Page 9 of Aaron (Dresden Pride #1)

“Grandda, need I remind you about the shovel that you broke and nearly gouged your leg with? Or the time you thought that a rake would do better than a shovel with cleaning up the stones in the driveway. I thought for sure you were going to be dead when I got to you about the time you fell on your head.” He said he survived on them, didn’t he?

“Yes, you did, but what about this heavy piece of equipment that you want to use? You can’t seriously think that it’s going to be much different than using any of the other things around the house that you get into trouble with. ”

He didn’t say anything for a long time, and his heart hurt for the words that he’d said. Grandda was his hero, and he didn’t want him to be upset with him. He asked him again about why he thought a large piece of equipment would be any better than the shovel that he already had.

“You’re saying that I’m an old man and that I should leave those kinds of things to you, younger men.

That’s it, isn’t it?” He said that he didn’t mention his age at all.

“No, you didn’t, but you’re thinking on it.

I tell you what. I’ll get me some roses and plant them myself.

I don’t need your help on anything anymore. I’ll show you how old I am.”

Then he hung up. Aaron stood outside the little diner with his phone up to his ear, hoping against hope that he hadn’t just hung up on him.

Going inside with his brother, he didn’t even try calling him back.

It wouldn’t do any good, as he was mad at him and he didn’t know what he’d say to him anyway.

He’d have to believe that he still loved him.

After telling Alaric what had happened, he suggested going to the house and talking to him.

He would do that, but his grandda was powerfully mad at him, and he didn’t know if he’d talk to him or not.

That hurt him to his heart and beyond, not knowing if he’d speak to him or not.

It didn’t matter how right either of them had been, but there was pain now, and he had caused it.

He decided that Alaric was right and that he needed to go and talk to him face-to-face. He would hope that Grannie was around so that she could be there for him, but that wasn’t fair to her either. Grannie would be hurt that he’d hurt Grandda, and neither one of them would be able to forgive him.

After work, he did go by their house. And it wasn’t just his grannie that was there, but his mom was too.

Telling them both he was sorry, it was Grannie who told him that Grandda could be a stubborn old fool, but he was going to have to fix this before too much longer.

She didn’t say it, but she knew that with them being in their eighties, either one of them could die without any warning.

And he would die if he hadn’t fixed this before then.

He found his grandda on the back deck with a bottle of water in his hand.

“You hurt my heart calling me old.” Aaron said he’d never once mentioned him being old. “You implied it, same thing.”

“Well, you are old.” Grandda looked at him and looked as if he was more pissed off than when he came out here.

“I’d die if something ever happened to you and I was just trying to keep you from hurting yourself again.

The last time with the shovel nearly took ten years off my life when I found you bleeding like you were.

And that didn’t help for you to have that large piece of wood hanging from your thigh either. What were you thinking?”

“I get tired of having to have someone do all the things for me that I used to do. I’m a grown man and don’t want to be treated like I’m going to keel over in the next minute.” Aaron told him that he was just going to have to get used to people doing things for him. “I don’t have to like it.”

“No, but you can be a tad bit nicer about it when someone wants to help you. Or goes out of their way to help you.” They were both shouting, and he tried to calm himself down.

“Look, you want to plant Grannie some roses, then have at it. But I’m going to be here so that if something happens to you, I don’t have to walk into what I did before.

You have no idea how scared I was for you. ”

“I thought that I was going to die.” He’d never admitted that before, usually going on about how it was just a little bit of a cut, and after he shifted, he was just fine.

“For days after that happened, and I was all right after I shifted, I hurt. I had me some nightmares too from thinking of how fast that blood was coming out of my leg. If you hadn’t of been there…

well, there’s no telling what would have happened to me. ”

“I love you, Grandda. With all that I am.” He asked him why.

“What do you mean, why? I love you because you’re the best grandda that I have.

And I have another one, too, that has passed away.

Sometimes when I’m talking to you, I wonder what it would feel like to not have you around anymore, and I nearly have a panic attack.

I can’t live without you in my life. You’re my everything. ”

“You should be saying that to some pretty girl.” He asked him why he’d tell some girl that he loved her.

“Because I want great-grandchildren, you big lummox. Am I going to have to teach you how to woo a girl now? Good lord, son, I had to teach you boys how to be around a pretty girl, now here you are with all your wooing years just fading away. I’ve been waiting on a baby to spoil of yours since you turned about twenty.

That’s been nearly a decade ago. Now all you boys are marrying age and not a one of you has found your mate. ”

“What is wooing years?” Grandda popped him on the back of his head. “I’m just asking. Maybe I’m not very good at wooing. I might need your help on that.”

“If I thought that it would do any good, I’d teach you, but I think that the six of you are just plum too old to find yourself a mate now.

Are you even looking for her?” He said he’d been busy keeping him out of trouble.

“You’re not blaming this on me, you young little crapper.

I tried, and you know that I did to help you out. ”

“Yes, you did. I still remember you telling me about the birds and bees. But so you know, Dad’s version wasn’t any better than being told that I had to pollinate a girl to get her pregnant.

It took me six months of thinking hard on that until I went out the first time with Missy Crabtree.

She taught me things that you and Dad never mentioned before.

” Granddas face brightened up red, and he told him to behave.

The only thing he wanted to do now was embarrass his grandda again, and he could do it, he knew.

“Can you imagine my shame when she told me that her being pollinated wasn’t something that men do to women.

Yes, sir, she was a lot more help than you two were. ”

“Behave before I tell your mother what you’ve been up to.

” He told him that he was pretty sure that she knew what he’d been up to since he was eighteen.

“There’s no talking to you when you get in a mood like you’re in.

I’m going to forgive you for calling me an old man if you help me with the roses.

And you were right in telling me that my Milly doesn’t want a garden anymore.

She told me that she’s just too old to be doing all that bending over to pick things anymore. ”

“I’ll help you if you tell me that you forgive me for calling you out when you’ve no business driving one of those big pieces of equipment without supervision.

” He told him that he loved him. “That’s good enough for me.

I love you, too, old man. You’re the best part of this family, and I don’t want to think about life without you around. So stay safe for me. Please.”

“I’ll do that if you at least go out once a week to find yourself a mate.

She’s not going to just fall into your lap, you know?

She’s going to need you to be on your best behavior and woo her like you mean it.

” He said he still didn’t know what that meant.

“It’ll come to you when you find her. You’ll find that you don’t want to do a thing in life—especially not hanging around your old grandda when she’s around. ”

“Nah, that’s not true. She’s going to love you as much as I do, and you know it. I might even be a little jealous she’ll love you so much.” Grandda turned away and said he had dust in his eyes. Looking out over the deck, he thought he’d gotten the same dust in his eyes, too.