Shadows of New York Read Online Free

As they passed, Aiden tilted his head away from the man.
    “The baby arugula!” called out Rosemary. She broke free from Aiden’s grasp and ran back to the vegetables.
    “Rosemary, come on, we have to go,” said Aiden.
    She returned with a bundle of greens and placed it on the counter. “We’d like this, please.”
    Aiden threw a twenty-dollar bill on the counter, snatched their purchase, and said, “Keep the change.”
    As they left the store, Rosemary asked, “Aiden, are my lips too sparkly?”
    * * * *
    Josh stood in the hallway outside Aiden’s room. Listening in—eavesdropping, as his mother would call it—wasn’t on anyone’s list of good manners, but this wasn’t exactly a normal situation. As soon as they returned to the apartment, Aiden had handed over the salad greens, made sure the kids were settled in at the island for their afternoon snack (including Jackson in his high chair), and then, without another word, disappeared into his room. Now, he was on his phone. Josh could again hear one side of the conversation.
    “I did.” Aiden’s voice was muffled by the closed door. “They were locked away in back. I couldn’t just…I know my first job is to keep them safe. I just thought, you know, if they were in back and I could keep the guys up front…That’s what I was doing. Just, you know, in a more pro-active way…No, it won’t…I didn’t change at all…Okay, I’ll be in tomorrow morning.”
    Josh expected the conversation to go on a while longer. He was startled when the door opened, and he found himself standing right in front of Aiden.
    “Uh, want a cookie?” he asked, holding up the extra chocolate crinkle he’d brought with him from the kitchen.
    “I’m not hungry right now.” Aiden looked tense.
    “Okay.” Josh stepped backward while starting in on the cookie. It was gone in two bites, making Aiden smile.
    “Slow down there, partner. We don’t want you to choke.”
    Josh, glad he could cheer Aiden up a little, nodded and swallowed.
    Following Aiden back to the kitchen, Josh heard him say, “Who wants to go to the park?”
    “Me!” Rosemary cried, raising her hand in the air and waving it back and forth like crazy.
    “Eeeeee!” Jackson squealed, raising both hands above his head.
    “Josh?” Aiden asked, turning to him. “You in?”
    “Sure. I’ll get my skateboard.”
    “Don’t forget your helmet,” Rosemary reminded her brother. “Mommy says to always wear your helmet.” Josh rolled his eyes, but grabbed his helmet on the way out.
    * * * *
    “Yes!” Josh yelled. “We got ’em!”
    “We sure did,” Aiden agreed. “But let’s keep the noise level down a little, okay? We don’t want to wake up the youngsters.”
    “Right.”
    The two were on the couch playing Josh’s favorite zombie-slaying video game. His little brother and sister had gone to bed. Josh was enjoying the privilege of his later bedtime more than ever now that he had a cool nanny to hang out with.
    “I don’t mean to interrupt…” came Mrs. F-G’s voice from the archway to the dining room. Josh hit pause, and they both looked in her direction.
    “That’s okay,” Aiden said. “What’s up?”
    “Well, I just had a sudden inspiration for a new dish I’d like to try out. The trouble is, it calls for organic vanilla yogurt, and we don’t seem to have any.”
    “No problem. I can pick some up tomorrow.”
    “Well, that’s nice of you, dear, but I really wanted to make it for breakfast in the morning.”
    “I guess I could go out now,” Aiden said.
    “Oh, could you? That would be so lovely of you. I’ll keep an ear out for the little ones, and an eye on Josh.”
    “I want to go with you, Aiden. Can I please?” Josh was still curious about the events at the store that afternoon. He hoped to pick up some information during this trip. Maybe he could even get up the courage to ask the clerk for details while Aiden went to the dairy aisle.
    “I don’t know, buddy. It’s