Chapter Thirteen

Aiden watched Kaitlyn and Wendell walk away and while he wanted the best for them he also couldn't help but feel more than a little jealous. He wondered what it would be like to simply be able to walk arm in arm with the person you love and not have people try to shoot you for it.

But that would probably be asking too much since running from people with guns is what Aiden's life had apparently become.

He needed to find Nick. He needed to tell Nick that they couldn't be together though he wasn't going to tell him why. Aiden had a feeling that Nick was the kind of man that would vow to protect him 'til the end and Aiden didn't want Nick dying for him.... Aiden would rather die than see that happen.

He was on his way to the bunkhouse to drop off his sack of clothes when a throat cleared and he turned his head to see Cookie lounging in a chair beside the barn with that old hound curled up at his feet, "If you're lookin' for Nick he went out to the fields. He won't be back 'til close to dark."

"Why would I be looking for Nick?" Aiden snapped quickly as he adjusted his sack over his shoulder and blushed.

Cookie's old blue eyes lit with amusement as he laid his head back against the barn wall and chuckled, "I just figured you was is all, I didn't mean to offense. I should warn you that the boss was looking for you earlier."

"Brody?"

"No, the real boss—" Cookie began and as if speaking of her had made her appear, Elizabeth came rushing from the ranch house.

"Aiden!" she called out.

Aiden offered a small smile to the woman, "I'm real sorry I'm late, Liz. I'll just put my stuff away and get to work..."

Elizabeth waved her hand, "Actually I'm all out of tackle for you to polish," she grinned at her joke and then her green eyes became more serious, "I need help, Aiden, and I'm really hoping you'll be able to help me."

Aiden sighed. Why did women keep coming to him for help today? Did he have 'sensitive, helpful type' written on his forehead? He smiled and shrugged a shoulder, "I'll do what I can."

"Great. Put your stuff away and then come on to the small corral off the third barn." With that Elizabeth turned and jogged back around the barns. Aiden spared another glance at Cookie but the man appeared to have fallen asleep. Of course judging by the smirk on his wrinkled face he was only pretending.

Aiden was quick to lay his sack on his cot. He paused beside Nick's bed and then bent down to smooth out the wrinkles in the hastily made cover. He caught a whiff of Nick's scent on the pillow and his heart beat a little faster even as it filled with regret.

Quickly Aiden fled from the bunkhouse and blinked against the sun as he headed toward the third barn. He could hear children laughing and playing before he reached it and when he rounded the corner he paused at the sight of Lexi, Bryant, Nathan and Max standing in the corral with four ponies and one full-sized mare.

"What's going on?"

"Horse lessons," Elizabeth smiled when Aiden's eyes widened. "You're better with horses than Lexi and Bryant and can help Max and Nathan teach them while Nathan and Max teach you just a bit."

Aiden flushed with embarrassment, "You want the kids to teach me?"

"You're so damn cute when you get embarrassed," Elizabeth laughed. "You gotta learn sometime, Aiden, and trust me when I tell you that Nathan and Max can teach you quite a bit when it comes to riding, roping and hoof care. I want you to stay around, Aiden, but you can't polish tackle forever."

"About that—" Aiden began but a shout from another barn drew her attention from him.

"Liz! I think that foal is coming!"

"Alright, I'm on my way!" she called. She swung her head around and her long golden braid bounced beneath her sweat stained hat, "Children, y'all better be good and make sure Aiden learns some things." She winked and then launched herself over the corral fence and sprinted to the barn.

Aiden felt foolish and embarrassed. While it was true these children probably knew more about roping, riding and horsemanship than he did that didn't mean he wanted the entire ranch to be laughing at him.

"Hey, Aiden!" Aiden turned to see Wendell and Kaitlyn making their way toward the corral. Both of them were wearing ear to ear smiles, "I don't know what you said to this woman but thank you! I got myself a real fiancée' now."

"Well that's great," Aiden replied honestly, "I'm real happy for you both."

"Senor Aiden, you really should pay attention to how to make the lasso if you wish to learn." Aiden glanced over his shoulder at the Max and flushed bright red.

"Horse lessons from the children?" Wendell asked with amusement.

"Yeah," Aiden mumbled, kicking at the dirt.

Wendell laughed and smacked him on the back, "Don't be embarrassed! That means you made it. Liz always gives her hands a week to see how well she likes them and you'd be surprised how many don't make the cut. If she doesn't feel like you fit in and belong with the family as she calls it then she tells you to hit the road. But if she likes you and she decides she wants you here in her family then she'll find some way to embarrass the hell out of ya. It's an initiation, I reckon you could say."

Aiden stared hard at the ground. A family? He'd been accepted as part of the family here? A jolt of regret and pain shot through his heart. He wanted to stay.... Why did life have to be so damned hard?

He felt a tug on his pants leg and looked down to see Lexi trying to get his attention. Her blond braids were swinging as she looked up at him, "Ya really gotta pay 'tention or else you won't learn nothin'," she warned him.

Bryant nodded and his brow rose making it perfectly clear who his father was, "That's right."

Aiden found himself laughing and decided to simply embrace the day. He loved kids and loved being around kids. If nothing else then he was sure to be entertained and maybe that would take his mind off the troubles currently plaguing it.

"Have fun, Aiden," Kaitlyn winked and he smiled back at her before turning his attention once again to the children.

"Alright then, you cowpokes," Aiden laughed, "Show me how to rope a pony."

***

Nick had only one thing on his mind as he rode back onto the ranch and that was the same thing that had been on his mind since leaving town the night before—Aiden. Nick hadn't been able to focus on much of anything and everyone he'd been around today had noticed his distraction. Of course they thought maybe he'd finally met a woman over the weekend and it was her memory that had the out of the ordinary smile plastered onto his face. Nick simply remained quiet about it all and let them believe what they wanted.

