Page 54 of Because You Loved Me

“Enough serious talk.” Lucy reached for Noa’s arm and gave her a wink. “Let’s get this dinner on the table.” She pulled Noa to her feet. “You can help me with the salad.”

* * *

“Noa’s cute.”

Ninety seconds. That’s all it had taken for one of the guys to say something to him about Noa the moment they were left alone. In a strange way, Asher was impressed they’d waited so long.

“She is.” He tried to keep his tone as neutral as possible, but there was no point in denying the obvious truth. Noawascute. Very cute.

He settled into a dining room chair with the misguided hope that the conversation would shift to pretty much anything else.

Not that there was any real hope in that regard.

It was Craig who pushed the issue. “Are you going to offer up details willingly, or are we going to have to pull them out of you?”

“Because you know wewillpull.” Symon, the baby in his arms, grinned at him.

Asher looked to Chase for assistance, but his eldest brother wasn’t saying a word.

“You know we’re not letting this go,” Craig confirmed. “Not after you pulled the whole disappearing act for the last week.”

“Not to mention the whole bride kidnapping,” Symon added.

Chase shrugged. “They’re not wrong.”

He knew when he’d been beaten. “Fine. But you’re all going to be disappointed when you learn it’s not nearly as dramatic as you’re thinking.”

“Doubtful.” Symon settled back into the chair.

For the next few minutes, Asher gave the men the abbreviated version of the story. From how he’d met Noa, not knowing she was the bride, all the way to her running out in front of his truck in her gown as he was making his own getaway.

“So, it wasn’t planned?” Craig asked. “She wasn’t running away from her wedding for you?”

Asher almost spat out his mouthful of water. “Hardly. It was definitely a case of right place, right time. Or maybe, wrong time. Either way, I was the getaway driver. That’s all.”

“But she’s still with you.”

Leave it to Chase to point out the obvious.

“So, that’s notall,is it, brother?”

All three sets of eyes focused on him, and Asher blew out a breath. “Like I said, it’s not at all what you’re thinking. She needed a place to stay for a few days and I…well, I guess I found myself with a little cabin in the middle of nowhere. Maybe we should talk about that?”

When none of the men spoke up, he continued. “Seriously, none of you want to know about the secret cabin in the woods that Dad had?”

“Of course we want to know,” Craig said after a moment. “There’s a lot we want to know, Asher.” He ran his hand through his hair. “Not important, though. I think we should all back up for a minute and ask the really important question.”

Asher sighed. “What’s that?”

His youngest brother took the seat across from him and looked him straight in the eyes. “How are you doing with all of this?”

Asher groaned in frustration.

“It’s a fair question, Asher.” Chase joined them at the table, sitting next to Craig. “I mean, none of this is easy and for you…” His brothers exchanged a glance. “This really can’t be easy.”

“Because I’m the workaholic?” He knew what they thought of him. That work was his entire life and the only thing that he found meaning and joy in. Every single one of his siblings had approached him about theirconcernsat some stage. And yes, workwasimportant to him, but he didn’t do it just for himself. That’s what they couldn’t see. He did it forallof them. The whole family. Asher worked his ass off to keep Carlson Corp running and thriving after their father died, because if he hadn’t, their legacy would have died along with him.

“Asher, that’s not what?—”

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