“What’s the hurry?” Gunner asked as he slid into the passenger seat.
“I’m dropping you off at the Rose, then going to check on Nora. Dylan saw her coming out of Urgent Care with a bandage on her hand.”
“Hope it’s not something bad,” Gunner said.
“At this point, a hangnail would probably be her last straw,” Asher said as he drove out to the highway and gunned it up to the Rose. He let Gunner out and then drove to Nora’s house, pulled up behind her car, went up the porch steps two at a time, and knocked.
A few seconds later, he heard footsteps coming to the door, and then it swung inward. There was a mop in her hand, and the shirt she was wearing was stained with blood, he assumed from the bandaged hand she was holding up between her breasts. Tears were rolling and her chin was trembling.
He felt like he’d just been stabbed, as he stepped over the threshold and opened his arms. She fell into them as he kicked the door shut behind him.
“Nora… Sweetheart, what happened? Dylan saw you coming out of the ER.”
“I’m not crying because I hurt myself. I’m crying because I’m mad, tired, and frustrated. I tripped over a loose brick in the backyard, fell and cut my hand on a piece of glass half buried in the dirt. I didn’t even see it,” she sobbed. “I have four stitches in the palm of my hand and I’m mopping up blood I strung all over the house. I want my family back. I want my life back. I don’t have a rudder anymore. I’m afloat, but drifting.”
“You still have me,” he said, then led her to the sofa, sat down beside her, and held her while she cried. “You’re breaking my heart. Life drop-kicked you big time. Our reunion has resurrected a multitude of emotions, and you were already dealing with too many responsibilities and grief before this. Did they give you anything for pain?”
“Yes. They’re going to deliver it.”
He grabbed a handful of tissues from the box on the coffee table and handed them to her. “Is it hurting bad right now?”
“It’s still numb from the shots to deaden it.”
“Then we’re going to go pick it up, and then we’re going to the Yellow Rose, and you’re going to eat lunch with me and my brothers. I will feed you myself, and you can soak up the sympathy and kind words from the other diners and get free pie from Pearl. You have been alone too long. I will either take you home after or bring you home with me and put you to bed there, while we fix a window. Okay?”
She wiped her eyes and blew her nose, and then laughed through the tears. “I don’t know as I’ve ever had an offer like that before, but it’s one I don’t want to pass up. Even if my eyes are all red from crying.”
“They’ll be fine by the time I get a pain pill in you,” he said.
She wrapped her good arm around his neck and hugged him. “You were my best friend before you were my lover. I missed you, Ash. I missed you so very much.”
“I missed you, too, love. I missed you, and I missed this.” He brushed his mouth across her lips, then went back for more, until their hearts were pounding, and they were waffling between sex or soup. “I can’t go anywhere in these bloody clothes, though.”
“I’ve stripped you before. I remember how it goes. You lead the way and pick out what you want to wear. I’ll help with the rest. And pack an overnight bag, too. You’re staying the night with me and the boys. I wouldn’t sleep a wink thinking of you alone and hurting.”
“What if they don’t want—”
He rolled his eyes. “Nora… Honey… They love you. They always have. Now let’s get this over with, and I’m sorry ahead of time if I hurt you.”
She nodded, and when he began, she kept thinking, this was Ash. He’d always taken care of her, even when she hadn’t needed the help, she’d understood his need to matter to her. To take care of someone he loved, and this was nodifferent.
He pulled her bloody jeans down to her knees first. “Now sit down on the bed, and I’ll get your boots and pants off, then we’ll do the shirt.”
Within minutes, he had the bloody clothes off and her clean clothes on, and with her standing by him with instructions, put the bloody clothes into the wash.
“With laundry soap and on cold, right?” he asked.
She nodded, then laid her head against his shoulder as he did as he’d been told.
“Okay…we’ve got your overnight bag packed. Go rest a minute while I finish mopping up the blood. I called Belker’s and told them we were coming by to pick up your meds.”
She sighed. “You think of everything.”
“On-the-job training,” he said, and winked.
A few minutes later, they walked out, locking the door behind them. He had one hand under her elbow, helping her down the steps, and was carrying her bag with the other.
He put her bag in the back seat and buckled her in before closing the door.
