Page 20 of Asher's Assignment
“You have a lot of nerve sending him here,” she said in lieu of greeting.
Edie chuckled. “I didn’t send him. He went on his own.”
Esther hummed. “Whatever. Your new brand of crazy sent him here. Now he’s staying in my house and wants to follow me around at school.”
“How’s that going to work?”
“He hacked into the education system and gave himself substitute teacher credentials.”
Edie laughed. “Of course he did. It’s a good thing he’s a good guy. I’d hate to think someone with nefarious intentions could do that.”
“Stop enjoying this. He’s actually here for a serious reason.”
“You’re right. I’m sorry.” An apologetic tone entered her voice.
Esther sighed. “No, I’m sorry. My life is on a rollercoaster, and I don’t like it. It’s making me grouchy.” So was the thought of a naked Asher in the hall bath.
“Well, he’s there to stop the ride. Give him a chance, Essy.”
Again, Esther hummed.
“I’m serious. He knows what he’s doing. Anyway, I just called to check on you. Make sure you had an uneventful day.” She paused, then chuckled. “Well, uneventful in the sense that Hoodie Man stayed away.”
“As far as I know, he did. I kept all the blinds closed and never left the house.”
“You need some cameras outside. Especially at your front door. You can’t see who’s there.”
“Yeah. I think we’ll probably do that tomorrow. Asher has a plan, but he didn’t share it all. We discussed more of the big picture stuff. I’m just along for the ride at this point.”
“I’m glad you’re taking it seriously.”
The memory of the terror she’d felt seeing that man outside her window resurfaced. “Yeah, well, I’m more than a little weirded out by everything. And I know I protested the idea, but I’m glad he’s here.” Knowing Asher was sleeping down the hall helped calm her. She knew that if something happened in the middle of the night, she didn’t have to handle it on her own.
“Me too. I think I’ll sleep better tonight knowing you have him there with you.” Edie’s voice softened, and then she let out a grunt. “These—feelings—are seriously inconvenient. I hope this goes away once this baby’s born.”
Esther smiled. “You’ll probably always worry a little more now. But it won’t be to the extreme. You could talk to your counselor there. She might be able to help you.” Edie had been seeing a therapist since her return from Arizona to help her deal with all the things that had resurfaced during the events there. It had helped, and they still met at least once a week.
“I probably will, because I can’t live like this for the next eight months. I don’t think Jordan can, either.”
“Your husband is a saint. He’ll handle it in stride. He knew what he was getting into when he married you.”
Edie barked a short laugh. “He did. And it’s why I love him. He accepts me; faults and all.” A loud yawn came over the line. “Oh. Sorry. I think I’m going to let you go. Fatigue is another unwelcome side effect of pregnancy. I can’t get enough sleep.”
“That too shall pass.” Esther smiled.
“I know. But for now, I’m going to bed. I’ll talk to you soon. Try not to give Asher too hard of a time, yeah?”
Esther glanced at the wall again. “I’ll try not to.”
“Good. Love you.”
“Love you too. Bye.”
“Bye.”
Pulling the phone away from her ear, Esther hung up. The shower cut off. She picked up her book, trying to drown out the image in her brain of Asher climbing from the tub and wrapping a towel around his waist.
It didn’t do a lot of good. She reread the same page several times while he finished in the bathroom, then wandered down the hall to his bedroom. It wasn’t until she heard the guest room door shut that she was finally able to push the image of him wet and naked from her mind and concentrate on her book. Eventually, she fell asleep, only to be bombarded by dreams of Asher frolicking in the sand and swimming through the waves.
