Abby’s hands stopped moving and her arms slid around his back to hold on tight.
“I looked through her papers,” Cash told her. “She had a case. A strong one. She was sick, drove her attorneys up the wall and then she ran out of money and they jumped ship.”
“Oh Cash,” she breathed softly.
He dropped his forehead to Abby’s and muttered, “I can’t f**king wait to see his face when I kick his ass out.”
Abby’s body went still under his, she hesitated then suggested quietly, “Maybe you should wait until after the anniversary celebration. I think Nicola’s looking forward to that.”
Cash replied instantly, “Oh, I’ll wait.” Then something occurred to him, he pulled slightly away and asked, “Why did Honor tell you this?”
He heard her hair slide along the covers as he saw the shadowy outline of her head shake in front of him. “I think,” she started then paused and went on warily, “I’m not sure but I don’t think Alistair was very,” she hesitated again then finished, “nice to them. Any of them.”
Cash caught her meaning. Alistair not being “nice” included Nicola.
In a low voice that came directly from his gut, he knew because he felt it, Cash promised, “He’s going to pay.”
Abby’s arms flexed around him and she warned, “Be careful, Cash. He scares me.”
Belatedly, Cash realised his weight was likely too much for her and he rolled to his side, taking her with him.
His arms moved around her and he pulled her close. Her arms stayed tight and she tucked her face in his neck.
“Don’t worry, darling. I won’t let him hurt you, or anyone, not again.”
Her head tilted back and she replied, her voice showing her surprise, “Cash, I’m not worried about me.”
His chin dipped down and he looked at her face in the shadows and he repeated, “I said I won’t let him hurt anyone.”
She pushed her body into his as she pressed him verbally, “Even you?”
It struck him, uncommonly slowly, that Abby was worried about him. And this knowledge sheared the edge off his anger.
His hand slid up her back, sifted into her hair and he tucked her face back into his neck.
“Even me,” he murmured.
She nuzzled closer and whispered, “I’m sorry about all this.”
“Stop saying you’re sorry,” Cash demanded.
She nestled even closer and continued softly. “Well, I am. About you, your Mom. Nicola and the girls. And your grandmother. What she must have gone through.”
Absently, Cash’s fingers caught a lock of her hair and started winding it around his fingers.
“Don’t think about it,” Cash gave her the advice he was going to use himself.
“Okay,” she mumbled, “I’ll try.”
He held her until everything about her enveloped him, her scent, her feel, her touch, her warmth, the sound of her breathing. After he felt the peace only Abby could bring him, he pulled her right in the bed, yanked the covers over them and settled her into his side.
When he felt her head go heavy on his shoulder, her arm slackening around his stomach, he called, “Abby.”
“Yes, honey?” she mumbled sleepily.
His arm around her waist got tight and his fingers at her hip gripped her briefly.
“Thank you for telling me,” he muttered.
She gave him a squeeze and pressed deeper into his side.
“You’re welcome.”
He waited until her breathing evened, her body relaxed and he took her slumbering weight.
Only then did he allow himself to sleep.
Chapter Twenty-One
The Battle Begins
Abby drove her car along the winding roads toward Penmort, concentrating closely because she didn’t really know where she was going and also because she was scared half out of her mind.
She had no idea how she’d let Angus talk her into this.
Yes, she did.
Tomorrow night Cash and she were going to the castle and spending the weekend there, staying Friday through Sunday. A “family” celebratory dinner was to be held Friday night. The extravaganza was Saturday night. And they were to leave Sunday after a brunch of family and close friends.
And if she didn’t meet Angus tonight she might not make it to Sunday.
Angus called Jenny’s phone that morning when Jenny and she were on their way to pick up her great-grandmother’s gown. Abby had taken it to the cleaners on Monday to have it cleaned and pressed. Jenny and she were headed there to pick it up as well as do other shopping for the weekend when Angus called.
Jenny, Abby noted, was acting weird.
She was far more quiet than normal, especially when Abby explained all that had happened with Cash that week.
Jenny, who Abby expected to freak out, simply turned to her and said, “That’s nice. He’s a good man, Abby, and I think he wants to make you happy.”
She sounded like she didn’t entirely believe her own words even though she wanted to. Furthermore, she shared no advice, guidance, concerns, warnings or even giggles, smiles or lewd questions about how Cash looked naked.
Definitely weird.
Then Abby had gone on to share her new life philosophy, something to which she was certain Jenny would have a reaction.
She’d come up with it lying in Cash’s bed last night, waiting for the cramps to go away and allowing herself the time, finally, to think of everything that had befallen her and what she was going to do about it.
When she got the call that Cash had an accident (she thought), she was definitely reacting or more to the point, overreacting because of what had happened with Ben. But she hadn’t been reliving losing Ben. She’d been upset because she couldn’t fathom the thought of losing Cash.
Which was something she couldn’t ignore even if she wanted to.
But he’d said himself that they weren’t going to lose one another until one of them wanted to be lost.
Which meant he knew one day he would move on.
Abby didn’t like this idea, it hurt even to contemplate it.
But she lay in his bed asking herself how she would behave if someone had told her that her time would be short with Ben.
In order to avoid the pain, would she have turned away, left him behind and not spent her years of love and laughter with him?
Never.
What she would have done was packed much more love and laughter in those years. She would have treasured every moment, even the bad ones, for the precious memories they would become.
So she had a monumental shift in thinking.