Desperate

"Honey? Mommy will play with you later, okay? But right now it's time for dinner. Can you go potty and wash your hands?"

"Okay," he said skipping off to the tiny bathroom never thinking about how nothing was on the stove. He just knew it was dinner time because his mother said so.

She went to the kitchen and splashed some water on her face and patted it dry. She took a look in the tiny mirror on the fridge and thought, "Ugh! I look dead."

She went to her bedroom and grabbed her makeup bag and touched up her mascara then reached for her tube of lipstick.

"What are you doing?" she said to herself. There was no reason to wear lipstick. Then again, she hadn't actually needed the mascara so...

She quickly painted her lips a kind of copper color that went nicely with the sweater she was wearing then took a look in the mirror on her nightstand.

"Much better," she said just as she heard a knock on the door.

"I'll get it!" Benjamin said. She heard his little feet tearing through the house. Well, the 10 feet or so he could actually run inside anyway.

Skylar was only a couple of seconds behind him when he opened the door.

"It's Aaron!" he yelled not knowing his mom was right behind him.

Skylar looked out the door and covered her mouth with her hands when she him. He was carrying this large silver serving platter with a silver cover and there was a red cloth draped over his arm.

"Dinner is served," he said trying to bow and hold the meal at the same time.

"Come in!" she said.

As he walked by the smell hit her. "Oh, my gosh! That smells wonderful!"

He set it down on the tiny kitchen table leaving just enough room for their plates which she quickly grabbed and set out.

Aaron bowed again then pulled her chair out and seated her. Having only two chairs, Benjamin had to sit on her lap. Both of them watched as Aaron lifted the lid.

"Okay, now dinner is served. I give you basil pan-seared scallops over pasta with asparagus. And for you young sir, two Oscar-Meyer frankfurters, grilled to perfection!"

"Those are hah-tawgs!" Benjamin said not knowing what a frankfurter was.

"Why, yes they are," Aaron said as he put one on the boy's plate. "Can he cut his own yet?" he asked Skylar.

"Yes, but sometimes it's not pretty," she told him unable to stop smiling or...smelling.

Aaron cut the hot dog into ten tiny pieces then served out a full portion of the main course onto Skylar's plate.

"Wow! I'm impressed!" she said as he did the same to his.

"Oh, let me grab the wine. I completely forgot. Do you want some apple juice, Ben-of-mine?" she asked using his pet name as she sat him in the car as she stood up.

"Yes, please!" he said. He was already chomping on the first bite of his 'hah-tawg'.

Skylar set his juice down then poured two glasses of wine before sitting back down and pulling her son back onto her lap.

"Would you like to propose a toast?" she asked.

"I'm not much for public speaking," he said. "Why don't you go ahead?"

Skylar had been so focused on the meal, she hadn't really looked at Aaron yet. Now that she was sitting just four feet away from him, she realized he'd changed into a very nice button-down shirt and had put some product in his thick, dark hair. She preferred clean-shaven men, but Aaron looked very nice with the three-day stubble look he was sporting. She could now see just how broad his shoulders were as well as his chest which tapered down into a narrow waist giving him a very athletic-looking appearance.

"Oh...um...sure," she said as she realized she'd been staring. "Let's see. How about to...men who enjoy cooking?"

Aaron laughed when Skylar said, "I'm not so good at his either, huh?"

She laughed, too, as they touched glasses.

"Me too, Mommy!" Benjamin said raising his juice box until both adults touched his the way they touched each other's glass.

"This looks and smells amazing," she said.

"Go ahead," he told her. "Take a bite and give me the verdict."

Skylar picked up her fork, cut a scallop in half then twirled a bit of pasta around it and speared the scallop. She held it up, smiled at Aaron, then slowly put it in her mouth. Her reaction said it all. Her eyes closed immediately and she made a noise that let him know it was delicious.

"Oh, my gosh. This is to-die-for good! Aaron, this is...amazing!"

"Glad you like it," he told her picking up his own fork.

"It's really simple and easy to make but full of flavor and very filling." He took a bite then said, "Not to mention healthy."

He looked at Benjamin and asked, "How's that hot dog?"

Benjamin's mouth was full so he just nodded his head way up and down as he chewed.

"So what do you do now that you're no longer in the Army?" Skylar asked trying to be friendly without being nosy.

