Chapter 5
5
Aaron
It takes just under ten minutes to get to the inn. The snow is really coming down now, and visibility isn’t great. The car is warm, and although I gave Holly my jacket, her teeth are still chattering when we arrive. The moment she sees my mum, however, she rushes out of the car and runs to her, arms wide open, the cold forgotten. A second before she crashes into my mum’s open arms, she must remember that she’s wet and covered in mud because she stops and holds her hands out to Mam, who nearly pulls her into the hug.
Seeing them jump up and down and scream, talking over each other, nearly brings me to my knees. I have no right to envision a life where the two women I love most in the world would gaze at each other with this much love, tears streaming down their faces, but I do. Eventually, my mother doesn’t care about the mud anymore and closes the gap.
Holly protests, but her words fall on deaf ears as my mother hugs her like Holly is her long-lost daughter. And fuck me, but why do I think that making Holly my wife would give my mother the daughter she never had?
I clear my throat. “You two carry on like this, and you’ll be neighbours in Edinburgh Hospital. Get inside where it’s warm.”
They reluctantly pull apart, and Holly hooks her arm in Mam’s. “This is probably the only time I’ll admit this, but Aaron’s right. I’m going to get you sick.”
My mother looks Holly up and down as if she’s only now realising Holly is caked in mud. “What happened to you, wee hen?”
“Your son stood by while a sheep pushed me into the mud.”
I throw my hands in the air. “Hey, we had a deal.”
Holly looks over her shoulder, the reason for her nickname written all over her face.
“Aaron David Walker, you did not.”
“Mam, I tried to warn her, and she wouldn’t listen. She wanted to hug Basil.”
“As God is my witness, laddie, you may be twenty-one, but I’ll bring my slipper to your arse faster than you can say jackrabbit.”
Jesus fuck. Heat flashes from my toes to my face in a nanosecond. I’m a grown man who’s taking care of my mother, and I’m torn between dunking my face into the birdbath to stop the burn of my humiliation and covering my arse.
Holly shoots me a look that says told you she always takes my side, and I narrow my eyes at her. What I wouldn’t give to watch both her arse and face redden as I bring my palm down on her gorgeous rear.
“C’mon, hen, let’s get you into a warm shower, then I’ll draw you a bath. In fact, while you’re using my shower, Aaron will draw you a bath in your suite. Isn’t that right, son?”
I know better than to argue with my mother, so I nod.
“Suite?” Holly shakes her head and stops walking. “Oh, no, I couldn’t. Any room will do. I’ll even take the basement. You can’t give up a room you can get money for. Especially not a suite.”
“Do you see what I’m talking about? She’ll argue the weather if it’s pouring down on her.”
“ Hau you’re whisht, Aaron. You’ve picked on her enough for one day.” She looks at Holly. “I swear you’d think men would grow up at some point, but they never do. His father was a child ’til the day he left.”
I clench my jaw. I know my mum didn’t mean anything by it, but I don’t ever want to be compared to my useless excuse for a father. Not even unintentionally. Mam must realise she hit a nerve, because she squeezes my arm and gives me an apologetic smile.
I nod, silently telling her I know she wasn’t being malicious.
When we came back to Scotland, my father dropped the bomb on us and said he was leaving. With Mam getting sicker, he couldn’t hack being the caregiver in the relationship. So, he packed his bags, handed over ownership of the pub to Mam, and left without looking back. It’s something I’ll never forgive him for. What makes it that much worse is that he hasn’t even contacted me to see how Mam is doing. I don’t care that he hasn’t bothered to check in with his only son, but after thirty years of marriage, he can’t even send a text to find out how the woman he claimed to love is.
My mum leads Holly up the back entrance of the hotel, which used to be the servant’s entrance from the mudroom way back when.
She leads Holly off to the right to her own suite while I go into Holly’s to run her a bath.
I spend a solid five minutes trying to decide if I should run a bath with the lotions and potions lining the side of the bath, or just plain old water. I don’t want to come across as if I’m trying too hard, but then I find myself pouring scented oils and bubbles into the steaming water while my mind drifts to Holly. Her smile, her laugh, that glint in her eye when she sasses me. I think of how my hands would slip over Holly’s slick skin, down her stomach and between her legs. I’m so deep in my fantasy that I can feel Holly’s scented skin as I imagine slipping into the bath behind her, pulling her against me.
My aching cock brings me back to reality, and I dry my hands. Get your shit together, Aaron, I think as I adjust myself. Maybe I should just get it tattooed across my knuckles, so I see it whenever I jack off to thoughts of Holly.
Yeah, that might get it to sink in.
I look at the bath one more time before leaving the suite. It’s only torture thinking about what could have been if things were different. Because they’re not.
Holly is my best friend’s sister. She’s off limits.