Blackbird Knitting in a Bunny's Lair Read Online Free PDF Page A

due.
    “Was he worth killing for?” she asked bluntly.
    Oh God. “Yes,” he whispered, closing his eyes. “He’s a good man, Mom. He’s one of the best.”
    “Then he’ll be worth gentling again.”
    He kept his eyes closed, squinting so tightly against what he knew was coming, it almost made them come faster.
    His mom just held him like that, though, and didn’t wipe his face or even acknowledge the tears.
    Aiden would do anything for his mom.
    “You coming home until he gets back?” she asked when his breaths were forced and even again.
    Except that.
    “No,” he said. “Ben’s got a friend in Boulder, gonna let me and Craw take turns in the guest room. Once he’s out of the woods for a while, we’ll get back to the mill.”
    “But, Aiden—” His mom backed up, taking her warmth and comfort with her. “Craw’s got a business to run, and he’s two men down!”
    “Yeah, but Ben and Rory are pitching in,” Aiden said, looking away. It would be rough—they knew it. Even if they were hitching a ride with the mail plane, it was still an expense. “I’m tapping my college money to help—”
    “ Aiden— ”
    Aiden turned back to her, the same implacable fierceness in his body that he’d felt when he’d first walked into this very apartment, hell-bent on seducing Jeremy, because Jeremy’s rabbit had finally stopped twitching to run. “This is for Jeremy ,” he said without flinching. “If this was my girlfriend, my wife, would you tell me not to?”
    His mother closed her eyes. “No. But he’s a grown man—”
    “We’re using his money to put a down payment on Ben’s house,” Aiden said, and his mother’s eyes popped right open.
    “You’re buying a house?”
    Aiden nodded, and his bones felt tired. “We have to,” he said. “He’ll heal, Mom. He’ll heal, and his bones will mend, and they’ll stitch up his face and he’ll remember pain—and he’ll run.”
    “But Aiden—are you sure this is the man you want to spend the rest of your….” She sighed.
    He was glaring at her with the same look he’d used to insist that he didn’t want to go out of state for college.
    “Aiden,” she said, and there was pleading in her voice, “hon, you were just a baby when you met. Do you think—”
    “I was eighteen,” he said, even though she knew this, just like Craw. Hell, twenty girls from his senior class already had babies by now, and nobody asked them if they knew what they were doing. “Yeah, Mom. It’s been three years. And I love him.” For the first time since he’d cried over Jeremy’s bed, listening to his broken syllables, his confusion, Aiden felt his voice breaking. “I love him. For life. Like a wolf or an eagle or a whale. It’s not going away.”
    His mom made a hurt sound. “Son,” she said helplessly, and Aiden grunted.
    “Mom?” He looked at her levelly, without blinking, his chest moving in and out like he was readying for a battle.
    She shook her head. “Never mind. You get some sleep, okay? I’ll take most of the milk home—”
    “Leave me some bread, some meat, some instant oatmeal,” he said, nodding. “I’m leaving tomorrow afternoon again. Jeremy’s going down for another surgery the day after tomorrow. I promised I’d be there.”
    She pulled in a harsh breath through her nose. “We want life to be easier for our children,” she said, voice soft. “Every baby’s a new start. Son, I had so many plans for you—”
    He opened his mouth to say it, but she held out her hand.
    “I know. I know. You just always had plans of your own. I’ll be by tomorrow afternoon—your gran and I will make a basket for Jeremy. Is there anything he’d want?”
    Aiden closed his eyes, thought of the safe full of mittens. He’d be going through it, pulling out the ones he thought were Jeremy’s favorites. It was cold in the hospital.
    “Homemade,” he said after a minute. “I’m bringing him all the knitted throws. He’s going to be there for a