He kept his head down as he made his way around the large brick building and cut through the staff parking lot. He headed to the bike rack where he’d left his bike. A few minutes later, Sebastian was contemplating a trip to the library only to remember that he’d promised his Aunt Haley that he’d stop by and grab the book that she wanted him to read.
At least it would help kill some time before it was time to walk Mikey home, Sebastian decided as he got on his bike and headed to his aunt’s house. Ten minutes later, he was pulling into the empty driveway andī
“Please let this be over,” Sebastian said, letting his bike fall over so that he could grab his phone from his bag when a loud chime alerted him that he had an email even as he told himself not to get his hopes up, but god, did he need this to be over.
He wasn’t sure that he could keep doing this.
When he’d turned down the scholarship so that his brother could go to Radcliffe Academy, he’d told himself that something else would come along only it never did. For a while, his mother had doubled her efforts to try to find a school that would take him, but he’d ended up telling her that he didn’t want to go back to school just so she would stop worrying about him. He’d caused enough problems for her. He didn’t want her worrying about him. It had taken some time, but she’d eventually let it go.
At least he didn’t have to do the packets that she downloaded anymore. As soon as Jonathan started at Radcliffe, his parents had purchased a set of matching books for Sebastian so that he could get the same education as his brother. The only difference was that none of his work would count, but he hadn’t cared. He’d needed something more than busywork to do so that he didn’t lose his damn mind. It had also made having to homeschool bearable.
Well, that and Aunt Haley.
When she went on maternity leave a year and a half ago, she’d taken over his education. Three times a week, he went to her house so that she could go over his work, suggest books that she thought he would enjoy, and helped him keep his damn sanity. If it hadn’t been for her, he wasn’t sure that he would have been able to handle being homeschooled for this long.
Then again…
He had a feeling that Mikey coming into his life had something to do with that.
He wasn’t sure how to explain it, but she made everything better. When he was around her, he was able to forget how badly he’d screwed up his life and just breathe. She made him feel like everything was going to be okay and god, did he want to believe that was true.
For the past three years, he’d been biding his time waiting until it was officially time for him to start high school so that he could fix this. Now that he was going into high school next year, he had a chance. The public middle schools had been able to refuse to let him attend because of the expulsion, but the high school…
Couldn’t.
They had to allow him access to a public education. He’d checked to make sure before he got his hopes up. The moment that registration opened for the incoming freshmen, he’d filled out the online forms, making sure that he hadn’t missed anything before hitting Send.
For the past two weeks, he’d been waiting for the email that would make it official and now, he had to keep waiting a little longer, Sebastian realized, sighing heavily when he saw that it was a text message from his mother, reminding him that there was leftover spaghetti and meatballs in the fridge for lunch.
“Great,” Sebastian said, sighing softly as he slid his phone back into his bag when the sounds of a board snapping had him glancing up.
“Please be careful, Steven. I don’t want you to get hurt,” came the panicked words that drew his attention to find Mrs. Blaine, Aunt Haley’s grandmother, hugging the old cane that she never went anywhere without against her chest as she peered over the side of her wheelchair to see why she was stuck on the ramp.
“The board broke, Mrs. Blaine, and it looks like it bent the wheel,” Mrs. Blaine’s newest helper said as Sebastian shifted his attention to the wheelchair, noting that it looked tilted.
“How bad is it?” Mrs. Blaine asked as Sebastian picked up his bike and walked it over the grass so that he could place it against a tree.
“It looks like the wheel is completely destroyed, Mrs. Blaine. If you want, I can bring you back inside and see if I can find a replacement in town,” Steven suggested as he reached down and tried to pull the wheel free.
“I’m afraid this can’t wait. I need to find out what my son is up to before he gets another chance to break my Haley’s heart,” Mrs. Blaine said, making Sebastian frown as she gestured for the large man to help her to her feet only to have him frowning when the man actually did what he was told instead of getting the other wheelchair out of the car and transferring her like he was supposed to.
She wasn’t supposed to be walking.
“Should I let your grandson know that the ramp is broken?” Steven asked as he helped Mrs. Blaine to her feet.
“Jason has enough to worry about. This can wait. We’ll just use the back door for now,” Mrs. Blaine said with a firm nod as she slowly made her way across the short distance to her car while Sebastian stood there, biting back a curse as he watched her struggle with each step.
He waited until after she was safely settled in the car and was pulling out of the driveway before he made his way over to the ramp that was supposed to make it easier for her to get into the in-law apartment that his Uncle Jason had built for her. With one last look over his shoulder to make sure they were gone, Sebastian inspected the wheelchair. The wheel was definitely destroyed and so were three of the boards. They were going to have to be replaced.
She definitely shouldn’t be walking, Sebastian thought as he dropped his backpack on the ramp so that he could take a closer look. If Aunt Haley had been home and caught her, she would have glared at the older woman until she sat back down and waited for someone to get the wheelchair out of the car for her, but Mrs. Blaine was stubborn. Always had been, Sebastian thought with a fond smile for the stubborn woman who liked to keep Aunt Haley on her toes.
He didn’t know much about Aunt Haley’s grandmother other than the fact that she was insanely rich, had an unhealthy obsession with barbecue food, was stubborn, and loved to glare at him and he had no idea why. She always wore a fond smile for her great-grandchildren and an amused one whenever his brothers and sister were around, but when she looked at him…
He’d considered asking his cousins why she hated him, but then again, he wasn’t exactly sure that he wanted to know. The only thing that mattered to him was that she’d stuck by Aunt Haley when the rest of her family had cut her off after she’d married Uncle Jason and for that alone, Sebastian would do whatever he could to help her.
Sebastian grabbed the warped wheel and after a couple of tries, finally managed to pull the wheelchair free so that he could get a better look at the boards. They were rotted through, Sebastian realized as he moved the wheelchair off to the side so that he could check the rest of the boards to make sure that they were safe. He found three more boards that needed to be replaced, but the rest of them still looked good. He glanced down at his watch and noted the time.
He had two hours before he needed to head back to the school so that he could walk Mikey home. Plenty of time, Sebastian decided as he headed to his uncle’s garage. An hour later, he’d managed to find everything that he needed, sliced his hand open when he ripped up one of the rotted boards, cut new ones and nailed them in place. He’d have to come back next week and seal the boards, Sebastian decided as he wiped the sweat off his forehead with the back of his arm and focused his attention on the wheelchair.