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Elle held his gaze and smiled. “I’ll bet it sounds funny to a five-year-old. Don’t worry about anything. I’ll take good care of Chloe.”
“Wait,” Daniel said. “You’re going to need a car seat. There’s one in Aidan’s car. He takes Chloe to school in the car and rides his bike around town until he picks her up.”
Aidan didn’t strike her as the type who’d ride a motorcycle. A scooter, maybe, but not a bike. She didn’t mean to judge, but from what she remembered, he’d been somewhat of a nerd. It was hard to reconcile that Aidan with the one who’d been in the motorcycle accident.
People probably remembered her as the nerdy Clark sister. Jane was the beauty, and Kate was the cool sister.
Elle had been the bookish good girl, who had fought her attraction to the bad boy.
Possibly similar to the way Aidan had been drawn to Kate.
Maybe Aidan had been a late bloomer? Because now he had a kid. And a motorcycle.
Sadness pulled at Elle’s insides.
“I wonder if the school has some on hand for emergencies?” Elle suggested.
“That’s a good idea.”
Daniel placed the call and a few minutes later, they had secured a loaner from the school.
“Call me if anything changes,” Elle said as she prepared to leave.
His brows knitted and he frowned. He didn’t say it, but she could virtually read his mind. What good would that do? You’ll be there. I’ll be here. I’ll handle it.
“See you soon.” She walked away so that he didn’t have to answer.
* * *
Daniel and Aidan had started getting their act together this year when they’d decided to go into business together.
An architect, Aidan was the brains behind Quindlin Brothers Renovations. Daniel was the brawn.
Growing up, they’d never been particularly close because they had always been too different. When their parents died in the car accident, it had only magnified their differences. Daniel was the rebel who hadn’t wanted to move to Savannah in his senior year of high school to live with their grandmother and he’d done everything to prove exactly how deep his discontent ran. He’d been so self-absorbed he hadn’t had time to worry about his younger brother, who’d tried hard to make up for all of Daniel’s shortcomings by being the perfect kid.
Aidan had been the smart one, the studious one. The one who never caused anyone a lick of grief. The anomaly was that damn motorcycle. Even when he was trying to be a bad ass, he’d worn a helmet. If he hadn’t, he’d be dead right now. But a straitlaced guy like Aidan should’ve never been on a hog like that in the first place.
After Veronica walked out on him and Chloe, Aidan seemed like he had something to prove. That was when he’d bought the bike.
Daniel stared past his calloused hands, past the work-tanned skin of his arms to the dingy linoleum of the waiting room floor. Why hadn’t he taken a stronger stand when Aidan bought the Harley? First, because Aidan was an adult. Daniel couldn’t tell him what to do. Second, the bike had been an impulse purchase.
Even so, he’d even gone to motorcycle school to learn how to ride the thing. But nothing could prepare a person for two tons of steel powered by a drunk blowing through a red light. Just like nothing Daniel could’ve said would’ve changed Aidan’s mind about keeping the bike. As much as Daniel wanted to believe he had that kind of power over his kid brother, he didn’t.
Daniel may have been the street-smart Quindlin brother, but Aidan was supposed to be the one with the most common sense.
He uttered a swear word under his breath, cursing his brother for not using his brain when it mattered.
His legs began to tingle and he realized he’d been sitting hunched over, staring at the floor for a long time. He stood and glanced at his watch. Elle should’ve made it to the school by now. He wondered what she’d say to Chloe. He hadn’t been any more help to Elle when she’d asked for his guidance on what to say than he’d been about setting his brother straight on how dumb it was to buy a bike when he had a five-year-old who depended on him.
It wouldn’t do anyone any good for him to sit around grousing. He needed to borrow a page from Elle and think about the bigger picture rather than being pissed off at his brother for almost killing himself.
