Page 18 of His Country
Ethan crouched down so he could meet Aiden’s eyes under the brim of his hat. “I’d like to think I’m funny enough that if I’d told a joke, you’d be laughing.”
“What, you think a couple of signatures and some frowny faces will make the government stop? Artfully placed picturesof frolicking calves to tug on their heart strings?” he pushed himself to his feet. “It’s been done before. They don’t care.”
“Then we make them care,” Ethan said easily, like he was talking about convincing someone to get their eggs easy up instead of scrambled. “If enough people speak up?—”
Aiden did laugh then, an ugly hoarse thing that had nothing to do with humor. “I don’t know what’s sadder—you thinking you could get people to care or you thinking anyone in power gives a damn about anything other than the paper lining their pockets.”
He tried to push past Ethan, but he stood firm, blocking his way. “It’s not just pictures of cute baby animals. We can build up a team. Ranchers, professors of Ag Science, hell, even some of those animal welfare people. We can hit them so hard they can’t ignore us.”
Aiden couldn’t meet Ethan’s eyes. They were so earnest, so close. He’d sat beside him before, but he wasn’tlookingat him. Now those eyes were turned on him, big and soft, so imploring it was easy to lean in. Get lost in them.
He picked at his splinter instead.
“What we don’t have is the people. People like me who grew up in the suburbs not knowing anything about their food except that it comes plastic wrapped on the shelf. And yeah, maybe they are more interested in saving money over how ethically their food is grown, but we can make them care.”
Ethan ducked his head so he could catch Aiden’s eye. Stared until Aiden had no choice but to meet them. Caught like a deer in the headlights, panicked and unable to move as certain doom came hurtling closer.
“You can make them care.” Ethan’s voice was low, like he saw Aiden as the scared deer and was trying to coax him into trusting him.
Swallowing, Aiden dug his fingernails into his palm. “How?”
“By humanizing it,” Ethan said. “For you, it was so much more than just land. It was your home. It was your family’s legacy. If you talk about that, tell them what it meant to you, they’ll listen.”
His skin felt too tight. Ready to pop at any moment. “Bullshit.”
“It’s not. Aiden, I get that it was painful, but?—”
“Yougetit?” he snapped. “If you got it, you wouldn’t be asking me to talk about it.” He shoved past Ethan, shoulder checking him.
He grabbed his hand, fingers pressing into the splinter. Aiden hissed, jerking his hand away.
“Think about the Mulligans! If there was someone who could have helped your farm wouldn’t you have wanted them to?”
Aiden could feel the knot in his chest becoming unbearably tight. It was getting difficult to breathe, and he’d bedamnedif that prickling behind his eyes turned into tears.
“I don’t give a damn about the Mulligans.”
“Then do it for you.” Ethan reached for his hand, fingers deftly sliding around his wrist so he could bring it closer. With the same gentleness he treated the cows with, he unclenched Aiden’s hand and looked down at the splinter. “Fight for this farm.”
Ethan bent down to examine the splinter; his breath hot as it brushed against Aiden’s skin. It tickled. Ethan’s long lashes quivered as he turned his hand to get a better look. Then he was bending forward, lips parting as he kissed his palm. Aiden gasped, his entire body jerking as Ethan’s pressed his lips down, tongue sliding hot along his skin for an electrifying moment before his teeth bit down.
So gently, he almost didn’t feel the little nip. More like a drag of teeth across skin, then a slight pressure, before Ethan wasretreating. He spat out the splinter as he rubbed a thumb over the shiny spot on Aiden’s hand.
His lips were shiny, too. Just like his hand. Seeing that had Aiden shivering. It was tangible proof of what had just happened. He swallowed thickly, jerking his eyes from Ethan’s lips.
“Fight for this farm because you couldn’t fight for yours.” With a final stroke of his thumb over the worried skin, he released Aiden’s hand. “Fight for the kids who were just like you.”
Aiden clutched his hand as Ethan pulled his wallet from his back pocket. He slipped a simple business card from one of the card slots. On reflex, Aiden took it when it was offered. Ethan smiled once before leaving, heading towards his car.
The card read, ‘Dr. Landry’ and it had a couple of phone numbers on it. That was it. Glancing between it and his hand, he tried to wrap his head around what just happened. He should just throw out the card. He wasn’t going to call him—he didn’t even have a phone—and he sure as shit wasn’t going to talk at some meeting. It was pointless.
His attention drifted to the wet spot on his palm. The splinter was gone.
Aiden swore as he slid the card into his back pocket.
CHAPTER FIVE
“Did you know they’re not even doing a cake?” Isaac asked, completely oblivious to Aiden’s disinterest. “So I’m picturing cupcakes, right? Because what else is there if you’re not doing a cake?” he clapped his hands. “Wrong!”