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Rafe held out both hands in a sign for them to hold up. “Well, maybe not all of us.”
They all laughed at that, but the sounds rang hollow. Jace had betrayed them all, and Asher felt like an idiot for letting him do it.
Slowly, Genevieve came to her feet, drawing the attention of her children and stepchildren to her.
“I don’t want you all to feel sorry for or angry with yourselves over this.”
She seemed to be looking right at Asher as she said the second part.
“As awful as it was to be robbed, nothing we lost was irreplaceable.”
Ainsley started to speak up, but Genevieve held up a hand to delay her.
“We opened our home and our hearts to someone we believed could be family. You can console yourselves with that. Things can be replaced. Family can’t. That grifter wasn’t family.”
The meeting broke up soon after as they all quietly returned with their thoughts to their suites and homes.
Only Asher’s sitting room seemed to shrink on him once he reached it. Back in the dining room, he couldn’t bring himself to mention it and add to an already difficult discovery, but now he could think of nothing else. One switched-at-birth report had been fabricated, and the other was real but with an impostor playing the role of the missing baby. Were those things connected?
“I was a chump.”
He shook his head as memories of showing off the new spring calves to Jace crept through his thoughts. Had he hoped he would finally have a brother who cared as much about the land and the animals of the Triple R as he did?
Unable to stay on the sofa any longer, he crossed to the nursery and carefully opened the door, allowing light to stream across the room. His beautiful Harper slept flat on her back, her arms raised above her head, the light blanket he’d placed over her already bunched in a corner of the crib. He took a step toward her, but she startled in her sleep, so he remained in the doorway.
Jace had not only taken advantage of his parents and siblings, he’d also likely targeted Asher’s precious child, the woman he loved and another child he cared for as if she was his own. Was he positive that Jace was the one who orchestrated the fake baby switch? No. Audrey Williams had a motive to do it in her plans to hurt Willow, but if it was Jace, Asher wouldn’t let him get away with it.
Without covering his daughter again since her sleeper was plenty warm, he closed the door and returned to the sitting room with his phone. He needed to get in touch with Rex and Jarvis and let them know they would be in charge the next day. He had to find some answers.
After he made those calls, he pulled up Willow’s name in the contact list and stared down at her photo that he’d added to it. As his finger lingered over the call icon, he reconsidered. He’d told himself he would give her space, and even if he suspected he’d finally found the real connection between the mysteries involving his family and hers, he still needed proof.
Once he had it, he would share the whole story with her and apologize for how she’d been dragged into a drama that had nothing to do with her. Then, if she was still talking to him, he would tell her one more thing: he was in love with her.
Chapter 26
Willow carefully climbed the exterior stairs to her apartment and inserted her key in the dead bolt. She didn’t know why the fire inspector had locked it, since there was almost nothing salvageable inside. She shifted onto her hip the box of contractor trash bags, a pair of work gloves tucked at the top. They would fill many bags that morning.
“Are you sure these steps are safe?” Candace asked from behind her.
“The inspector said we’re clear to come back inside,” Willow said over her shoulder. “The building is structurally sound. But I have to tell you, if it wasn’t, hugging that handrail wouldn’t have made a difference.”
Though Candace made a mean face, she didn’t release the rail until she stood behind her boss at the top.
“Glad Tori could babysit Luna today.”
Willow nodded, but she didn’t look back at her. “She said she was glad to have a little extra income. I’m sorry I’m unable to cover payroll until we’re up and running again.”
“That’s what unemployment insurance is for. Besides, you know I don’t need this job. I’m just here for the distraction, and because I adore you and Luna.”
“Thanks. We love you, too.” She stared at the same peephole where she’d looked out at Asher that night not so long ago. Was everything in her apartment going to remind her of him? “Get ready to be really distracted today.”
As she pushed open the door, her breath caught. She’d thought she was prepared to see it. The fire department officials had warned her. That didn’t stop the images and the stench from hitting her like a two-by-four to the face. This was the home she’d made for her tiny family, the business she’d built, piece by piece, and that plan that was supposed to provide her with the type of security her mother had never known.
At least this part of it was gone.
Anything that hadn’t been burned lay bloated and destroyed from the high-powered fire hoses. Even days later, her tennis shoes squished on the soggy carpeting as she took her first few steps inside.
She swallowed a sob, reminding herself that only things had been inside that building. No one she loved had been badly injured. Luna was unharmed. Even Asher’s injuries were minor. None of her employees or charges were hurt. So why did she still have the urge to sit on the floor and cry?
