ASHFORD (Gray Wolf Security #5) (4 page)

Mina

The baby was awake early the next morning. I carefully bathed him in the bathroom sink, keeping the dark, withered piece of cord on his navel dry as the nurses had instructed. Then I nursed him and took my own shower before heading downstairs.

One of the women in Ash’s life had provided me with, not only dozens of little outfits for Ford, but a cute little scarf-like thing that, when tied properly, held him close to my body without impeding my arms. I went downstairs with the baby nestled close against me and attacked the dishes that were stacked neatly in the sink, the remnants of the meal Rose had made for everyone before they left last night. With those done, I sought out a broom and mop, cleaning the floor until the off-white tiles shone.

I was dusting the coffee tables in the living room when Rose came through the front doors.

“Morning,” she said brightly. “How did the little one do last night?”

“Good. He only got up twice.”

“Aww, he’s going to be a good one,” she said, coming over to take a peek at Ford over the edge of the wrap. “Such a good sleeper.”

Ash came down the stairs then, dressed in jeans and a t-shirt as he always seemed to be.

“Morning, ladies.”

“I’ll get your coffee,” Rose said.

I turned back to my dusting. I could feel Ash watching me, but I didn’t turn until he touched my shoulder.

“You don’t have to do that.”

“I was just trying to help out.”

“I appreciate it, but it’s not necessary. We all kind of clean up after ourselves.”

“Something that doesn’t always work out well,” Rose said, coming back over with a cup of coffee in her hands. “Not all of us are as efficient at clean up as others.”

“I don’t mind,” I said. “It keeps me occupied.”

Ash considered me for a long moment, then inclined his head just slightly. “Just try not to overtax yourself. You just got out of the hospital, after all.”

“I’ll take it slow.”

They wandered off, going to what I assumed was Ash’s desk and discussing something of which I only caught every other word. David came in a short time later, shooting a dark glance in my direction before going to the large workstation on the other side of the room. I got the impression he didn’t like me much.

Rose began preparing breakfast, so I went over to help. She quietly handed me tasks to do, watching to make sure I was doing what she wanted efficiently.

“He’d like me to take you shopping later this afternoon.”

“It’s not necessary.”

Rose looked me over. “Every woman should have a few things to call her own. And the baby will need more things. Little ones go through more clothes than most people imagine.”

I looked down at Ford, nestled against me with his little fist up against his face. My heart seemed to swell whenever I looked at him, a fact that surprised me. As deeply as I hated his father, I’d expected to feel the same toward him, or at least an indifference. But this love I felt was almost overwhelming.

“He’s too kind to me.”

“He’s a very generous man.”

I brushed away a tear that escaped my eye. “I don’t know how I can ever repay him. No one has ever been this kind to me.”

Rose touched my arm lightly. “I’m sure you’ll find a way.”

***

The baby grew fussy during breakfast. It was almost a relief, really. Everyone kept staring at me, but no one would ask the questions that were clearly on their minds. And Ash chose to eat breakfast alone at his desk, staring at his computer screen for so long I was beginning to wonder if he was simply trying to avoid the whole group of us.

And it was a group. Joss came in shortly after David arrived, waddling straight to Ash’s office area to speak to him. Then Donovan, the bandage removed from his forehead. Kirkland was the last to show up, coming into the kitchen to tease Rose about her decision to make cheese and ham omelets, which was apparently his favorite.

It was fun watching them all. They seemed like a big, happy family, the way they teased each other and looked out for one another. Kirkland pulled back Joss’s chair at the table, and David teased Donovan about the scar that was going to be left behind on his forehead. I was an only child, so I’d never had that sort of sibling rivalry, or whatever you wanted to call it. And Rose, sitting at the head of the table, reminding everyone to set their cell phones aside and pay attention to what was right in front of them.

It was nice, the kind of life I wanted for Ford, but I felt like an outsider who really didn’t belong there.

I took Ford upstairs and sat against the pillows on my bed, nursing him until he was nearly asleep. Then I changed him and settled him in his basinet, watching until his eyes closed and his breathing became steady. He was a good baby. Rose was right about that. I just hoped he remained a good baby.

I made my bed, thinking about Ash. I’d been about to get up to get the baby last night when I heard him push through the door. I was surprised, but it was nice to watch him, this big, powerful man holding a tiny infant in his arms. He looked good like that. A gentle giant.

