11. Chapter Eleven
Chapter Eleven
Raif
R aif is sitting at the counter in the diner, sipping a cup of coffee, when the stool next to him moves. A man in his fifties sits down gingerly, groaning under his breath. Raif wants to ask the man if he’s okay, but bites his tongue, it’s none of his business. Sandy comes over and tops up his cup.
“The usual, Mr. Grant?” she asks the man with her bright, cheery voice. It’s always a surprise to him that Sandy’s single, and she winks at Raif.
“Yes, dear, thank you.”
The man clears his throat and sips his new cup of coffee.
“Pass the cream, would you?”
Raif passes it to him and can’t help but think of the name Grant. He knows that’s Ash’s last name, and she’d mentioned her parents in passing. This could very well be her father.
“Excuse me, sir, but do you know Ash Grant?”
The man eyes him warily, looking him up and down with squinted eyes. “She’s my daughter. Why? You lookin’ to court her?”
Raif wants to say yes. That he would love to date Ash, take her out, and show her off. She’s the most beautiful woman he’s ever laid eyes on and would be proud to date her.
“No, sir. I work with her at the fire station. I’m a new volunteer firefighter there.”
Mr. Grant hums in understanding and sips his coffee.
“I heard about them needing volunteers after Sam broke his leg. Shame that was, the roof collapsing on him like that. Ashley saved him, you know? Pulled him out of the burning building, carried him over her shoulder.”
Raif hadn’t heard the details of the story. Knew that Sam had broken his leg on duty, but not how. Definitely not the fact that Ash was the one to save him.
“Ash is a strong woman and an excellent firefighter; she’s my mentor right now as I train. I couldn’t ask for a better teacher.”
Mr. Grant eyes him heavily, locked on Raif’s gaze. It’s the kind of look Raif wants to submit to, roll over his bear belly, and show he means no harm. He can tell this man is protective of his daughter, extremely protective.
He juts out his hand to Raif. “Robert Grant.”
Raif accepts the handshake, strong and firm, like Ash’s.
“Raif Henderson, sir, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”
He’d always wondered what meeting his mate would be like. Meeting his mate’s parents never occurred to him. He can see they have the same eyes, dark brown and wide. Robert’s hair is gray, but his jaw is sharp and his skin tan like his daughter’s.
“It’s a shame Ashley couldn’t be here today.
She works a lot but tries to meet me for lunch once a week.
A new thing for us, but it’s good for me to get out of the house.
” Robert twists and turns his coffee cup on the counter.
“I don’t know how well you know her, but she moved here after I had a heart attack.
Old ticker isn’t as good as it used to be.
” Robert rubs his chest with the heel of his hand, and Raif wonders if it’s subconscious or if it actually hurts. He hopes it’s not the latter.
If Ash is meeting her father in town once a week, it’s a shock he hasn’t run into her sooner. But his life has been solely focused on the lodge for years now, and he rarely has the time to sit at the diner.
“I know Ash, Ashley, works very hard at the station. It’s long hours, but she seems to love it. If there’s anything I can ever do to help.”
“Actually,” the man says with a wry smile, “there is.”
That’s how Raif finds himself two hours later pushing a mower across the Grants’ lawn.
He doesn’t mind. Mowing is easy. Robert said Ash usually takes care of it, but hadn’t been able to for the past couple of weeks.
It shows with how long the grass is and the number of weeds that have sprouted.
He’s working up a sweat pushing the old mower and pulls his shirt off to get some of the breeze on his skin.
He’d met Ash’s mother when he showed up after Robert. Julie. She seems nice, if a little too excited that he knew Ash. She kept telling him how wonderful her daughter is, but when she mentioned 'needing a man,' Robert shut her down quickly and shuttled her into the house. It seems like a sore spot.
Raif’s about halfway through the back yard and has stopped to do some weeding when he hears a door slam.
“What the fuck are you doing here?”
He’d recognize that voice anywhere and stands with a smile, but it drops when he sees the fury on Ash’s face. He looks behind her where her father is making his way onto the back porch.
“No, Ashley, calm yourself down. I ran into Raif in the diner and told him you hadn’t been able to come by in a while to do the lawn. He offered, nice man that he is. Knows how hard you work.”
“I didn’t mean any offense, ma’am.”
“Give us a minute, Dad.”
Robert shrugs his shoulders and turns to go back in the house just as Julie is coming out with a tray of glasses and a pitcher of lemonade. Robert ushers her back into the house, and Raif can see her pinched face.
“What are you doing here, Raif?” Ash comes down the steps closer to him on the lawn, hands on her hips.
“I met your father in the diner, got to talking. He said...he said there were some things to do around the house, mowing included. I offered to help.”
“Why?” she’s got that same furrow on her brow that she often has. Raif is starting to be able to read her, that she’s sometimes shy and a little insecure, but covers that up by standing tall and taking charge.
“It was the right thing to do.”
She seems to consider his words. Taking two steps closer, then stopping.
“I can mow my parents' lawn, you know. And anything else they need. I don’t need your charity.”
“It’s not charity, ma’am. It was the right thing to do. Your father said he needed help, and I was able to give it.”
“Are you always so generous with people you don’t know?”
Raif can feel his cheeks heat, and he looks away. He thinks he knows what she’s getting at. Does he always mow strangers' lawns, or is he trying to get on her good side?
“He said he was your father. And I’d...I wanted to help you. I know how hard you work at the station. It’s hard on me, and I’m only there half a shift. I thought...I thought if I could make things a little easier for you, if I could help you out. Then maybe you wouldn’t have to worry so much.”
Ash is quiet for a moment, and he doesn’t know if he overstepped his bounds.
He has gathered that her life is firefighting and her family, and not much else.
It’s easy to see she’s stressed. She carries tension in her shoulders that he wants to rub away.
She rubs at her temples at work like she has a constant headache, and he assumes it’s from stress.
Being a firefighter is hard work. Being a firefighter at a station that serves two towns and is understaffed is really hard work. He feels for her.
“Well, thank you. I hadn’t been able to get to it in a couple of weeks. I was coming over here to do it now.”
“I’ve got it covered if there’s anything else you need to do?”
She looks at him, eyes roaming over the expanse of his chest before looking away.
He realizes he’s shirtless and should maybe cover up.
He only took it off for the heat and not to show off.
But his mate might not appreciate him being this naked.
He moves to the porch to pick up his shirt, and Ash watches him.
He can feel her eyes on him as he pulls it over his head, and when he turns back to look at her, her cheeks are tinged pink.