46. Sutton
Sutton
“Thank you.” I smiled at the server who placed our drinks on the table in front of us.
I had ordered a soda water while Iris ordered a frozen margarita.
It was twelve o’clock. She’d said we were overdue for lunch since Knight was over at Asher’s place—well I guess it was my place too now—hanging out with Sophie.
It was strange being out with just Iris.
But it was nice knowing Sophie was safe and happy.
“You look good.” Iris looked me up and down and took a sip of her drink.
“What do you mean?”
Her eyes moved over me again. “I’ve never seen your eyes so bright. Those bags that were a constant under your eyes are gone.”
“Rude,” I scoffed without much venom.
“You don’t seem like the world is so heavy. Happy looks good on you.”
Smiling, I shook my head. Everything she said was true and I was shocking myself most days with how things had turned out.
“It’s kind of crazy. When those two lines showed up on the pregnancy test and Ben told me to leave, I closed myself off.
I decided that I would focus on Sophie and once she was older, maybe I would try again. I did not see Asher coming.”
“He’s a good man, even though the look of him made me nervous at first.”
“When he walked into the diner the first time, all I could think was how huge and intimidating he was. The tattoos on his hands, those shoulders and thick chest. He scared me a little. But I couldn’t have been further off about him.”
“He loves Sophie.” She lifted her drink in a cheers. “And he loves you too.”
A warmth spread through my chest having her see what I saw. I mean, he’d told me. That moment was ingrained in my memory. But having Iris see it, the woman I thought of as more of my grandmother than anything, well, that meant the world.
We paused our conversation as our food was brought to the table and we thanked our servers.
“So now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, I wanted to tell you something.”
“You’re scaring me.” I glanced up at her, my fork halfway to my mouth.
She rolled her eyes. “It’s nothing to be worried about. But I’m moving.”
“What?” I put my fork down. I was sure the shock was all over my face. Especially because this was what I was planning on telling her and I had been stressing about it all morning.
“Girl, you’ve hardly been there for the last month.”
“Where are you going?”
“That man I was telling you about, Clint.”
“Your lover?”
She waved me off. “Well, he lives in a seniors building. It’s very nice, the whole thing was recently renovated.
There’s a book club and bridge nights and a chef that makes meals that I can take if I want, but the apartments each have their own kitchen.
Honestly, the place is bigger than my current one. ”
“Wow.” I swallowed. I was a little relieved because now my news wouldn’t be as hard but also a little sad that she wouldn’t be right next door.
“I’ve seen the place, and they have an opening. I can move in at the beginning of the month.”
“It’s going to be weird not living next to you.” I cleared my throat as I took a drink.
“I know, honey.” Iris reached out and grabbed my hand.
“But you and that girl are building a family. I’ve been so blessed to help you in this first part but I’m so happy you’ve found your person.
The person that will be there to support you through everything.
And you know you can call me to babysit anytime.
With Sophie starting daycare in the fall it was good timing but I’m still happy to watch her for you—it just needs to be at your place instead of mine. ”
“I really don’t know how we would have survived without you.” Tears were building in my eyes.
“You would have, because you are the strongest person I’ve ever met, Sutton.” She squeezed my hand again before pulling away. “And I didn’t even tell you the best part.”
“Oh yeah?” I blinked a few times to clear my tears as I tapped the corners of my eyes.
“The seniors center is fifteen minutes away from your place.” She smiled as she took a bite of her food.
“About that…” I cleared my throat. “I’m moving in with Asher.”
Iris looked up at me and waited for a moment. When she didn’t say anything, I widened my eyes, prompting her to say something. “Of course you are.”
“But you just said…”
“Yes. That I’ll be fifteen minutes from your and Asher’s house.”
“How did you know?”
“You don’t ever come home. I honestly thought maybe you’d already moved.”
Relief flooded me as I realized how close we would still be. The woman saved my life and it was going to be hard not being next door. “Ash and the rest of the guys can help you move.”
She waved me off. “You don’t need to do that.”
“You’re my family, Iris.” My voice cracked.
“Sutton.” Iris reached out and grabbed my hand, her eyes focused on me. “You and that sweet girl are never getting rid of me, but you get to move to a new phase of life and I couldn’t be happier or prouder of you. You’re my family too—me not being next door will never change that.”
“Not for me either.”
“Good.” She winked.
After we finished our meals, the server came up to our table. “Can I get you ladies anything else?”
I smiled up at him. “Just the bill, please.”
“No need—the bill was already paid.”
Iris and I both looked at each other in confusion.
“Are you sure?” I looked back at the server.
“Yes, ma’am. A man named Asher called and paid the bill over the phone. You guys are good to go.”
Shaking my head, I looked over at Iris.
