Ash
I am so grateful that Lana, Neil, and Leo were at the house when my dad collapsed. All three of them knew exactly what to do, with my girl leading the way. She never hesitated. Because they were prepared to handle the situation they likely just saved my dad’s life. If I didn’t already love this girl there is no doubt in my mind now that I do, and not just because it was my dad, but because you can so easily see the compassion for others in her eyes. Hell, before the incident with my dad, she seriously thought about trying to deny my help, and the teams help with Josh, simply because she doesn’t want any of us to get hurt. Who wouldn’t love this woman?
We called Hunter as soon as we got on the road and he is going to meet the ambulance. Leo is driving the truck to the hospital I am in the back with Clara. Somehow, we beat the ambulance to the hospital. Hunter walks straight to Clara and hugs her and kisses her forehead. His feelings for her clearly showing. She tells him what happened and just as she finishes the ambulance pulls up to the bay and dad is unloaded. Hunter and a couple of nurses take over as soon as they reach the doors. The paramedics were able to get a heartbeat back while en-route to the hospital. As hard as it is to have to wait, we all take a step back and let Hunter work.
We all make our way down to the waiting room. After about thirty minutes or so Nicole and Brad walk into the waiting room. Nicole goes straight to Clara and wraps her in a tight hug. The two of them sit and silently cry together. Brad comes to me and tells me that they were with Brad and Michael when they got the page from Hunter. We go over what happened. I need something to keep my mind occupied. I feel like everything is spiraling out of control and there is nothing I can do to prevent any of it. Neil called Xav to let him know what is going on. They wanted to come to the hospital but we told them to finish up what they were working on, and we will let them know of any changes. My sister doesn’t know it, but Frankie took a break from going over the car pieces and followed her and dad to the store and back home, just to make sure they were safe while they were out, but he left to meet up with Xav once they got home. I had him follow them because you can never be too careful and I didn’t want to take any chances.
Finally, Hunter comes to the waiting room to get us. He tells us that they moved dad up to ICU so that he can be monitored. He pulls Clara close was we all make our way upstairs to the ICU waiting room. I was hoping we wouldn’t ever have to be back in here, at least not for a very long time.
Hunter leaves us again to go check on dad. I tell the guys to head on back to the house because right now there is nothing anyone can do but wait. They all try to argue, but they know I am right. Leo grabs my shoulder in support then looks at Neil, “yea lets head back to the house so we can look into the information that Xav and Ricky sent us on that piece of shit Andrew and this Josh fucker that is messing with Lana.”
‘Son of a bitch’ I say, and everyone turns to look at me. I look to Leo, ‘Lana, fucking Lana went home alone!! That jackass knows she is in town and she fucking went home alone. I didn’t even think about it when we left.’ Leo squeezes my shoulder again. “She made it home. She called your phone earlier, so I answered it. She said that she didn’t want you to worry about her, that she made it home safely and yes all of her doors are locked. Oh, and I may have slapped a small GPS tracker on her truck before we left your house so that we can find her if we need too. Like I said before, her brother would hand me my ass if I let anything happen to her, so even though she is your girl, I feel responsible for her protection too.” The guys leave to head back to the house to work the information gained today. Brad and Nicole stay with us for a while because Nicole refused to leave Clara.
Hunter comes back into the waiting room a little while later says that dad is asleep and stable for now, but they are going to run some tests and watch him at least for a couple of days. He tells us that he is going to go home for a few hours to get some sleep, he has been on shift for sixteen hours already. He tells us that Bryan is on a twenty-four-hour pull, so he will be here all night if something happens. He tugs Clara up out of her chair and hugs her tight. He asks her if she wants to go home with him to get some rest. She refuses at first, but I encourage her to go. I never thought I would be encouraging my baby sister to go home with a man. I tell her that I am staying and with Bryan, on shift, we will be ok; there is no reason for all of us to be up all night. This could last several days, so we need to make sure we are all getting rest. She gives me a tight hug and tells me that she is sorry she didn’t get to really meet Lana, but she is grateful for her. She looks up to Hunter and says, “she is the one who started CPR on dad, you should have seen her, she never even hesitated.” Hunter tells Clara that Lana probably saved dad's life by starting the CPR so quick.
Clara finally agrees to go with Hunter. I convince Brad and Nicole to go home as well. Brad leaves me his laptop, so I can look at the new information for our case while I am sitting here. When they are all gone, I take my phone out and send Lana a message.
Ash: Hey love, I just wanted to let you know that they moved dad back to ICU, but right now he is stable. I also want to say thank you for doing what you do. They told us that starting CPR so quickly is probably what saved his life. So I can never thank you enough. Leo told me that you called and that you made it home safely. I am staying at the hospital tonight, so if you can’t sleep just give me a call, I will be here.
Lana: So glad to hear that your dad is stable, they will take good care of him. There is no need to thank me. If I didn’t start the CPR, Neil or Leo would have, and it was Neil who had the AED. I am just glad we were there to help.
Lana: yes I called, Leo said you were talking to the doctor, so I didn’t want to interrupt, but I know enough about you that I know you would have worried if I didn’t let you know I made it safely.
