This Blood that Bonds Us (This Blood that Binds Us #4)

50. Fifty

Fifty

Aaron

Presley’s birthday celebration ended at the dinner table. All four of us sat between a table covered in various colored paints, crumpled newspaper, and paint brushes. We each had a canvas. I tried to paint Kimberly. Thankfully, my terrible attempt was hidden where she couldn’t see. The smell of a vanilla candle on the kitchen countertop reminded me of late nights in my childhood when we’d all play games at the kitchen table.

Presley turned his canvas around, revealing a black dog with a little daisy painted on the ear. “It’s Sarah.”

I still wasn’t used to the dog’s name, but my brother didn’t seem in a hurry to change it.

Sarah stirred at the mention of her name before lying her head back down. Her long fur was like a heater against my socks.

“You didn’t tell me you could paint.” Kimberly marveled at his work.

“Oh, yes! He even won an art contest in high school.”

“Mom,” Presley groaned.

“Oh, hunny, it’s your birthday. Humor me. He was second best in the showcase. He got fifty dollars.”

“I wasn’t that good. I just took four years of art in high school.”

“He was really good,” I said.

“Now you’re just sucking up,” Presley said.

It was true, I’d never told him how good they were before. It’s not like he wanted to go to art school or anything. He just liked painting and was good at it, and high-school Aaron never liked to compliment his little brother.

I went to work finishing adding the blue to Kimberly’s eyes. It was atrocious, but I wanted to frame it. I showed her from across the table, and she politely smiled at my monstrosity.

Mom moved her paint brush along her canvas. “When your brother and Kimberly go, we can paint to pass the time. I have some time off I’ve been saving.”

The three of us froze. We hadn’t told her yet.

Presley shook his head like he wanted me to keep quiet, but she deserved to know. I put down my paintbrush and readied myself for tears.

“Mom . . . um . . . we’re all going now. I don’t know the exact date, but it will be soon. Presley and I will go first and then . . . Kim shortly after.” I’d rather skin myself alive than have the conversation with her, but there was no way around it.

“Oh.” Her eyes shifted to the table where an array of blue paint laid in front of her.

She had too much practice hiding her emotions. Probably where Zach and Luke got it from.

Presley got up to hug her. “I’m sorry, Mom. Please don’t cry.”

“No. No, it’s fine. I knew you probably would. I just keep imagining you all driving away, and how I’ll never have the strength to watch you leave.”

“You can look forward to the moment we all come back. And this time, we won’t come back empty-handed. Aaron’s got a good plan. You don’t have to worry,” Presley said.

She kissed his forehead. “I know.”

“Have your boyfriend take you on a vacation. You’ll be so busy you won’t even recognize we’re gone,” I said.

That at least made her smile. I hadn’t met him yet. Mom was good at avoiding the topic. She spent most nights with us, but the ones she spent with him always left her glowingly happy.

She huffed, and her face grew red while she pushed her hands through her hair.

“Alright. That means I’ll have more to look forward to when you all come back.”

My mom never broke in front of the family. I never realized it as a kid, but it was obvious as she regained her composure and resolve. She’d mourn about it in private and never let her sorrow touch the three of us. The solar eclipse was soon, and even if we wouldn’t be leaving like we’d planned, it was the start of something. Our time in shelter was ending.

The battle was almost at my doorstep, and I was ready.

I wished there was an easy thing to say to my mom to make her feel better, but the best gift I could give her was stronger than any words—the gift of my brothers coming home.

“Where did you get those?” Kimberly’s eyes widened when she saw me make my way up the stairs to our bedroom.

Finding peonies in Alaska was a million times harder than in California. I had to bribe one of Mom’s older neighbors to get them from the city, and it wasn’t cheap, but her timing was perfect.

“Doesn’t matter. They’re for you.” I plucked off a petal and smelled it, trying to inscribe it into my brain forever.

Kimberly smiled. I hated how stressful her life had become. It was hard not to take the blame, but everything was almost over, and soon, very soon, we’d all be at that lake breathing in the sunlight.

She wore my shirt and high wool socks that grazed her thighs. My favorite. There was no way she couldn’t tell my heart was beating harder, but if she’d caught on, she hid it well. She was just about to pick up her notepad as I plopped on the bed beside her.

“Burns.”

Her eyes met mine, and I was taken back to the smell of the peonies on our college campus and to last spring when everything was fresh and new. When she was a stranger and we were both afraid of getting too close, but now she was everywhere. In my bed. In my veins. In every part of my life that mattered.

I’d never been more sure of anything.

I pulled my grandmother’s ring from my pocket and hopped off the bed to get on my knee. “Kimberly.”

Her eyes went wide. “Aaron . . . where did you get that ring?”

“It was my grandmother’s. Mom said it was special, and that means . . . it was waiting for you, I think.”

I was down on my knee holding her hand, and at my words, tears formed in the corners of her eyes.

“Kim . . .”

“Wait, are you doing this because you think we’re going to die?”

“No. The opposite, actually. I think we’re going to win, and I have to think ahead. And I know we’re not in a hurry. But I’m so unbelievably sure that I need you to be my wife. I want the title. I’m greedy. I can’t spend another minute on this earth without having you as my fiancé. I need it all. And once this is over, I’m taking all of your days and nights.”

A soft sob left her throat, and she let me place the ring on her finger. It fit perfectly. I wasn’t even worried it wouldn’t. It was all too perfect. The ring and the moment were made for her.

“Kimberly Burns, will you—”

“Wait.”

My chest hurt from my heart punching me in the ribs. Why was I so nervous? Maybe she would say no. It was too fast. She needed more time. Maybe—

“Ask me after it’s over. Ask me when it’s over so I have something to look forward to.”

I let out a breath of relief. She needed hope for the future, and I was happy to be that for her.

Standing, I placed a hand on her cheek to wipe the wetness from the corner of her eye. “Okay. Then . . . forever?”

“Yes. Forever.” She smiled, and I tackled her on the bed to bask in her warmth. “Can I still wear it?”

“Of course. It’s yours. It was made for you.”

My grandmother would have loved Kimberly, and she’d take good care of her favorite ring. There was no one better to carry it and to take on the Calem name that my grandmother had been so proud of.

I thought about it another minute. “I wouldn’t wear it in front of Presley though, unless you want my brother to freak out.”

“You’re right. Our harmless secret. I’ll only wear it in the cabin.”

Kimberly held her hand up to the ceiling while the stars shone beyond the skylight. The opal twinkled in the lamp light. It felt official, and I couldn’t wait for the world to know Kimberly Burns was mine forever.