From Ashes To Flames (A West Brothers Novel Book 1) Read online

  I almost choked on my tongue. My eyes went straight to Marin. It wasn’t like I needed her approval to date or anything.

  “Uh, well, I didn’t realize she thought of it as a date.”

  Ashley cracked right up. “You’re joking, right?”

  “No! Josh made it sound like she needed a stand-in for a wedding. When I met her, it was just as a friend.”

  “Come on, Grey. Take a look at yourself. You’re the new Dr. McDreamy. Everyone is talking about getting their little paws on you. Or rather getting their paws in your …” She chuckled at her little joke, which I didn’t find very amusing.

  I glanced at Marin again. “Start spreading the news, Ashley. That’s never gonna happen.”

  She grabbed my arm. “You can’t be serious. You could have your pick of the crop. Heck, you could have the whole crop if you wanted it.”

  “I don’t want any part of the crop. I only want to raise my kids.”

  I cut a peek at Marin, and she stood awkwardly with the children as we discussed the possibility of me dating someone. “Look, don’t take this the wrong way. But I did that once and it ended up pretty badly. I’m not ever taking that chance again.”

  “Not all women are like Susannah.”

  Kinsley’s head turned toward us at the mention of her mom, and she said, “Miss Ashley, you know my mommy lives with the angels now and I have angels in my room.”

  “Listen, let’s not discuss this in front of the kids. It’s not the most appropriate thing, wouldn’t you agree?” I mumbled to Ashley,

  “Yes, and I apologize,” she whispered. And then she and Kinsley had a discussion about angels as we continued walking. Marin kept peering my way every now and again as she held Aaron’s hand. No telling what the hell was running through her head now.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Marin

  * * *

  The conversation between Dr. West and Ashley had been very enlightening. One, he hadn’t liked his wedding-date-not-date. And two, he had no intentions of ever dating, even though he was the hot commodity at the hospital. I guess women went for old doctors these days, or maybe it was the money. But I had to admit the man was smokin’ hot.

  The kids had a great time playing, but most of the focus was on Aaron. He was clearly the center of attention with everyone oohing and ahhing over the little cutie. He’d run, full steam ahead, and then crash right into my lap, giggling like crazy. Then he’d take off again on repeat.

  Dr. West had walked off a bit to where Kinsley was playing.

  “You’re a natural with him,” Ashley said as she sat down on the ground next to me.

  “He’s so easy, anyone could be.”

  “He loves you. Look at him.”

  “This kid loves everyone. He’s the happiest thing in the world. Hardly ever cries. I’m telling you, he’s the perfect baby. Well, toddler now.”

  “Yeah, it looks like it.” She huffed out a short laugh. “I wish mine had been that easy. Josh wants another one, but we just got over that difficult stage and I’m not quite ready yet for number four.”

  “Four?”

  Her arm shot out in the direction of the men and she chuckled saying, “Right? Tell that dork over there.”

  “Wow, he really wants a fourth, huh?”

  “Um, make that six. I would have to fall for an Irish Catholic. He has six siblings, so he figures it’s normal. I’m going to look like that cow in the milk ads.”

  It was impossible not to laugh. “I didn’t think people had that many kids these days.”

  “They don’t. Joshua McBride is not normal by any means.”

  Aaron came back for round two hundred and fifty-nine interrupting us, and Ashley ruffled his wavy mop of hair. “Boy, does he ever take after his mother.”

  “Yeah? I never met her,” I said.

  “Such a tragedy.”

  “I know. I feel really awful for the kids, especially Kinsley. And Dr. West too.” I didn’t think of it much, but it must’ve been difficult to carry on after she died.

  “Susannah was … different.”

  That took me aback. “Different? How so?”

  “She was corporate all the way, if you know what I mean. Between you and me, I think she wore the pants in that house.”

  “Really?” This revelation shocked me. Dr. West seemed so controlling. He didn’t act like the kind of man that would let a woman push him around.

  “I don’t mean that in a bad sense, necessarily. I think he just deferred to her a lot. Let her handle things more at home, if you follow me. I suppose what I’m saying is whatever Susannah wanted, she got.”

