Page 69 of Heal For Me

“This way!” Beverly holds open the kitchen door that leads outside, and it’s so cute how she is playing along. I sprint out as fast as I can, which isn’t very fast because it’s been a long day on my knee. Thankfully, Nelson doesn’t seem to mind.

Beverly slams the door and pretends to struggle to hold Ash off.

A real laugh tears through me, but I’m breathing hard so I cough it out as I run into the yard. Past the pool, there’s little landscaping besides a few fruit trees, but the grass is soft and so beautiful. It’s still warm out, but not bad in my dress.

“Which way?” I ask Nelson.

He points back toward the house, and since it’s getting dark and I don’t know this property at all, I think that’s a great idea. “Where’s the dinosaur?” I ask. Beverly is gone from the door, and the only other people out here are William, Ash’s dad, and William, Ash’s brother-in-law, or Will as I was instructed to call him, sitting on the back porch smoking from a pipe.

“Dada! Where’s Uncle Dinoash?”

Dinoash, I like that.

“I don’t know but you better hurry and get inside before he finds you!” his dad says. I’m taking that as a hint that Ash is somewhere out here where I can’t see him and he’s going to jump out at us.

“Hurry, Aunt Payson!”

My feet faulter hearing that title, not in a bad way. In fact, I quite like having the aunt title. Not only does it make me feel special but like Ash and I are seen as a real couple. I really like that. I guess if Nelson is calling me aunt, his mom can’t hate me that much.

Famous last words.

I’m hurrying by the pool when Ash jumps out of nowhere . . . Okay, maybe a bush, but it scares not only me, but Nelson to the point he screams and then I scream because he’s screaming, and before I know it, I’m screaming because I’m falling backward, right into the pool.

The last thing I hear is Ash cuss before cold water rushes around me. I do my best to keep Nelson above the water by holding him up, but it’s a deep pool, so I can’t be sure I succeeded until I break from the surface and see that his hair is dry.

Score me.

His eyes are wide behind his glasses. “Wow” is all he says.

“Wow is right.” I force a laugh because laughing is the last thing I feel like doing. I move us to the side of the pool, and Will grabs Nelson from my arms and pulls him into a thick towel right away. Ash reaches for me, and I splash him.

“You’re going to regret that, babygirl.”

I reach up, and he tugs me out as easily as Will lifted Nelson. He wraps a big towel around me and tucks me into his chest the same way too.

“Balance hasn’t returned fully, I see.”

“You’re such a—” I don’t finish that sentence and huff instead. “You know.”

Ash’s laugh is deep and from his belly, and I elbow him, cutting it off.

Grace blows through the back doors and throws her hands in the air. “What the hell is happening out here? I’m upstairs feeding Charles when I hear my son scream and a large splash.”

“Calm down, Grace.” Ash rolls his eyes, obviously not caring how pissed his sister is. Or how she is now glaring at me after seeing Nelson and I in towels.

“What happened?”

“They were just playing, love. It was an accident, and he is fine.” Will attempts to calm his wife but I can see from here it did nothing to help. She practically has smoke rolling from her ears.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t realize how close the pool was.”

“Did it move or something?” she snaps.

“Grace,” Ash’s dad scolds.

Ash tenses behind me. “Watch how you speak to her.”

“Then what about you? She’s a child, Ashley. She’s probably never held a child before, yet you let her run around with mine in her arms?”