by Barb Han
“Figured the two of you were close enough to…” she glanced up at him with an apologetic look, “you know, have pillow talk.”
“That wouldn’t be any of your business.” Hers or anyone else’s.
“She needs it. My sister has been through the ringer.” Another quick glance. “I probably shouldn’t say anything.”
“You damn well better,” he hissed.
Stella cocked her head to the side. Her heavily made-up face softened. “She was raped by her high school boyfriend. Ashlyn came into the world nine months later. My sister was fifteen-years-old at the time. Our grandparents were too old to take on a newborn. I was twenty-four, married and already out of college. Andy and I had talked about having kids but we hadn’t planned on having them for a few years. Ashlyn kind of forced our hand.”
She shrugged and continued, “I had my hands full with Ashlyn for several years and when Andy and I decided to have a child of our own there were complications. I ended up having my ovaries removed because of cysts. In the end, it worked out okay. We made the decision to keep the baby’s parentage a secret—pretty much forced Clara to agree—and Andy and I have taken care of Ashlyn ever since. It was selfish on our part. We were young. Stupid. Watching Ashlyn and Clara grow close after everything we’d done for them made us feel betrayed. I guess, looking back, maybe Andy took the worst of it considering it was my family that we were helping.”
Daniel took it all in without giving away his reaction. So much information clicked into place. A wall of anger slammed into Daniel faster than if he’d driven a race car at one hundred miles an hour straight into it at the realization. Anger that Clara had been taken advantage of at such a young age. Anger that she’d had to construct walls around her heart to survive. Anger that she’d endured so much pain alone.
“Ashlyn started pushing back on everything I said. I figured it was normal for mothers and daughters to go through a rough patch. I had no idea she disliked my husband so much that she’d do almost anything to get away from him. So, no, I wouldn’t harm a head on that little girl’s head even though our relationship wasn’t what I’d hoped it would be. She wanted to move in with her father to get away from me and Timothy. That hurt. But she’s been my daughter for thirteen years. How do I stop feeling like her mother?”
“Sounds to me like Ashlyn is lucky to have so many people in her life who truly care for her,” Daniel said.
Stella wiped at a tear.
“She told Ashlyn the truth,” Stella said. “What place will I ever have in Ashlyn’s life now?”
“Give it time, Stella,” Daniel said. “Clara wants what’s best for Ashlyn and so do you. That’s the most important part. Stay on that path and you’ll figure out the rest.”
“You think?” Hope lit Stella’s eyes.
“I know.” He’d never been more certain. And now he needed to see if Clara had room in her life for him. “Take a walk. Then come back and check on Clara.”
Stella nodded. “Before I go, I want to thank. If not for you, Ashlyn would be…”
Daniel comforted Stella with an arm around her. She cried softly before taking a deep breath.
“She didn’t think you’d show. You better get in there,” she said, motioning toward the door. “My sister can come off harsh at times. Especially after what she went through. Try to understand.”
“I do.” He was certain the sisters could patch their relationship. The two shared a love for Ashlyn that ran deep. Both would realize she needed all the family she could get. Life could be hell without people who cared.
Daniel only wished he had half the confidence when it came to him and Clara.
Chapter 18
Bear had been on Daniel’s mind. He owed his friend a call and this seemed like the right time for it.
“Hey, Daniel.” Bear picked up on the first ring.
“I should have known you would’ve figured out it was me,” Daniel quipped.
“What’s up?”
“The last time we talked…I was a jerk.” Daniel wasn’t great with apologies but it was a start.
“Don’t even sweat it, man,” Bear’s response was so fast that Daniel believed his friend meant it.
“There was a time when I was angry as hell but all that did was poison me even more,” Bear admitted. “Then, I found Mia. I knew it was time to get my shit together.”
“You sound like a man who has found his match.” Daniel was only half joking.
“Yeah.” Bear laughed. “I sure as hell did.”
“I’m happy for you, bro. You deserve all the happiness in the world.”
“Same to you, man.” Bear paused a beat. “I mean that, Damon.”
“I believe you.” It was high time Daniel pulled himself out of the past. “Thanks.”
“Any time.”
Daniel ended the call. There was something else he needed to do.