  “I see.” I really didn’t, but I wasn’t big on gossiping like this, so I didn’t want to push her for more. I had to admit I was somewhat curious about her. Mom never said much and I’d never asked. It was sort of a topic no one ever spoke of.

  “You’re not even the least bit intrigued, are you?” Her eyes targeted mine and it was then I knew she had a motive for this friendly conversation. Ashley was peeling away the layers of my onion, or trying to anyway.

  “Only in the sense where the kids are concerned. I really love those kids. They lack attention because he works so much. I worry about Kinsley missing her mom. Aaron won’t remember a thing about her, unfortunately.”

  “No, he won’t. Susannah was the type where if she were here, she would be on her phone, off to the side, dressed up in either very expensive jeans or something even better than that. She wouldn’t sit on the ground like you and I are, nor would she let Aaron bulldoze her repeatedly. And Grey … he was really the mom and the dad in the house. He did everything for those kids when she was alive. Susannah was sort of hands-off with them.”

  This piece of information shocked me, but then again it didn’t. I was under the impression that neither of them had paid a whole lot of attention to their kids and both were caught up in that uppity fruppity society stuff. Maybe I was off base here. I did the only thing I could. I shrugged.

  “Tell me, Marin. Grey is sexy as hell. It’s hard for even me to miss and I am head over heels crazy about Josh. I mean we can barely keep our hands off each other if you want to know the truth.” She sighed. I really didn’t want to know that little tidbit but whatever. “Aren’t you the least bit interested in him?”

  Now it was my turn to laugh. And I did. So much that I clapped my hand over my mouth. “Not at all. He’s so old!” And I laughed again. The thought of being with him was ludicrous. Then I added, “Have you looked at us? I am not even from Venus in his world.”

  She squinted at me. “He looks at you differently than he does others.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” This conversation had gotten super weird.

  Aaron was charging me over and over and I held him a minute to calm him down. He was completely wired and when he got like this, he had a tendency to drop like a dead fly. We hadn’t even eaten yet and it wouldn’t be good if that happened way before his nap time.

  “Josh’s sister took him to that wedding. I’m sure you’re already aware of that. She’s gorgeous. And I’m not just saying that because she’s my sister-in-law. She’s also hot and sexy. We’re really close. She wanted to go out with him, so I told her to go for it. It was bad advice. Deanna is great—a sweet person and I adore her. She drank too much and went a little overboard. I probably shouldn’t be telling you this, but I get the sense that you’re not the kind of person who runs around and gossips. I don’t either even though it’s looking like I do. Grey turned Deanna down. He had a huge opportunity and walked away. I was pretty shocked when she told me. And she didn’t hold back. She was embarrassed about the way things turned out. Josh says the nurses at the hospital openly flirt with him all the time and he completely ignores it. Acts like they don’t exist. But today…” She aimed her finger at me. “He’s into you, Marin. He pays serious attention to you.”

  I wanted to shove her shoulder like I would a good friend, only I didn’t know her well enough f
or that. “Of course he does. I’m practically raising his kids. He’s comfortable with me because I’m not a threat. He can act normal around me, but I have to say he isn’t my cup of tea.”

  “Are you serious?”

  “Totally. He’s an ass.”

  She chortled. “So, what you’re saying is he’s a doctor.”

  I jerked my gaze to hers and saw mirth in her eyes. I couldn’t help joining in on the fun.

  “What’s got you two laughing so much over here?” It was Dr. West.

  Ashley smoothly said, “Marin is such a joy. She’s been filling me in on stories of the kids and how fun they are.”

  “Yeah, they love her too.”

  “Grey, this one’s a keeper. If you ever want to get rid of her, send her to my place. I could use her with the team Josh is trying to build.”

  “I can see that,” he said. “I came over to tell you two that lunch is ready.”

  “Great. I’m starved,” I said.