Ash: so you think you know me pretty well then, huh? What am I thinking right now?
Lana: You are thinking how good that Chinese food smells.
How the hell does she know I smell Chinese food?
Lana: Go down to the elevators, and the delivery guy is waiting for you. The food is paid for. I know you missed dinner, and you need to eat.
I walk just down the hall, and sure enough, there is a delivery guy standing there. I tip him, for going through the extra steps to actually come in the hospital to the floor, I know that is not the usual protocol. When I get back to the waiting room, I message her telling her thanks. I cannot believe she thought about sending me food. This girl just continues to amaze me.
About an hour later I get a text:
Lana: Oh yea btw tell Leo to stop putting GPS trackers on my truck. If he wants to know where I’m going, he needs to ask. Don’t try to deny it either, I know it was him.
Ash: Yea I didn’t know he put a tracker on your truck until after we were at the hospital. But in his defense, if I had been thinking clearly I would have done the same thing. So I won’t apologize for that. Your safety is important to me. It’s not that I or we want to know where you are going, it’s the fact that if something happens then, we have a way to find you.
Lana: I will accept that for now, but we will talk about it later. If you need anything tonight, even just some company don’t hesitate to call me. xoxo
Ash: Thank you. I’ll call you tomorrow. Get some sleep mon trésor. Sweet dreams. Xoxo
Chapter 25
Lana
I hope that Ash’s dad is going to be ok. One of the worst feelings in the world is the uncertainty you feel when someone you love is in critical condition. I hate that Ash is having to go through that now. I am glad that his team is here to be with him and his sister.
Now that I am at home, sitting alone in this quiet house my mind has time to wander. I still feel like I have so much to do to get settled in and ready for school. My thoughts eventually make it earlier today when I saw Josh. I wonder what he is doing here. I could tell by his reaction that he didn’t come here for me because he was surprised when he saw me. What are the chances that I move to
a new city and he is here? I know now that he knows I am here it will not be long until he finds out where I live. I need to ensure that my restraining order is valid here. I had not thought about that before because I was sure the move would get me away from him, I should have known better.
It has been a long and emotionally draining day. The only thing left to do is open a bottle of wine, take a hot shower, and settle in with a good book. I get up to head to the kitchen to for the wine, and I double check the locks on the doors and windows. Out of habit, I look out the window to check down the street. The street is clear, so I move on and finish getting things locked up for the night and head to start my shower.
After my shower, I settle in and start reading a new book. Before I realize it, the clock says three thirty. I would like to say that it is a rare occurrence, but I can’t really. Once I am in a good book, I do not want to put it down. I have lost many hours of sleep because I refuse to put a book down until I finish it, and tonight is no different. Finally finished I put the book away and turn my bedside light out. I fall asleep quickly but have vivid dreams. Something brings me out of a dead sleep. I notice that it is just turning daylight outside, so I haven’t slept as long as I probably need too. I don’t hear any other noises, so maybe it was my dreams that woke me up.
There is no way I am going back to sleep so I might as well get up and get my day started. There is only so much I can get done before the rest of my stuff gets here. I decide to check on Ash, as I drink my coffee and have a blueberry muffin. I send him a text message, “Good morning. Hope you got at least a little rest last night. Any news on your dad yet this morning?” I don’t really expect an immediate response from him; this is more of a way to let him know I am thinking about him.
I finish getting ready and head out for the day. The first place I head is to the courthouse to get my restraining order on file, just in case I do have a close up run in with Josh. The process is easier than I thought it would be. When I leave the courthouse, I see where I got a text message from Ash. He was letting me know that his dad was awake this morning at visitation and that he will be in and out of the hospital all day. I simply remind him that I am here if he needs anything.
When I get back home from running my errands, there is a truck in my driveway that I do not recognize. My first reaction is to get my gun out of my truck door, but before I even get my hand on it, Leo steps out of the truck. I let out a breath that I did not realize I was holding. I can’t help but smile when Leo opens my truck door. He laughs when I smack him before I ever get out of my truck. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you, but I do have some things that I need to talk to you about.” ‘Is everything ok?’ “Let’s go inside, and we can talk.”
I lead Leo into the house; I remember that I left my purse in my truck, so I tell him to make himself comfortable, and I run back out to my truck. I look down the street on my way back and notice a truck that looks all too familiar sitting down my street back home. A chill runs through me as I walk back in the house. How did he find me so fast? I just don’t understand the fixation.
I walk back into the house, and without thinking about what I am doing, I check for my gun. Leo watches me carefully, and when I finally sit down in the recliner he says “Want to tell me what provoked that little gun check?” I laugh it off and tell him that it is just part of my routine when I come home. I can tell he doesn’t quite believe me, but I break in the conversation and remind him he had something he wanted to talk about.
Leo opens the folder that he brought inside with him and hands me a few pictures. One of them is the picture of Josh taken the day I saw him. Leo starts “the other day when you were with Ash, and we got these pictures his dad went down before we had a chance to talk about them. Can you tell me what you know about the people in the pictures? I know one of them is your ex or psycho ex as you and Ash called him.”
