26. Asher
Asher
Ilet out a sigh as I settled into the car next to Noah, rubbing a hand over my face.
I was used to these trips; we did them often.
We weren’t even that far, a short four-hour flight away in Los Angeles where Noah and I were looking at acquiring a high-end boutique hotel.
These trips were normal for us but something about this one was draining me and I just wanted to get home.
My first kiss with Sutton never left my mind, playing over and over while I got myself off in the shower or while I slept at night so I woke up hard and had to take care of myself.
That fucking kiss. I had been stunned that she was the one to make the first move. It was soft, light, almost hesitant, but it was enough to put me in a daze.
She seemed to regret it, so I pushed through, moved on. Didn’t mention it again. Even though it was all I could think about.
I’d only been home from Toronto for three days before we’d left on this trip and I fucking missed Sutton and Sophie already. I’d managed to see her two of those days, but it wasn’t enough.
No amount of time seemed to be enough.
My hand was getting a lot of action these days and that was just fucking fine with me. I would wait forever if Sutton needed it.
“Do we have to go to dinner?” I grumbled as Noah read through some emails on his phone next to me.
“You always ask that, and my answer is always the same.”
I grunted my annoyance, and it got Noah’s attention.
“You’re in a worse mood. Oli said the same thing last time. I thought he was just being dramatic.”
I didn’t bother responding to that.
“It needs some renovations but it looks like a good investment.” I tried to push Noah back to business.
“Agreed. They have a consistent base of annual visitors.” As we worked to grow in North America, this was the exact kind of investment we were looking for. It was how we grew in London; we just had more financial freedom now.
I pulled my own phone out of my pocket and tried not to be bothered that Sutton hadn’t called.
She thought we were friends, not in a relationship.
I was still treating her like my girlfriend until she caught up.
I knew she was my reason for missing home and I thought she was starting to miss me too.
I’d gotten used to seeing her often, hearing her voice through the phone, and now it had been forty-eight hours away and I was feeling it. As though my thoughts had conjured her, my phone rang, a picture of her and Sophie napping on my couch popping up.
“Sweetheart,” I answered quickly, my voice taking on the low tone it only did with her.
“Asher!” The panic in her voice put ice in my veins.
I sat up straighter, my grip tightening on the phone.
“What’s wrong?” I saw Noah turn toward me, his phone now down, his attention on me.
“I…crap… I… They took her in an ambulance and I don’t—” Her voice was high, her breathing fast, my own adrenaline racing along beside hers.
“Baby, you have to calm down,” I said in a soothing voice even though my heart was pounding. “Is Sophie okay?”
“Yes, she’s fine. We’re both okay.”
I released a breath, because my first fear was that something was wrong with Sophie and that would make me lose my mind.
“Tell me what’s going on.” I was sure Noah could hear the conversation from beside me but I didn’t mind him listening in. Not when I didn’t know what was going on and my head was creating worst-case scenarios. I had a feeling I would need my brothers.
“I went to check on Iris because we were supposed to have dinner together. I knocked and when she didn’t answer I let myself in.
She was on the ground—she had a cut on her head and there was blood everywhere.
I couldn’t get her to wake up. I called 911 but they wouldn’t let me ride in the ambulance with her since I had Sophie.
Ash, she didn’t wake up.” Her voice broke at the end.
“Where are you?” I could hear Sophie crying in the background, probably feeding off her mum’s stress.
“I’m in my car heading to the hospital. Asher,” her voice cracked, “I don’t know what to do. She’s the only family I have. What if something happens to her. What if she—”
I cut off her spiral. “Sutton, you can’t go down that road.” I wanted to tell her that Iris wasn’t the only family she had, that I was here for her, but I was a four-hour flight away and it would do her no good right now. “You don’t know what’s wrong with her yet.”
“I can’t deal with losing her.” I could hear the tears now. “Ash…I can’t.” The sound of her crying had my heart in a vise.
“Are you okay driving, baby?” I sat forward, trying to will my calmness to her through the phone.
“I’m fine.” She took a shaky breath.
“What hospital?”
“Uhhh…” She sniffed. “They told me they were going to North Hill. Shit.”
“What?”
