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“It’s not—” Asher cleared his throat. “I mean we’re not...”
His gaze went from his father to his sister and back.
“Let’s go out in the hall, and I will explain.” Though Ainsley had been ahead of him, Asher brushed past her on the way out the door. Willow would have mentioned that Payne probably wasn’t listening, but she doubted it would go over well with his children. She was still deciding whether to stay or follow when he leaned back in and gestured with a circular motion for her to hurry. He gave his sister a few of the week’s highlights he must not have shared before, from the hospital’s call about the possible switch to the DNA test and his decision to place Harper at Tender Years.
“I didn’t want to add more stress to the family after the bomb threat and the vandalized fence,” he explained.
His sister shot a glance at Willow that made her wish she’d stayed away from the conversation.
“She already knows everything.”
“You shouldn’t have shared.”
He shrugged. “I did. She’s caught up in at least part of this mess, anyway.”
Willow raised a hand. “You know, I’m right here.”
“Sorry.” Ainsley lowered her head and rubbed her temples as if she was developing a headache, but then she straightened again. “Two baby switches?”
“We didn’t believe one was possible,” Asher said. “Look what happened there.”
“Why didn’t you tell me any of this before?”
“I couldn’t share it while we were still waiting for the bomb squad to determine if someone had really planned to blow up Colton Oil.”
Ainsley crossed her arms in a classic older-sibling move.
“You still should have.”
“Maybe. But I hadn’t realiz
ed there might be a connection. I still don’t know if there is.”
“Or if Harper’s really yours.”
The raw look in Asher’s eyes caused a lump to form in Willow’s throat. She was intimately familiar with the pain of that possibility.
His sister patted his arm in the awkward way of siblings who didn’t often touch each other.
“She’s mine. I know it,” he said and then cleared his throat.
Ainsley nodded. “Where is she now? At home with Genevieve?”
Willow stepped forward and answered for him, not sure if he was ready to speak again. “No, she’s at my place with my friend Candace and my baby, Luna.”
“So, why are you both here?”
Willow rushed on, making up her story as she went. “He’s, well, we’re both concerned about the girls’ safety. He mentioned hiring a private service to patrol around my business and my apartment above it, especially at night.”
“Makes sense, particularly if, um—” Ainsley paused, as if trying to remember, “—Luna is—well, if the test produces unexpected results.”
Willow didn’t have to ask who the attorney was in the Colton family.
“What do you think about me getting some security guards?” Asher asked Ainsley. “I thought I’d let you weigh in, but I’m going to do it, anyway.”
She gave him a mean look.
“Thanks for at least asking my opinion. I agree with you, by the way. In fact, we need to beef up security at the headquarters and ask the ranch hands to do more patrols on the property. If these incidents are related, and it’s becoming more difficult to believe that they’re not, then someone wants to hurt us. Who could possibly not like the Coltons?” Ainsley chuckled.