I sigh and sit back in my chair. I show him the picture of Josh first. ‘This is Josh; he is the psycho ex. I think he is responsible for the accident that killed Jake. You knew Jake; he was meticulous about safety. There have also been things that Josh has said that led me to think he caused Jake’s accident. Anyway, things went bad between Josh and me, and he has not handled that well. I thought he finally gave up, but he showed back up at the end of my road not too long ago. He was staying just outside the range of the restraining order until he saw Ash walk into my house with his bag. That is when he escalated breaking the order. Ash was in the shower, and Josh came to my door and pushed his way in, and I hit him over the head with a glass bowl, then Ash backed him out of my house. Then in the grocery store parking lot, Ash told Josh that we are getting married. After that he has stayed pretty close, just sitting at the end of the road watching the house, but I was never alone, and we made it hard to tell just who was there with me. I wasn’t supposed to get to Atlanta for another week and a half or so. I noticed that he was gone from the road for a couple of days, so I saw the out and came here early. Only jokes on me, I get here and here he is. I don’t know how he found me so quick. I went today and filed a copy of my restraining order with the courts here, just in case. Now the guy in the other photo I have never seen before, so I have no clue who he is. I saw him and Josh talking to each other, but that is the first time I ever saw him. Who is he?’
Leo takes the pictures back from me and points to the man I do not know and says “This is Andrew. He is the reason we are on this case now; the threats to Ash’s family were made by him. Apparently, Andrew and Josh are brothers. So now your ex is right in the middle of our case. That also puts you in our case; which also puts you in danger.”
Leo, just because Josh and the Andrew guy are brothers, I don’t think that automatically puts me in danger. Well anymore danger. At this point, Andrew doesn’t know me or that I am linked to you guys. Also, I don’t think Josh ever heard me call Ash by name. That being said, I think you should forget I’m even here and focus on your case so Ash can keep his family safe. I can handle Josh on my own. I almost want to laugh at the look I get from Leo when I finish talking, but I don’t think that would go over very well.
“Lana, first things first, you know as well as I do Ash will never go for that. Second, now that I know you are here, there is no way I will leave you alone if there is any chance you are in danger; and that’s not just because I knew your brother. We have known each other long enough and worked together enough that I consider you a friend. My friends are my family, and I would never leave my family knowing there is a possibility of them being in danger.
Leo, I consider you a friend too, and that is just another reason that I do not want you involved in my situation with Josh. He has already taken too much away from me, and I don’t think I could handle it if one of you guys got hurt because of me. So, now that I have stated my peace; tell me everything I should know about Ash, and well maybe even a few things I shouldn’t know.
“Well I can’t be spilling the bossman’s secrets, but I can tell you that he is a good guy. You already know he owns this security company, and I will go out on a limb since you are from Louisiana that at some point it came up in conversation that he is from there too.”
Wait, what? I thought he was from Georgia; he has talked about playing high school football here before going to Nashville for college. That’s how he met Chase was playing high school ball.
“I guess now that you say that I’m not surprised he hasn’t said anything. Louisiana holds some pretty bad memories for him. His mom passed away when he lived there.”
Son of a bitch, I knew it! I knew it; I just wouldn’t let myself believe it. Hell, even Paul knew it was him when we were at the hospital.
“Lana, slow down. What do you mean you knew it was him?”
Leo has Ash ever mentioned friends from Louisiana, specifically one named JJ?
“Yea, how did you know? He has tons of stories about him and his friend JJ.”
Leo, JJ is my brother Jake. When we were little he went by JJ, h
e didn’t start going by Jake until he was in college.
“Oh, hell, that would make you Ali. The one girl that got away.”
Yea, I went by Ali when I was little.
“He is going to freak out when he finds out. But wait, you said you knew. How did you know, and why didn’t you say anything?”
It was just a feeling. Things that were similar, things he has said would trigger memories. It has just been so long since I have seen him that I wouldn’t let myself believe it, thought maybe I was just trying to remember some good times. Leo, you can’t tell him. You have to give me some time to figure out how to tell him; it’s going to be a lot for him to take in. It may even bring back bad memories about his mom's passing, and right now he has enough stress.
“Lana, you have to tell him and soon. I’ll give you a couple of days, but that’s it. It is not right to keep it from him. Plus, it could be a bad thing if he finds out that you knew and didn’t tell him.”
I’ll tell him, I promise, let’s just get his dad out of ICU or home first.
After another hour or so of talking, and another security check I convince Leo to head out. I need some time to think. Inside I am a mess. Now that I know for sure who he is, so many things make sense. He was my first love. Now I understand why I fell so fast and hard for him this time, and why it feels like I have known him for so long. Now, I just have to figure out how to tell him.
I have a little time, but right now, all of this information has exhausted me, and I want to check on Ash before I pass out for the night.
Lana: Hi sug. I just wanted to check on you before I go to bed.
Ash: Hi beautiful. Thanks for checking in. I am good for now. Dad is doing better, so they are talking about moving him out of ICU tomorrow.
Lana: That is great news! Have you eat today or do you need anything?
Ash: The only thing I need is to be able to go to bed with you.
His To Protect (Four Seasons Security Book 1) Page 11