Page 57 of Hidden
“She’d just graduated from college when her mom died. She lives in San Francisco now and owns an art gallery. As you can imagine, she and her grandmother are very close.”
“And?”
“About two years ago, Mrs. Jarvis started showing signs of Alzheimer’s. She had enough lucid moments in the early days to understand what was happening. She didn’t want her granddaughter, Hailey, to have to worry about her, so she asked for my help in finding an assisted living facility. Somewhere closer to San Francisco. The catch was, she couldn’t cover the whole cost with her pension and insurance. Not without selling the house. She had savings, too, but it wouldn’t have lasted long.”
The light went on in Ellie’s head and in that precise moment, she fell a little in love with Asher Warwick. “Let me guess, your rent covers the difference.”
He hesitated then nodded. “This land and this house have been in the Jarvis family for over a hundred years. She knows Hailey might sell it, but it was important to Mrs. Jarvis to leave it to her.”
Ellie stared at the man beside her. “You are an amazing man, you know that?”
He made a face. “It wasn’t that big a deal. Joey needed a place to stay, and I can afford it.”
She still thought he was amazing. And she wondered how many of his family members knew this story. She’d bet not many. If any.
Praise made him uncomfortable, though, and she’d pushed him enough on the subject. Sliding back into place, she reached for the glass of wine and changed the subject.
“When are you going to show me some of those texts? The ones from your family?”
He groaned.
“You promised you would. And we’re drinking.” She lifted the glass and took a sip. “Now seems as good a time as any.”
“You know they’re a little wacko, right?”
“Yes. Which is part of the reason I want to see them.” She raised her free hand, wiped it on a nearby towel, then motioned for him to hand his phone over.
He grumbled something but dried his own hands and picked up the device lying on the shelf beside them. As much as they wanted privacy, they were realistic enough to know they needed to remain reachable.
“Who do you want to see first?” he asked, opening his texting app.
“Oh.” She pointed. “Ryan. You were talking to him the most last night.” He dutifully opened the text thread.
Ryan:I hear you uncomplicated things
Asher:Yeah
Ryan:Good
And that was it.
“A man of few words, that cousin of yours,” Ellie said. “I think I like him. Let’s see your sisters’ next.” He hesitated before opening the group text that included Joey, Charley, and himself. “You promised, Asher,” Ellie reminded him.
“Some of the texts are presumptuous. I don’t want that to freak you out,” he said.
She looked up at him. He really did look worried. “You aren’t responsible for what your family says,” she replied.
He studied her then tapped the thread.
Joey:OMG, please marry her. How cool would it be to have Ellie Cavanaugh as my sister-in-law
Asher:She’s a person, J, not just a name
That made her smile. So did the response.
Charley:Don’t be a dick, Ash. We know she’s a person. A person who kicked Cody and Brad’s ass at beer trivia
Joey:We want her to join our pub trivia team
