Page 5 of Ashes to Ink

Ryan didn’t know what to do with tears. Not a woman’s tears,but tears in general. And when Abby started crying right in front of him, hewas pretty sure he wanted to cry right along with her.

When he saw the car in front of him slide on that patch ofice, his blood had gone cold at the sight. Then, he’d noticed who wasin that car, and he’d had to swallow down bile before he knocked on the window.

He’d known that Abby and Julia lived close to him, but thefact that they were close enough that he’d witnessed that? He wasn’t sure if itwas a blessing or a curse.

Ryan looked on as Julia patted her mother’s cheek andmurmured sweet nothings, clearly anxious that her mom was upset and not surewhat to do about it.

So, Ryan did the only thing he could. He pluckedJulia from Abby’s arms and propped her up on his hip, grateful that she had herbig, puffy jacket on to deal with the icy wind.

“You okay?” he asked again. “I mean physically, since Juliais out of her car seat and you’re in the back.”

Abby nodded, seeming to collect herself. He’d never seen herbreak before. She was always so cool and collected, even with those warm smilesof hers. It honestly scared him a little.

She wiped her tears and nodded. “We weren’t going that fastbut I hit the ice wrong.”

“I can tell. Let’s get that car seat into my vehicle. We’llmake sure Julia is nice and warm, then deal with the technical aspects of thissince I don’t think I can pull your car out.”

She sighed and nodded. “Thank you, Ryan. I didn’t realizeyou were here. I mean…why are you here?”

He pointed at his house near the end of the street. “I liveright there. Was on my way home from the shop and saw your car hit. I’m goingto call Carter’s place and get a tow truck out here. They’ll deal with it andtake photos for insurance and all that. I can take you home and make sure Juliagets warm. Sound like a deal?”

A little line formed between Abby’s brows as she thoughtover his words. “Carter isn’t at his shop.”

Ryan gave her a tight nod. “I know.” He kissed Julia’s hand asshe patted his face. She smiled at him, and he did the same to her, though heknew it probably didn’t reach his eyes. Watching Abby and Julia crash like thathadn’t made it easy to smile. Then remembering that Carter wasn’t workingbecause he’d almost died? Yeah, that made it harder to smile. “Carter’s crew isworking, though.”

“Oh. I forgot.” Abby was too damn pale.

“You’re in your head. Take Julia and let me get the seat outof your car. I’ll make a call. You two just stay and get warm.” He paused. “Yousure you’re okay? Should we call an ambulance?”

She seemed to shake herself out of her thoughts and thenstood up, her arms held out for her daughter. She once again looked like thewoman he knew that could handle anything. The fact that she’d broken just alittle in front of him told him not only how shaken she was, but also how damnstrong she was to even allow herself to break down in the first place.

It took a hell of a person to show any kind of weakness infront of another, even though they weren’t exactly strangers.

“Thank you, Ryan. I’m fine. Though I’ll take Julia to herpediatrician tomorrow just in case. Neither of us hit our heads or anything,but I want to make sure she’s okay.”

“You’re a good mom. Let’s get you taken care of.”

“Thank you, Ryan. For everything.”

Ryan leaned down and ran his finger down Abby’s cheek. Fromthe look on her face, the action surprised them both. He quickly moved hishand, holding back a wince. He and Abby didn’t touch like that, and she had tobe scared, just coming out of her shock. Touching her at all would be too muchlike taking advantage, and he wasn’t about to do that.

Not now. Not ever.

Not when it came to sweet Abby.

Ryan made sure that Julia and Abby were safe in his car,then he removed the car seat from her vehicle, all the while hoping that theywere truly okay. Abby was right, the car hadn’t been going that fast, and Juliahad been buckled in tight. He assumed Abby had been as well. They would befine, even if Abby was a little stressed out. He didn’t blame her, though, notafter the accident.

By the time the tow truck arrived, pictures were taken, andeverything was in order, Julia was asleep in her car seat in his car, warm andsnug like a bug in a rug. Abby had wrung her hands to the point where she probablyhad a hole in her gloves, but she had stayed strong throughout it all. She waspossibly the strongest woman he knew. And considering the women he had in hislife, that was saying something.

After everything had been taken care of, they drove in silenceto Abby’s place, and she even made an appointment for Julia with thepediatrician for the next day.

He knew it was the right course of action, and if Julia hadlooked the least bit injured or shaken, they would have been at Urgent Care oreven the emergency room right then.

They had all missed dinner, but he didn’t think he could eatanything. Not when he kept going over what he’d seen in his head. Thoughts ofexactly what had happened and what he’d seen with Abby and Julia.

“Do you want to come in for some hot cocoa or something? Ortea?” Abby asked as she lifted Julia into her arms. Ryan worked on getting thecar seat out so he could bring it into her house. Someone would have to takeher to work the next day. If he did it, then he would just put the car seat backin his vehicle. But Abby had a lot of friends around here, and he assumed shewould call one of them to take her.

“You should probably get her to bed.” He nodded at Julia.