If I Didn't Know Better (The Callaways #9)(15)

"Or we can wait until she's ready for a bath," Mia continued. "Maybe you could help me clean up in here. I probably need to start taking things outside and see what I have. I could use a helper—if you're not doing anything."

Mia had no sooner finished speaking when Jeremy's voice rang through the air.

"Ashlyn! Ashlyn—where are you?"

She heard the fear and panic in his tone. "Your dad doesn't know you're here, does he?"

Ashlyn just stared back at her.

"Let's go tell him. He sounds worried."

She waved Ashlyn back through the open door and into the yard and yelled, "Jeremy, Ashlyn is over here."

A minute later, Jeremy came through the side gate. He wore a T-shirt and track pants and a shadow of a beard darkened his jaw.

"There you are," he said with relief as his gaze fell on his daughter. "Ashlyn, you can't leave the house without telling me. You can't come over here without asking me if it's all right." He walked over to the little girl and squatted down in front of her. "Do you understand? I was worried about you. Don't do it again, okay?"

Ashlyn didn't answer.

"I need to know that you hear me, that you understand," he said firmly. "This is important, Ash."

Ashlyn finally nodded, her long, tangled hair tumbling around her face and shoulders.

"Good," he said, getting to his feet. He looked at Mia. "I should have figured she'd be over here. But when she wasn't in her room, and the side door was open, I didn't know what to think."

"She's all right."

"I shouldn't have been that worried. This is Angel's Bay, after all." He turned his attention back to his daughter. "We need to go home, Ash. Mrs. Danbury is coming over to watch you while I work out."

Ashlyn immediately shook her head and sat down right where she was standing, as if daring him to drag her back to the house.

Jeremy frowned. "Ashlyn, I have to go. I have to meet the therapist to work on my shoulder. I told you that I hurt it, and I need to get it better."

She gave another defiant shake of her head.

"I could watch her," Mia offered, impulsively stepping into their silent battle. "If it's okay with you, Jeremy."

He hesitated. "I don't know."

"I promise I won't let her climb up onto the roof," she said lightly. "And I told you I was the best babysitter in my neighborhood."

"You have your own things to take care of."

"Ashlyn can help me. I don't want to put your babysitter out of a job, but it looks like you have a sit-in on your hands."

He sighed. "I'll only be two hours. I need to stick to my therapy schedule."

"Of course you do," she said, wondering more about his injury, but that was a story for another day. "We'll be fine."

"Do you want to stay with Mia?" he asked Ashlyn.

She gave him an emphatic nod.

"Okay," he said. "I'll tell Mrs. Danbury she's off the hook. I'll be back in a few hours. Let me give you my number in case you have any problems."

She pulled her phone out of her pocket and they exchanged numbers. "Take your time," she said. "I'm going to start cleaning out the studio. It's a mess, but it seems easier to deal with than to tackle the whole house." She paused, seeing a lingering hesitation in his eyes. "Go. And don't worry about a thing. I will take good care of Ashlyn. You can trust me. Everything will be all right. "

He gave her an odd look. "People have been saying that to me for a while, but I think this morning is the first time I've actually believed it."

The look in his eyes brought a wave of heat to her cheeks. She was obviously reading into his words, but she couldn't help thinking that for the first time in a month, she actually thought everything might turn out all right for her, too.

After Jeremy left, she turned to Ashlyn. "Let's get to work."

Ashlyn got to her feet and followed her back into the studio.

An hour later, Mia had taken a dozen paintings out to the patio and had filled one large plastic trash bag with yarn and knitting supplies and another with fabric swatches and sewing machine accessories. She hadn't been aware that her aunt was into textile art, but apparently at least one or more of her artists had been interested in quilting.

The other items that had drawn her interest were the black-and-white graphic sketches she'd found in a folder labeled "Carly's Coloring Book Ideas For Grown-Ups". She took them over to the patio table and sat down. With Ashlyn at her side, she flipped through the sketches.

These were not the usual kids' coloring book pages. They were detailed pictures of hidden gardens and staircases, jeweled birds and circular mazes. A few of the sketches had been colored in with markers, showing what they could be like when finished.

She hadn't thought about coloring in years, but as she stared at the pictures, she felt an urge to pick up one of the hundreds of brightly colored markers she'd found and do some coloring.

The sound of a female voice lifted her head from the patterned sketches.

Ashlyn bolted across the yard and into the studio as a woman came through the side gate.

"Hello? Anyone home?"

As Mia got to her feet, an attractive redhead in her early thirties walked into the yard. She wore cropped white pants, a bright yellow shirt, and a large floppy hat to protect her pale, freckled skin.