Chapter 115 Part 115
Asher
He stared at the room downstairs, and clenched his jaw. He had no idea how far Emerson had gotten in the journal. He didn’t know how much she knew, but it was more than she should know.
He spent the entire day packing everything into boxes and stowing it in the shed. Emerson’s drawing desk still stood there. He’d glued the plastic sheet to the desk two days earlier, and he had planned to give it to her on Christmas.
He locked the shed behind him, telling himself that he’d find a use for the desk, burn it, or give it away. He didn’t know what to do with it. He headed to his barn and stood in front of One Star’s stall. The horse took the peppermint from his hand, and he sighed.
“Why is life so complicated?” The horse just looked at him, and he smiled sadly.
That night, he ate dinner alone in the kitchen, and he stood in the doorway to the living room for many minutes, just staring. They had always watched a movie or series after dinner.
He couldn’t fall asleep that night. He’d grown so used to her presence, that he gave up after two hours, and went downstairs. He got his laptop from the foyer closet and plugged the charger in. He hadn’t used the laptop in months. He browsed online furniture stores until he found what he was looking for.
He had plenty of time on his hands now, he might as well fix the room up for Joel and Oscar. He ordered the two beds, side tables, two dressers, and pulled out his card from his wallet to pay for it.
Next, he ordered bedding, curtains, and added a thick rug to his cart. Satisfied that their bedroom would be ready within two weeks, Asher powered the laptop down, and leaned back against the couch.
The cattle had been moved to the winter barns Blair had built. He had built three of them; one housed the cows, one housed the calves, and the last one housed the bulls.
They set up a schedule for breeding, and made the necessary adjustments so that one bull was in an enclosure with 25 cows. They rode the ranch trucks around the perimeter of the ranch, checking fences, fixing them, and setting up deer cams in the woods.
Poaching was a big problem on private land, especially if that private land included woods. Every year, they caught about ten poachers; men who wanted a trophy stag or a wolf. Only once did a poacher try to shoot a bear. He barely made it to the hospital, and spent weeks at a rehabilitation facility.
Asher looked at the time on his watch. It wasn’t even midnight yet, but he wasn’t tired. He needed to do something, anything to fill his time. He should also make a point of it to talk to his father.
He knew that at some point, those two boys would be living in his house again.
It felt surreal, but the thought of getting them back was one that filled him with a surprising joy.
The next morning, he woke up on the couch, and he sent a text to Eden to tell her that he’d be joining them for breakfast. Eden replied with a thumbs up, and he headed upstairs to shower and change.
Asher took a deep breath as he opened the front door and walked into the house. He could smell bacon and sausages, his brothers’ voices loud as they talked about the day’s chores.
“Hey, there you are,” Eden said, with a smile. Winchester sat next to her, looking like someone had stolen his porridge. She frowned when he sat down. “Where’s Emerson?”
“Two days ago, Grover’s men found us—”
“What!?” Asher held up his hand, and they settled down.
“They took both of us to a cabin about two hours south of here. I managed to kill the two men when they took me outside to shoot me. Grover had Emerson in the cabin and I killed him, too. Their bodies have been removed, and the cabin would’ve been cleaned, or burned down by Mark and his team. Emerson’s fine, she wasn’t hurt, not physically. Yesterday morning, Mark took her back to New York.”
“What do you mean Mark took her back to New York?” Thomas demanded.
“Pops—”
“Don’t ‘Pops’ me, you fool. That girl loves you, she admitted as much to me. Now why would you let her go?”
“It’s best this way. Things wouldn’t have worked out between us.”
Thomas shook his head, and muttered under his breath. “You damn fool.”
“Did something happen between you two?” Blair asked, gently.
“Yeah, Blair, something happened, and I can’t undo it.”
“What did you do?” Eden asked, accusingly.
“I didn’t do anything. She broke the trust, she crossed the line, and I can’t just get over it and go on, okay?”
“What did she do, Asher?” Blair’s voice was soft, and he swallowed the lump away.
“She read the journal, Blair.” His eyes widened with shock.
“Right, so now that Emerson’s dead to you, what’s next on the list? How are we gonna keep you busy?” Blair asked him.
“What? Wait a minute! Now Emerson’s dead to him? What the hell kind of a journal is that?” Colt asked.
“The journal contains everything that happened to Asher while he was MIA. It’s classified stuff, and things no man should ever endure,” Blair said, with a cold look. “And now we’re done talking about it, understand? You will not ask Asher any questions about that damn journal!”
Colt and Dylan nodded their heads in unison. Eden looked sad, and Finn wasn’t there. Thomas sighed, but he nodded his head. He knew exactly what the journal contained.
“I’m sorry, son,” Thomas said.
“As for Blair’s earlier question, I registered to be a foster parent, and before the winter’s over, the two Crowley boys will be coming to live with me, and I will do everything in my power to adopt them.”