Daniel stood at the door to Ashlyn’s room, unsure if he’d be welcome inside. Flowers and cards littered every surface and it was easy to see that Ashlyn was loved by her friends and family.
Ashlyn sat up in her hospital bed, talking quietly. She’d received top quality medical care. Kids were resilient. Even from his vantage point he could see that the brightness in her blue eyes was returning. Her skin was filling out and color was coming back.
When Ashlyn’s gaze stopped at him, Clara turned to see what her niece—no, daughter—was looking at.
“Mind if I come in?” he asked and for a few tense seconds he waited for Clara’s response. It bothered him that he couldn’t get an immediate read on the situation, on her.
“Is that Daniel?” Ashlyn asked through a yawn. “Is that the person who saved my life?”
“Yes,” Clara introduced him.
“You can’t know how good it is to see you sitting up like this,” Daniel said to Ashlyn as he stood next to her bed.
“I owe you everything,” Ashlyn said in dramatic teenage fashion.
“I’ll settle for a year of good grades,” he said with a dry smile.
Ashlyn smiled back. He chanced a glance at Clara.
He missed her. He missed waking up to her. He missed her clean, floral scent when she first got out of the shower. The sex had blown his mind. He missed that too. But it was her mind that he missed the most. He missed talking to her.
Clara looked up at him and his heart stuttered. She didn’t give away what she was thinking, save for the worry lines etched in her forehead.
“It’s good to see you, Daniel.” She stood.
“You guys should, like, kiss or something,” Ashlyn said.
Daniel couldn’t help but laugh. And when Clara did too his heart sang. So, he kissed her. “I missed everything about you.”
Clara smiled in response. This time, it reached her eyes. “Do you have time to stay?”
“Until you kick me out,” he said.
“I feel so bad about Javel,” Ashlyn said and her voice hitched on his name. “We never should’ve gone out that night.”
“It’s not your fault,” Daniel said to her with the authority that came with being in the same boat. He’d blamed himself for something that had been outside his control.
“I never tried to run away. I would never do that.” She paused as though catching her breath. “I just wanted a true adventure on my last night.” She could barely talk about what had happened to Javel for sobbing so hard. Daniel gathered that their boat had capsized and she swam to shore in ten-foot waves. She credited her survival swimming lessons for saving her life. The girl must’ve apologized fifteen times in ten minutes for her part in what had happened.
It had taken three days for Javel’s body to wash ashore. After that, Ashlyn had been certain she wouldn’t last long enough to be rescued.
The kid had been through the ringer.
When her tears ebbed and she bit back the third yawn, Daniel squeezed Clara’s hand. “We should let her rest.”
“We’ll be in the hall, sweetie,” Clara sai
d.
Before they could get out of the room Ashlyn’s eyes were closing.
Clara pointed to a pair of chairs in the hallway outside Ashlyn’s room. The two of them sat and he linked their fingers as she continued to fill him in.
“It’ll take some catching up since the school year already started, but Ashlyn’s returning to Brighton,” she said.
Stella rounded the corner, and then abruptly stopped.
“She’s sleeping now. She could use someone she loves to watch over her,” Daniel said to Stella, urging Clara to stand.
“If it’s okay with my sister.” Stella looked to Clara, who nodded as she followed Daniel’s lead.
“Want to get some fresh air?” Daniel asked.
“As long as we’re not gone too long,” Clara said and he understood her need to be by her daughter’s side.
Daniel walked Clara outside and to a nearby park. Music thrummed in the background. A drumbeat filled the night air. Daniel was uneasy but it had nothing to do with the melody playing out.
“Did the doctor say when she would be released?” he asked.
“A couple of days,” Clara said. “Tuesday if everything went well.”
Daniel looked at Clara. If they were going to have a relationship she needed to know that he was aware of her secret.
“I know that Ashlyn is your daughter,” he said.
Clara gasped and looked away from him. “How?” She paused a beat. “Never mind. Stella.”
She looked at him with tentative eyes. “Did she tell you…everything?”
“I can’t imagine what you’ve gone through. I’d like to kill the bastard who hurt you,” he said. “I can see how it would be hard to trust men, including me. But I want to be in your life, and in Ashlyn’s if you want the same thing. Tell me how.”
“Are you sure about this, Daniel? About us?” Clara’s eyes were so damn beautiful. She looked away like she was shielding herself from disappointment.
