Page 99 of For Your Consideration

“You’re in a worse mood. Oli said the same thing last time. I thought he was just being dramatic.”

I didn’t bother responding to that.

“It needs some renovations but it looks like a good investment.” I tried to push Noah back to business.

“Agreed. They have a consistent base of annual visitors.” As we worked to grow in North America, this was the exact kind of investment we were looking for. It was how we grew in London; we just had more financial freedom now.

I pulled my own phone out of my pocket and tried not to be bothered that Sutton hadn’t called. She thought we were friends, not in a relationship. I was still treating her like my girlfriend until she caught up. I knew she was my reason for missing home and I thought she was starting to miss me too.

I’d gotten used to seeing her often, hearing her voice through the phone, and now it had been forty-eight hours away and I was feeling it. As though my thoughts had conjured her, my phone rang, a picture of her and Sophie napping on my couch popping up.

“Sweetheart,” I answered quickly, my voice taking on the low tone it only did with her.

“Asher!” The panic in her voice put ice in my veins.

I sat up straighter, my grip tightening on the phone.

“What’s wrong?” I saw Noah turn toward me, his phone now down, his attention on me.

“I…crap… I… They took her in an ambulance and I don’t—” Her voice was high, her breathing fast, my own adrenaline racing along beside hers.

“Baby, you have to calm down,” I said in a soothing voice even though my heart was pounding. “Is Sophie okay?”

“Yes, she’s fine. We’re both okay.”

I released a breath, because my first fear was that something was wrong with Sophie and that would make me lose my mind.

“Tell me what’s going on.” I was sure Noah could hear the conversation from beside me but I didn’t mind him listening in. Not when I didn’t know what was going on and my head was creating worst-case scenarios. I had a feeling I would need my brothers.

“I went to check on Iris because we were supposed to have dinner together. I knocked and when she didn’t answer I let myself in. She was on the ground—she had a cut on her head and there was blood everywhere. I couldn’t get her to wake up. I called 911 but they wouldn’t let me ride in the ambulance with her since I had Sophie. Ash, she didn’t wake up.” Her voice broke at the end.

“Where are you?” I could hear Sophie crying in the background, probably feeding off her mum’s stress.

“I’m in my car heading to the hospital. Asher,” her voice cracked, “I don’t know what to do. She’s the only family I have. What if something happens to her. What if she—”

I cut off her spiral. “Sutton, you can’t go down that road.” I wanted to tell her that Iris wasn’t the only family she had, that I was here for her, but I was a four-hour flight away and it would do her no good right now. “You don’t know what’s wrong with her yet.”

“I can’t deal with losing her.” I could hear the tears now. “Ash…I can’t.” The sound of her crying had my heart in a vise.

“Are you okay driving, baby?” I sat forward, trying to will my calmness to her through the phone.

“I’m fine.” She took a shaky breath.

“What hospital?”

“Uhhh…” She sniffed. “They told me they were going to North Hill. Shit.”

“What?”

“I shouldn’t have called you. You’re at work in a different city. I didn’t think. I just needed you. You were the first person I thought of.”

My heart rate picked up for an entirely different reason. She had put the friend boundary up, and I was ready to knock it down with that admission.

“You have that meeting and I knew that—”

“I don’t give a shit about the meeting. You should always call me, Sutton.”

“Ugh. You know what? I’m fine. I’ll just see what the doctor says when I get there. I’m overreacting. I can text you an update when I know more.” Her voice was way too high, trying to project a calm she didn’t feel.