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“Hi, dumplin’. Are you still at the diner?”
“No, I’m at the house. Aiden’s here.”
“Oh, that’s good.”
“Good?”
“Yeah,” her ma said before the sound of shuffling and murmured voices came over the line. She seemed distracted. “Listen, Sara and I need to head up to Atlanta.”
“What? Why?”
Aiden looked up from where he sat on the edge of her bed, looking through the roses. She suspected he was checking for a card.
“Your puse is in the hospital, and we need to go.”
When it rains, it pours. “I’ll come with you,” she said, her mind racing with potential reasons for her grandmother’s hospitalization. She didn’t know her adoptive grandmother well, but she was still family.
“No. You need to stay home. The hospital where she is has restrictions on the people allowed in. You wouldn’t be able to go back, anyway. I’ll be lucky if I can even go back. They’ve buckled down on the kinds of visitors they allow in recent years. But I need to be there for Sara.”
“Is she gonna be okay?”
“Oh, yeah. She’s fine. Stable. They are only keeping her for observation. Rina just wants her daughter there, so we’re going to drive up and stay in a hotel nearby until she’s released.”
“Okay,” Charlotte mumbled, unsure of what else to say. She couldn’t do anything for her mom, and she didn’t even know if her adoptive grandmother would remember her. Her memory had been slipping in recent years. “Tell Mom I love her, and Puse too.”
“Of course. We’ll keep in touch. There’s money in the jar on the fridge for groceries if you want anything special.”
When she hung up the phone, she looked at Aiden, who sat on her bed in silence.
“Everything okay?”
Aiden’s lips tightened in response to her explanation, and he lowered his head, the long, black strands on top of his head falling forward out of place. He clasped his hands between his thighs as he sat with his forearms resting on his thighs. He seemed to struggle with whatever was on his mind.
With a sigh, he looked up at her. “I can stay with you again. If you want.” His eyes cut to the roses. “Because of this,” he added.
The stalker. Right.
She almost forgot about it with the news about her grandmother. Of course he’s only staying for that. She really needed to get herself together. Priorities.
She didn’t want Aiden to feel obligated to stay with her because of some creep again, but she seriously feared being alone given her stalker had accessed the inside of her house. Having company was prudent.
Calling one of the girls didn’t seem reasonable. They were on summer break. Blaire was spending time with her boyfriend. Riley was with Seth. And Layla couldn’t do much if a stalker showed up—even if her parents let her stay off campus. Plus, Charlotte didn’t know her as well as she did Blaire and Riley, and even then, if they both didn’t have boyfriends, they probably couldn’t do anything to defend against a stalker either.
If she didn’t want to be alone, Aiden was her only option.
“I don’t want to bother you with it,” she said, giving him the opportunity to back out of the offer even if she hoped he wouldn’t.
“If it was a bother, I wouldn’t offer.”
Something about the look on his face made her question how true the statement was. Something had shifted between them after they slept together, and she didn’t think she could reverse it.
“Okay, then. If you don’t mind staying.”
“It’s not a problem.” He looked at her bed. “I can sleep on the couch. It’s big enough.”
Her heart sank.
“So, movie?” She moved to her computer chair and sat down, trying to ignore the sadness sneaking in. She slid her sandals off and rubbed her feet. They ached after the walk home. Served her right for wearing a pair of sandals she had worn only twice. When she let go of her foot and looked up, she found Aiden watching her movements with a furrow to his brow.