It was nearing sunset as he hopped from his horse and Frank took the reins. Nick heard children laughing and then he heard Aiden's laughter join in. A smile curved his lips as he jogged around the barns and main house and found Aiden beside the river with Max, Nathan, Lexi and Bryant.

They were playing with lassos and it appeared that Aiden was the target as he had one looped around his shoulders and another on his foot.

"I think you got him trapped," Nick chuckled. Aiden's head whipped around and instantly the beautiful smile that had been curving his lips disappeared and his brown eyes filled with sadness.

Something was wrong.

"Alright, cowpokes, let the man go. I'm sure he's had enough of y'all for one day," Brody's voice called out as the man came striding over, grabbed Lexi around the waist and tossed the squealing girl over his shoulder.

"Daddy!" she cried out with laughter. "Put me down!"

"I don't take orders from no woman," Brody argued, winking at Nathan.

"Yeah, no woman 'cept mama," Bryant agreed with a nod and this time it was Brody's turn to laugh as he set a dizzy Lexi on her feet.

"I'll let you all in on a secret," Brody whispered as he crouched down to be on his children's level. "I listen to your mama because she's a mean ol'...."

'Mean ol' what?" Elizabeth asked as she too came around the house.

Brody grinned. "Mean ol' tyrant that rules the house with an iron fist and a loud-cracking whip."

Nick wasn't focusing on any of their conversations. His response was automatic when they bid he and Aiden goodbye because his attention was focused solely on the man currently attempting to disentangle himself from the ropes.

"Do you need help?" Nick offered.

"I got it," Aiden replied without looking at him. Nick frowned and remained quiet as Aiden finally got the ropes off of him and handed them to Max.

"Max! It's time to get on home now!" Thomas's voice carried from the barns.

"Gracias for playing with us today, Senor Aiden," Max said and Aiden smiled at the boy.

"You're welcome, Max. I had a good time."

Nick and Aiden watched Max run off and then Aiden began to walk down the river, motioning for Nick to follow him. Nick glanced at the main house and saw the curtains fall. Someone had been watching them and he knew it had to either be Jacob or Ellie.

Nick didn't know much about Ellie as she mainly stayed in and around the house and did not have much to do with the ranch hands but Jacob was not the type of person that Nick would ever want to discover his secret.

While Jacob was friendly enough, he was also known to be harsh in his judgments of others. Nick knew that he would never be okay with having two men like Nick and Aiden around his home and family.

Nick followed after Aiden and they rounded a bend in the river and came to stand beneath a large sycamore. Aiden leaned against a giant boulder that came up to his hips and sighed. "We need to talk, Nick."

"I don't want to talk, Aiden," Nick replied honestly and he grabbed Aiden's arm before pulling his body against his. "I missed you something fierce all day." Aiden's eyes widened and then the brown depths of them filled with passion as he gazed up at Nick.

Nick didn't wait for permission or an invitation. He had missed Aiden horribly; more than was acceptable, honestly, considering it had only been twenty-four hours since he had seen the other man. He pressed his lips to Aiden's soft mouth and devoured him hungrily.

Aiden moaned against him and then quickly pulled away and took several giant steps back, placing the rock between the two of them.

"What's wrong?" Nick questioned, "No one will see us out here if you're worried about that."

"No..." Aiden looked down at the ground and shook his head, "It's not that."

"Then what?" Nick asked, his heart beating fast with dread.

Aiden swallowed hard and Nick saw his throat bob with emotion, "We can't be together, Nick."

Nick's world crashed down around him in that instant, "Why?" he croaked.

"Because I'm leaving at the end of the week," Aiden replied still not meeting his gaze. "I'm not interested in getting serious with anyone just now."

"That's not what you said yesterday," Nick argued, his temper rising, the anger merely a mask for his hurt. For so long Nick had kept himself closed off and Aiden had convinced him to let those guards down—only to spit in his face a day later.

"Sorry I misled you," Aiden shrugged. "I guess you probably hate me now."

Nick saw the tears in Aiden's eyes when the man spared a glance at him and they only served to confuse Nick further, "Aiden, does this have something to do with what you said yesterday about not having much time? Are you in trouble?"

Fear flashed in Aiden's brown eyes and he shook his head roughly—too roughly, "No, of course not."

"Is there somebody that wants to hurt you?" Nick growled, protectively.

Aiden opened his mouth to speak but then closed it quickly and tapped his fingers against the boulder with agitation, "It's got nothing to do with you, Nick. It's just the way things are now and I can't stay here. I didn't mean to hurt you."

Nick shook his head and clenched his fists. "I'm not going to let you do this, Aiden. You're running from someone and that's what brought you to Bakerstown to begin with. Now I didn't push you for the truth yesterday and I won't push you for it now but I won't let you push me away either and end what we have growing between us. We're good together, Aiden."

"Don't make this harder than it has to be," Aiden pleaded with wide eyes.

Nick stepped closer to the boulder and put his hand on Aiden's cheek, feeling a bit better when the other man didn't pull away, "I won't let anything happen to you. You don't have to be scared. Talk to me, Aiden. I'll protect you."

When Aiden remained silent and refused to meet Nick's eyes, Nick turned and walked away from him, though it was the hardest thing he'd done in a long time. Aiden clearly needed to think and Nick would allow him that. What Nick wouldn't allow was for Aiden to leave him like this. What they had was special and Nick wasn't about to lose it just because Aiden was afraid of something or someone from his past catching up to him.

Nick hadn't been able to save Tyler but it would be a cold day in hell before he lost Aiden too.