“I shouldn’t have called you. You’re at work in a different city. I didn’t think. I just needed you. You were the first person I thought of.”
My heart rate picked up for an entirely different reason. She had put the friend boundary up, and I was ready to knock it down with that admission.
“You have that meeting and I knew that—”
“I don’t give a shit about the meeting. You should always call me, Sutton.”
“Ugh. You know what? I’m fine. I’ll just see what the doctor says when I get there. I’m overreacting. I can text you an update when I know more.” Her voice was way too high, trying to project a calm she didn’t feel.
“Sweetheart. I—”
“I’m sorry I called. I’ll be fine. Have a good meeting. I’ll see you when you get home.”
I opened my mouth to tell her to stop but she’d already hung up on me.
“Fuck,” I muttered as I ran a hand down my face. I stared at my phone for two seconds before I looked up at Noah. “I have to go be with my girls. Can you do dinner without me?”
“Fuck that, mate. I already texted the pilot—they’re fueling the plane now. I’m coming home with you.” He leaned forward to give the driver new directions. I was grateful that he’d been eavesdropping on my call.
While he got us to where we needed to be, I pulled up Knight’s number and dialed.
“Asher,” he answered quickly.
“We’re flying home.” I didn’t bother with a greeting; my phone etiquette sucked on a good day anyway.
“What happened?”
I gave him a quick rundown of what was going on.
“I know it’s inconvenient to ditch dinner,” I finished.
“You know I don’t give a shit. I’ve abandoned them before, you know it won’t jeopardize the sale and even if it did, it doesn’t matter.
She does.” This was one of the main reasons that Knight and I were best friends.
He knew she was important to me, and that meant she was important to him too.
They all had folded her into our family, just like we’d done for Quinn. “What do you need from me?”
“She’s going to North Hill. She has Soph with her.”
“Quinn and I will get in the car now and stay with her until you get there. Maybe once you’re there we can take Sophie to our place.”
“Thanks, Knight.” The relief from knowing he would be there would make the next four hours while I was in the air slightly less hellish.
We hung up and I tried Sutton again but she didn’t answer. Noah was taking care of business, calling the owners of the hotel to let them know of the change in plans and then the hotel to get our bags packed so they could ship them home to us.
Once we were loaded on the plane and taxiing down the runway, I tried Sutton again but she didn’t answer.
Me
I’m on my way back. Knight and Quinn will be at the hospital soon, answer when Quinn calls so she can find you. You were right to call me.
She isn’t your only family Sutton.
I’ll see you soon.
The only relief I had over the next few hours was when Knight texted to let me know he was with Sutton and Sophie and that they were okay, since she never replied to my texts.
Knight said she was pacing and stressed and Sophie was feeling it but he was with her and that was the most I could do for her from the air. Iris was still in with the doctors.
Will was waiting at the airstrip with his car when we landed and he took off toward the hospital the second we were in.
As we pulled up, the strange dichotomy of the hospital hit me.
Someone was getting out of their car with balloons and flowers, ready to welcome a new baby to the world, and on the other side a couple was coming out of the emergency room doors.
The man held the woman as she broke down like she had just lost someone.
When Sutton had given birth, no one was there.
No one brought her flowers or balloons or supported her through those tough days of Sophie being in the hospital.
She did it alone. But if she wanted another, and by some miracle she chose me, I would be there for every second, supporting her and making sure she never felt that alone again.
Oli and Jaxson had joined Knight already and they were all waiting for us when we came charging through the doors. I may not have had a family in my early years but I’d built one and we stuck together through anything. We always showed up for our own.
And whether Sutton knew it or not yet, she was ours.
I got a few slaps on the back and then they pushed me to the waiting area where my girls were. Sophie was sitting on Quinn’s lap, whimpering and making grumpy noises, clearly tired and overwhelmed. Seeing her upset put me on edge, but I pushed those feelings down so I could take care of them both.
Sutton was sitting to her right, her leg bouncing, her hair down covering her face. She was looking at the floor, her shoulders slumped. I didn’t need to see her face to know she was tired, stressed, and closing off.
The pain in my chest eased slightly at the sight of them.
I might not be able to fix Iris, but I could be there for them.
“Sweetheart.”