She shrugged. “The man is charming.”
I drove Iris home and walked her upstairs to her apartment. We hugged as I made her promise to tell me when she needed help moving before I headed back to my car. I pulled out my phone before I started driving.
Me
Hey! You’ve gotten good at doing stuff for Knight right?
Quinn
Ohhh, I knew it was going to be good when you texted outside the group chat.
I have… Just the other day I sent him coffee and lunch to his office because I knew he had a bunch of meetings.
Are you looking for advice?
Me
I was at a simple lunch with Iris and he called and paid the bill.
It was a fifty-dollar bill!
Quinn
Girl, let me teach you my ways.
When I pulled into our driveway, there was a white SUV that I didn’t recognize parked beside Knight’s truck. I didn’t want to block whoever it was, so I left my car behind Knight’s. The driveway was huge.
“Hello?” I called as I walked into the house.
“In the back!”
Following Asher’s voice, I went into the backyard. Knight and Asher were sitting in some Adirondack chairs, Jaxson and Thor were on the ground with Sophie, Oli and Will were at the barbecue, and Noah and Quinn were playing on a tire swing that was a new addition to the yard.
“How did I not notice all your cars?” I asked as I kicked off my shoes and headed down to the grass.
“We parked at Knight’s.” Oli winked.
“Did someone get a new car?”
“Hmm?” Knight looked over at me, clearly faking confusion. Asher stood up and started toward me.
“We came to talk over wedding details!” Quinn called out.
“You didn’t need to pay for my lunch.” I crossed my arms but Asher just pulled me into his chest with that soft look on his face that was reserved for me and Sophie.
“I would hold that anger in for a few there, Sutton,” Noah chuckled as he and Quinn came up and joined the group.
“Noah.” Asher cut him a glare over his shoulder.
Narrowing my eyes, I looked at Asher as his gaze met mine. He didn’t look guilty exactly, but there was something there that was probably as close as he could get. “What did you do, Grizzly?”
He cleared his throat, stepped back, and crossed his thick arms over his chest. “Should probably just show you.” He tilted his head for me to follow.
“I’ll bring Soph,” Jaxson said with way too much glee in his voice.
As we started walking through the house, my hand in Asher’s, everyone followed behind us. “Your car needed a new engine.” Asher’s voice was grumbly as we stepped out front.
“What?” I asked with a frown, looking at him. “The last time I had it looked at, they said it was fine.”
“When was that?” he asked as he stopped on the driveway, turning to look at me.
I scratched my head, trying to remember.
I was pretty sure it was just after I found out I was pregnant because I wanted to make sure it was safe for Sophie.
“Doesn’t matter.” He grabbed my hand, slapped a fob into my palm, and then stepped aside.
I was about to ask him a question when I looked down at the fob. When I hit unlock, the white SUV on the driveway beeped.
“You didn’t?” I gasped, looking from him to the car and then back again. He stood there, blinking at me. I heard one of the men laugh behind us from where they were all watching on the porch. “Asher. You did not spend this much money on me.”
“It didn’t make a dent, sweetheart.”
I glared at him. “Not the point. My car was fine.”
“It wasn’t.” His voice was firm. “It wouldn’t make it through another winter and the idea of you and Sophie getting stuck somewhere because of that car was plaguing me. So I did something about it.”
I let out a soft sigh. “That wasn’t necessary.”
“It was. I had a problem. I had the solution. It’s been paid in full and is in your name. It has the highest safety rating. It’s the same one I have, just in white.”
“Pretty sure it would survive a bomb,” Will added from behind us.
“Well, since I still have my car, I’ll just drive that,” I tried, crossing my own arms over my chest.
He lifted an eyebrow, a twinkle in his eyes that made me nervous. “I’ve got a truck coming to pick it up. They can empty it all out for you. I got the same car seat for your car that I have in mine.”
“Asher, I just—”
He came forward, his hands going to either side of my face.
“I want to take care of you. Please let me.” Sagging, I uncrossed my arms. The man didn’t say please often.
And would the car be more comfortable and way nicer to drive when the roads were terrible?
Yeah, it would. It had honestly been on my list to look into a new car this winter.
“Thank you.” I went on my tiptoes as he bent down, our lips meeting in the middle. We pulled apart after a deep kiss since everyone was behind us.
“You don’t need to thank me. I take care of what’s mine.” He pressed a kiss to my cheek. “I’ll show you some things on the car.”
“And by that he means I will because this man knows nothing about cars.” Oli came up from behind us as the rest of the men descended onto the driveway.
Quinn linked elbows with me as she came up beside me, lowering her voice. “We’ll make a plan tomorrow.”
I smiled and shook my head as she patted my arm and we walked up to the car where all six men started giving me details I would never remember.