Don't Lie (Don't 2)

“Cole’s son.”

“He has a son?”

I nodded. “You have more family than you realized, Aiden.” I continued up the stairs. “Have a good run.”

“Will do,” he shouted as he continued to run.

I trudged ahead. I hoped Cole hadn’t made another rogue attempt to get out of bed. All I needed was for him to see me chatting with his shirtless uncle to stir up the tornado that was about to spin out of this storm.

I looked up. He was standing at our bedroom door, propped with a crutch. Shit.

I took the steps faster, but before I made it to the door, he was gone.

The next day I waded through more emails before checking the rooms for supplies. I had managed to drag the TV from the living room to the bedroom so Cole would have something to do while I was at work. He was on day two of bed rest and he was already completely stir crazy. He gave new meaning to cabin fever. I promised to come home to fix lunch and check on him.

After I took Grayson to school I had to get to the Dunes office.

I marked off the room keys from the lock box as I loaded them on the service cart. I still needed to clean the Shapleys’ room and make an inventory list. With Cole out of service, the room duties fell on me.

The first four looked fine. They were the ones closest to the street and the least utilized. I moved on to the next block.

By noon, I had completed one entire side of the motel and I was ready to take a break.

I pushed the cart into room twenty-four just as Aiden was coming out of room twenty-three.

“In a hurry?” he shouted from across the parking lot.

“Going home to make lunch.” I smiled as I closed the door, turning the key quickly.

He held up a piece of paper. I couldn’t make out what was on it from across the parking lot, so I walked a few steps toward him.

“I was just coming to see you. Where’s that nephew of mine? Shouldn’t he be the one working on the rooms?” Aiden stood next to his car. I wasn’t surprised he drove a convertible. Part of him seemed fast and flashy.

“Cole’s not feeling so well. I’m headed over to check on him.”

“Too bad. Tell him I said I hope he’s better real soon.” He handed me the piece of paper. “Here are the items in my room that need to be fixed.”

I stared at the list he had made.

“CFL bulbs in all fixtures? New sink faucet handles? A new toilet seat? Extra blankets?” I skimmed the rest of the list silently. This was complete bullshit and Aiden knew it.

“If you could get those things done for me, sweetheart, while I’m out, I’d appreciate it. I’ll work on the second half of my list when I get back.”

“Second half? What are you talking about? Isn’t this enough?” There was no way I could do half the things on his checklist.

“I haven’t even gotten started on the motel. The icemaker is shotty. The pool gate creaks, but why am I telling you this now? Like I said, I’ll write it all down for you.”

“How thoughtful.” I twisted my lips from saying something nasty.

Aiden chuckled before pushing the top down on his car. “It’s going to be a beautiful day. I’ll catch you later. Big investor meeting.”

I watched as he popped a piece of gum in his mouth before speeding off onto the highway.

I shook my head and folded the paper into a square, then shoved it in my back pocket. I would do what I could, but Aiden was only trying to make a statement. The Dunes was old and it showed. I huffed as I crossed over the dunes to the cottage.

Cole was sitting at the kitchen table with a bowl of soup in front of him.

“Hey.” I smiled, ignoring the checklist that was burning a hole in my back pocket. “I thought you were going to let me make lunch for you.” I crossed the empty living room, wrapped my arms around the back of his shoulders, and kissed him on the cheek.