Ford deserved a father like that.

After straightening my room, I slipped out into the hallway, leaving the door open so I could hear Ford should he wake. Then I pushed open the door at the end of the hall and discovered another guest room, slightly smaller than mine, that looked as though it hadn’t been disturbed in a while. I dusted and stripped the sheets from the bed, making a pile for the laundry, assuming Ash had a laundry room on the premises somewhere. We were too far from town for a laundry mat. When I was done, I moved my pile into the hallway and then opened the other door on this landing, a room that was clearly the master bedroom.

It was twice the size of the other rooms with a large, rounded window that overlooked the expanse of land behind the house. There was a window seat with thin pillows tossed across it and a book left open on one end that suggested Ash sat here recently. It was an interesting choice of seats since there was a love seat set in front of a wide screen television hanging on the far wall. A couple of club chairs, too. And then the bed, a king-sized, four-poster bed with matching, dark walnut nightstands and a tall, wide dresser.

The bed was unmade. I quickly stripped the sheets off of it, trying not to let my thoughts go places they shouldn’t. I wasn’t ready to have those sorts of thoughts despite the fact that Ash was probably the most gentlemanly person I’d ever met. I just wanted to give back a little something of what he’d given to me.

I gathered his laundry, too, after wiping down the sink in the bathroom and picking up the towel he’d left lying on the floor. I was nearly done when I spotted a pair of jeans by the bed. As I snatched them up, my eye caught on the framed picture lying face down on his bedside table. I picked it up, struck by the beauty of the woman it portrayed. She had dark hair and dark eyes, a sort of exotic look about her. Her nose was too long and her lips were imperfect somehow, but she was gorgeous. I’m not sure it was genetics that made her so beautiful, however, but the man whose arms were around her and whose face into which she was staring.

Ash.

Whoever this woman was, he loved her. Deeply.

“What are you doing in here?”

I stood up, not even realizing I’d settled on the edge of the bed, the picture in one hand and his jeans in the other. Ash snatched the frame from my hand and shoved it into a drawer of the nightstand before turning the full force of his stare on me.

“Answer the question!”

There was such anger in his tone, on his face, his eyes practically snapping with it. My eyes automatically dropped to his hands, expecting to find them balled up and ready to punish me for my transgression.

“I was just cleaning up,” I said, ashamed of the tremor in my voice.

His eyes softened slightly, a little compassion coming into them.

“This room is off limits.”

“Okay.”

I ducked around him and marched out into the hall, dropping the jeans into the pile of laundry I’d collected. I glanced into my bedroom, wanting to run in there and hide. I wasn’t sure where to go next. I had no idea where the laundry room was.

“Mina,” Ash said, coming up behind me. He touched my arm, gripping it but loosely. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have raised my voice.”

I pulled away, but I didn’t move far. I turned and nodded, rubbing the spot he’d touched, as though his grip had been made of iron rather than cotton.

“I wanted…” He stopped, guilt darkening his expression as he watched my hand move. “I wanted to get you to sign these papers. I’ve made you an employee of Gray Wolf so that you can get the insurance.” He gestured toward the bedroom door with the hand holding the papers. “For Ford.”

“You didn’t have to do that.”

“I wanted to. And I’ve set up a PayPal account for your paycheck since I figured you don’t have a bank account.”

“Ash—”

“You need this,” he said, moving closer to me. “You need time to recover and to figure out what your next move is. And when you figure that out, you’re going to need money.”

“But I’m not really your employee.”

“We’ll find some things for you to do when you feel up to it.”

One minute I was frightened of him, the next I wanted to hug him again. Why was he doing all this for me? If he only knew…

“I won’t ever be able to repay you for everything you’ve done.”

“I’m not doing this for you to owe a debt. I’m doing this because you’re a good girl who found herself in a bad place.”

I shook my head. “You don’t know. Ford’s father, he’s—”

“You don’t have to tell me.”

“But I do. You have to understand. Dimi—”

“Ash,” Rose said from the head of the stairs, “I need you for a second before we go.”

Ash glanced at Rose, gave her a cursory nod, and then turned his attention back to me. He touched the side of my face lightly.

“Haven’t you ever heard of that old Chinese proverb that says when you save someone’s life, you’re responsible for them for the rest of their life?”

“You’re being too good to me. I don’t deserve all this.”

