Claiming Sarah (Ace Security #5)(22)

Sarah immediately nodded. “I’d like that, but I also want to talk about payment first. I know Ace Security is expensive, and I do have some money. I don’t want to be a charity case.”

Logan’s brows came down at that, and it was obvious he wasn’t happy, but he said, “We’ll work something out.”

Sarah figured that was as good as she was going to get at the moment. She nodded.

Logan turned and headed for a large table in the back of the room, and Cole urged her to follow. He held her chair out as she sat, then scooted the chair next to her a little closer before seating himself. The other men took their seats as well, and Blake asked, “So . . . what’s in the bag?”

Without a word, Cole opened it and set the cookbook in the middle of the table. It was a manual for all things cast iron, including how to care for and season the pots, and how to make everything from cakes to gourmet meals using the iconic cookware.

“It’s inscribed too,” Sarah told the men.

Cole scowled and opened the cover to read what was written inside.

To Sarah.

Cooking fills the body and soul.

Love, Owen



“Interesting,” Logan observed.

The others were silent.

“It was on my doorstep this morning,” Sarah explained. “It wasn’t wrapped or anything.”

“The first thing that needs to happen is that you need to get some sort of camera set up,” Ryder said.

Cole nodded. “It was on my agenda already.”

“But we know it’s Owen,” Sarah protested. “What difference would having a camera make? It won’t make him stop.”

“True, but it would be one more thing to use against him,” Blake said.

“Start from the beginning,” Logan ordered. “From the day you met Owen until today. Don’t leave anything out, even if you think it’s silly or unimportant. Let us decide what is and isn’t relevant.”

Sarah suddenly understood why Ace Security was in such demand. She had the focused attention of four pairs of eyes.

She glanced to her right and amended that thought. Five pairs of eyes. Cole was looking at her just as intently as the others. She knew he wasn’t an investigator like Logan and his brothers, but if she hadn’t known he was a small-business owner of a gym, she would’ve thought he was a member of Ace Security.

“Okay, um . . . I’m a CNA, and Owen’s mother, Aubrey Montrone, was one of the patients on my floor.”

“What was she in for?” Blake asked.

Sarah wanted to chastise him for interrupting her before she’d even started her story, but that wasn’t who she was. Luckily, his brother wasn’t as nice.

“Let her talk,” Nathan said sternly. “She’ll never get through the explanation if she’s interrupted.”

Blake looked at her, chagrined. “Sorry. Carry on.”

Resisting the urge to smile, Sarah continued. “Right, so Owen was super attentive to his mom, which I thought was very sweet. He was shy too, not really looking at me much when I was in the room helping his mother. He’s overweight, in his midforties, and not very attractive. I feel bad saying that, but if you saw him, you’d understand. He was wearing a pair of overalls the first time I saw him, and his beer belly was quite prominent. It literally looked like he had a beach ball hidden under his clothes. His hair was too long, and his beard looked like it hadn’t been groomed or trimmed in quite a while. He didn’t smell, but he wasn’t exactly a poster boy for Irish Spring. Ultimately, though, while he looked a little rough, I thought he was nice enough.

“I saw them both quite a bit over the next couple of weeks. Aubrey had terminal cancer and was in the hospital with complications from that. She’d already decided not to do any more treatments because, even though it would give her a little more time, they made her really sick. She decided on quality of life rather than living longer and sicker.

“Owen was always quiet and very polite. One day, when he stepped out of the room so I could give his mom a sponge bath, she asked if I would consider going out with him. She said she knew he was older than I was, but he was a good boy, and he thought I was nice. She went on to tell me all about how helpful he was around the house, and how they’d always taken care of each other. I told her that I was flattered, but wasn’t sure we really clicked. She pressed, and I finally agreed to go to lunch with him at the hospital, just to get her off my back.”

Sarah took a deep breath and, not for the first time, wished she’d stuck to her guns and refused the sweet dying lady. She felt Cole’s hand rest on her thigh. He gave it a short squeeze, and his touch gave her the push she needed to continue.

“So when Owen came back in the room, I figured I’d just get it over with. I told him that I was about to go on my lunch break and asked if he wanted to go to the cafeteria with me. He nodded, we went downstairs . . . and the conversation was extremely awkward. He didn’t talk, so I did my best to chat about anything I could think of. He stared at me a lot, and nodded, but didn’t initiate any of the topics. Eventually, toward the end of the thirty minutes, he talked for just a minute or two about his mom, how much he loved her and how much she meant to him. He bragged a little about taking such good care of her.

“Then we went back upstairs. I continued on my shift, and he went back to his mom’s room. Aubrey was discharged the next day, and I thought that was that. About two weeks later, I heard through the hospital grapevine that Aubrey had passed away. I felt bad for Owen. I mean, we didn’t click in any way, but he seemed nice, and very shy, and I knew he was probably devastated about losing his mom.