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“You’re such a dick,” Asher shot back. Ryan’s grin grew to a smile. A self-satisfied smile.
“What’s he done this time?” Chad asked, walking into the living room.
“Nothing,” Asher mumbled, shooting Ryan a warning look. Ryan took another sip of his beer and rocked back on his heels. “How did it go today? With Ellie?” Asher asked.
Chad studied him then glanced outside. Ellie and Sofia had both risen and looked to be heading in. He and Ellie hadn’t had a chance to talk since he left HICC that morning, and he regretted not taking a few minutes to touch base with her. She’d texted him her new number, and he’d responded with his thanks. He’d even added a short note that they’d talk later that night. But other than that, there’d been radio silence between them. And now they were meeting in front of his entire family. Awesome.
“I’m not sure I should say,” Chad said, drawing Asher’s attention back to his cousin.
He frowned. “Why not? I already know the gist of what’s going on. Or did you forget that I’m a part of this, too?”
“A part of what? What’s going on?” Ryan asked. He didn’t get involved in HICC business. But as the chief of police, and a Warwick, he liked to know if something was happening in his town or with his family.
“You and Ellie didn’t seem on the best of terms when you left,” Chad replied, ignoring Ryan’s question.
“That doesn’t change the fact that I’m still involved,” Asher countered, not bothering to deny Chad’s observation.
“Yes, but she’s the client. She gets to decide who we tell and who we don’t,” Chad countered.
In the back of his mind, Asher recognized that his cousin was baiting him. But after the shit day he’d had, he didn’t have the energy to deal with it.
“Forget it,” he said. “I’ll ask her later,” he added as he started to walk away.
“Where are you going?” Ryan called after him.
“I’m going to check in with Ellie, then head home. I have some things I need to take care of.” His cousins would think his reaction overkill. Maybe even petulant. But he didn’t care. He needed some space to breathe, and being with his family wouldn’t give him that. Not right now.
“Check in with me about what?” Ellie asked, stepping into the house with Sofia following behind. Asher didn’t have to look around to know that all eyes in the room had just landed on him.
“Walk me to my car?” he asked.
“Didn’t you just get here?” she countered, her brow furrowed in confusion. He nodded and held her gaze, ignoring everyone else in the room.
His day hadn’t gotten any better after his misunderstanding with her. In truth, it had taken a sharp downward turn. And while being with his family usually helped him unwind, tonight that wasn’t the case. Tonight, he wanted to be in his own home, in front of a fire, with a whiskey. And Ellie. But he’d leave that part for her to decide.
She must have read something in his expression because hers softened. “Of course,” she said, handing her mug to Sofia.
When the front door closed behind them, he stopped on the porch. “You don’t have to walk me all the way to my car. But I did want to apologize for this morning. I still don’t know what you meant when you said what you said, but I didn’t give you a chance to explain. Or the benefit of the doubt. I’m sorry.”
She studied him for a long moment. Nothing was settled between them, but that didn’t stop him from noticing how lovely she looked in the pale light of the moon. Her cheeks pink with the cold, and her dark hair framing her face.
He reached up to brush a strand of hair back, but she caught his hand in hers. “What happened today?” she asked.
He gave a wry smile. “You mean other than learning that someone has you in their sights like a target? Or that I might have messed up the best thing that’s happened to me?”
She brought his palm to her lips and kissed him. “You didn’t mess it up. Not irreparably. And yes, I meant besides those things.”
He didn’t usually talk about his job. None of the cousins did. There was a kind of unspoken pact among them that when they got together, they were just cousins. Just family. And everything else that they were to everyone else—a firefighter, the chief of police, the manager of a massive lodge, etc.—fell to the wayside. Most of the time, he appreciated the escape. But tonight, he found himself wanting to talk with Ellie.
“We had a ski accident come in today. Backcountry skiers, not from the lodge,” he clarified. “A father and son. The father didn’t make it, and the son will be in a wheelchair for the rest of his life.”
“I’m so sorry,” she said, holding his hand between hers. She wore gloves, but his were bare, and the soft cashmere caressed his skin.
“And we got a terminal diagnosis for one of the kids in the cancer ward. Mandy’s tough and she’s…” He paused, looked away, then cleared his throat. “She’ll live for a few months. Maybe a year. But she won’t survive longer than that.” The hospital helped so many, but the raw truth of his profession was that they couldn’t save them all.
“Let’s go home,” Ellie said.
His gaze jerked back to her, and his eyes searched hers. “You don’t need to come with me,” he said. “You deserve a night like this. A night that’s carefree.”