"Well, I own a gun range. I teach defensive shooting. Individuals mostly but the police force uses my range all the time, too. I also teach shooting at the academy every time they have need for a class."

"Now why doesn't that surprise me?" Skylar said politely with a very warm smile.

There was a moment of quiet then Aaron asked Benjamin, "How about you, Big Guy? What do you want to be when you grow up?"

He was just finishing his first hot dog and said, "I wanna work in the mill just like my daddy."

Aaron saw Skylar's reaction, and when her face went pale in less than a second it looked like she'd just seen a ghost.

"Do you want your other hot dog, baby?" she asked a little too loudly and a little too quickly.

"Yes, please," he said having no idea why his mother was so concerned. "Can I have more ketchup?"

Skylar reached for it with her left hand, and saw Aaron her looking at her wedding ring as she silently chided herself for still not having taken it off.

Aaron noticed the uncomfortable look and told her, "I'm not going to ask. If the time ever comes you feel like letting me know, that'll be your call."

They ate in relative silence after that, and when they were finished Benjamin asked to be excused so he could go play.

"Do you wanna play with me?" he asked Aaron as he climbed down.

"Honey, Aaron is our guest. Why don't you play by yourself for a while, then I'll come and play with you later."

Benjamin hopped down just as Aaron said to his mother, "I don't mind at all."

As the little boy zoomed by Aaron told him, "I'll be there in a few minutes, okay?"

Satisfied with the answer, Benjamin headed back to find his cars and get back to work.

"I'm not trying to be evasive, Aaron," she said once Benjamin was gone.

"You don't owe me an explanation," he said politely.

Skylar wasn't completely sure she could trust him, but she felt very secure believing she could. Without going into any specifics, she explained why they were there in Billings, Montana.

Aaron listened carefully then asked, "Are you concerned he'll try and find you?"

Skylar took a sip of wine then said, "Concerned? I'm scared to death. I...I haven't let myself really think about it since we decided to stay here, but anytime I do..."

He could see the fear in her eyes and now he was concerned. "Is he violent?"

"Yes," she said very quietly. "He's never hurt Benjamin, though."

She wasn't sure why she said that. It almost sounded like she was trying to mitigate the things Doug had done.

Skylar thought Aaron was hearing something like, "Sure, he slaps me around, chokes me, and rapes me, but he's a peach when it comes to our son."

Aaron had no use for men who hit women. As an Army Ranger, he'd worked around some of the most dedicated, professional people on earth. However, there were always a few soldiers who had the same kinds of problems civilians had: writing bad checks, DUIs, and spousal abuse.

Never getting above the rank of sergeant or pay grade E-5, he'd never had to deal with any of that personally, but he knew it went on all the time. People made mistakes and that was one thing, but the decision to intentionally hit a woman wasn't a mistake. It was a crime and a vicious act of cowardice and Aaron hated coward as much as thieves and liars.

Just the thought of a man doing that made his blood boil. Being a very calm, very laid-back Type B kind of guy, there were very things that had that effect on him, but that was one of them.

"I'm sorry, Aaron. You made this wonderful dinner and now I'm talking about my personal problems. Please forgive me. This was really amazing."

"There's nothing to be sorry for, Skylar," he told her. "Many people think they're victims when they're just lazy or whiny twits causing the problems they blame other people for. But a woman who's being abused by a man—especially her husband—really is a victim, and she has nothing to be sorry for.

He looked directly at her and said, "Skylar? You haven't done anything wrong, okay?"

After being so concerned about him knowing her 'dirty little secret' his words made her feel glad she'd shared what she was going through with him. She was now confident she could trust this very nice-looking younger man, and having him as a neighbor was very reassuring.

"Thank you, Aaron. For saying that and for dinner. It was very nice of you. And delicious."

"I'm glad you enjoyed it. I don't get to cook for anyone else very often and...well, almost never for a beautiful woman, so this was very nice for me, too."

"I'm hardly beautiful, but that was very kind of you to say."

"You must not have any mirrors in this house," he said with a genuine smile.

He saw the look on her face and said, "If you don't realize how attractive you are, then you must not be able to see yourself the way I do."

He smiled again then told her, "I can guarantee you, you are a very attractive woman."

And there it was again. That...flutter thing in her tummy.

"Um, I should probably get the table cleared off," she said nervously before standing up and busying herself.

"And I believe I owe some play time to one young Benjamin...Button," he said stealing the name from the Brad Pitt movie.

