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Asher blinked several times. Was he as surprised as she was that he’d admitted so much?
“What do you mean?”
“Your day was worse than mine.” She grinned. “I take it you weren’t supposed to share some of those details with anyone.”
“None of them. But apparently I’ll say anything to hear your story.”
She tilted her head toward one shoulder and then the other, considering. He’d made himself vulnerable, so it only seemed fair. “It’s going to seem small by comparison, but as I told you, there was a complaint filed against the center. Someone did it online. Anonymously.”
“What was it about?”
“The surprise inspector wouldn’t tell me, but he did say he didn’t know how it could have been processed since the system requires all complaints to be signed.”
“Someone was determined to make it happen.”
“That’s what worries me.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s not the first unusual thing that’s happened at the center lately.”
Asher had been staring down at Harper, but now he glanced her way. “What else?”
“On Sunday, I received a letter, where the writer said that Tender Years will be closed by the end of the month. It said I can say goodbye to Mustang Valley, as well.”
“Sunday?”
“It wasn’t mailed. I found it stuffed in my front door. Printed on plain white copy paper. It has to be related to the complaint, right?”
“You must have pissed someone off. Disgruntled former employee?”
When she shook her head, he squinted. “From ‘Anonymous’? That guy is sure getting around lately.”
His words were light, but his hand—the one that wasn’t steadying his child—was fisted against his pant leg. Was he feeling protective of her and Luna? She wasn’t sure what to think about that. She didn’t need to be taken care of. By anyone, let alone a Colton. So, why was she tempted to like it just a little?
“Willow Merrill?” a medical technician called from the open door that led to the examination offices.
As she stood, she released the breath she’d been holding. Keeping Luna in her arms, she pushed the stroller toward the opening. She had to be off her game if she was even tempted to rely on Asher. He was on the opposite side of a potential lawsuit that could leave her childless. She needed to remember that.
The woman smiled at them and then lowered her gaze to the paperwork in her hands.
“Asher?”
He stood and strode across the room with Harper. When he reached them, the woman led the way down the hall.
“We’ll be in examination room four,” she said without looking back.
We? She’d expected them to be in separate rooms. Privacy laws and all that. Apparently, that wasn’t the way this would work.
The woman indicated for them to take the two seats against the wall. No one would be sitting on the examination bed.
“I’m sorry we all have to be in here together, but you saw how backed up we are,” the technician said. “Since we need samples from all of you for the legally admissible test, we’ll do it here.”
“Fine,” Asher answered for all of them.
“Now, I’ll need identification from you both before we begin. A driver’s license will be fine.”
Having been warned about the requirements for a court-admissible test, they both had their IDs ready. An assistant knocked, opened the door and handed the tech a tray with four plastic-packaged test kits on top. She took their licenses to make copies.
