Chapter 3
CHAPTER THREE
ASHER
Somehow, beyond all hope, Owen actually did fall asleep—on top of me while I rocked him in the chair in his room, which meant I fell asleep, too. I woke up to my nephew’s hands slapping happily on my cheeks and his face pressed so close he was blurry.
He babbled around a drool-filled smile, his mood a complete one-eighty from when we’d stepped foot into his bedroom who knew how long ago.
I pulled out my phone and glanced at the time. Shit, I’d been in here for two hours while Nat had been on Sugar Satan duty. What a welcome. Hey, thanks for coming, but I’m gonna crash. So, do you mind handling, well, everything?
“Up we go,” I said. “We should probably get you—” Before I could complete the sentence, a wet sensation registered across my torso, and I held Owen out at arm’s length. The kid was soaking wet, which meant so was I.
I exhaled a sigh. “I don’t understand how one tiny thing can produce so much pee.”
Owen’s happy babbles continued, even as I got him wiped down and changed into a fresh diaper and clothes. I hadn’t yet figured out how to manage taking a shower while both kids were awake, so that meant I’d handled previous pee explosions by simply changing shirts and continuing to smell like urine until I could shower after bedtime. Now that Nat was here, hopefully she could watch them for five minutes so I could get cleaned up.
I strode into the living room with Owen, careful to hold him so he didn’t rest on the wet patch of my shirt. Nat and June sat on the floor, an explosion of coloring books and crayons spread out in front of them.
“Uncle Asher, we’re doin’ a contest! You get to pick the winner.”
“Sounds like fun. But before I do that, I was hopin’ I could jump in the shower.” I set Owen down, and he crawled for his large bin of toys in the corner.
Nat glanced back at me, eyebrow raised at the wet spot on my shirt. “Problems?”
“Kid pees like a racehorse.” I held my arms open toward her. “You want a hug?”
Nat scrunched her nose. “Maybe after you shower. I love you, but not quite get-myself-wet-with-someone-else’s-urine love. I can probably handle them both for five minutes. Any longer than that, and you’re temptin’ fate.”
“You’re a godsend. I’ll hurry.” I strolled toward the spare bedroom—I hadn’t been able to bring myself to even open my sister and brother-in-law’s door, let alone step inside—and reached back to yank the neck of my shirt, pulling the damp fabric over my head. I tossed it in the overflowing basket of dirty laundry I needed to wash and headed straight for the bathroom.
After the fastest shower of my life, I strode back into the living room wearing fresh clothes to find my niece and nephew set up in front of the TV. June sat at the coffee table while Owen was perched in his high chair, snacks spread out for them as a cartoon played on the screen.
“You’re magic,” I said as I dropped into a chair at the dining room table, assuring I still had eyes on the kids.
“ Rory’s magic—I called her to get some tips. And then I slipped them a little bourbon to calm them down. No big.” Nat shrugged, her lips tipped up at the corners.
But then the smile dropped from her face, and she walked straight for me, pulling me up and out of my seat to wrap her arms around my waist. It was so reminiscent of when I’d rushed back about six months ago while her daddy was in open heart surgery. Both times, we hadn’t had the privacy the moments demanded, but we made do.
I engulfed her in my arms, dropping my head so I could bury my nose into the crook of her neck. I inhaled deeply, taking her scent into me and relaxing for the first time in days. She smelled like stale air from the plane and sunscreen and just a hint of clove.
Home . She smelled like home.
“I’m sorry, Ash. I’m so sorry.” She exhaled her soft words straight into my chest, but I heard them all the same.
My throat tightened, my eyes going damp, my nose tingling with the onset of tears. I hadn’t cried since I’d arrived. My focus had been on June and Owen. On the arrangements. But Nat wasn’t going to accept that. While I was there for everyone else, she was there for me .
“Thank you for comin’,” I said, pulling back to stare down at her.
“Don’t be an idiot. Of course I came.”
“Well, it is Havenbrook, so I wondered if you would.”
She pulled away with one final squeeze and dropped into the chair perpendicular to me, propping her chin on her fist as she rested her elbow on the table. “I didn’t come for Havenbrook. I came for you . Besides, I’ve already been here for an hour, and I’m not crawlin’ out of my skin yet. I think that might be progress.”
“Definitely. I don’t even see a rash or anything,” I said, lowering myself into the chair.
“So, now that we’ve got the two hellions wrangled—temporarily, obviously,” she said, darting her eyes to where June and Owen were still mesmerized by the show on TV. “What else needs to be done? What can I help with?”
I scrubbed a hand across my jaw, thick with the start of a beard since I hadn’t even thought about shaving since I’d been here. “The funeral’s tomorrow. And then I’ve got an appointment with Cole Donovan, Aubrey’s lawyer, on Thursday to go over their will.” I swallowed down the lump of emotion that rose in my throat, the now-familiar ache in my chest expanding. “I know this isn’t your favorite place, but do you think you can stick it out for a few days?”
“I could probably be bribed,” she said wryly with an eye roll. “I’m here. However long you need.”
Now she was just lying—she put on a good show, but Nat in Havenbrook was like a cat in a bath. I made a mental note to pick up several family sized bags of peanut M&M’s—her favorite—the next time I was at the store to make good on that bribe.
“Thank you,” I said, all teasing gone from my tone. “I’m not sure what the hell’s gonna happen, but?—”
Nat waved her hand, dismissing the rest of my words. “Ash. It’s fine. I’m here as long as you need me. I’ll stay here with you guys, and that way, you’re not outnumbered by the tiny mutant people.”
I cracked a smile and glanced over at my niece and nephew. June had stood from her previous perch on the floor and was now jumping in time to the theme song, her arms flailing out to her sides as Owen mimicked her movements, the two of them laughing.
Nat’s and my quiet, talking time was soon going to come to an end. In fact, I’d bet money that we had less than five minutes before someone demanded our attention. I may only have been here for a couple days, but I’d already learned private time was a scarce commodity.
“At some point in the very near future, you’re probably gonna wish you didn’t say that.”
“Probably,” she agreed with a nod.
“There is one little problem,” I said, raising my voice to be heard over Owen’s squeals as June belted out the lyrics to the theme song.
“I’m gonna need earplugs?”
“There is that. But… Well, I don’t feel right about usin’ Aubrey and Nathan’s room.”
“Okay…”
“Which means we’re sharin’ a room, and there’s obviously only one bed. Think you can keep your hands off me?”
Nat raised an eyebrow, her lips curved up. “Who says I’m gonna share?”