Beyond the Aspen Trees

2

It quickly became clear that the storm wasn't going to end soon. In fact, the storm seemed to be chasing Aspen and Marley into town. While the thunder and lightning soon subsided, the rain and wind seemed to worsen during the night. The storm was still in full swing when Marley left town the next morning. Aspen even got off work early because business was so slow.

Aspen was finishing up the dishes after dinner when she heard a knock on the front door. Because she lived in a basement suite, people seldom knocked on her door. Her jaw dropped when she opened it and saw Theo standing at her doorstep, his brown hair dripping.

"What—" she started, but stopped when Theo threw himself into her arms. She swore he was sobbing harder than the rain was pouring down. Aspen single-handedly closed the door, then wrapped her brother into a tighter hug. She knew there was no way she was going to get any explanation out of him now, so she offered to make hot chocolate. This quieted Theo down significantly.

Laying down two mugs of thick brown liquid on the stained coffee table, Aspen sat down next to Theo on the couch.

"What happened?" she asked, watching as her brother reached for the mug and took a long sip.

"Mom got mad," he said quietly.

Aspen didn't even bother asking why. It didn't take much—sometimes nothing at all— for The Stepmother to get angry. "How did you get here?"

"I walked," the boy admitted.

"You walked? Alone? At night?" Aspen fumed. She grasped at her forehead with one hand, taking in a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself. But she couldn't stop thinking about all the things that could have happened to Theo. Bad things. Her brother had never gone so far as to run away before, and she didn't want this to become a habit. The possibility of it scared the heck out of her. "Theo, you can't just run away when you get upset!" Aspen exclaimed, her voice rising. "What if something happened?"

Theo began to cry again.

"Shit," Aspen muttered. She breathed a few more deep breaths, reassuring herself that Theo was safe now. But she knew he wasn't. Physically, yes. But not mentally. Not while he was living under The Stepmother's roof.

"Hey Einstein." Aspen's voice was quieter now, calmer.

Theo looked up.

"You have a moustache," she stated, a smile playing on her face.

"No!" Theo exclaimed, wiping at his mouth with his sleeve as his lips broke into a smile.

"Yes," Aspen said, reaching out to help him wipe away the chocolate with a napkin. When he was all cleaned up, she looked her brother in the eye. "Please promise me the next time you get angry you won't leave home. You know you can call me, and I can come pick you up."

"Okay," Theo said solemnly. He had an innocent look in his eyes as he took another sip of his cocoa.

"Do you want me to take you home, or would you like to stay the night?"

"Mom will get mad," Theo said sadly.

"Yeah, she will."

"Can you take me back then?"

Aspen nodded and told Theo to finish his hot chocolate.

~

Clay had heard everything. Since he had no phone number and there were thousands of girls named Aspen on social media, he'd spent the entire day physically searching for the girl he'd met at the music festival. Some might call him crazy for investing so much effort into finding her just to return a sweatshirt— especially after she'd run off on him like she had— but she was captivating, and he couldn't pass up an opportunity to see her again. Plus, he figured the sweater was important to her, and returning it felt like the right thing to do.