Page 24 of Starcrossed Colorado

I glanced over at Judson. “Can you talk some sense into him?”

“I’m staying out of this.”

My brother was out of his mind. “I am not interested in Emma that way. Period. The end.”

Callum grabbed my empty glass and set it aside. “You want to know your real problem?”

“Not really.”

“It’s that you want to keep your world small because you’re scared.”

I glared at the mirrored wall above his head. “Fuck off, Cal.”

“You think that if you allow someone new into your life, you’ll be responsible for her too. But Emma’s a grown adult. She’s young, but she gives every indication of being able to take care of herself. That doesn’t have to be your job.”

I shook my head, continuing to glare at the wall.

“After what happened to Lori, you’re scared of letting anyone else down. But you deserve more in your life. Your daughter does too.”

Anger surged into my throat. Pounded at my temples. I loved my brother, but I was also so tempted to hit him right now. “Not another word. Unless you’d like to have it outside.”

Callum threw his towel down and walked to the other end of the bar.

“You all right?” Judson asked. “If you ever need to talk…”

“No.” I pushed back, getting up from my seat. “I need to go pick up Maisie. It’s getting late.”

Callum had stepped way out of line. What I needed was to stay focused on running my business and taking care of my family. I didn’t need anything else. Couldn’t afford to need anything else.

Because when you stopped being careful, that was when everything fell apart.

Maisie was a wild bundle of energy when I picked her up from the community center. The kind of overtired and hyperactive that Lori and I used to call “toddler drunk.” Once I had her in the truck, she was sound asleep within five minutes.

I carried her into our building with her soft, heavy head resting on my shoulder. She barely stirred as I tucked her into bed. I patted her quilt around her and smoothed her hair from her peaceful face.

My heart was full at moments like these. As long as my girl was safe and happy, things were okay. I didn’t need anything else, except for people to leave me alone.

Callum didn’t know a damn thing.

Quietly closing the door to Maisie’s room, I made my way down the hall. I passed the extra bedroom along the way. What had once been Lori’s room. We used it for storage or for guests, like when Grace stayed over to help with Maisie.

I didn’t look inside.

In my own room, I set my phone and wallet on the dresser and stripped to my boxer briefs.

Summer was my favorite season in Silver Ridge. Our apartment never got too hot or too cold at this time of year. Juggling Maisie with my work schedule was more complicated in summer, but we also got to enjoy lazy walks outside, with breezes blowing through the groves of aspens that bordered Main Street and days that seemed to last forever in the best way.

When Emma had appeared, I’d thought she would throw a wrench in my summer. But maybe it wouldn’t be so bad having her around. I would have to ignore my brother’s idiotic innuendos, but that wasn’t Emma’s fault.

She was sweet to Maisie. Hard for me to hold a grudge against someone who was nice to my kid.

My phone buzzed with a text, and I grabbed it, possessed by a sudden instinct that it was Emma. We’d exchanged numbers. What if she hadn’t gotten back to her apartment okay? What if something was wrong?

I cursed when I saw an anonymous number. That fucking area code.

Unknown

You can’t ignore me forever, Ashford.

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