“I’ve never been surer about anything in my life,” he clarified, lifting her chin so that she looked him square in the eyes.
“It’s not too soon?” she asked. Those gorgeous blue eyes intense with emotion.
“Listen, I’ve spent far too damn much of my life as a spectator, always looking in from the outside but not getting in the game.” He took her hands in his, needing contact. “I know what I feel is right. I don’t need to overthink it and I don’t need to wait. I love you, Clara. But if you need time to make sure it’s right for you, take it. I’m not going anywhere unless you tell me to leave.”
A slow smile spread across Clara’s pink lips.
Daniel couldn’t help himself. He dipped his head down and claimed them.
“No one has ever made me feel like this before, Daniel. Like I’ve come home. I can’t imagine ever loving another person the way I love you.”
“Just so you know my intentions, I want to be a family with you and Ashlyn. I want you and me to make babies of our own with all the works, house, SUV. I want to be part of everyday life as a family. I want to be there for all of it. Ballet recitals. Piano recitals. Soccer games. Whatever our kids are into.”
“Well, that’s a good thing, Daniel because without you I’d be lost.” Tears streamed down her cheeks. “I don’t know how or why I got so lucky when I found you but nothing would make me happier than to be with you. You’re my home.”
Daniel wrapped his arms around the woman he loved.
“I think I could spend forever with you,” Clara said.
“Forever’s a good place to start.”
Also by Barb Han
GUARDING LAUREN—TEXAS GUARDIANS
(Brotherhood Protectors)
Ex-Special Forces sniper turned Blackwater Agency Operative Jaden Dean takes what should be a glorified babysitting mission while nursing a bullet wound. He quickly realizes that things aren’t always as they seem when his assignment, Lauren James, cleans out her bank account and heads to a known drop spot in the Caribbean. Is she in deep with the criminal brother she supposedly barely knows?
RESCUING EMERY
(Brotherhood Protectors)
In Hero’s Junction, Colorado, Ash Cage tries to put the military, his home state of Texas and the past behind him working as a handyman despite nerve damage to his right hand. His plate is full since taking on retired military dog “Seven” who would’ve had a much worse fate if left to the military. Even so, Ash is starting to get his bearings in the civilian world. Until his life is turned upside-down once again when he comes to the aid of a beautiful car crash victim on the run from a killer.
About Barb Han
Barb Han is a USA TODAY, Publisher's Weekly, and Amazon Bestselling Author. Reviewers have called her books "heartfelt" and "exciting."
She lives in Texas—her true north—with her adventurous family, a poodle mix and a spunky rescue who is often referred to as a hot mess. She is the proud owner of too many books (if there is such a thing). When not writing, she can be found exploring Manhattan, on a mountain either hiking or skiing depending on the season, or swimming in her own backyard.
Sign up for Barb's newsletter at www.BarbHan.com.
Brotherhood Protectors
Original Series by Elle James
Brotherhood Protectors Series
Montana SEAL (#1)
Bride Protector SEAL (#2)
Montana D-Force (#3)
Cowboy D-Force (#4)
Montana Ranger (#5)
Montana Dog Soldier (#6)
Montana SEAL Daddy (#7)
Montana Ranger’s Wedding Vow (#8)
Montana SEAL Undercover Daddy (#9)
Cape Cod SEAL Rescue (#10)
Montana SEAL Friendly Fire (#11)
Montana SEAL’s Mail-Order Bride (#12)
SEAL Justice (#13)
Ranger Creed (#14)
Delta Force Strong (#15)
Montana Rescue (Sleeper SEAL)
Hot SEAL Salty Dog (SEALs in Paradise)
Hot SEAL Hawaiian Nights (SEALs in Paradise)
About Elle James
ELLE JAMES also writing as MYLA JACKSON is a New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author of books including cowboys, intrigues and paranormal adventures that keep her readers on the edges of their seats. With over eighty works in a variety of sub-genres and lengths she has published with Harlequin, Samhain, Ellora’s Cave, Kensington, Cleis Press, and Avon. When she’s not at her computer, she’s traveling, snow skiing, boating, or riding her ATV, dreaming up new stories. Learn more about Elle James at www.ellejames.com
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