raised an eyebrow, maintaining her professional facade while her insides twisted and crumpled. “Then it’s a good thing you’ll be there to witness it yourself.” Connor needed attention and she’d guarantee the kid would receive it.
Aiden blinked at her. “Come again?”
“As I believe your relationship with Connor is contributing to his behavioral problems, a condition of Connor attending the wilderness retreat is that you accompany him. You’ll be one of our chaperones.”
Aiden’s mouth worked and Rebecca didn’t bother holding back her small smile. “Consider it a mandatory request.”
* * *
AIDEN COULDN’T BELIEVE the woman he’d dreamed of last night, searched for this morning and thought of nonstop was at the meeting he’d dreaded. Worse, she offered his brother salvation, while simultaneously putting Aiden in the worst position possible. He had Mary Ann to pitch in and take care of the family, along with a neighbor who watched his mother during the weekdays, but he couldn’t just take off work. As it was, his weekly tallies barely kept them in the black. What would happen without him at the wheel? Especially with the tourist season starting to peak?
“Ms. Day?” he called as the faculty ambled out of the meeting room. “A word?”
The curvy woman turned in the doorway and her blue eyes studied him cautiously. Gone was the affable woman who’d disarmed him last night, replaced by a polished professional. Still, with Psycho Therapist emblazoned on her mug, and her crazy ideas for getting Connor in line, she didn’t fool Aiden. She might have the job title, but she didn’t have the skills. Not when it came to managing teenage boys.
“Yes?” She moved aside as the last of the educators exited, leaving him and a still-seated Connor alone.
“I’ll need to send my sister Mary Ann in my place.”
Instead of answering, Rebecca turned to his brother. “Connor, since you’re still not officially readmitted, please have a seat in the main office until Aiden comes for you.”
The youth shoved back his chair and paused as he passed her, his oversize Converse sneakers treading on one another. “I made this for you.” He pulled something from his backpack and shoved it into her hand, then stalked through the doorway without seeming to hear her thank-you.
“Origami,” Rebecca muttered, staring at the folded-paper dragon and shaking her head.
Aiden shared her surprise. When had his brother learned to do that? Aiden knew Connor had gotten into Anime and Manga. Had even asked about Tae Kwon Do classes—which Aiden couldn’t afford. Was this another part of his sudden curiosity in Japanese culture? Interesting...especially when so little caught apathetic Connor’s attention.
A bell shrilled and the sounds of shouting, screeching kids penetrated the room. Rebecca put her folder and the dragon on the table, crossed her arms and looked up at Aiden. “I’m sorry about last night. The combined effects of the muscle relaxers and NyQuil I’d taken made me groggy and I wasn’t myself.” She cleared her throat and shoved back her shoulders. “We didn’t meet under the best circumstances, but I hope we can put that behind us for Connor’s sake.”
He nodded. She was right. So why did he keep noticing how pretty she looked in her navy skirt and silky top? Time to focus. His brother was in trouble.
“I’m afraid having Mary Ann instead of you won’t work.”
“And why not?” he retorted, moving restlessly, as if life was about to spring another trap. “She’s Connor’s older sister. A per diem nurse who makes her own work schedule. It’d be handy to have a health care worker there.”
“We already have that covered. What I need is the source of Connor’s problem. You.”
“Me?” Aiden squelched his rising ire. “I work hard to make sure the kid has a roof over his head, food on the table and clothes on his back. What more does he need?”
“That’s for you to find out on this trip.”
An older woman appeared in the doorway. “Ms. Day, you’re needed down in the girls’ locker room. Caitlin, I mean, one of your students—is refusing to change or leave one of the stalls.”
“I’ll be right there,” Rebecca assured her, before turning back to Aiden. “You can contact me later today with any further questions. Otherwise, I’ll see you in a few weeks. Pack warm. The Adirondacks can get chilly at night. Even at that time of year.”
Casting an irritating smirk over her shoulder, she strode from the room, leaving him to stare at the empty space she’d occupied.
Aggravating. Infuriating. Stubborn woman.
Aiden hadn’t taken more than a day off in—he wasn’t even sure how many years. Even Mary Ann’s wedding had been held in the pub.
And the business would suffer without his vigilance. As a per diem nurse at an assisted living facility, his sister could take time off to work at the tavern, but the operation needed his oversight. They couldn’t afford even a bad week’s take, let alone two. Ms. Day’s crazy ideas were no longer simply affecting Connor. They threatened a livelihood he’d never asked for...but must make succeed, nonetheless.
EIGHT WEEKS LATER, Aiden polished off the last of his ham sandwiches and crumpled the paper bag. It nearly flew from his grip as the school bus jerked over another bump in the dirt road they’d turned onto a mile ago. After eight hours of sitting on cracked, stiff vinyl seats, his cell phone calls to his sister dropping before he could finish last-minute instructions, next to a tuned-out Connor huddled against the window, Aiden wanted the ride to the Adirondack camp to be over.
Yet the dense forest they’d plunged into an hour north of Albany seemed unending. Here and there yellow-green birches appeared among the deep green pines and rustling maples and oaks. Except for a sprinkling of wildflowers, the roadsides lacked the color bursting from street-side planters in his neighborhood. Summer must come late in Upstate New York. Despite it still being June, souring heat already gripped the city.
Here, the crisp air flowing through the window carried the scents of fir trees, wisps of hickory smoke and something fruity...berries. How long since he’d breathed anything beyond exhaust fumes? He studied the wilderness and the towering peaks that’d loomed into view not long ago. They were a different sort of skyscraper than he was used to and more impressive. No wonder this place had convinced his wandering forest ranger brother, Liam, to settle down. Of course his new fiancée, Vivie, had a lot to do with that, as well, Aiden mused.
Amazing that in just one year, his sister had married and two of his brothers, Liam and Niall, had gotten engaged. They had everything Aiden had worked hard for them to achieve: careers and partners of their choice. So why wasn’t he satisfied? When he’d taken over for his father, he’d made peace with letting go of his own aspirations. Yet watching his siblings exchange loving looks with their partners, their unimpeded futures opening before them, he felt a yearning take hold for something more...
But what else could he have? Handle? His life stretched him thin enough to break. While his parents had been in charge, their lives seemed secure and balanced. Now everything, from the struggling tavern, to his mother’s