  We trucked over to where the food was being served. They’d hired a caterer to do this. Grey was helpful with the kids. He took care of Kinsley while I handled Aaron. Aaron loved the macaroni and cheese and the pieces of chicken fingers I fed him. I was a freak about him choking though so I only gave him the tiniest of pieces. Grey poked a little fun at me, while Ashley and Josh watched us with interest.

  “He has teeth. He can gnaw on a little bit more than a tiny crumb, I promise.”

  “Nope. Not taking a chance.”

  “Marin, it’ll take him all afternoon to eat.”

  “That’s fine. I don’t want it getting stuck in his trachea. Do you know how difficult it is to do the Heimlich on a thirteen-month-old? No thank you.”

  “I think you’re going overboard with this. He’s not going to choke.”

  I threw my hands up in the air. “Then you feed him and you watch him.”

  “Marin, this is—”

  “No. Honestly, if you don’t like the way I do this, then you can handle it.”

  By this time, I had gotten to my feet and he did too. He grabbed my arm, which wasn’t something he normally did. “Please, sit. You’re right. I shouldn’t have butted in. You’re wonderful with Aaron. Much better than …” And nothing. Better than what? I stared at him waiting and waiting. But he only cleared his throat and said, “Please eat. Your food is getting cold.”

  I dropped back down to the blanket and noticed Josh and Ashley were trying to hide their laughter.

  “What?” I asked.

  “You,” Ashley said. “You sink your teeth into something and that’s it.”

  “I can’t help it. Babies choking freak me out.”

  Josh aimed his thumb at Ashley. “She’s the exact same way. With number one, I figured we’d be doing baby food for life. By the way, you handle Grey well.” And he chuckled. I had no idea what he meant.

  I finished eating and feeding Aaron. Dr. West went off to play with Kinsley, but not much later he was back announcing it was time to leave. Kinsley whined, saying she wanted to stay. I didn’t blame her. It was a fun outing for her. They never did family events and this had been a great one. Why run off like this?

  “Is it ending soon?”

  “No. I’m just ready to leave.” He sounded a bit grumpy.

  “But she’s having a great time. Aaron’s nap time isn’t for another hour. Why not stay until then?”

  He grunted out his response. “Okay. We leave in thirty minutes. Kinsley, go play, but when I call, you come. Okay?”

  “Yes, Daddy.” She scampered off toward the other kids.

  “Was that really necessary?”

  “What?”

  “To tell her to come like that? She’s very obedient. You never have to tell her twice.”

  “Are you dictating to me how to raise my children?”

  Wow, where did that come from? “Don’t I pretty much do that anyway? Raise your kids, I mean?”

  His mouth opened and closed, and he pointed a finger at me for a second but then let his hand drop. After a moment, he left. Damn good thing he did. If he thought he could go pointing that doctor finger of his at me, he had another thing coming. I’d take that finger and stick it right up his butt. Hell, his butt was so tight, that finger didn’t have a chance in hell of getting jammed up there even if I tried to hammer the damn thing in.

  “Do I need to be afraid of you right now?” Ashley had walked up and I hadn’t noticed.

  “Why?”

  “You look like Daenerys Targaryen from Game of Thrones when she’s getting ready to unleash one of her dragons.”

  I pinched the bridge of my nose. “No, I’m fine. It’s just … oh, nothing.”

  “Yeah, they’re frustrating, aren’t they?”

  “I mean, she’s having so much fun and she never gets to do stuff like this and he wants to leave for no good reason.”

  “And you told him this?”

  “Well, yeah. Why?”

  She only laughed. I didn’t think it funny, but apparently, she did. “That is priceless. I love that you don’t jump at his every whim.” That was such an odd thing to say. She left me standing there trying to puzzle this out. All I knew was this group had my head spinning and I wasn’t exactly sure I liked it.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Greydon

  * * *

  I’m not sure if Marin worked for me or the opposite. She was calling the shots these days and it was difficult to argue with her logic. My reason for wanting to leave had everything to do with how the women from the office were treating her—snubbing her, whispering behind her back, and giving her those looks—but I didn’t want to tell her that. This would be addressed on Monday. I’m not sure why they felt the need to do that, but I wasn’t going to stand for it.

