Page 30 of Asher

As far as the Stewarts being rich, snooty, and full of themselves, this house was just a stone house that Kelsey and Alex had turned it into a home. Looks were deceiving, and Marlowe was feeling pleasantly mellow, especially with Bradley asleep on her lap. She tipped forward and breathed a kiss into his hair. For the first time in her life, she felt like she belonged. These pretty women, the ones she’d tried so hard to alienate, kept being kind and thoughtful, most of all, honest.

Yes, they’d all been through their own versions of hell, and Marlowe couldn’t begin to imagine how terrifying it must’ve been for Libby to have been buried alive. In a concrete planter. In Wisconsin. In autumn. Winters there were brutal, and early fall couldn’t’ve been much warmer. Marlowe shivered at the thought of being trapped in that dark, cold cave again.

“So…” Kelsey murmured. “It’s late, girls, and I have an extra guest room that’s just down the hall. Marlowe, would you mind staying with me until Alex gets back?”

“You know?” Marlowe asked, surprised he’d told his wife about the mission. “I mean, err, he told you where he was going?”

Kelsey leaned forward, her elbows on her knees. “Not exactly. My husband has a tendency to run toward trouble while others run from it, so I suspect he’s doing something dangerous.”

“As do his men,” Libby confirmed. “You sound like you know more than we do, Marlowe. Do you?”

“Yeah, what’s up, girlfriend?” Judy asked.

“No, err, yes. Okay, yes. But it’s… it’s classified.” Marlowe had no idea if the mission was classified or not, but no way would she break Asher’s confidence. He’d had the nerve to stand up to his boss. She couldn’t let him down. “I was supposed to go with them,” she offered lamely, “but here I am, sitting around doing nothing while they’re off saving the world—”

“You aren’t doing nothing,” Judy snapped. “We all signed up for this when we married our guys, and maybe that’s why you don’t get it. You don’t have a vested interest in these guys coming back safely, or maybe you just don’t care about them as much as we do. You don’t have anyone to lose. But understand this” —Judy gestured angrily toward the other women— “this is whatus wivesdo when our men leave. We sit with each other, we stand by each other, and we keep watch together, in the darkest nights when waiting alone gets too hard, Marlowe. While they’re off saving the world, as you put it, we save each other here at home. That’s every bit as important to them as their missions are to the world. We can’t do what they do, and God knows, I wouldn’t want to. But someone has to, and those someones are the men we love.”

Marlowe’s mouth was dry by the end of Judy’s rant. She felt like she’d been slapped. Sure, she wished Asher hadn’t left like he did, and yes, okay, she missed him not being with her when she woke up this morning. But he hadn’t even said goodbye. He’d just snuck away with his friends.

Only now…

It wasn’t like he was out joyriding with his buddies. He’d left her behind, true, but he’d done that to protect her. Maybe because of that hug in Harley’s barn? The hug she’d turned into an awkward joke, when all he’d wanted was to get closer to her?

Man, she was a troll. He’d just revealed his secret, that he had nightmares. That he needed a service dog. Big, brave Asher Downey, the courageous warrior who’d gone into hell to save her worthless life, had confided his deepest, darkest secret to her. But she’d shut him down, and somehow, Judy knew.

Marlowe had no idea what to say, or how to feel about Judy’s uncomfortable accusations. As usual, Kelsey saved the day. Resting a hand on Marlowe’s kneecap, she stage-whispered, “And as you can tell, some of us are still recovering from a bit of our own PTSD.”

“And one of us,” Libby added slyly, “might not be married, but she masks her fear for the guy she cares about by acting offended because he left without her. She’s really afraid for him, because she knows how bad things can be in that part of the world. She knows she might never see him again. That’s a frightening thought, huh, Marlowe?”

Judy’s eyes turned into two thin slits of intense emerald green scrutiny, reminding Marlowe how Asher seemed to see right through her, too. Darn it, Libby might be right.

Marlowe bowed her head, hiding from Judy’s fierce gaze. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

But she did know, and Libby was right. Marlowe did care for Asher. She liked being with him, and she especially liked how he smelled, and the way his sexy green eyes lit up when he’d first seen her that morning in Germany. She liked the funny way her body hummed when he came into view, and she was dying to run her fingers through his hair. And that stupid hug? That was her being mean and pushing him away because… Well, because if the two people who should’ve loved her the most shoved heraway like she was nothing, why would Asher be any different? People were mean and thoughtless and selfish. Only…

Right then, Asher was far from home, risking his life in a hostile country, doing what she wanted to be doing. Fighting for the helpless and the vulnerable, instead of sitting around complaining, whining, and talking about how someone else ought to do something about it. Asher was the reason she was alive today, but she’d spurned him. Why?

“I bet you didn’t know Asher nearly died in Somalia when he was still Army,” Kelsey whispered.

Marlowe turned to study Alex’s wife. There were tiny scars along her jaw, and she’d shown Marlowe the wicked, red scar along the side of her head where a sniper’s bullet had nearly killed her last fall. These women were tougher than she’d thought. They weren’t wealthy talkers; they were earnest doers. And most of that doing was done out of the goodness of their hearts. They weren’t getting rich off their sacrifices. Kelsey ran a safe place for homeless teenagers in Washington, D.C., Judy was a registered nurse, and Libby was a doctor. They were hardworking mothers, as well as businesswomen and faithful wives.

“I didn’t know he was in Somalia,” Marlowe replied softly.

“It’s his story to tell, and I shouldn’t have said anything. One of these days, he’ll share it with you, but…” Kelsey shrugged. “Sometimes the truth is hard to see because we’re too close to it, sweetheart. I never knew how strong I was until Alex showed me how to be brave.”

“I’m not brave. I’m just mean,” Judy declared proudly.

Libby leaned into Judy, nearly pushing her over. “You’re just like Marlowe. You’re only mean because you have to be. I’ll bet Harley has never once said you’re mean.”

Judy hmphed. “He’d better not if he knows what’s good for him.”

Everyone laughed.

“I am worried about those guys. All of them,” Marlowe admitted.

“But she only has eyes for Asher. Marlowe and Asher, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G,” Libby sing-songed.

Marlowe nodded, meeting Libby’s sparkling blue. “I do like him.”

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