“I’m sorry, Ash. I’msosorry.” She exhaled her soft words straight into his chest, but he heard them all the same.
His throat tightened, his eyes going damp, his nose tingling with the onset of tears. He hadn’t cried since he’d arrived. His focus had been on June and Owen. On the arrangements. But Nat wasn’t going to accept that. While he was there for everyone else, she was there forhim.
“Thank you for comin’,” he said, pulling back to stare down at her.
“Don’t be an idiot. Of course I came.”
“Well, itisHavenbrook, so I wondered if you would.”
Nat pulled away with one final squeeze and dropped into the chair perpendicular to him, propping her chin on her fist as she rested her elbow on the table. “I didn’t come for Havenbrook. I came foryou. Besides, I’ve already been here for an hour, and I’m not crawlin’ out of my skin yet. I think that might be progress.”
“Definitely. I don’t even see a rash or anything,” Asher said, lowering himself into the chair.
“So, now that we’ve got the two hellions wrangled—temporarily, obviously,” Nat said, darting her eyes to where June and Owen were still mesmerized by the show on TV. “What else needs to be done? What can I help with?”
Asher scrubbed a hand across his jaw, thick with the start of a beard since he hadn’t even thought about shaving since he’d been here. “The funeral’s tomorrow. And then I’ve got an appointment with Cole Donovan, Aubrey’s lawyer, on Thursday to go over their will.” He swallowed down the lump of emotion that rose in his throat, the now-familiar ache in his chest expanding. “I know this isn’t your favorite place, but do you think you can stick it out for a few days?”
“I could probably be bribed,” she said wryly with an eye roll. “I’m here. However long you need.”
Now she was just lying—she put on a good show, but Nat in Havenbrook was like a cat in a bath. He made a mental note to pick up several family sized bags of peanut M&M’s—her favorite—the next time he was at the store to make good on that bribe. “Thank you,” he said, all teasing gone from his tone. “I’m not sure what the hell’s gonna happen, but—”
Nat waved her hand, dismissing the rest of his words. “Ash. It’s fine. I’m here as long as you need me. I’ll stay here with you guys, and that way, you’re not outnumbered by the tiny mutant people.”
Asher cracked a smile and glanced over at his niece and nephew. June had stood from her previous perch on the floor and was now jumping in time to the theme song, her arms flailing out to her sides as Owen mimicked her movements, the two of them laughing. His and Nat’s quiet, talking time was soon going to come to an end. In fact, he’d bet money that they had less than five minutes before someone demanded their attention. He may only have been here for a couple days, but he’d already learned private time was a scarce commodity.
“At some point in the very near future, you’re probably gonna wish you didn’t say that.”
“Probably,” she agreed with a nod.
“There is one little problem,” he said, raising his voice to be heard over Owen’s squeals as June belted out the lyrics to the theme song.
“I’m gonna need earplugs?”
“There is that. But… Well, I don’t feel right about usin’ Aubrey and Nathan’s room.”
“Okay…”
“Which means we’re sharin’ a room, and there’s obviously only one bed. Think you can keep your hands off me?”
Nat raised an eyebrow, her lips curved up. “Who says I’m gonna share?”
Asher had no idea how people did this without any support. He was absolutely wiped, a bone-deep kind of tired that came from both exhaustion and grief. And the real kicker was, he felt that way despite having help.
Thankfully, Nat was still by his side, being the steadfast rock he desperately needed right now. And Rory and Nash had stopped by a few times to check on how things were going. During every encounter, he, Nat, and Nash had sat back, watching Rory expertly entertain two children, while at the same time tidy the house, do multiple loads of laundry,andmake dinner. The woman was a wonder.
“Just a well-experienced mom,” she’d corrected when Asher had vocalized his awe.
Now, he sat in Cole Donovan’s office across the conference table from Aubrey’s in-laws.Formerin-laws. God, it was still hard to think of her being gone. Most of the time, it felt like she was playing some sick joke on him like she loved to do—see how far she could push him to his breaking point before jumping out of a closet and yelling, “Gotcha!”
But nope. She was really gone. He was really in charge of his niece and nephew. And his brother-in-law’s truly awful parents were really seated across from him, awaiting the reading of Aubrey’s and Nathan’s wills.
Aubrey had never had much good to say about the Haywards, and, even having only been in their presence for a short while, Asher could see why. They were pretentious, snooty, and arrogant. It was clear they didn’t think much of Havenbrook—or the people who resided there.
He recalled Aubrey complaining about the disdain they’d shown Nathan when he’d said he would be moving there instead of back home to Connecticut when he graduated college. Asher had only met them a couple of times in all the years Aubrey and Nathan had been together, and he hadn’t truly gotten a full dose of their eccentricities during those brief visits. But fuck, was he getting them now.
“How much longer?” Mrs. Hayward asked, her mouth pinched and nose pointed in the air as she clutched her designer purse in her lap. Her arms were tucked to her sides, her hands white-knuckling her purse handles in what appeared to be an effort to make herself as small as possible, as if she were afraid to touch anything in the pristine office.
“Yes, we really need to get a move on,” Mr. Hayward said, his tone speaking of someone who didn’t get told no very often. Or ever. “We have several interviews lined up for a nanny, and we’ll need to get the kids packed, so I’d appreciate it if we could get this finished up. Then we’ll swing by to pick up June and Owen.”
