“Oh. Okay.” Confusion joined the disappointment in her eyes, but she quickly put on a braver face and said, “I thought you lived in LA?”
“I’ve got a place in New York, too, because I work there often. I’ve got a few places of my own.”
“A few?”
“Some people invest in 401(k)s. I happen to like real estate and businesses.”
“Wow, okay. You weren’t kidding about traveling a lot for work, were you?” She managed a smile and said, “Does Remi know?”
“No. This client doesn’t work through my assistant. He called me directly. I’ll call Remi at some point. She knows that I don’t put off my father’s friends or clients.” He was pretty sure Remi would go off on him, but Abby didn’t need to worry about that. He took her hand and said, “I hope you know that leaving is the last thing I want to do, and I’ll bust my ass to get back as soon as I can. I hate that I’ll miss helping you for these next few days. I was looking forward to painting with everyone.”
“It’s fine. I totally understand.” A real, though tempered smile appeared, and she said, “You have a life, Aiden, and that’s something we can’t pretend doesn’t exist.”
“For the first time in my life, I wish I could. I’m sorry about being late today and about leaving Monday.” He kissed her and said, “I’ll make it up to you when I get back.”
As he pushed to his feet, Cait crawled over to them, cutting through the remaining tension. She went up on her knees, planted her hands on her hips, and said, “You didn’t think I was going to try to stand up in these things alone, did you?”
“Heck no.” Aiden reached for her hand, bringing her to her feet. Cait clung to him as he helped Abby up. He put his arms around their waists and said, “A beautiful woman on each arm. I feel like the luckiest guy on Silver Island.”
Cait smirked. “If I get hurt, you’ll be the deadest guy on Silver Island.”
Offering to teach two women to skate had been Aiden’s first mistake.
He had only two hands, and while Abby had fairly good balance, when she got talking, she forgot to pay attention to skating, tripping herself up a multitude of times. Cait, on the other hand, was a walking calamity. When Aiden told her to glide, she did some kind of stomp-dance-trip step, stumbling so many times, he worried she might end up in the emergency room.
“I think I’ve got it!” Abby exclaimed. “Give me space.”
Abby shooed them away, her knees buckling, and she wasn’t even skating yet. She wobbled, her arms flailing. Aiden held on to Cait, dragging her back toward Abby. He reached for Abby just as she thrust her hand out, catching Cait’s shirt, causing them all to lose their balance. Their legs shot up, arms flailing, yelps sounding, as they tumbled to a pile on the pavement.
“Everyone okay?” Aiden asked as Cait and Abby peeled themselves off each other and burst into hysterics.
“My ass hurts,” Cait complained.
“At least it’s hot!” Abby slapped Cait’s ass, giving in to another fit of laughter.
Cait snort-laughed. “If you’re into bruises!”
“Did you guys have a few drinks that I’m not aware of?” Aiden asked. They were a hot mess, but he was having a blast. He pulled out his phone and navigated to the camera as they cracked up and made more jokes.
They made silly faces and bunny ears, which made them laugh even harder. Abby put an arm around each of them and said, “Smile, guys. This one’s going on the Christmas card.”
Forgoing any more bruises, they decided to get some ice cream before heading back to the house. The delicious treat and the memories of their first trip to the ice cream shop, which had led to Abby and Aiden’s first incredible kiss, went a long way to soothe the bruises that were probably forming on Aiden’s ass. Or maybe it was the thought of fulfilling the promise he’d made to Abby of giving her a full-body massage later. He glanced at her in the passenger seat scrolling through the pictures he’d taken on his phone.
“Oh my gosh, look at this one.” She leaned over the back of the seat to show Cait the picture. “You’re laughing so hard.”
“I guarantee I won’t be laughing tomorrow. I’ll be lucky if I can sit down.” Cait shifted in the back seat.
Abby righted herself in her seat, chatting about the other pictures. “I’m sending this one to myself so I can send it to Deirdra.” As she did so, she said, “And these are going to Remi right now. Don’t worry, Aid. I’ll tell her it’s me texting from your phone.”
He had never in his entire life let a woman do anything more than use his phone to make a call, and yet here he was, giving Abby full rein and loving every one of her comments, and her inclusion of his sister.
As he pulled into the driveway, his nerves knotted up. Abby was looking down at the phone when he parked in front of the house.
Cait opened her door and said, “Wow, Abby, I guess your lawn guys came.”
“I don’t have—” Abby looked up, and her jaw dropped. She opened the door and climbed out.
Aiden came around the front of the car in time to see her eyes light up. He’d spent the entire day power washing the house, cleaning up her front yard, rototilling the gardens so they would be ready for planting, and repairing the fencing.
“Look at the gardens. It’s like they’re brand-new, and the fence is fixed. Oh my gosh, the house. It’s white again.” Abby sounded like she might cry.
“Did our mom have a gardener or a handyman?” Cait asked.
“If she did, he sure let the yard go to he—” Abby looked at Aiden, understanding dawning in her eyes. “Did you hire someone to do this?”
“That would have been the smart thing to do, but no. I borrowed Brant’s pressure washer and picked up a few other tools in town.”
“Is this why you didn’t go sailing?” she asked. “This is why you were late to meet us?”
Now she looked like she might cry, and his gut twisted. Had he done the wrong thing? Lord knew he was good at stepping on people’s toes.
“The pressure washer stopped working, and I had to wait for Brant to come over to fix it,” he explained. “I wanted to get it done today because tomorrow is Mother’s Day, and I thought you and Cait might want to work in the garden together.”
Abby covered her mouth, tears brimming. “Oh, Aiden,” she said as her tears broke free. She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. “Thank you. You can’t imagine how much this means to me.”
“And to me,” Cait said softly. “Thank you, but you’re not getting a kiss.”
He pressed his lips to Abby’s. “You’re both welcome, and these are the only lips I need.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
SUNDAY AFTERNOON, ABBY was wrist deep in dirt, with the sun shining on her face, and loving every second of it. She still couldn’t believe Aiden had done so much to make her house and yard beautiful again. He was kneeling in the dirt a few feet away, chatting with Cait as they planted vegetables. After they devoured the surprise Mother’s Day brunch she’d made, the three of them had gone to the nursery and picked out vegetable plants. They’d also chosen others to plant later in the season. Abby hadn’t enjoyed Mother’s Day this much since her father was alive. Deirdra had always had an excuse not to visit on Mother’s Day, but Abby had made it a point to come home for the weekend. The holiday hadn’t been easy for her mother. She’d missed Deirdra, and their father, which had led to more drinking. Aiden’s thoughtfulness took what could have been a sad day and turned it into a day of coming together.