Page 57 of Moonlit Colorado

“I have. I’ve trusted you with my life, and I think you would say the same.”

“I would.”

Laughter came from the living room, Grace rejoining whatever Emma and Maisie were up to, and the expression on Ashford’s face tightened. “That’s why this is awkward.”

“You’re asking for my intentions toward your sister?”

“Yeah, I am, and it’s making me fucking uncomfortable. But Grace and Callum and I have had too many people in our lives let us down. I almost lost Emma last year to someone I trusted.”

“I know, man. That was terrible.”

“And now this break-in? A woman going missing, and Grace being mixed up in it? She acts like nothing gets to her, but she’s in a vulnerable place. I appreciate you watching over her. Being her friend. But I will not allowanyoneelse to hurt the women in my family.”

I kept my calm, but it wasn’t easy. “You thinkIwould harm Grace?”

“Of course I don’t. If I did, this interaction would be going very differently.”

I knew how much Ashford’s family meant to him. I’d seen this coming. That was why I’d told myself I wouldn’t go after Grace unless I had serious intentions.

I wasn’t planning to stay in Silver Ridge forever. My work was elsewhere. My family, such as it was. And Ashford’s friendship meant the world to me. The smarter, more cautious thing to do would be to set aside my interest in his sister. To refuse to risk the closest friend that I had.

But if I had met Grace some other way, would I have agreed to stop pursuing her based on what anyone else said?

No, I wouldn’t. That wasn’t in my DNA.

“When I first met Grace,” I said, “I didn’t realize she was your sister. Would it have made a difference if I had known? Honestly, I can’t say. But I like her.”

“And what does that mean, exactly?”

Fuck, he wasn’t letting up, was he?

Ashford and I had the kind of friendship where we could tell each other uncomfortable things. Was I disrespecting him by pursuing his sister? Maybe. But I would be disrespecting him a hell of a lot more if I couldn’t be honest about it.

“I invited her to come to New York with me for Kip’s wedding, and I’m hoping she says yes. What else happens between us is up to her. If you’re going to ask me to back off, then we might be at an impasse. Because I don’t intend to.”

Ashford held my gaze for a long moment. Staring me down.

Then he shook his head. “That’s exactly the kind of thing I figured you would say.”

“At least I’m consistent.”

He scrubbed both hands over his face. “Have you ever dated a woman for longer than a month?”

“No.” But Grace wasn’t like anyone else. In the last couple of years since Mom’s diagnosis, I had been drifting. Grace made me feel grounded.

“Just be careful with her. Please.”

“So you’re okay with this?” I asked.

“I didn’t say that,” he growled. “But I know you, and I know Grace. I realize that I can’t stop this. But Iwilltrack you down if you hurt her.”

“I would expect nothing less.”

Ashford rubbed a hand over his beard. “If Grace is in some kind of danger in Silver Ridge, a trip out of state isn’t the worst idea. I’ll keep pressing Teller on his investigation into the break-in and this Nina Jamison person. But I have to know Grace is safe.”

Ashford wasn’t an effusive guy. He kept his feelings close, like I usually did. But his concern was obvious on his face. That of a man who had lost his mom. Lost the mother of his child. And last year, almost lost the woman he loved.

No matter what we disagreed on, this was a point where we saw eye to eye.

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