  When we got home, Aaron was fast asleep, so I carried him up to his room. Kinsley was in need of a nap as well, so she tagged along behind me. I got her settled and then decided to do a quick workout. I grabbed some water from the kitchen and headed down. Why had Marin invaded my headspace so much? She’d taken over, like a fucking virus. I couldn’t say no to anything she demanded. Why was that? Because she made perfect sense every fucking time and it pissed me off. They were my kids, so I should have the final say, right? But no. She was the one who got her way. And that’s what sucked. She was making me lose my shit. I had to leave her during that damn picnic because it was either that or get into a bitch session. And wouldn’t that have gone over well? I could just hear Josh on Monday giving me shit about it.

  I was adjusting the weights on the leg press when I heard footsteps. Turning around, I saw Marin stepping onto the treadmill. She hadn’t seen me yet because I was bent down, reaching for another plate. I took the pleasure of observing her for a minute. She looked good … really good.

  “You finally decided to start exercising, I see.”

  “Eek!” Her phone flew out of her hand as she jumped in fright. “You scared me to death. Don’t do that.”

  “I wouldn’t have had I known you’d react like that.”

  “I always react like that when someone scares the crap out of me.” She picked her phone up and stepped back onto the treadmill. “And just so you know, I’ve been exercising for a few weeks now. Only when Aaron is napping. Kinsley comes down here with me, so don’t think I’m a neglectful nanny.” Her sassy tone let me know she wasn’t happy with my comment.

  “I hadn’t meant to infer that.”

  She stuffed her earbuds in and ignored me. I guess the conversation was over. After I worked my legs much harder than I’d intended, I moved to the bench press machine. It faced the treadmill, so I watched her run as I lifted. She had good form but was a bit slow. Maybe I could put her on a running program or at least offer her a few pointers. I finished my punishing set of chest presses, did some lat pulldowns, then walked over to the treadmill.

  “Hey.”

  She yanked out her earbuds and raised her brows.

  “You should pick up your pace so
me. I can put you on a program.”

  “Oh?”

  “Yeah. Intervals. Go all out for about fifteen to twenty seconds, and then back off for a minute or two. Then pick it up again. Do this for twenty to thirty minutes three days a week. Then on the other three, try to pick up your pace where you can’t carry on a comfortable conversation. Maybe you could run a 5k then.”

  Her head slanted and she paused the treadmill. “Has it ever occurred to you that there’s a remote possibility I have one functioning brain cell in this skull of mine? And that perhaps I have some experience at this?”

  “Er …”

  “Yeah, didn’t think so. I’m going to let you in on something. I used to run marathons. I’ve done ten and let me count.” She paused and looked up at the ceiling. “Seventeen half marathons. I ran cross country in high school. I know all about interval training. In the old days, we called it speed work. Now non-runners fancied up the term with interval training.” She finger-quoted the new term. “Give me another month, Dr. Know It All, and I’ll dust your ass in a 5k.” Then she flashed me a cocky—yes, a cocky—grin. “Care to accept this challenge?”

  Well, fuck. I couldn’t pussy out of this. I returned her little cheeky smile. “I’d love to accept your challenge.” But then I thought how I needed to get my running ass in shape. If she was a marathoner, she knew what the hell she was doing. Shit.

  Her cocky grin remained in place and I had an urge to kiss it away. “Since you’re so damn smart, I’ll even let you choose which one we do.”

  “It’s a deal.” I held out my hand and she shook it.

  “Now leave me alone so I can get back to running. I don’t have the luxury of a lot of time like you do. I actually work for a living.”

  “What?”

  “You heard me.” She waved her hand.

  I turned around and could’ve sworn she flipped me off. The little shit. I was going to have to show her up on this 5k or else. I finished my workout and literally sprinted to my computer to google upcoming 5ks in the area. There were a few about six or seven weeks from now. I’d have to see if my parents could keep the kids. Then I leaned back in my chair and chuckled. She totally dished it out to me. There I thought I was Mr. Knowledge and she showed me up. She even challenged me. A grin stretched across my face, which soon turned into a chuckle.