Page 56 of Rectify

“Is he okay? What’s wrong?” Aedan asked. He reached down to touch her, and Mateo screeched, hitting his hand.

“Bad man! No touch! Bad man!”

“Shh, baby, that’s Aedan. He’s not a bad man.”

“My mama! Mine!”

Feeling helpless, she looked up at Aedan. “I’m sorry, he doesn’t know you.”

Aedan’s face tightened. “Don’t be sorry. Poor kid has been through hell. Of course, I scare him. Is there anything I can do?”

“Wet bed, Mama,” Mateo said, his lower lip trembling. He hadn’t been toilet trained long. It was understandable that he’d wet the bed under the circumstances.

“Oh baby, that’s okay,” she told him, running her fingers through his hair. She grimaced at Aedan apologetically. “Wouldyou mind changing the sheets on the bed while I clean him up in the bathroom?”

“Of course not,” he told her.

She picked Mateo up, but before she reached the door, she turned back. “I’m going to stay the night with him.”

“I totally understand.”

Natalya sighed in relief. Things were going to be fine.

Aedan stripped the bed,throwing the wet sheets out in the passage. He gazed around, feeling helpless. Should he knock on the bathroom door and check up on them? No, that might frighten Mateo.

Natalya needed to focus on Mateo right now. He knew that. But he also couldn’t help but wonder what all this meant for the two of them. Was there room for him in her life now?

There was no point in thinking about that now. They’d only just gotten Mateo back, and it wasn’t the right time for him to think about their relationship.

Natalya emerged from the bathroom ten minutes later, Mateo in her arms. The little boy stared at him with mistrust, and who could blame him? He didn’t know Aedan from a bar of soap. How the hell did a person win over a frightened, traumatized two-year-old?

“Why don’t the two of you take my bed? I’ll sleep here.”

“Thank you.” Her relief was clear.

Aedan smiled at Mateo. The little boy glared at him.

Crap.

“Hey, buddy, hope you sleep well.” The boy turned his head.

A bad feeling formed in his gut, but Aedan kept smiling until they’d left the room. A headache pounded at his temples. It was going to be a long night.

9

Natalya studied the small apartment. It was clean and bright. Far better than her last apartment in Hondo.

“Are you sure you want to move in here?” Rogan asked as he placed a bag of groceries on the kitchen counter. “You’re welcome to stay with me as long as you like.”

Part of her longed to take him up on his offer. She felt somewhat safe in his house. But she couldn’t stay there forever. At some stage, she had to stand on her own two feet.

She shook her head. “You’ve already done so much for us. It’s time we got out from under your feet. We don’t want to cramp your style.”

Not that Rogan seemed to have much of a social life. It had been three weeks since Mateo was rescued, and although she was grateful to Rogan for opening up his house to them, she felt like it was time they moved on.

Much as the thought terrified her. Most days, she barely felt like she was holding herself together.

Rogan had assured her that the men who had taken Mateo were no longer a threat to Mateo or her. She guessed that meantthey were dead. She couldn’t really work up any regret about that.

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