Breaking Boundaries (5th in Breaking Series)

Chapter Thirty-two

           

Chapter Thirty-Two

    Aiden was having more fun than he'd had in a long time. The entire Atkinson family, all the ranch hands, Ty, Liza, LeRoy and a fairly large group of people from town had gathered at the ranch for the cookout and party that was largely in honor of Nick's recovery but also to celebrate Susie and Sally's birthday which had been overshadowed by tragedy. 

    A few men had pulled out instruments and formed a band and now everyone was laughing, eating, dancing and simply enjoying themselves. 

    Aiden was thankful when the band took a break and he was able to finally rest his legs a bit. Susie, Kaitlyn and Ellie had kept him busy twirling around the dance floor, not to mention the foot stomping dance that Nathan and Max had been teaching him. 

    Aiden glanced over at Nick and saw him standing with Brody and Thomas. Of course none of them had wanted to dance. Brody simply said he wasn't much of a dancer, Thomas had made it clear that since Sally wasn't feeling up to doing much dancing he wasn't going to dance either, (it seemed that Sally was the jealous type), and Nick claimed to have two left feet. 

    Aiden just figured they considered themselves too tough for dancing. Aiden didn't. He'd had the time of his life twirling the ladies around the floor and laughing as the kids taught them made-up moves to made-up dances. 

    Now that he was getting a break he headed for the refreshment table and ladled a bit of lemonade into a glass. He couldn't believe how much lemonade was left and he wondered who had brought it since he hadn't remembered seeing it in Ellie's kitchen earlier. 

    Just as Aiden was bringing the cup to his mouth it was knocked away and lemonade sloshed all over his hand and wrist. He threw a look of alarm at Brody who was watching him with narrowed eyes, "Why did you do that?!" Aiden demanded. 

    "I was saving your life," Brody replied sternly. His brow rose up and his lip twitched a bit at the corner, "Elizabeth made that lemonade." 

    Aiden frowned and his eyes found Elizabeth who was striding their way with her arms crossed and glaring angrily at her husband. "I'm sure it tastes just fine," Aiden assured the man. 

    Brody shrugged, "It's your funeral." 

    Aiden was less sure about his decision to take a drink now but he did so anyway, not wanting to anger Elizabeth. As soon as that lemonade passed his lips, Aiden knew he had made a grave mistake. Never had he tasted anything so sour. Instantly his jaws locked and pain shot through them. His eyes began to water and his stomach rolled as the liquid sloshed down into it. 

    "Is it that bad?" Elizabeth demanded had hands going to her hips. 

    Aiden shook his head and tried to lie but his jaws wouldn't move. Cookie's rough laughter filled the air from the other side of the refreshment table, "Damn, Elizabeth, I do believe you killed the man! That must have been your worst batch yet." 

    "It was not!" Elizabeth exclaimed, her cheeks reddening. 

    "You've made worse?" Aiden managed to gasp and this time it was Brody that was laughing. 

    Elizabeth glared at all three men, snatched the cup from Aiden's hand and took a drink before spewing said drink all over the grass and dirt, "Oh that's horrible!" she exclaimed. 

    "Told you so," Brody shrugged. 

    "Nick!" Elizabeth waved toward Nick and he headed their way. "Take him around back to the pump well and get him a drink. I think he needs some fresh water... I might have killed him."