She grimaced then hoped the encroaching darkness hid her expression.
“Joel Saxon, this is my mother, Mary.”
“I had her so young, though, we’re more like sisters.”
Eew. She hadn’t been that young. Most of the time it felt like Aspen was the parent and Mary the rebellious teenager.
“Nice to meet you, Mary.” Saxon stepped forward and shook her hand.
Her mother tittered. Aspen rubbed her stomach. Definitely headed towards an ulcer.
“It’s very kind of you to give Aspen a ride home.” There was a pause as that seemed to sink in. “Hey, I asked you where the car is.”
“It wouldn’t start,” Aspen told her tiredly, bracing herself for dramatics.
“What? How the fuck am I supposed to get myself to work?”
“Could you keep your voice down, please?” Aspen said quietly. Could this night to get any worse? She couldn’t look at Saxon, didn’t want to see disgust on his face. Although it was his own fault for sticking around.
“Mary, if you’ll wait for a few minutes while I see your daughter inside, I’ll take you to work.”
Shit. Fuck.
Her mother giggled and Aspen cringed. “That would be lovely. I’ll just wait in the car. Don’t take too long, though, I don’t want to be late.”
“I’ll only be a minute.”
“Mom, you can’t expect him to drive you into Freestown.” She turned to Saxon. “She doesn’t actually have work. Thank you for the offer, anyway.”
“Hey!” her mother protested. “He offered, and I have important things to do tonight that don’t include sitting in this dump!”
“It’s fine,” Saxon told her. “Climb on in, Mary.” He walked around and opened the passenger door. “I’ll be out in a minute,” he told her then shut the door.
He moved forward and took her hand, putting it into the crook of his elbow. She was too surprised to protest or pull back. Old-fashioned manners. It was something she’d noticed the other men in Haven had as well. She’d never had a man open a car door for her before she’d come here.
She was pulled out of her shocked state when they reached the front door. He held out an arm, gesturing for her to
go first. Embarrassment welled, but she pushed it back. So what if she lived in a run-down cottage filled with old, worn furniture? It was nothing to be ashamed of, right?
Although the messy state it was currently in was slightly horrifying. “Sorry about the mess. My mom isn’t much for housekeeping. Taking care of two small boys kind of takes up all her time.” She moved around, picking up the pieces of clothing lying on the floor and over the puke-green couch. Luckily this place came furnished. Unfortunately, the furniture was nearly as old as the cottage itself. The velvet sofa had probably once been the height of fashion, now it was faded and rubbed completely through in places. The dining table was scratched and partly covered in stickers from a previous tenant. She’d tried to remove them but it was like they’d been attached with superglue.
The small kitchen wasn’t any better with its apricot-colored cabinets and ancient oven she was too scared to even use. Arms filled with dirty laundry, she walked out to the porch where the washing machine sat.
When she returned to the living room, Saxon still stood there. He looked like an expensive, exotic plant that had found its way into a forest filled with dying pine trees. Completely out of place.
“I’m sorry about my mom. I’m sure you don’t really want to drive her—”
“Stop.”
She looked up at him, surprised by his firm voice. “Sorry?”
“Stop saying sorry. There is no reason to apologize. For your mom or any mess. If I didn’t want to take her, then I wouldn’t have offered. And we both know I invited myself inside.”
“Still, I can go tell her you have better things to do than drive her around—”
“Aspen, stop.” This time his voice was pure steel, and she felt herself obeying immediately, her heart racing.
“I’m not sure what you’re so worried about. I’m happy to take her.”