“You deserve a hell of a lot more than you’ve gotten. And this place hasn’t been nearly this clean since we moved in.”

I smiled, and that made him smile. He ran his thumb over my jaw then stepped back. He held up the papers, and I signed them, using the low table in the little sitting area to do it, then handed them back. Then he held up a credit card.

“Get whatever you need for Ford. Diapers, clothes, toys…whatever. But only if you promise you’ll get yourself a few things, too.”

“I promise.”

He smiled. “That’s what I wanted to hear.”

I watched him go, wondering how I was ever going to tell him the truth. And wondering how much of what he was doing was about Ford and me, and how much of it was about that girl in the picture.

Mina

The baby wiggled under the blanket, clearly done with his afternoon meal. It was awkward nursing in public, especially since I didn’t really have this all down quite yet. I lifted the blanket to pull Ford out and managed to flash a table of businessmen sitting across from us in the crowded restaurant.

“Here, let me help,” Joss said, tugging the blanket back over my shoulder and then sliding the baby from my arms into hers.

“Thanks.”

“You should get a nursing bra. And one of those covers that are all the rage now, with the strap that goes around your neck to keep it in place. It’s got to be better than a blanket.”

“Do you plan on nursing?” I asked, watching as she cradled my sleepy son against her chest.

“Probably. Not quite sure how it’ll work out with my job and everything, but probably.”

“Ash seems pretty understanding.”

Joss smiled. “Ash would probably let me take my whole family on an assignment if I asked. He’s just thrilled that I’m talking again.”

Finished adjusting my clothing, I folded the blanket and slipped it into the borrowed purse I’d brought along as a diaper bag.

“Talking again?”

“It’s a long story.”

I settled back in my chair and glanced toward the door, wondering if we should go check on Rose. But then the baby made a soft little sound, pulling my attention back to Joss. She was studying his little face with a mixture of amazement and grief. I was curious what that was all about, but I didn’t ask.

“Have you known Ash long?”

Joss nodded. “Twelve, thirteen years.”

“Really?”

“We met in basic training. Hit it off almost immediately and stayed in touch even though we both went in different directions. He went into the Green Berets, and I served two tours of duty in Afghanistan with the infantry.”

“He was a Green Beret?”

“Oh, yeah. Loved it. He was going to be a lifer, but then things changed.”

I knew I shouldn’t ask, but I was curious about this man who’d so generously made himself my benefactor.

“Does that have something to do with the woman?”

Joss looked up from Ford’s tiny face and studied mine. “Woman?”

“There’s a picture in his bedroom.” And then I realized how that sounded, so I had to add, “I was collecting his laundry.”

Joss nodded. “Alexandra Hamill. Alexi.” She looked down at the baby again, brushing her fingertip over his cheek. “Alexi was CIA. She and Ash’s unit ran a bunch of covert operations together in Afghanistan, and they fell in love. They were actually engaged when she disappeared.”

“What happened to her?”

“No one knows, really. The CIA declared her dead after just a few months, going on information they got from sources in Afghanistan. Said she’d been caught by the corrupt politician she and Ash were watching, that she was tortured and killed. But there was no body, no real proof, so Ash doesn’t believe it. He’s been looking for her almost since the night it happened.”

“He still looks?”

Joss nodded. “Not as often as before, but when a clue comes in, he hunts it down until it becomes obvious that it was just another ghost hunt.”

“That’s rough. He must have really loved her.”

Rose chose that moment to rejoin us, plopping into her chair and gulping from her water glass.

“Remind me the next time I want to come downtown for lunch how absolutely nightmarish the traffic is!”

I smiled, intent on reaching across the table to touch her hand as a gesture of reassurance. But then I saw something out of the corner of my eye, and my heart sank. A familiar face was sitting at the bar, a grin on his scarred face. He was taking pictures with his phone, focusing on me and Joss and Rose and Ford.

I wanted to scream. Why couldn’t they leave me alone? Why couldn’t I escape them?

My blood boiled and then ran cold. I had to get my baby out of there.

Even as that thought crossed my mind, Joss twisted to hand me Ford.

“My phone is buzzing, and I can’t quite maneuver,” she said with something of an apologetic giggle.

I cradled the baby to my chest and reached down for my borrowed purse, searching for the nearest exit. But then Joss was on her feet, moving faster than I’d yet to see her in the day I’d known her.

“We’ve got to go. Kirkland’s been shot.”