"You don't have to do that, Aaron. He's fine playing by himself."

"Sorry, but a promise is a promise," he told her. "In fact...I have some of my Matchbox cars from when I was a kid next door. I've got a small trunk of stuff I took from my mom's home when she passed away a couple of years ago right after I got out of the Army. I put most of it in storage, but I kept this one small box of memories in the house. Well...cottage."

Skylar smiled sweetly as he got up and said, "I'll be right back if that's okay."

"Yeah, sure. Of course it is," she told him already done clearing the table.

Two minutes later he came back in with a blue and white vintage case that said, "Matchbox Cars" on it.

"These were my favorite things in the whole world for a couple of years growing up."

"I'll bring him out here for you. My bedroom's the only other place in the house so... Oh, right. You already knew that, huh?"

"Since my place is almost a carbon copy of yours, yeah, I kinda did," he said flashing that amazing smile at her again.

"I'll be right back."

Benjamin came flying out of the bedroom when he learned Aaron had more cars.

The box was closed when Benjamin came out and Aaron asked him to have a seat next to him.

"Okay, you can pick whichever ones you want and I'll play with the other ones, okay?"

"Okay!" Benjamin replied enthusiastically.

When the lid opened, the little loudly boy sucked in air as his eyes opened wide. He reached in and started grabbing and clutching as many as he could hold.

"One or two, honey!" his mom said.

"But these are all my favorites, Mommy, and Aaron can have the yellow one and the green one."

Those were the only two Benjamin didn't like, and Aaron was happy to take the leftovers.

Skylar shrugged and Aaron laughed.

"Okay, so...let's play!" he said getting down on the floor and zooming cars around.

Skylar watched them 'race' then pretend they were cops and robbers before she reluctantly joined in. She loved her son and always enjoyed playing with him, but Benjamin was all boy and she was all girl. Even so, she pushed cars around and made tire squealing noises until she couldn't take anymore.

"Feel free to call it quits whenever you like, Aaron," she said as she excused herself after a full hour.

"I'm fine," he told her with a smile. "I'm getting to relive my childhood so no worries."

She went to the kitchen and washed what was in the sink while the 'boys' played every other game her son could think up. She sat down and watched them play, content to see her son having so much fun with someone else. Anyone else, for that matter. That it happened to be a man was an added bonus.

Skylar smiled when she thought, "It doesn't hurt that he's really cute, either. A little on the young side but still very cute."

An hour later, Aaron had reached his limit, too. "Okay, buddy. It's time to put the cars back in the garage."

"Can we play for five more minutes?" he asked knowing that sometimes worked to stall going to bed.

"No, not today. But I'll tell you what. If it's okay with your mom I'll let you keep my cars at your house."

Benjamin clapped and said, "Mommy! I get to keep all the cars at my house!"

"Honey, did you hear what Aaron said about asking me first?"

"Can I? Can I keep all the cars? Please?"

"One other thing, Benjamin," Aaron said. "You have to take really good care of them and put them back in the box each time your done playing. No leaving them out on the floor. If you can do that, you can keep them—if Mom says okay."

He looked up at her and smiled.

"How can I say 'no' when you smile at me like that?" she said feeling another tingle. "And look how happy my son is. All right. He can keep them. But Benjamin? You have to do what Aaron said or I'll give them back him, okay."

"I will, Mommy! I'll put them away every time. I promise!'

Benjamin set his cars on the floor then stepped over Aaron's legs as he was still sitting on the floor. He threw his little arms around the big man's neck and hugged him tight. Benjamin put one of his huge arms around Benjamin's back and hugged him back.

"Aaron is my best friend, Mommy!"

"He is a very nice man," she told him. "Can you tell him thank-you and goodbye?"

Benjamin hadn't moved so he gave Aaron another hug and said, "Thank you and bye, Aaron!"

Just as he did, the former Ranger stood up holding onto his little buddy and lifted him up over his head. The ceiling was only eight feet high and Benjamin's back was touching it. The boy laughed loudly as Aaron spun him around then 'dove' him down making airplane noises.

"Coming in for a landing!" he said as he gently tossed him onto the couch.

"More!" Benjamin said laughing loudly and smiling happily as he jumped back up.

"Honey, that's en..."

Aaron already had Benjamin back up in the air. This time he was holding the boy down low to his side. "Now you're a submarine on a secret mission going through the deep ocean water. Glub, glub, glub!"

