Hard Times

He sighed deeply and closed his eyes.

"I'm sorry you got mixed up in all of this."

I set the pie down and took his hand in both of mine.

"Aiden, you're obviously a good young man whose had bad things happen to him. If you're telling me that you don't want to get involved with me until you've figured out where you stand with the cops and your mother, fine, I'll wait, but I do like you."

"I like you too. You made my day very difficult with all of those little touches you gave me."

"Who, me?"

"Yeah, you. It was all I could do to not drag you to the guest house and well, touch you back."

I scooted closer until our bodies touched and said, "Was I a bad girl? Do I need a spanking?" I tried to sound sultry but failed so badly, he laughed.

"Not a spanking, but a kiss."

He leaned over and touched his soft lips to mine. I moaned with delight as he parted my closed lips with his tongue and extended mine to meet his.

His kisses were perfect. Soft, gentle, and not jamming his tongue down my throat, I was elated, until he broke the kiss.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that."

He got up and ran up the stairs leaving me and my pie thinking, "What the hell happened?"

*****

I woke in the morning to the sounds of people making noise in the hall. Then my door suddenly flew open.

"Cassidy, wake up," said my dad with angst.

"What's the matter?"

"Aiden left. Come on, we're taking Kat and going to look for him."

"What? Where did he go?"

It was a dumb question; I knew it when it left my mouth.

I hurried to get dressed and threw some shoes on. When I got to the kitchen, Mom was crying and handed me a note.

It read:

Jackson family,

Thank you for your offer to help me and Kat. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that if I was in trouble with the police, you could get in trouble for letting me stay in your home. I don't want that, you're too kind of people.

Please look after Kat and do what you can to keep her away from my mother's sick boyfriend. Let her know I'm sorry I failed her and made her homeless. It's more than she should have ever had to handle.

I'm borrowing a bike from your garage. I promise I'll return it, but if I don't, when I get access to my trust in a couple of months, I'll replace it. -- Love, Aiden.

"Jesus, Mom."

"I know. I'm sick over this. Didn't he understand I'm going to help him get out of whatever trouble he's in?"

"I thought so, I just don't know."

"Let's go," Kat said as she brushed past us.

My dad followed and said, "Yeah, what she said."

I looked at my mom, and she just shrugged her shoulders.

"Let's get moving," I said.

*****

The first place we looked was the warehouse where they slept some nights. Then we went to every shelter and food pantry in the city, again to no success.

Dad said, "Kat, are there any other places he may have gone?"

"I don't think so. Wait! His best friend Sky's house, maybe. He lives down the street from my old house. His family goes to Europe every year from November to December. I remember him saying if it ever got too bad for us, we could hide there for a while."

She gave us the address to her mom's house to get us to the neighborhood by GPS. She could guide us once we were there.

When we turned onto her street, I saw her body tense.

"Don't worry, Kat," I said, "Your mom won't see you."

"Okay," she whispered, then screamed, "Stop the car!"

Dad slammed on the brakes and Kat rushed out of he car to a burnt-out house we passed.

"Oh, God," Dad groaned. "According to this, that's her house."

We all got out of the car and rushed to her side. Mom pulled her into a hug.

"What happened?" she asked. "All my clothes, my dolls. It's all gone."

I heard a door open and looked at the house next door. A lady appeared in her bathrobe and screamed, "Oh, my God! Kat is that you?"

She ran out barefoot onto the cold sidewalk and grabbed her into a hug.

"Sweetie, where've you been? We were all so worried. We formed groups and searched everywhere for you. Your mom thought that asshole boyfriend of hers hurt you."

"What happened here?" Dad asked.

She looked at the house and said, "You'd better come inside. I'll tell you everything we know."

After she put on slippers and brought out a pot of coffee, she said, "Kat, when you disappeared, your mom changed back into her old self and got clean. She led the search parties, went on TV, and as far as we could tell completely sobered up. After a few weeks, she started acting crazy though. We think she started up on the drugs again."

Kat started crying and had me and Mom hugging each side of her.

"She was convinced you and your brother were right about her boyfriend trying to hurt you, and she blamed herself for not listening. Well, one night, there was a hell of a fight over there and then all of a sudden it stopped. We didn't think anything of it until a while later when we smelled the smoke."

