“You’re not planning on going back, are you?” he asked gently.
She hadn’t eaten yet, and that gnawed at him. His dominant side insisted he feed her, ensure she was healthy and strong. And then discipline her so she knew neglecting herself this way was not allowed.
But he figured in order to take care of her, he needed to know what was going on. Answers first. Then food. And sleep. He saw the way she swayed in her seat.
“I can’t.”
“Why not? Does it have to do with your mother?” There was no sign of the other woman in the house. “Where is she, Aspen?”
Her eyes were wide, haunted. “She left.” There was a lost quality to her voice. A childish note.
“Where did she go?” And what the fuck had she been thinking? Aspen was barely holding things together. How did her mother expect her to keep doing it all on her own? How could she hold down a job without someone to care for her sons?
And that was it, wasn’t it? She can’t.
“She’s been gone since the day I made you the pie. She had the car, so I couldn’t go looking for her. So I asked Mr. Peterson if I could use his phone—”
“You went to old Man Peterson?
?s house?” he barked, making her jump.
She glared at him. “Yes. He’s not that bad, you know.”
“Not that bad? One of the Thorson twins ended up with buckshot in his ass after his brother dared him to throw eggs at Peterson’s house.”
She blew out a breath. “Well, I didn’t have any eggs to throw so I guess I was safe.”
“That’s not funny.”
“He’s my landlord, Saxon. He’s not going to take potshots at me.”
“If he recognizes you. After a few bottles of homebrew, I don’t think he’d recognize his own mother.” It burned his gut that she lived here. Relied on others for help when he wanted her to rely on him.
“And what happened to your phone?”
“Mom had it with her. We only have one. Usually it stays here at the house in case we need to call someone for the boys, but she forgot and took it.”
Wow, she really was going for mother of the year, wasn’t she?
“I was thinking about calling the police when she arrived home earlier.” She smiled. A bright, fake smile designed to draw attention away from the glitter of tears in her eyes. “Turns out she’d found a man. Rex. She just came home to return the car and pack her bags. She expected me to be grateful that she bought my car home. She didn’t even say goodbye to her grandsons. For all her faults, she’s always stuck by me, you know. I thought that even if she was a crappy mother and person she cared about Jamie and Caleb. Turns out I was wrong. I hate when that happens.”
He reached over and grabbed hold of her hand, unable to stand the way she tried to make light of something that had obviously hit her hard.
“I guess it was selfish of me to expect her to help me with the boys. She deserves a life of her own. I’ll figure something out. I have my car back, at least. I’m going to be fine.”
“Yes. You will be.” He would see to that. “You can come work for me.”
“How does that solve anything? Mrs. Peterson can’t cope with looking after my boys all day. I can’t pay for childcare, it would suck up most of what I earn.”
“We can work that out. You can have them with you part of the time or I can hire someone to watch them.”
“You can’t hire someone to watch my children.”
“Why not?”
“Uh, because it would cost a lot.”
He heard the unsaid duh and gave her a firm look. She flushed, looking embarrassed. “I’m not looking for charity.”