Skylar couldn't ever remember his father playing with their son like that. She was so caught up in seeing her son laughing and playing she was unaware of the tears in her eyes until Aaron set the boy back down.

"I was an airplane and then a submarine, Mommy! Did you see me?"

She blinked quickly several times then smiled. "I did!"

"Can I be one more thing before you go?" he said looking up at Aaron.

"Well, okay. But this is the last one for today," Aaron informed him.

Aaron laid down, raised his legs then told Benjamin to climb on. Aaron grabbed his hands then started bouncing him with his legs as he kind of sang, "This is the way the ladies ride, the ladies ride, the ladies ride. This is the way the ladies ride, so early in the morning!" Then the bouncing got bigger and bumpier as he 'sang' it again only with a small change. "This is the way the gentlemen ride, the gentlemen ride, the gentleman ride. This is the way the gentlemen ride, so early in the morning!"

Skylar shrieked along with Benjamin as the bouncing went crazy with, "And...this is the way the farmers ride, the farmers ride, the farmers ride. This is the way the farmers ride, so early in the morning!"

Benjamin was laughing so hard he couldn't breathe. Aaron pulled him onto his lap and put a big arm around him.

"Now that was fun!" he said looking up at Skylar.

"I really do need to go now, but maybe your mom will let me come back and play with you again sometime."

"Can he, Mommy? Can Aaron come back and play with me?"

"Well, if he wants to then...yes. Sure. He can come back anytime."

"You can come back and play with me! Anytime!" Benjamin said.

"Okay, then I will!" he told the young boy as he stood up with him still in his arms.

He looked at Skylar again then told her, "This was really great. I forgot how much fun playing can be."

"Well, thank you for taking the time to play with him and thank you very much for dinner. It was wonderful and so was the company."

He handed Benjamin back to his mom and said, "The pleasure was all mine. It's kinda nice having people I like hanging out with so nearby."

He quickly added, "Don't worry, I'm not gonna bug you all the time. Just whenever..."

"You're not bugging us, Aaron. I...we...both of us...really enjoyed having you here. I haven't seen Benjamin this happy in..."

She stopped and realized she was tearing up again. "Sorry. It's been a tough last year or so."

Again he told her, "Don't apologize, Skylar. Nothing that happened was your fault. And I want you to know you're safe here, okay?"

"I wish I could believe that," she said wiping an eye with her free hand.

"Well, you are. As long as I'm here, you and Benjamin have nothing to be afraid of. In fact..."

He pulled out his cell phone and said, "How about we share numbers. Not that you'll ever need to call me, but I'd feel better knowing you can. And don't worry, I won't be calling you or bugging you. It's for emergencies only."

"Thank you yet again, Aaron," she said after the exchange was complete.

She set her phone down then without looking at him said, "I don't think I'd mind too much if you did want to call me sometime."

She was regretting it almost as soon as she'd said it.

"Don't tempt me," he said politely with a smile. "It's not often I find myself in the of a beautiful woman I find very attractive."

He waited for her to look at him then added, "Especially one I enjoy spending time with."

Skylar did occasionally get flirted with but it was very rare primarily because she hadn't been permitted to leave the house very often, and when she did, she was expected back in short order. That made Aaron's words all the more special as she couldn't remember the last time an attractive man had said anything to her let alone said something so sweet.

"Oh, well, um...I...I enjoyed spending time with you, too, Aaron," she said with a smile.

"Okay, well, I should start heading back to my place. I want to get there before morning and as you know, it's quite a hike, so..."

Skylar laughed much too loudly and much too long for what was only minimally funny, but she couldn't help it. Feeling good was so foreign to her and feeling...like this...even more so.

"Okay, well...try not to get lost," she told him as he opened the door.

"If I do, I'll call you," he said holding up his phone.

Skylar laughed almost as loudly again and decided she didn't care.

"I'll come rescue you if you do," she promised.

"Bye, buddy!" Aaron said to Benjamin.

"Bye, Aaron! Come and play cars with me again, okay?" he said hopefully.

"I will. Bye, Skylar."

"Bye, Aaron. And thank you—for everything."

Skylar hadn't felt this good in...years. She felt so good in fact, she decided this was the time to finally call her mother, and let her know they were all right. Just the thought of hearing her mom's voice filled her with even more happiness.