“Baxter!”
He turned to the sound of his name. Logan trotted out of Aunt Hilde’s house and met him at his truck.
Logan punched him in the chest. “What is it with you and your inability to be nice?”
“What? I was being nice. When was I not nice?”
All he got was Logan flopping his arms about.
“Could you be a little more specific?”
“I get that Anne Luthrow pushed your buttons. Nothing you said was untrue. You just picked the worst way to say it. Plus, you did it in front of Harvey, which we now found out,” and he motioned back towards Aunt Hilde’s house. “Wrecked her Valentine’s Day plans.”
“Why am I getting the blame for this? That hateful woman started all this.”
“And you should be above it.”
“The Hell you preach. Maybe I don’t want to be above it. Maybe I’m tired of being above it.”
Logan crossed his arms and looked at Baxter in disapproval. “I don’t believe that.”
“Well,” Baxter was losing steam in his own righteous anger. He felt justified in the way he handled Anne Luthrow, just as he could admit that maybe he should have done it better. But it was done, and he was still getting beat up about it.
All he’d done was defend the woman who took him in when no one else would.
“Look, Baxter. I get your complete and utter disdain for Valentine’s Day, okay? It’s not a celebration that everyone gets behind. But it was important for Hilde. What you’ve done is give who she considers her rival something to use against her and embarrass her in front of a man she obviously cares about.”
“Making a red velvet cake for someone doesn’t exactly equate to love,” Baxter said testily.
Logan's head fell back, and he let out a frustrated groan. After several attempts to talk, only to have the words lost in a frustrated attempt to say something, he started towards his house. "Good night, Baxter."
Baxter watched him leave. He thought maybe he should try to talk this through. To Logan. To Aunt Hilde. His instincts told him it wasn’t a good time. Frustration, anger, guilt swirled around in a sad mixture that sat in his gut and churned.
He climbed in his truck and headed for home.
* * *
“You know, Bax,” Clint said as he brought two beers from Baxter’s fridge. He handed one off to Baxter before flopping into the lawn chair next to him. They both stared at the fire Baxter had built in the fire pit in his backyard. “I think the romance fairy skipped you when she was passing out romantic notions or something.”
Baxter snorted and took a long drink off his beer. “I just don’t understand why everyone’s so big on Valentine’s Day. It’s never done anything for me.”
“That’s because you’re too busy growling at guys who might take an interest in you and scaring them off.” Clint playfully pushed at Baxter’s shoulder. “You need to pull your head out of your ass and think about someone else for once.”
"What the…" Baxter sighed. "I do think about other people. I go to Aunt Hilde's every day to check on her. I am there every Sunday for dinner. Even when the rest of you jerks are off getting laid, I'm the one there."
“Hey, don’t blame us for your lack of a social life. That’s your choice, man.”
“What I’m saying is that it’s a bit unfair to tell me I’m selfish when I look after her in every way I can.”
“Do you do it out of guilt and obligation, Baxter?” Clint asked, his tone lost its playfulness. "You do it because you feel you owe it to Aunt Hilde to look after her?”
Baxter frowned. “I do it for more than that. But what the hell is wrong with feeling like I owe her my life. That we all do. And you know that as well as I do. If it weren’t for her, who knows how we would have turned out.”
The system had never been kind to the lycan-infected. Especially the children.
Clint dropped his head and stared up at the starry sky. It was just after sunset, and the first of the stars were coming out. With the sun sinking down below the horizon, the temperature had dropped a few degrees. Baxter was glad he built a fire to help fight off the chill.
“Maybe, for once, step out of your own skin and ask what Aunt Hilde’s needs and desires are.”
“Are you telling me that buying her a ridiculous bear and oversized card is somehow going to miraculously convince her that I love her?” Baxter scoffed at the idea. “That she doesn’t already know it with all the times I say it on every other day of the year? That doing it on this one specific day is going to give it more meaning? I think people need to give up this notion of waiting for one day in a year to show someone you love them and appreciate them.”
“Because it holds importance and significance.”
"They why don't they show that love and appreciation without being guilted into it by Madison Avenue? That's what's wrong in the world. No one tells anyone how they feel anymore."
He glanced over to see Clint staring with his mouth open.
“What?”
“Have you told Logan how you feel?”
Baxter’s face heated. “What do you mean by that?”
“Oh give me a break. You know exactly what I mean.”
“We’re taking it slow.” Baxter didn’t like how defensive he sounded. It was too late now. And clearly Clint caught it, judging by the way his eyebrows lifted. “Don’t look at me like that.”
“I’m just waiting to hear more of your astounding self-denial. It’s like a Bingo card.”
Baxter groaned. If he never heard about Bingo again, it would still be too soon. “Shut up.”
“Baxter. Stop being a dingus. Valentine’s Day isn’t just about you, idiot. There is another person involved and while you may find it a waste of time, the other person, who in this case are Aunt Hilde and Logan, may find it especially romantic or important to them."
“So what are you suggesting?” Baxter deflated. Obviously, Clint wasn't going to let this go. "If you're going to be critical, then pony up some ideas of what I can do to make this right."
“It’s not hard, man. Sincere apologies go a long way. It won’t kill you to say you’re sorry.”
“Sorry about what?”
"No, wrong answer," Clint said with a slow shake of his head. "What you say is 'I'm sorry that I embarrassed you and messed up your plans for Valentine's Day, and I want to make it up to you by cooking you a delicious dinner'. That can work for Aunt Hilde and Logan. Although, I'd suggest patching things up with Aunt Hilde first."
“And for Logan? I mean, since you seem so invested in my love life and all.”
“Get him in on the dinner action. Working together, seeing you being all domesticated to do something nice for Aunt Hilde will go a long way. Christ, Baxter. This is Relationship 101.”
“Fine, fine.” Baxter drained his beer and collected all the empties they’d accumulated since Clint got there. “But you have to help me put together a dinner plan that I can make.”
Clint rubbed his hands together in glee. “Now we’re talking my language. I can pull something together that will charm Aunt Hilde’s socks off. Bring a pen and pad when you come back out, son, you’re about to learn from the Relationship Master.”
Baxter groused as he rinsed the bottles before leaving them upside down to dry. “Why does this shit have to be so complicated?”
“Because it’s the human heart, dude.”
As if that explained anything to Baxter.