“Hello to you too,” she greeted, dreading the conversation to come. He’d obviously been to the lodge and seen Aidan. She wished he’d come home first so that she could have explained things to him. “How was Grand’s?”
“How could you tell Dad to stay away?”
“Fox—”
“You’re ruining everything!” He threw his overnight bag onto the dusty floor.
“Now listen.”
“No.” He backed away, his eyes narrowed, furious. “It’s my choice if I want Dad in my life. Not yours.”
“Fox!” she hollered after him as he scurried out of the room and slammed the door on his way back outside. “Shit.” She slammed the ball of clay down onto the wheel, and ran after him. He was outside hitching up his dogs to the sled. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“Somewhere I can think.”
“You’re not running off mad.”
“Yes I am. Dad told me when I feel like this to distance myself until I can calm down. And that’s what I’m doing. I can’t be around you right now.”
Raven wrapped her arms around her as the pain of his words hit her like shards of broken pottery. She’d run out of the cabin without her coat and the icy air stole her breath. Physically, she couldn’t keep him from leaving. The kid was as tall as she was. She wanted to put him in time out like she had when he was younger. But then he was essentially doing that to himself. Except, rather than sitting on a stool in the kitchen, he’d be racing over frozen tundra. “Be careful. Please.”
He didn’t respond, just methodically harnessed his excited dogs until he had the team in place. He commanded them to mush and didn’t look back.
Raven ran back into the cabin and grabbed her coat. There would be no working in the studio today, not with her emotions all over the place, and her creativity in the toilet. A walk up to the lodge would do her good. Clear her head.
She’d rerun everything in her mind last night when she couldn’t sleep. Every time she closed her eyes, she’d pictured making love with Aidan and how sweet and special being with him had been. The contrast to the man who’d shared her bed and the one who’d wailed on his uncle were so different it was hard to reconcile they were the same person.
Raven entered the lodge, hung up her coat, and found Fiona and Gran in the kitchen making a mess of sandwiches. “Something going on?”
“Lunches for the men,” Coho said, spreading mayo on homemade bread. “They’re treasure-hunting today.”
“What?”
Fiona pulled out cheese and deli meet from the fridge. “They’re planning on tearing Earl’s place apart, hoping to find what Aidan’s uncle has been after, and then burn down the place.”
“Whose idea was this?”
Gran gave her a meaningful look. “Who do you think?”
Aidan.
“But that was his home. Don’t you think it’s a bit drastic?”
“Honey,” Fiona said. “That poor boy has no fond memories of the place. It will do him good to burn it to the ground.”
But then he wouldn’t have a place to stay and he would leave. Wasn’t that what she wanted? The thought banged around inside her bruised heart like a steel ball in a pinball machine. “When are they leaving?”
“Soon as the sun comes up.” Fiona glanced at the clock. “Couple of hours. Pike had to run down his chainsaw he loaned out to Lynx who in turned loaned it to Bree.”
“Where’s Chickadee?”
“Her room,” Fiona said. “She’s supposed to be working on a term paper.”
“Doubt that’s what she’s doing,” Gran added, slapping on slices of cheese to the assembly line of sandwiches on the counter. “Letting that girl have a computer in her room is a mistake. She’s twittering, or tweeting, something like that, with boys.”
Fiona sighed and rolled her eyes behind Gran’s back. “If you’re going to see her, check to make sure she’s working on her paper?”
“Sure.” Raven gave Gran and her mother one last look before leaving the kitchen. She felt out of the loop. Why hadn’t they asked her to help? But then she’d given up her claim to Aidan and therefore the opportunity to go treasure hunting. She walked down the hall, her heart thumping as she passed Aidan’s closed door, and continued around the corner to the block of family rooms. She knocked on Chickadee’s bedroom.
“Just a minute,” Chickadee hollered. Raven heard a bunch of rustling before Chickadee opened the door, her face flushed. “Oh.” She glowered. “It’s you.”