock beneath the pulverizing force of her glare. His breath streamed in the cold night air. The breeze picked up, tousling his long hair into his face. He narrowed his eyes against the lash, but his expression remained unflinching. Aiden's mother had never impressed him much.
"Mom," Aiden said, stepping between them and shivering with cold. "Why don't you come inside and let me make some coffee? Seth was just leaving."
Seth's gaze cut toward him, dark with something unspoken. He looked annoyed or maybe worried, but there was no reason for it. What did he think was going to happen? Aiden had outweighed and outmuscled his mother since hitting puberty. So, she tossed a few books or a houseplant at him once in a while. He was a grown man; he could put up with it. He didn't bruise like a peach.
"Look at you!" Barbara gestured at his towel. "You'll catch your death. You don't even have the common sense to get dressed!"
Aiden glanced down at his numb toes and wiggled them in the slush. "I'm fine, Mom. You don't need to worry about me."
"I'm not worried," she snapped, offended by the mere suggestion.
Aiden couldn't help but smile just a little. It was always amusing how uncomfortable a licensed therapist was with her own emotions. How did the saying go? Physician, heal thyself.
"Look, you want the new roof, don't you?" he asked, cinching his towel a bit higher on his waist. He wrapped his arms around his torso in a vain attempt to hoard body heat, but the frigid breeze wicked it away faster than he could make it. "Well, this is how you get it. Money doesn't just spring up out of thin air."
Barbara's jaw tightened so much that the cords of her thin neck stood out in stark relief. "You could save your paychecks if you moved back in with me."
"No." Aiden cut the suggestion dead. "I need my space."
"What space? You live in a hovel the size of my walk-in closet. It's embarrassing."
Aiden shrugged. "I'm not embarrassed."
"Well, I am!" Her expression twisted. "I worked so hard to raise you. I gave you every advantage, and how do you repay me? By wallowing in the trailer park that I wasn't allowed to ride my bicycle past when I was a girl."
"You should've thought of that before you kicked him out when he was just a kid," Seth said flatly.
Her eyes were the same summer blue as Aiden's but filled with so much hostility Aiden thought she must be perpetually exhausted. "I did that so he could learn the meaning of hard work. I wanted to raise a man of honor, not…whatever this is."
"This—"
"Hey! I'm freezing!" Aiden interrupted frantically. He grabbed Seth by the bicep, forgetting the awkwardness between them, and tugged him backward. Strategic retreat was always the safest bet with his mother. "You're right, Mom. I need shoes—and pants! Haha. You want a warm drink? I haven't been shopping in a while, but I can heat up some takeout or maybe a toaster strudel?—"
Her eyes widened in comical horror. "No, thank you, Aiden. I wanted to speak with you alone, but you're right; this isn't the proper place to have a discussion. Why don't you come by the house tomorrow? Bandit would like to see you."
"Sure, Mom," Aiden chirped. "I'll come by in the morning, okay?"
It was messed up; the gratitude he felt whenever she let a matter drop. He wasn't much more than a mouse allowed to scurry back to his hiding hole, and she was the cat who hadn't deigned to go in for the kill—yet.
He didn't let out the breath he was holding until her brake lights flashed, and the Lexus pulled onto the highway.
"At least she gives you visitation rights," Seth said dryly.
It took Aiden a moment to realize he was talking about Bandit. "He's getting old now, anyway," he said distantly. "I wouldn't make him a working horse now. He'd enjoy being with the other horses at the Triple M, though. I know he gets lonely. Breaks my fucking heart."
Seth rested a comforting hand on Aiden's shoulder. His palm was so warm it felt like a brand against Aiden's bare skin, and he flinched.
"Come on," Seth said, tracking his reaction with a frown. "I don't know what liniment you've got, so I grabbed some DMSO from my truck."
"Great," Aiden muttered, wrinkling his nose. "I get to taste garlic for the rest of the night."
"Better than being in pain."