Dad and I looked at each other. We knew what was coming next.

"Her boyfriend was found with a knife sticking out of his belly, and your mom, we found out later, used pills to take her own life. I'm so sorry, baby girl."

"Damn," Dad sighed. "What started the fire then?"

"Her mom had some candles lit and one of them somehow started it. Her mom didn't have any smoke in her lungs, so they say she passed before the house burned."

"What a nightmare," Mom said. "Don't worry, Kat. We'll take care of you and help you and your brother through this."

"Who are you all, and what happened to you, Kat?" she asked.

"I ran away with Aiden when Mom didn't believe me about what Ken was saying he was going to do to me. We lived in a motel for a while, but then the money ran out. A couple of days ago, Cassidy helped us and took us to her mom's house for a place to stay."

"Bless all of you for helping them. They're good kids. Wait, you look familiar. What's your name?" she asked my mom.

"I'm Mrs. Jackson. We have to go. We're still looking for Aiden because he ran off this morning."

We hurried out the door and once we settled into the car, Dad said, "Kat, honey, I know you're upset, but we need to focus on finding your brother right now. Later on, we can all deal with what happened to your mom and your house. Can you tell me where Sky lives?"

She was curled up in the backseat in my mother's arms crying. She said something inaudible, but Mom said, "The last house on the next block. It's brown brick."

We pulled up and Dad said, "Wait here. I'm going to go around back where I assume that's how he'd have gotten in."

Minutes felt like hours as me and Mom did everything we could to console poor Kat. Dad hadn't returned, but Mom's phone rang.

"Grab that, Cassidy. It might be your father."

I found her phone in her purse and put the call on speaker, "Hello?"

"Fairleigh? Good morning, it's John Franklin. I've got some news on those kids."

"Yeah?" she spat. "Let me guess, their mom's dead and their house burned to the ground."

"How did you find out?"

"We were just at the house. Look, we're busy right now, can we talk later."

"Of course. There's just one more thing. They closed the case on Aiden's battery charges. The charges were dropped when the accuser died."

"That's the best news we've gotten today. Thank you, John. Talk to you later. Oh! Hang on. We'll need you to look into the house and insurance and things for the kids now. It sounds like there may be some inheritance."

"We're already on that. We've been in contact with their father's lawyer, and we'll have the full picture by the end of the day."

I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding, and said, "I can't believe he ran off for nothing."

"I'm just glad he won't be in any trouble. We just have to find him."

"Let me call, Dad. This information might help him convince Aiden come with him."

I didn't get to make the call as Dad and Aiden walked up to the car.

I opened the door and burst into Aiden's arms.

"What am I, chopped liver?" Dad mocked complained while he hugged my crying mother.

Kat grabbed our hips and said, "Don't ever do that to me again, Aiden."

"I'm sorry, Kat. I didn't want to get them in trouble."

"You goof!" I chided. "We just heard from the lawyer and the charges have been dropped."

Kat suddenly collapsed onto the ground. It was as if the loss of her mother and home hit her harder.

Aiden knelt and picked her up into his arms. Dad put his coat around them as they rocked on the cold sidewalk.

I looked at mom and she smiled and nodded.

"Guys, let's go home okay?," I said. "We'll get you some hot food, hotter chocolate, and the warmth of a family surrounding you. You will never be alone again."

The tear on my cheek threatened to freeze before Aiden wiped it when they stood.

"Let's go home."

*****

Mom's lawyers helped her get temporary custody of Kat. She got her back in school and back on track to the point where she caught up to the rest of the class quickly.

Aiden also enrolled in college at the start of the spring semester. He and Kat inherited their father and mother's money which turned out to be several million dollars.

Of course, Mom put him in touch with her advisors and lawyers, and they helped him set up various vehicles for the money to grow safely and for Kat's share to be taken care of in trusts until she reached adulthood.

Aiden eventually received guardianship of Kat, and they lived in my mother's guest house while he finished school. He was a regular visitor to my condo, however, as his college was near my house, and we spent many nights getting further acquainted.

I'm falling more in love with him every day, and I know the feeling is the same. I like the way our future looks, and if all goes according to plan, we may be having our own wedding soon enough.

Mom did go and record the song with Jimmy, but that is a drama that needs its own story.

More to come.