The Bachelor's Perfect Match

But at least they were here. Maddie had expected to spend Monday evening catching up on her emails, but the teens had drifted into the conference room one at a time and claimed their seats at the table.

The high school guidance counselor had given Maddie the link for the career assessment survey, so they’d spent the first hour in the computer lab, filling out the questionnaire. She planned to go over the results at their next session, but there were still twenty minutes left in this one.

I could use some help here, Lord.

No sooner than Maddie sent up the silent prayer, Aiden limped into the room.

“The door was unlocked again.” He claimed the empty chair at the table as if it had been reserved especially for him.

As if he hadn’t been a no-show on Saturday afternoon, even though Maddie had stayed an extra hour—or two—waiting for him.

Aiden’s decision not to follow up on his request for help didn’t surprise Maddie. What did surprise her was the disappointment that had clung like a burr on her favorite cardigan for the rest of the day.

She hadn’t seen him at New Life Fellowship on Sunday morning, either. Maddie served in the church nursery twice a month, and by the time the last set of parents had picked up their child, everyone had left the building.

She’d told herself it was for the best, but here he was again. And once more, the teenagers were giving Aiden their full attention.

Maddie set down the clicker and went with it.

“Aiden, what was the topic of your senior presentation?”

“My senior presentation?”

She nodded. “You were a year ahead of me in high school, and I had to give one, so I’m pretty sure you did, too.”

“Maybe he skipped that day,” Tyler interjected.

The gleam in the boy’s eye told Maddie he was contemplating it, too.

“It wouldn’t matter.” Skye slid lower in her chair. “They just make you do it the next day.”

“What if he hadn’t come back the next day?” Tyler retorted. “Or the next? What if he hadn’t come back at all?”

Why did Maddie get the feeling that Tyler wasn’t talking about Aiden anymore?

Skye tossed her mane of brown-and-lavender-striped hair. “Then he would’ve been stupid—”

“Survival camping.”

Skye and Tyler, who were glaring at each other across the table, spun toward Aiden.

“What’s that?” Skye blurted.

“You go into the woods with nothing more than you can carry in a backpack,” Aiden explained. “You find your own water. Food. Make a shelter to sleep in.”

The girl’s eyes widened. “That’s crazy.”

“The faculty board thought so, too.” Aiden grinned. “But I still got an A.”

“It sounds like one of those shows on TV,” Tyler said. “I saw one episode where a guy climbed into a hollow tree and it was full of wasps. He got stung, like, a thousand times.”

Aiden shrugged. “I didn’t have to worry about bugs. It was February.”

He’d gone camping. In February. On purpose.

“Where did you sleep?” Justin unexpectedly joined the conversation. Maddie grabbed onto the back of a chair for support.

“I made a snow cave. Snow is actually a great insulator.” Aiden dropped his voice a notch. “That’s why you don’t see bears putting on sweaters before they go into hibernation.”

Skye giggled.

Giggled.

Justin had spoken up, Skye was acting seventeen instead of twenty-seven and Tyler was actually looking at Aiden instead of his cell phone.

And Maddie? She was a little in awe—and a whole lot of envious—at how effortlessly Aiden had connected with the three teenagers.

“You’re supposed to write an outline and do research and stuff.” Tyler tossed an accusing look at Maddie, as if she were the one who’d written the guidelines for their senior presentation.

Aiden laughed. “You don’t think I did some research before I ventured into the woods when it was only ten degrees outside?”

Tyler crossed his arms, covering his interest with a skeptical look. “They really let you talk about camping?”

“I didn’t just talk,” Aiden said. “I brought in my backpack and showed them how I made it through the weekend with the supplies I’d packed. Like Maddie said, the whole idea behind the senior presentation is to learn more about something that interests you...and in the process maybe learn something about yourself.”

At least someone remembered what Maddie had said during their study session the previous week. She just hadn’t expected it to be Aiden.

An alarm chirped, and Tyler reached for his backpack. “I gotta go,” he mumbled.

“Hold on a second.” Maddie decided it was time to take control of the conversation again. “Does anyone have any questions before our next meeting?”

She was greeted with silence.

“All right... I’ll see you at six thirty this Friday.”

They all grabbed their things and bolted for the door.

Everyone except Aiden. He raised the hand that wasn’t in the cast.

“I have a question. How do we find my sister?”

Maddie gripped the back of the chair again to counteract the unexpected weakness in her knees.

“But I...when you didn’t show up on Saturday, I thought you’d changed your mind.” The words came out in a rush, and the light in Aiden’s eyes disappeared as swiftly as the sun on a winter afternoon.

“No one in my family had a reason to come into town that day,” he said after a moment.

And Aiden couldn’t drive.