Page 75 of All For You
“Yeah, I tried telling her that. She’s stubborn. Just… keep an eye on her, please?”
“Owen, I know Aspen and I haven’t always gotten along. I don’t even remember why. We’re just like oil and water, I guess, but I love her.”
“That’s good,” I said with a sigh of relief, unable to turn around and look deeper into the room with the gathered family.
“Why does it sound like you’re leaving?”
“Because I am, eventually.”
“Hm. She know that?”
“She does,” I replied as her husband came over and asked if everything was okay. She smiled up at him like he hung the moon, and his expression mimicked hers.
Slowly, I approached the bed where Aspen held onto her father’s hand like if she let go, he’d slip away into oblivion.
“Hi, Nash.” My voice cracked with emotion as my eyes connected with the older man’s. He wore a bandage around his head. Someone mentioned he’d hit his head on the side of the UTV when he fell from the seat.
“Owen, my boy!” the man greeted with an enthusiasm no one else in the room felt. “How are you, kid?”
The way he spoke, as if nothing happened, broke something inside me. Like a piece of splintered wood leaving bits and pieces deeply imbedded in my skin. That’s what my heart felt like at that moment.
“I’ve been better, sir. What are you doing in here? Was this your way of getting us all together for your birthday?” I asked with a cheerfulness I didn’t feel in the slightest, knowing the Easterly patriarch almost didn’t live to see his sixty-third birthday next week.
“Ah, you caught me red-handed. I took this prank too far, huh?”
“Probably not the best idea,” I replied as silence fell across the room.
Marisol chose that moment to step inside the room, carrying a cup of coffee. Her face was makeup-free, but she was still a beautiful woman. I could see bits of her in each of her daughters.
“Ah, there’s the love of my life,” Nash said with a certainty I hoped to feel about someone someday. I was fooled into thinking I felt something similar for Vanessa.
The longer we’d been apart, the more I realized I didn’t know her at all. She even tried breaking into my house while I’d been gone. Thank goodness for top-notch security. I’d have to deal with her when I got back to LA, and I wasn’t looking forward to it, but it was a necessary evil.
Marisol took a spot next to me, closest to her husband, and gripped his other hand, being mindful of the wires and cords poking out of her husband’s arm. It was a side of Aspen’s mom I hadn’t seen before. She looked as if she weathered a storm and barely made it out alive.
Slowly, I stepped back, wanting to give the two some privacy as they exchanged soft-spoken words. Colton, Nate, and Talon did the same, and we huddled near the windows for the family to have a moment. They were only interrupted when the doctor walked in and explained they were going to keep Nash overnight and that he was scheduled for surgery in the morningto remove the blockage. He was going to be out of commission for a few weeks.
I wasn’t sure what that meant for the farm, but I knew exactly what it meant for Aspen. She was going to run herself into the ground, trying to fill her dad’s large shoes.
Within my pocket, I felt my phone buzz with a message from Kelsey. She heard through the very thorough Ashfield grapevine what happened with Nash and was canceling our session for the day. She’d been working hard on strengthening my throwing arm and shoulder. Her techniques differed from our team therapist’s, some new-age methods she learned in school.
Just as I was closing out the messaging app, I noticed an email from the team’s marketing assistant with the schedule for the upcoming promotional contracts. The off-season was when most players worked with the team sponsors, and this year, apparently, they all wanted me. I had a record season, and I was the team's top scorer.
Glancing over the list, I even had a meet-and-greet scheduled at a local brewery.
That one could be fun, I thought to myself and wished I’d have the opportunity to take Aspen with me.
Syncing the list with my calendar, I noticed the few blank spaces around holidays and a few random weekends. If I could convince Aspen to keep things going between us, then I’d be able to fly home during those times for a day or two.
“Hey,” a shaky voice said beside me. Aspen’s eyelids drooped, and the corners of her mouth tipped toward the floor. She reminded me of the guys when we lost the world championships. Except this wasn’t a silly game. This was her father lying in a hospital bed, looking so much smaller than I remembered.
“Hey, cricket. You doing okay?” I asked, wrapping my arm around her shoulders. When she returned the embrace, I felt the sigh of relief leave my lungs. At least she wasn’t pushing me away, which was my fear the entire drive to the hospital.
“Yeah, I guess. I… um… need to get back to the farm. Do you think you could take me?”
Despite the circumstances, I was itching to leave the building. Everything—the scent, the colors, the layout—was causing my skin to feel as if it was burning from the inside out.
“Of course,” I readily agreed and reached down for her hand that felt tiny in mine.
