Page 30 of Almost True
CHAPTERSIXTEEN
Maddie
Aidan Wallace’s mini-me furrowed his brow as he read his book on the couch of my living room. It’d taken no small amount of insisting on Juliet’s part to get him inside, but Aidan had finally acquiesced when she’d promised to send him back when he wore out his welcome.
It’d been two hours and the kid had done nothing but sit there and read. Truly. He’d be finished with the book before the day was done. I would bet a thousand dollars he had at least one more book in his pack.
“Do you need a snack or anything?” I asked him, antsy for… something.
He looked up, taking a minute to find and focus on me like he’d been so engrossed in his reading he couldn’t quite reconcile the reality of his surroundings. “No, thank you. I appreciate the offer, though.”
I stifled a grin at his manners and even the way he spoke. He really was a mini-Aidan—consummately polite and well-spoken. Granted, the small Wallace didn’t have that thread of something rough and gritty underneath that made my stomach clutch, but that would be weird for a kid, so that was probably good. In Luca, this gangly bookworm made me want to tuck him into my pocket and make sure no one was ever mean to him.
Um. Okay, weirdo.
I shook off that oddly protective thought. “Okay. Just let me know. I’ll be around.”
“Thank you. I think I’m supposed to go meet my great-aunt out front in thirty minutes, so I’ll be out of your way soon.”
I wiped a rag across the immaculate counter. “You’re not in the way. You should feel free to come in if you’re back tomorrow.”
He looked uneasy. “I’m not sure if I will be. I think I’ll be at the Night in Bloom meeting with my dad tomorrow, but I’ll check.”
I smiled even as an annoying little streak ofAidan won’t be here either?shot through me. “No problem. Offer stands.”
He nodded briskly. “Okay. Cool. Thanks.”
I waited, wondering if there was anything I could say that would draw him out. Then I saw it. His book. “Is thatThe Two Towers?”
His head shot up. “Have you read it?”
I grinned. “You’re talking to a true-blue Tolkien lover. Is this your first time reading it?”
He outright beamed at me and launched into an explanation of his reading experience thus far. How he’d read the full series several times, but every read through brought him more insight, more detail, and he couldn’t get enough. Then he basically blew my mind with his interpretation of how Tolkien casts good and evil, the decision to journey alone versus with a group, and how prejudice influences the choices of so many of the characters.
It was the most interesting discussion I’d ever had with a kid, and probably one of the best about the books themselves.Wow.
A knock on the back door interrupted us. Aidan stood outside the glass pane, hat pulled low and the man himself looking sweaty and earthy and frankly delicious. I had never realized how appealing I found men who weren’t afraid to get dirty or hands-on, but my attraction to Aidan seemed only to grow every time I saw him working in the back.
I popped up and ran to open the door. “Hey, sorry. We got caught up talking aboutLord of the Rings. Come in.” I gestured for him to enter, but he inched back.
“No, my boots are a mess. My aunt will be here in a few, so I thought I’d grab him, get him out of your hair.” His eyes flicked to my ponytail, my neck, then back to my eyes.
“Uh, okay. Why don’t I have him meet you out front?”
He nodded, stepping all the way back. Luca had already grabbed his bag, so I shut the back door and led him to the front.
“This is a huge house, but it’s nice. It’s not sterile or cold.”
Sterile?I’d already been impressed with him based on our book chat and the way he spoke, but more and more, I was getting the sense that he might be advanced in some way. Just in the way he said things more than the words themselves. I walked him out, not even pretending I didn’t want to talk to Aidan and meet his aunt.
Somehow, Aidan had beaten us out front despite the route around the house being much longer than cutting through like we had. He leaned down and spoke into the driver’s side window, his back and… other assets facing us since the driver had stopped across the street. I gave my full attention to Luca as we approached, reassuring him I wanted him to come in again tomorrow and telling him we’d have another book chat soon.
“Bye! Thanks, Maddie!” He trotted around the car and slumped into the back.
Aidan stepped away and patted the top of the car, ducking to wave at Luca. I made sure my eyes were safely removed from his person when he turned around, but they were pulled right back to him as he walked across the street.
Oddly, I hadn’t seen him walk much. I was constantly turning and walking away from him. I’d seen him shoveling, crouching to pull weeds, sawing branches, and helping with planting. I’d seen him standing and surveying parts of the yard or directing the backhoe or nodding as he listened to his crew.
